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THACHER 326 THALASSINIDiE of America, Its Discovery and Its Bap- tism"; "The Cabotian Discovery"; etc. He died Feb. 25, 1909. THACKERAY, WILLIAM MAKE- PEACE, an English novelist; born in Calcutta, India, July 18, 1811. At the age of seven Thackeray was sent to Eng- land for his education, and was placed at the Charterhouse School, London, after- ward continuing his studies at Cam- bridge. He left the university without taking a degree; and being well provided for he chose the profession of artist. He spent several years in France, Germany, and Italy, staying at Weimar, Rome, and Paris, but gradually became convinced that art was not his vocation, and hav- ing meanwhile lost his fortune, he re- solved to turn his attention to literature. His first appearance in this sphere was as a journalist. Under the names of George Fitz-Boodle, Esq., or of Michael Angelo Titmarsh, he contributed to "Fra- zer's Magazine" tales, criticisms, verses, etc., which were marked by great knowl- edge of the world, keen irony, or playful humor. It was in this magazine that "The Great Hoggarty Diamond," "Yel- lowplush Papers," and "Barry Lyndon" appeared. In 1840 he published separate- ly the "Paris Sketch-book," in 1841 the "Second Funeral of Napoleon" and the "Chronicle of the Drum," and in 1843 the "Irish Sketch-book." None of these writings, however, attained to any great popularity. In 1841 "Punch" was started, and his contributions to that periodical, among others, "Jeame's Diary" and the "Snob Papers," were very successful. In 1846-1848 his novel of "Vanity Fair" was published in monthly parts, with illustra- tions by himself; and long before its completion its author was unanimously placed in the first rank of British nov- elists. His next novel was the "History of Pendennis," completed in 1850. In 1851 he delivered a course of lectures in London on the "English Humorists of the 18th Century," which were repeated in Scotland and America, and published in 1853. Another novel, "The History of Henry Esmond," appeared in 1852, and was followed by "The Newcomes" (1855), "The Virginians" (1859), a sort of sequel to Esmond; "Lovel the Wid- ower," "The Adventures of Philip," and "Denis Duval," which was left unfinished at his death. In 1855-56 he delivered a series of lectures in the United States — "The Four Georges," and afterward in England and Scotland. In 1859 he be- came editor of the "Cornhill Magazine," in which his later novels and the remark- able "Roundabout Papers" appeared, but he retired from that post in 1862. He wrote a good deal of verse, half-humor- ous, half-pathetic, and often wholly ex- travagant, but all characterized by grace and spontaneity. He undoubtedly ranks as the classical English humorist and satirist of the Victorian reign, and one of the greatest novelists, essayists, and critics in the literature. A collection of letters by Thackeray was published in 1887. He died in Kensington Palace Gardens, London, Dec. 24, 1863. THAER, WILHELM ALBRECHT, a German agriculturist; born in Luders- dorf, near Wriezen, on the Oder, Aug. 6, 1828. He was appointed professor in the University of Giessen, 1871. He is author of a "System of Agriculture" (1877); "Ancient Egyptian Husbandry" (1881) ; "Weeds in Rural Economy" (1881) ; "Researches in Tenant-Farming" 1890). He died Dec. 14, 1906. THAIS, a famous Athenian courtesan, She accompanied Alexander, who, during an orgy, was persuaded by her to destroy the city of Persepolis. After the death of the Macedonian conqueror, she became the wife of Ptolemy, King of Egypt. THALAMEPHORTJS, or THALA- MEPHOROS, in Egyptian antiquities, a kneeling figure supporting a shrine or inscribed tablet. These statues probably represent priests and initiated women who carried about in processions the statues of the gods. It was usual for such processions to stand still from time to time, when the priests, kneeling prob- ably, presented to the people the images of the deities, either to be worshipped or kissed. THALAMIFLOR.ffi, a class of exoge- nous or dicotyledonous plants in which the petals are distinct and inserted with the stamens on the thalamus or recep- tacle. THALASSICOLLIDA, in zoology, a family of Radiolaria. The animals con- sist of structureless cysts containing cel- lular elements and protoplasm, surround- ed by a layer of protoplasm giving off pseudopodia, which commonly stand out like rays, but sometimes run into another, and so form networks. The best known genera are Thalassicolla, Sphoerozoii'm, and Collosphsera. They are all marine, being found floating passively on the sur- face of most seas, and vary in size from an inch in diameter doviTiward. THALASSICOLLINA, an approximate synonym of Thalassicollida (q. v.). THALASSINID^, in zoology, a wide- ly distributed family of macrurous Deca- poda. Abdomen long, not very solid, carapace small and compressed; first pair