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THORNHILL 371 THORPE THORNHILL, SIR JAMES, an Eng- lish painter; bom in Melcombe, Regis, England, in 1676. He was much engaged in the decoration of palaces and public buildings. Among his best efforts may be mentioned the dome of St. Paul's, the saloon and refectory at Greenwich Hos- pital, and some rooms at Hampton Court. His forte was in the treatment of al- legorical subjects. He was court painter to George I., by whom he was knighted in 1715. He was the teacher of Hogarth, who became his son-in-law. He died near Weymouth, England, May 13, 1734. THORNTAIL, in ornithology, a popu- lar name for all the species of two genera of humming birds — Gouldia (four spe- cies) and Disclira (one). The tail feath- ers in the first genus are much elonga- ted and sharply pointed, and the tarsi are covered with a tuft of feathers. Discura has a racket at the end of the tail. THORNTON, MATTHEW, an Ameri- can statesman; born in Ireland about 1714; came to America in 1717; engaged in the expedition against Louisburg as surgeon in the New Hampshire troops; took an active part in the overthrow of the royal government in New Hamp- shire; was president of the provincial convention of 1775 and speaker of the as- sembly in 1776; and served as judge of the Superior Court in 1776-1782. He was a delegate to the Continental Congress in 1776; and a signer of the Declaration of Independence; a member of the General Court of Massachusetts; and in 1785 was appointed a member of the General Coun- cil. He died in Newburyport, Mass., June 24, 1803. THORNYCROFT, WILLIAM HAMO, an English sculptor; bom in London, March 9, 1850; studied at the Royal Academy schools. "Artemis" (1880) was his first success; others were: "Teucer" (1881); "The Mower" (1884); and the portrait statues of General Gordon in Trafalgar Square (1885); and of John Bright at Rochdale (1892); Queen Vic- toria in the Royal Exchange; and a bust of Coleridge for Westminster Abbey (1885); a statue of Gladstone, etc. He was made a member of the Royal Acad- emy in 1888. Medal of Honor, Paris, 1900. THORNYCROFT, SIR JOHN ISAAC, an English engineer; bom in Rome, Italy, Feb. 1, 1843; studied practical engineer- ing; designed the "Ariel," a fast steam- boat; drew the plans for the "Miranda," the foreninner of the modem torpedo boat; went through the engineering course at Glasgow University; studied shipbuilding at Govan on the Clyde, and finally settled in Chiswick, England, as a designer and builder of torpedo boats and there constructed several such ves- sels for the British navy. He also in- vented a turbine-engine for low-draft vessels. THOROUGH WAX, THOROW-WAX, or THROW-WAX, in botany, the Bup- leurum rotundifoliu-m. The stem is branched; the leaves ovate, perfoliate; the flowers greenish-yellow, with large bracts; fruit with striate interstices. The name was given by Turner because, as he says, "the stalke waxeth thro the leaves." It was formerly used as a vxd- nerary. It is a native of Europe and Western Asia; rare in Great Britain. THOROTJGHWORT, in botany, the Eupatorium perfoliatum. The stem is round, erect, and hairy; the leaves sub- sessile, opposite, wrinkled, pale under- neath and hairy; the 12 to 15 florets tubular. It grows in bogs in North America. The whole plant is intensely bitter. A decoction of the leaves has been given as a febrifuge. In larger quantities it is emetic, sudorific, and aperient. Called also boneset and cross- wort. THORP, the Scandinavian equivalent of the German dorf, "a village," in local nomenclature sometimes stands by itself, e. g., Le Torp, in Normandy; but oftener appears as a suffix, as in English Al- thorpe, Wilstrop, and Norwegian Cli- tourps. Being Danish rather than Nor- wegian, this suflBx often helps us to determine whence Scandinavian settlers arrived in England; and while it is very common in East Anglia, it occurs very seldom in Westmorland, but once in Cumberland, and never in Lancashire. THORPE, BENJAMIN, an English scholar; born about 1782. Among his numerous publications are an English edition of "Rask's Anglo-Saxon Gram- mar," "Ancient Laws and Institutes of the Anglo-Saxon Kings," "The Gospels in Anglo-Saxon," an edition of "Beo- wulf," "The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle," "Northern Mythology," etc. He died in London, July 19, 1870. THORPE, FRANCIS NEWTON, an American author; born in Swampscott, Mass., April 16, 1857; was educated at Syracuse University and at the Law School of the University of Pennsylvania; was admitted to the bar; fellow professor of constitutional history at the latter in- stitution in 1885-1898. He was the au- thor of "The Government of the People of the United States" (1889); "Franklin and the University of Pennsylvania"