THE 
THE 
933 
lanceolate, acute, spreading, deciduous. Corolla: petals 
five, smaller than the calyx; claws wide, arched, concave 
like a helmet, emarginate at the tip, scored internally with a 
thick triple line, inserted into the nectary at the base; borders 
roundish, acuminate, spreading, each narrowed at the base 
into a small claw, which is from upright recurved, and fas¬ 
tened into the claw. Nectary a short little pitcher, putting 
forth five little horns, which are awl-shaped, long, erect, 
acuminate, bent in and converging, decurrent along the 
pitcher. Stamina: filaments five, filiform, erect, bent out¬ 
wards at top, lying within the claws of the petals, growing 
externally to the nectary, alternate with and shorter than the 
horns. Anthers on each filament two (one on each side 
at the tip), vertical, one cell superior, the other inferior. 
Pistil: germ ovate. Style filiform, (striated, Aubl.) a little 
longer than the stamens. Stigma five-cleft. Pericarp: cap¬ 
sule oblong, coriaceous, unequal, five-cornered, five-celled, 
valveless, not opening. Seeds very many, subovate, nestling 
in a buttery pulp, fastened to a central columnar receptacle. 
—Essential Character. Calyx five-leafed. Petals five, 
arched. Nectary five-horned. Filaments five, within the 
calyx of the petals, growing externally to the nectary, 
having two anthers on each. 
Theobroma cacao, or chocolate-nut tree.—The cacao or 
chocolate-nut tree grows in a very handsome form, to the 
height of twelve or sixteen feet: the trunk is upright and 
about as high as a man before the head spreads out: the 
wood is light and of a white colour, and the bark is brown¬ 
ish and even. Leaves lanceolate-oblong, bright green, quite 
entire, alternate, from nine to sixteen inches long, and three 
or four inches wide at most, on a petiole an inch in length, 
and thickened at both ends. Flowers small, reddish, in¬ 
odorous. Fruits smooth, yellow, red, or of both colours, 
about three inches in diameter: rind fleshy, near half an 
inch in thickness, flesh-coloured within : pulp whiteish, the 
consistence of butter, separating from the rind in a state of 
ripeness, and adhering to it only by filaments, which pene¬ 
trate it and reach to the seeds. Hence it is known when the 
seeds are ripe, by the rattling of the capsule when it is 
shaken. The pulp has a sweet and not unpleasant taste, 
with a slight acidity ; it is sucked and eaten raw by the 
natives: it may be easily separated into as many parts as 
there are seeds, to which it adheres strongly, and they are 
wrapped up in it, so that each seed seems to have its own 
proper pulp. The seeds are about twenty-five in number: 
when fresh, they are of a flesh-colour: gathered before they 
are ripe, they preserve them in sugar, and thus they are very 
grateful to the palate: they quickly lose their power of 
vegetation, if taken out of the capsule, but kept in it, they 
preserve that power for a long time. The tree bears leaves, 
flowers and fruit all the year through ; but the usual seasons 
for gathering the fruit, are June and December. In two 
years from the seed it is above three feet high, and spreads 
its branches, not more than five of which are suffered to 
remain: before its third year is complete, it shows for 
fruit. A tree yields from two to three pounds of seeds 
annually. 
These seeds are remarkably nourishing, and agreeable to 
most people; which occasions them to be commonly kept 
in most houses in America, as a necessary part of the provi¬ 
sions of the family: they are generally ground or pounded 
very fine, and made into paste: they are much charged with 
oil, but mix well with milk or water. Chocolate is much 
esteemed in all the southern colonies of America; and well 
known to make the principal part of the nourishment of 
most old people in those parts, as well as of a great number 
of Jews. It was in use among the native Indians, before the 
arrival of the Spaniards.—Native of South America, and 
found in great plenty in several places between the tropics, 
but particularly at Caracca and Carthagena, on the river 
Amazons, the isthmus of Darien, at Honduras, Guatimala, 
and Nicaragua. 
Propagation and Culture.- —In order to cultivate this 
plant in Europe, by way of curiosity, it will be necessary to 
have the nuts planted into boxes of earth (in the countries 
Vol. XXIII. No. 1618. 
where they grow) soon after they are ripe; because if the 
nuts are sent over, they will lose their vegetative powers be¬ 
fore they arrive. These boxes should be placed in a shady 
situation, and must be frequently watered, in order to for¬ 
ward the vegetation of the nuts. 
When the plants arrive in England, they should be care¬ 
fully taken out of the boxes, and each transplanted into a 
separate pot filled with light rich earth, and plunged into a 
moderate hot-bed of tanner’s bark. When the trees are ob¬ 
tained, they may be increased by cuttings, in the same man¬ 
ner as the gardenia; 
THEOCATAGNOST2E, formed from the Gr. 0<ro?, God, 
and Karaytvua-Ka, I judge, or condemn, a sect of heretics 
who found fault with certain words and actions of God, and 
to blame many things in the Scriptures. 
THEO'CRACY, s. [theocratie, Fr.; and xpareoi, 
Gr.] Government immediately superintended by God.—A 
quiet calm subordination of saints and angels under that 
great theocracy. Hammond .-—The characters of the reign 
of Christ are chiefly justice, peace, and divine presence or 
conduct, which is called theocracy. Burnet. 
THEOCRATIC, or Theocra'tica.l, adj. [theocra- 
tique, Fr.] Relating to government administered by God. 
—The government is neither human nor angelical, but pe¬ 
culiarly theocratical. Burnet. 
THEOCRITUS, a Greek poet, esteemed as the model of 
pastoral poetry, was a native of Syracuse, and the son of 
Praxagoras and Philina. The time in which he flourished 
is ascertained by two of his poems, one addressed to Hiero, 
king of Syracuse, who began his reign about the year B. C. 
265, and the other to Ptolemy Philadelphus, whose reign 
comprehended the interval between 281 and 246 B. C: 
Although Hiero is reported to have been a patron of litera¬ 
ture, persons of rank, as we may infer from Theocritus’s 
poem, did not follow his example, at least in granting en¬ 
couragement’to poets; and therefore Theocritus left Sicily, 
and visited the court of Ptolemy Philadelphus at Alexandria, 
on whom he pronounces a splendid eulogy. The com¬ 
positions of this poet are denominated “Idylls;” they are 
written in the Doric or rustic dialect, and few of them are 
pastorals, though most of them relate to rural life and man¬ 
ners. The purely pastoral are distinguished by the truth and 
simplicity of the manners, descending sometimes even to 
coarseness, and the pleasing description of natural objects, 
drawn from the life. To those who have a taste for genuine 
simplicity, and the beauties of nature, the poetry of Theo¬ 
critus is highly agreeable. The most esteemed editions of 
his works, are D. Heinsius’s 4to. Commel. 1604 ; R. West’s, 
Oxon. 8vo. 1699; Th. Warton’s, Oxon. 2 vols. 4to. 1770; 
Valkenaer’s, cum Bione et Moscho, Lugd. Bat. 8vo. 1779. 
Suidas. Vossius. Gen. Biog. 
THEODOLITE, s. [theodolite, Fr.] A mathematical 
instrument for taking heights and distances by measuring 
horizontal and vertical angles. 
THEODORE (Lascaris), a Greek emperor, the son-in-law 
of Alexius Angelus. See Rome. 
THEODORE, bishop of Mopsuestia in Cilicia, was priest, 
and probably native, of Antioch, a disciple of Diodorus, and 
an intimate friend of John Chrysostom. He was ordained 
bishop in 392 or 394, and died in 428 or 429. He wrote 
commentaries probably upon all the books of the Old and 
New Testament, though two or three of them are not parti¬ 
cularly mentioned: and in these commentaries, as Photius 
says, he avoided all allegorical interpretations, and confined 
himself to the historical and literal sense. He defended this 
mode in a work concerning allegory and history against 
Origen. Some have charged him with treating the book of 
Job, the Canticles, and the Psalms, with disrespect. The 
book of Job he is said to have represented as written in a 
fabulous manner, though founded on truth; the Canticles he 
is said to have considered as a nuptial poem, and the Psalms 
as chiefly referring to the history of the times. Most of 
Theodore’s wbiks are now lost, but some fragments of them 
may be found, chiefly in Latin, and perhaps not fairly repre¬ 
sented, in the Acts of the second general council of Constan- 
11 E tinople. 
