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THEATER or THEATRE 332 THEBES same play, though the scena versatilis, the turning scene, and the scena ductilis, the shifting scene, were not altogether unknown. The pulpihim again was di- vided into Tproscenium, or space in front of the scene, where the actors stood while actually engaged in the business of the play, and the postsceniuTn, or space be- hind the scene, to which they retired when they made their exits. Modern theaters are generally constructed on a semi-circular or horse-shoe plan, with galleries running round the walls. Also, a room, hall, or other place, gen- erally with a platform at one end, and ranks of seats, rising as they recede, or otherwise arranged so as to afford the spectators a full and unobstructed view of the platform. Such rooms are used for public lectures, anatomical demon- strations, surgical operations, etc. THEATINE, in Church history, any member of a congregation of Regular Clerks, which derived its name from Theate (now Chieti), a fortified city of the Abruzzo, of which John Peter Ca- raffa, one of the founders of the Congre- gation, was bishop. Associated with Ca- raffa were St. Cajetan, Paul Consiglieri. and Boniface de CoUe; the first steps toward the formation of the new congre- gation were taken in 1524, and in the following year it was approved by Pope Clement VII. The object of the founders was the promotion of spiritual life among Christians and the removal of irregu- larities among the secular clergy. The members took the three vows, and prac- ticed rigid poverty, for they even ab- stained from asking alms. In the pope- dom of Caraffa, who was elected in 1555, and took the title of Paul IV., the con- gregation spread over the continent, but is at present confined to Italy. , THEATRE FRANgAIS, or COM- EDIE FRANCAISE, the theater in the Palais Royal, Paris, in which the classical drama of France receives its most per- fect and artistic representation, dates from 1680, when Louis XIV. combined the actors of the Hotel Bourgogne and Moliere's company, and gave them a special organization and a yearly subven- tion of $2,400. In 1770 the theater was established in the Tuileries, in 1782 was removed to a new building where the Odeon now is, and after the troublous times of the revolution was finally estab- lished in the Palais Royal. The present constitution dates from 1803. The com'- mittee of six, presided over by govern- ment officials, names the societaires (the actors and actresses who belonged to the staff) and the less permanent pension- naires, superintends all financial arrange- ments, makes a point of reproducing from time to time the really great French plays, and sits in judgment on new plays submitted. The subvention is now $48,000. The Theatre Frangais is remarkable for perfect study, artistic dignity, and har- monious ensemble. THEBAINE (named from Thebes, in Egypt, from the vicinity of which comes some of the opium of commerce), C19H21NO3; thebaia; one of the less im- portant bases existing in opium ; obtained by treating the extract of opium with milk of lime, washing the precipitate with water, and, after drying, exhausting it with boiling alcohol. On evaporation a residue is obtained, from which ether dissolves out the thebaine. It crystal- lizes from alcohol in quadratic tablets, having a silvery luster, tastes acrid, and is extremely poisonous. It melts at 12.5", is insoluble in water, very soluble in al- cohol and ether, and is colored deep red with sulphuric acid. THEBAN LEGION, according to tra- dition, a body composed of Christians, who submitted to martyrdom rather than attack their brethren during the perse- cution of the Emperor Maximin, or sac- rifice to the gods, about A. D. 286. Their leader, Maurice, was canonized. THEBES, the name of a celebrated Egyptian city, formerly the capital of southern or upper Egypt; called by the Egyptians Tuabu, by the Hebrews No- Amon, by the Greeks Thebse, and at a later period Diospolis Magna. It lies in the broadest section of the valley of the Nile, in about latitude 26° N., at a spot where the desert on the W. sheers away to the girdling range of the Libyan mountains, leaving a broad plain, partly cultivated, on which stand the famous twin statues, one of which is known as the "vocal Memnon," and behind them the temples grouped about the modern district of Kurna and Medinet-Habu. The Nile divides this W. part or Ne- cropolis of Thebes, anciently called "Lib- yan suburb," from the extensive ruing now known by the names of the villages Luxor (el-Uksur, "the palaces") and Karnak which stand on the E. bank, with the low range of the Arabian hills for a background. The traditional foundation of Thebes goes back to the 1st dynasty, but no buildings have hitherto been found earlier than some slight constructions of the 11th dynasty, 2500 B. c, who appear to have founded the original temple of Amen-Ra, the special god of the city. Its most flour- ishing period was under the 18th, 19th and 20th dynasties, or from about 1600