THURGAU (105), a canton of Switzerland, on the NE. frontier, where Lake Constance for a considerable distance forms its boundary; inhabitants are mainly Protestant; country is hilly but not mountainous, fertile, and traversed by the river Thur, a tributary of the Rhine; capital Frauenfeld.

THURIBLE, a censer suspended by chains and held in the hand by a priest during mass and other offices of the Romish Church.

THUeRINGIA, originally the territory of the Thuringians (an ancient German tribe), now an integral portion of the German empire, occupies a central position, with Saxony on its N. and E., and Bavaria on the S.; a considerable portion of it is covered by the Thuringian Forest.

THURLES (5), a town of Tipperary, on the Suir, 87 m.  SW. of Dublin; is the seat of a Catholic archbishop, college, and cathedral; in the vicinity are the fine ruins of Holy Cross Abbey.

THURLOW, EDWARD, BARON, a noted lawyer and politician of George III.’s reign, born, a clergyman’s son, at Bracon-Ash, Norfolk; quitted Cambridge without a degree, and with a reputation for insubordination and braggadocio rather than for scholarship; called to the bar in 1754, he soon made his way, aided by an imposing presence, which led Fox to remark, “No man ever was so wise as Thurlow looked”; raised his reputation by his speeches in the great Douglas case, and through influence of the Douglas family was made a King’s counsel; entered Parliament in 1768; became a favourite of the king, and rose through the offices of Solicitor-General and Attorney-General to the Lord Chancellorship in 1778, being raised to the peerage as Baron; lost his position during the Coalition Ministry of Fox and North, but was restored by Pitt, who, however, got rid of him in 1792, after which his appearances in public life were few; not a man of fine character, but possessed a certain rough vigour of intellect which appears to have made considerable impression on his contemporaries (1732-1806).

THURSDAY, fifth day of the week, dedicated to THOR (q. v.).

THURSDAY ISLAND, a small island in Normanby Sound, Torres Strait, belonging to Queensland, and used as a Government station; has a fine harbour, Port Kennedy, largely used for the Australian transit trade; also the centre of valuable pearl fisheries.

THURSO (4), a seaport in Caithness, at the mouth of the Thurso River, 21 m.  NW. of Wick; does a brisk trade in agricultural produce, cattle, and paving stones.

THYRSUS, an attribute of Dionysus, being a staff or spear entwined with ivy leaves and a cone at the top; carried by the devotees of the god on festive occasions; the cone was presumed to cover the spear point, a wound from which was said to cause madness.

TIAN-SHAN ("Celestial Mountains"), a great mountain range of Central Asia, separating Turkestan from Eastern and Chinese Turkestan; highest summit Kaufmann Peak, 22,500 ft.

TIBER, a river of Italy celebrated in ancient Roman history, rises in the Apennines, in the province of Arezzo, Tuscany; rapid and turbid in its upper course, but navigable 100 m. upwards from its mouth; flows generally in a S. direction, and after a course of about 260 m. enters the Mediterranean about 15 m. below Rome.