TER 
nails, cMled tenter hooks, driven in from 
space to space. 
TENTHREDO, in natural history, sate- 
fly> ^ genus of insects of the order Hyme- 
iioptera : mouth with a horned curved man- 
dible, toothed within, the jaw straight and 
obtuse at the lip, the lip cylindrical bifid ; 
four feelers, unequal filiform ; wings tumid, 
the lower ones less ; sting composed of 
two serrate laminae, and almost secreted. 
There are about one hundred and fifty spe- 
cies, in divisions, distinguished by the an- 
tenna;. A. antennae clavate ; B. antennae 
inarticulate, thicker at the tip ; C. anten- 
na; pectinate ; in D, they are filiform, with 
from seven to nine articulations ; in E they 
are filiform, with numerous articulations. 
The insects of this genus feed on the leaves 
of various plants ; the female uses her sting 
in the manner of a saw, hence the common 
name. It cuts out spaces iti the twigs or 
buds of trees for the purpose of depositing 
her eggs. The law® resemble those of the 
order Lepidoptera, or real caterpillars, from 
which they may be distinguished by their 
more numerous feet, whidi are never fewer 
than sixteen, though they are sometimes 
found with as many as twenty-eight. It 
feeds on the leaves of plants, and when 
touched, rolls itself up spirally. The pupa 
is folliculate ; the eggs increase in size every 
day till the lar vae burst from them. The 
larvae of the smaller species are often inju- 
rious to different kinds of esculent vege- 
tables. 
TENURE, the manner whereby lands 
or tenements are holden, or the service 
that the tenant owes to his lord. Under 
the word tenure, is included every holding 
of an inheritance; but the signification of 
this word, which is a very extensive one, is 
usually restrained by coupling other words 
with it ; this is sometimes done by words, 
which denote the duration of the tenant’s 
estate : as if a man hold to hiniself and his 
heirs, it is called tenur.e in fee-simple. At 
other times the tenure is coupled with words 
pointing out the instrument by which an 
inheritance is held : thus, if the holding be 
by copy of court roll. At other times this 
word is coupled with others that show the 
principal service by which an inheritance is 
held; as where a man held by knight’s 
service, it is called tenure by knight’s ser- 
vice. 
TERAMNUS, in botany, a genus of the 
Diadelphia Decandria class and order. Na- 
tural order of Papilionaceae, or Legumi- 
uosae. Essential character : keel very small 
TER 
concealed within the calyx ; stamina alter- 
nate, five-barren ; stigma sessile, headed. 
There are two species, viz. T. volubulis, 
and T. uncinatus, both natives of Jamaica. 
TEREBELLA, in natural history, a ge- 
nus of the Vermes Mollusca class and order. 
Body oblong, creeping, naked, often in- 
closed in a tube, furnished with lateral fas- 
cicles or tufts, and branchiae mouth placed 
before, fuinished witli lips, without teeth, 
and protruding a clavate pi oboscis ; feelers 
numerous, cilia te, capillary, seated round 
the mouth. There are eleven species. 
TEREDO, in natural history, ship-worm, 
a genus of the Vermes Testacea class aud 
order. Animal a terrebella, with two cal- 
careous hemispherical valves cut off before, 
and two lanceolate ones ; shell tapering, 
flexiious, and capable of penetrating wood. 
There are three, species. 
T. navalis, shell very thin, cylindrical, 
snaooth; found in the sides and bottoms of 
ships, and the stoutest oak pales, which 
have remained some time under water, and 
was imported from India. The destruction 
which these woims effect under water is al- 
most equal to that of the Termes, or white 
ant, on land. The shell is more or less 
twisted, rather obtuse at the lip, and from 
four to six inches long (See Termes). They 
will appear, on a very little consideration, 
to be most important beings in the great 
chain of creation, and pleasing demonstra- 
tions of the infinitely wise and gracious 
Power which formed, and still preserves, 
the whole in Such wonderful order and 
beauty ; for if it was not for the rapacity of 
these and such animals, tropical rivers, and 
indeed the ocean itself, would be choked 
with the bodies of trees which are annually 
carried down by the rapid torrents, as 
many of them would last for ages, and pro- 
bably be productive of evils, of which, hap- 
pily, we cannot in the present harmonious 
state of things form any idea ; whereas now 
being consumed by these animals, they are 
more easily broken in pieces by the waves ; 
and the fragments which are not devoured 
become specifically lighter, and are conse- 
quently more readily and more eflfectually 
thrown on shore, where the sun, wind, in- 
sects, and various other instruments, spee- 
dily promote their intire dissolution. 
TERM, m geometry and algebra, is the 
extreme of any magnitude, or that which 
bounds and limits its extent. Thus the terms 
of a line, are points ; of a superficies, lines ; of 
a solid, superficies. The terms of an equa' 
tion are the several names or members of 
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