THU 
THUIR, a small town in the south of France, department 
of the Eastern Pyrenees, on the small river Canal. Popula¬ 
tion 1500; 9 miles south-west of Perpignan. 
THUJA [corrupted from Ova, of Theophrastus, Thya of 
Pliny], in Botany, a genus of the class monoecia, order 
monadelphia, natural order of coniferae.—-Generic Character. 
Male flower—Calyx: ament ovate, composed of a com¬ 
mon rachis, on which opposite flowers are placed in a triple 
opposition. Each flower has for its base a subovate, con¬ 
cave, obtuse scale. Corolla none. Stamina: filaments 
(in each floret) four, scarcely manifest. Anthers as many, 
fastened to the base of the calycine scale. Female flower on 
the same plant—Calyx: strobile common, subovate, sur¬ 
rounded with opposite florets; composed of two-flowered, 
ovate, convex scales, converging longitudinally. Corolla 
none. Pistil: germ very small. Style awl-shaped. Stigma 
simple. Pericarp: strobile ovate-oblong, obtuse, opening 
longitudinally with oblong scales, almost equal, convex out¬ 
wardly, obtuse. Seeds: oblong, girt longitudinally with 
a membranaceous wing, emarginate.— Essential Character. 
Male-—Calyx, scale of an ament. Corolla none. Sta¬ 
mina four. Female—Calyx, of a strobile with a two- 
flowered scale. Corolla none. Pistil one. Nut one, girt 
with a membranaceous wing. 
1. Thuja occidentalis, or American arbor-vita:,—Stro¬ 
biles smooth with blunt scales, branches spreading. The 
common arbor-vitae has a strong woody trunk, which rises 
to the height of forty feet or more; the bark, while young, 
is smooth and of a dark brown colour, but as the trees ad¬ 
vance, the bark becomes cracked and rough ; the branches 
are produced irregularly on every side, standing almost 
horizontal, and the young slender shoots frequently hang 
down. The young branches are flat, and the small 
leaves are placed over each other like the scales of 
fish. The flowers are produced from the side of the young 
branches, pretty near to the foot-stalk : the males grow in 
oblong catkins, and between these the females are collected 
in form of cones. When the former have shed their farina, 
they soon drop off; but the latter are succeeded by oblong 
cones or strobiles, having obtuse smooth scales, containing 
one or two oblong seeds. Being reckoned the most durable 
wood in Canada, inclosures of all kinds are scarcely made 
with any other wood; especially the posts which are driven 
into the ground. The palisades round the forts are made of 
this wood. It furnishes planks or boards for houses. The 
thin narrow pieces which form the ribs and bottom of the 
bark-boats commonly used in Canada are taken from this 
tree, because it is pliant enough for the purpose, especially 
whilst it is fresh, and because it is very light. It is reckoned 
one of the best woods for the use of the lime-kilns. The 
branches are used all over Canada for besoms, which the 
Indians bring to the towns for sale. The fresh branches 
have a peculiar agreeable scent, which is perceived strongly 
in houses where such besoms are used. 
2. Thuja orientalis, or Chinese arbor-vitae.—Strobiles 
squarrose with sharp scales, branches erect. The branches 
of the Chinese arbor-vitae grow closer together, and being 
much more adorned with leaves, which are of a brighter 
green colour, make a much better appearance than the 
former. The branches cross each other at right angles. 
The leaves are flat, but the single divisions are slender, and 
the scales are smaller, and lie closer over each other than 
those of the first sort. The cones (strobiles) are also much 
larger, of a beautiful gray colour, and their scales end in 
acute reflexed points.—Native of China and Japan. 
3. Thuja articulata, or African arbor-vitae.—Strobiles four- 
cornered, four-valved, fronds compressed, jointed, leafless. 
Height from two to six feet, in a dry soil a low shrub.— 
Native of Mount Atlas, and barren hills in Barbary. 
4. Thuja dolabrata, or Japanese arbor-vitae. — Strobiles 
squarrose, leaves imbricate three ways, beneath excavated 
and snow white. This is a very large and lofty tree, and 
the handsomest of all the evergreens. Branches and branch- 
lets alternate, compressed, covered with imbricate leaves, 
which are disposed by threes; they are ovate, obtuse, entire, 
THU 963 
compressed, above shining green and smooth, convex with 
a groove in the middle, beneath concave, margined, snow 
white.-—Native of Japan. 
Propagation and Culture. —These trees may be pro¬ 
pagated by seeds, layers, or cuttings. 
THULDEN (Theodore Van), was one of the most 
distinguished among the pupils of Rubens, whom he assisted 
in forwarding the pictures of the Luxembourg gallery. He 
was born at Bois-le-Duc, in 1607. He painted a consider¬ 
able number of large works for the churches and public 
buildings of the principal towns and cities in Flanders ; 
some of which have been honoured by being considered 
as from the hand of Rubens. Among the best of them are 
the Martyrdom of St. Sebastian, at Mechlin ; the Martyrdom 
of St. Adrian, at Ghent; and the Assumption of the Vir¬ 
gin, formerly in the church of the Jesuits, at Bruges. He 
was engaged at Paris, which he visited in 1633, to paint a 
series of pictures of the life of the patron saint of the 
Mathurins, St. John of Matha, which he afterwards etched 
and published in twenty-four plates. He is also the author 
of several other etchings from his own works and those of 
others ; particularly of 58 plates of the life of Ulysses, from 
pictures painted at Fontainbleau by Primaticcio, of most 
of which there is now no other remembrancer than his 
etchings. He died in ]676, at the age of 69. 
THULE, a river of Wales, in Glamorganshire, which runs 
into the Llogher, near its mouth. 
THULE, a name given by the ancients to the most north¬ 
ern part of Europe. 
THULE, Southern, a part of Sandwich Land, in the 
South Atlantic ocean, and the most southerly land yet dis¬ 
covered. Lat. 59. 34. S. long. 27. 45. W. 
THUM, a small town of the central part of Germany, in 
Saxony, with 1350 inhabitants; 40 miles west-south-west of 
Dresden. 
THUMB, s. [Suma, Saxon.] The short strong finger 
answering to the other four. 
Here I have a pilot’s thumb , 
Wreck’d as homeward he did come. Shahspeare 
To THUMB, v. a. To handle awkwardly. To soil with 
the thumb.—A treatise that shall make a very comely figure 
on a bookseller’s shelf ;—never to be thumb'd or greas’d by 
students. Swift. 
THUMB-BAND, s. A twist of any materials made thick 
as a man’s thumb.—Tie thumb-bands of hay round them. 
Mortimer. 
THU’MBED, adj. Having thumbs.—Fingered and 
thumbed. Shelton. 
THUMB-RING, s. A ring worn on the thumb.—I could 
have crept into an alderman’s thumb-ring. Shahspeare. 
THU'MBSTALL, s. A thimble; a sheath of leather to 
put on the thumb.—Gloves cut into thumb-stalls. Gayton. 
THUMP, s. \thombo, Ital.] A hard, heavy, dead, dull 
blow with something blunt. 
Before, behind, the blows are dealt; around 
Their hollow sides the rattling thumps resound. Dryden. 
To THUMP, v. a. To beat with dull heavy blows. 
Those bastard Britons whom our fathers 
Have in their own land beaten, bobb’d and thump'd. 
Shahspeare. 
To THUMP, v. n. To fall or strike with a dull heavy 
blow.—A watchman at midnight thumps with his pole. 
Swift. 
THU'MPER, s. The person or thing that thumps.—Any 
thing wond’rous great: a cant expression. 
Let me ring the fore bell: 
And here are thumpers, chequins, golden rogues. 
Beaum. and FI. 
THU'MPING, adj. Great; huge: a thumping boy, i. e. 
a large child. Exm. and different counties. Grose. It is 
a low word. 
THUN, a small town of Switzerland, situated on both 
sides 
