TEL 
and brass: after they have been melted to- 
gether in a separate crucible, t!ie proper 
quantity of arsenic is to be added, and a 
little powdered rosin thrown into the cruci- 
ble before the metal is poured into the 
flasks. For the particular methods of grind- 
ing and polishing we. refer to Brewster’s 
edition of Ferguson’s Mechanics, vol. i. 
TELEPHIUM, in botany, a genus of the 
PentandriaTrigynia class and order. Natu- 
ral order of Portulaceae, Jussieu. Miscella- 
neae, Linnmus. Essential character : calyx 
five-leaved; petals live, inserted into the re- 
ceptacle ; capsule one-celled, three-valved. 
There are two species, viz. T. imperati, 
true orpine; and T. oppositifolium, both 
natives of Barbary. 
TELLER, an officer of the Exchequer, 
in ancient records called tallier : there are 
four of these offioer.s, whose duty is to re- 
ceive all suras due to the king, and to give 
the clerk of the pells a bill to charge him 
therewith. They likewise pay all money 
due from the king, by warrant from the 
auditor of the receipt, and make weekly 
and yearly books, both of their receipts 
and payments, which they deliver to the 
lord-treasurer. 
TELLINA, in natural history, a genus 
of the Vermes Testacea class and order : 
animal a tethys : shell bivalve, generally 
sloping on one side; in the fore part of one 
valve a convex ; of the other, a concave 
fold ; hinge with usually three teeth, the 
lateral ones smooth, in one shell. There are 
about eighty species, divided into sections. 
A. ovate and tliickish. B. ovate and com- 
pressed. C. suborbicular. We shall notice 
one or two only. T. gari : shell oval, with 
transverse recurved stria; ; lateral teeth ob- 
solete ; it inhabits the Indian ocean : the 
fore part is inflected and very rough, with 
transverse wrinkles crossed in the middle 
by perpendicular striae ; sometimes cine- 
reous, w'ith brown rays ; sometimes bluish 
spotted with white, and white and red rays. 
T. cornea: shell globular, glabrous, horn- 
colour, with a transverse groove. This 
Mr. Pennant has described in the British 
Zoology : it inhabits the ponds and fresh 
water of Europe : it is not larger than a 
pea. The shell is pellucid, very finely 
striate across ; vidthin bluish, white ; with- 
out white, or pale or bluish-ash, with trans- 
verse black curves, one of jyhich is more 
distinct ; lateral teeth of the hinge elongated, 
hardly any middle ones. 
TELL-TALE, in music, a moveable piece 
of ivory, or lead, suspended in the front of 
TEM 
a chamber-organ, on one side of tlie keys, 
by a string ; one side of the keys being at- 
tached to the bellows within, rises as they 
sink, and apprizes the performer in what 
degree the wind is exhausted. 
TELLURIUM. See Sylvan. 
TEMPERAMENT, in music, the ac- 
commodation or adjustment of the imper- 
fect sounds, by transferring a part of their 
defects to the more perfect ones, in order 
,to remedy, in some degree, the false inter- 
vals of those instruments, the sounds of 
which are fixed ; as the organ, harpsichord, 
piano-forte, &c. 
TEMPERIN G of steel and iron, the ren- 
dering them either more compact and hard, 
or soft and pliant, according as the different 
uses for which they are wanted may require. 
The hardest steel is the most brittle ; but 
in many cases it is necessary to diminish 
the hardness, and this operation is called 
tempering. The greatest difficulty consists 
in applying the proper degree of heat uni- 
formly over the whole mass. The common 
method is, to judge by the colour assumed 
by the clean surface of steel when thus 
heated. The heat may be applied by the 
fire, or a pan of charcoal, or the flame of a 
candle or lamp, or by laying the piece upon 
sand to be gradually heated, or upon melted 
lead. Saw-makers, and those who manu- 
facture springs, heat the article, rub it with 
grease, and tlien heat it further till the 
fumes take fire : this is called blazing, and 
affords a temper nearly the same as wdien 
the steel, by heat, has acquired a deep blue 
colour. When the temper is given from the 
colour, the first tinge is a faint straw co- 
lour : this is suitable to pen knives and hard 
cutting tools. The next colour, which is 
purple, is rather too soft for a knife, and 
too brittle for a spring. After this follows 
the blue, of which there are several shades : 
the deepest is very soft, and this succeeded 
by a whitish-yellow, which indicates too 
great a degree of softness for any cutting 
tool. Mr. Hartley took out a patent for a 
method of tempering steel, which w-as done 
by heating the tools in oil raised to a high 
temperature. Pen-knives require a heat of 
450° of Fahrenheit. 
TEMPLARS, or Templers, a religious 
order instituted at Jerusalem, about the 
year 1118. Some religious gentlemen put 
themselves under the government of the 
patriarch of Jerusalem, renounced property, 
made the vow of celibacy and obedience, 
and lived like canons regular. King Bald- 
win assigned them an apartment in his 
