967 
THY 
corolla. Pistil: germ four-cleft. Style filiform, half two- 
cleft. Stigmas two, acute. Pericarp none. Calyx unchanged. 
Seeds four.— -Essential Character. Calyx subcylindrical, 
two-lipped, scored on each side with a villose line. Style 
semibifid. 
1. Thymbra spicata, or spiked thymbra.—Flowers in 
spikes. This is a low shrubby plant, like heath, branching 
out into slender woody stalks, which are six or eight inches 
long, covered with a brown bark, and garnished with nar¬ 
row acute-pointed leaves about half an inch long, sitting 
close to the stalks opposite; they have an aromatic odour 
when bruised.—Native of Mount Libanus, Macedonia, 
Spain, and the county of Nice. 
2. Thymbra verticillata, or whorled thymbra.—Flowers 
in whorls. This has a shrubby stalk which seldom rises 
much more than afoot high, putting out many small woody 
branches, which have narrow spear-shaped leaves, with many 
punctures ; they stand opposite, and are of an aromatic 
flavour.—Native of Spain and Italy. 
3. Thymbra ciliata, or headed thymbra.—Flowers in 
heads; leaves linear, ciliate. This is an elegant, upright 
and very branching shrub.—Native of Barbary, on dry 
barren hills near Mascar. 
Propagation and Culture. —Sow the seeds in the spring 
on a bed of light earth, and the plants will appear in six or 
eight weeks. Keep them clean from weeds, and remove 
them in July, some into small pots, and others into a warm 
dry border; shading them from the sun, and supplying them 
with water till they have taken new root. If the winter 
should prove very severe, cover the plants in the border with 
mats or other covering. The pots should be sheltered under 
a common frame in winter, where they may enjoy the free 
air in mild weather, and be protected from frost. 
THYME, s. [thymus, Lat.] A plant. 
No more, my goats, shall I behold you climb 
The steepy cliffs, or crop the fiow’ry thyme. Dryden. 
TIIYMELiE/E, the twenty-fifth of Jussieu’s Natural Or¬ 
ders, or the second of his sixth class, thus named from an 
ancient synonym of the genus Daphne, which makes a prin¬ 
cipal figure herein. See Daphne. 
THYMELICI, among the Romans, were musicians, who 
sung in the interludes, or who danced and kept time with 
their gestures. The place where they performed was called 
thymele, whence Juvenal, vi. 66. 
“ Attendit thymele, thymele nunc rustica discat.” 
THYMIAMATA, a kind of fumigations among the an¬ 
cients, the ingredients of which were so various, that it ap¬ 
pears the ancients always consulted utility as well as pleasure, 
in their composition of them. 
THYMUS, in Anatomy, a glandular body, occupying the 
upper and anterior part of the chest, and neighbouring por¬ 
tion of the neck, very large in the foetus, and diminished or 
nearly disappearing in the adult. 
The thymus is large in the foetus; nearly equal to the 
heart or one of the lungs. In a foetus of six months, this 
gland was to the kidney as 4 to 6. It not only does not in¬ 
crease after birth, but it becomes less, contains less fluid, is 
harder, and is nearly lost in the surrounding fat. In the 
mature foetus it weighed 160 and 180 grains; at twenty- 
eight years, 90 grains. In a calf it was 16 ounces; in a 
full-grown cow, 9 ounces. 
It is of considerable size, even in the adult, in some ani¬ 
mals, as the rat: the same may be observed of the Arctic 
bear. It is large in setaceous animal*. 
THYMUS [Qvp.o<; of Theophrastus and Dioscorides. 
From Gr.], in Botany, a genus of the class didyna- 
mia, order gymnospermia, natural order of verticillatae or 
labiatse.—Generic Character. Calyx: perianth one-leafed, 
tubular, half-five-cleft into two lips, permanent, having the 
throat closed with villose hairs: upper lip wider, flat, erect, 
three-toothed; lower lip two-bristled, of equal length. Co¬ 
rolla: one-petalled, ringent; tube length of the calyx; 
T H Y 
throat small: upper lip shorter, flat, erect, emarginate, ob¬ 
tuse; lower lip longer, spreading, wider, trifid, obtuse; mid¬ 
dle segment wider. Stamina: filaments four, curved in, 
two of which are longer. Anthers small. Pistil : germ 
four-parted. Style filiform. Stigma bifid, acute. Pericarp 
none. Calyx narrowed at the neck, cherishing the seeds in 
its bosom. Seeds four, small, roundish.— Essential Cha¬ 
racter. Throat of the two-lipped calyx closed with villose 
hairs. 
1. Thymus serpyllum, or wild thyme.—Flowers in heads; 
stems decumbent; leaves flat, ovate, obtuse, ciliate at the 
base. Root woody, fibrous, brown, perennial.—Native of 
Europe, on heaths and dry downs, flowering in July and 
August. 
The whole plant of wild thyme is fragrant, and yields an 
essential oil that is very heating. There are many varieties. 
2. Thymus lanuginosus, or woolly wild thyme.—Flowers 
in heads; stems creeping, hirsute; leaves obtuse, villose.—It 
grows naturally in the forest of Fontainbleau. 
3. Thymus laevigatus, or smooth thyme.—Flowers in 
heads; stems procumbent; leaves linear, obtuse, sessile, nar¬ 
rowed at the base.—Native of Arabia Felix, on mount 
Chadra. 
4. Thymus vulgaris, or garden thyme.—Flowers whorl- 
spiked; stems erect; leaves ovate, rolled back. Garden 
thyme is more hoary, higher, harder and more woody 
than the serpyllum, or wild thyme; the leaves are whiter 
and narrower; and the flowers smaller.—Native of the South 
of Europe and Siberia ; flowering from May to August. 
5. Thymus lanceolatus, or lance-leaved thyme.—Flowers 
whorl-spiked; stem suffruticose, erect; leaves oblong, flat, 
pubescent.—Native of Mount Atlas, about Tlemsen. 
6. Thymus Numidicus, or Barbary thyme.—Flowers in 
heads; calyxes hirsute; braetes ovate-lanceolate, ciliate; 
stem fruticulose, erect; leaves linear, patulous, smooth. This 
is a branching shrub.—Native of Barbary, near La Calle. 
7. Thymus zygis, or linear-leaved thyme.—Flowers whorl- 
spiked; stem suffruticose, erect; leaves linear, very blunt, 
nerveless, rolled back at the edge; ciliate at the base.— 
Native of Spain. 
8. Thymus marschallianus, or marshall’s thyme.—Flowers 
whorl-spiked; stem suffruticose, erect; leaves linear-lanceo¬ 
late, bluntish, flat, obscurely triple-nerved, ciliate at the base. 
— Found in Tauria. 
9. Thymus inodorus, or scentless thyme.—Stem shrubby, 
very much branched; leaves needle-form, bundled, shorter 
than the flower.—Native of dry barren hills, near Algiers. 
10. Thymus acinos, or basil thyme.—Whorls six-flow¬ 
ered ; peduncles simple ; stem ascending, branched; leaves 
acute, serrate ; calyx gibbous. Root annual, simple, fibrous. 
—Native of Europe, in dry hilly fields, especially in a cal¬ 
careous soil: flowering in July and August. There are, also, 
in this genus, as follows:-— 
Thymus patavinus, or great-flowered thyme. Thymus 
Alpinus, or Alpine thyme. Thymus montanus, or mountain 
thyme. Thymus piperella. Thymus brownei, or Jamaica 
thyme. Thymus filiformis, or small-leaved thyme. Thy¬ 
mus cephalotus, or great-headed thyme. Thymus striatus, 
or striated thyme. Thymus villosus, or hairy thyme. Thy¬ 
mus mastichina, or mastic thyme. Thymus tragoriganum, 
or goat’s-thyme. Thymus Virginicus, Virginian, or savory 
thyme. 
Propagation and Culture. —The common mother of 
thyme, or wild thyme, is very frequent on dry pastures, and 
is very rarely admitted into gardens. Thyme may be pro¬ 
pagated either by seeds or parting the roots; the season for 
either is in March or October. 
THY'MY, adj. Abounding with thyme. 
Guide my way 
Through fair Lyceum’s walk, the green retreats 
Of Academus, and the thymy vale. 
Where oft enchanted with Socratic sounds 
Uissus pure devolv’d his tuneful stream 
In gentler murmurs. 
Akenside. 
THYNNIA, 
