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A Chinese toy made by cutting a square of thin wood, or other suitable material, into seven pieces, as shown in the cut, these pieces being capable of combination in various ways, so as to form a great number of different figures. It is now often used in primary schools as a means of instruction.

ion of wood, coal, etc., and having a varied composition according to the temperature and material employed in obtaining it. Coal tar. See in the Vocabulary. -- Mineral tar (Min.), a kind of soft native bitumen. -- Tar board, a strong quality of millboard made from junk and old tarred rope. Knight. -- Tar water. (a)…

colors, much worn in the Highlands of Scotland; hence, any pattern of tartan; also, other material of a similar pattern. MacCullummore's heart will be as cold as death can make it, when it does not warm to the tartan. Sir W. Scott. The sight of the tartan inflamed the populace of London with hatred. Macaulay.…

A movable piece of ivory, lead, or other material, connected with the bellows of an organ, that gives notice, by its position, when the wind is exhausted.

That which pertains to temporal welfare; material interests; especially, the revenue of an ecclesiastic proceeding from lands, tenements, or lay fees, tithes, and the like; -- chiefly used in the plural. Supreme head, . . . under God, of the spirituality and temporality of the same church. Fuller.

A fold of the dura mater which separates the cerebellum from the cerebrum and often incloses a process or plate of the skull called the bony tentorium.

llation. Testing machine (Engin.), a machine used in the determination of the strength of materials, as iron, stone, etc., and their behavior under strains of various kinds, as elongation, bending, crushing, etc.

The materials used for this purpose; thatch.

Caloric; heat; regarded as a material but imponderable substance.

An apparatus for conveying heat, as a case containing material which retains its heat for a considerable period.

d of the finger, used in sewing to protect the finger when pushing the needle through the material. It is usually made of metal, and has upon the outer surface numerous small pits to catch the head of the needle.

An inanimate object, in distinction from a living being; any lifeless material. Ye meads and groves, unsonscious things! Cowper.

gency of. Through these hands this science has passed with great applause. Sir W. Temple. Material things are presented only through their senses. Cheyne.

A small slab of marble or other material used for flooring.

Fig.: Material for any structure. Such dispositions are the very errors of human nature; and yet they are the fittest timber to make politics of. Bacon.

A shining material used for ornamental purposes; especially, a very thin, gauzelike cloth with much gold or silver woven into it; also, very thin metal overlaid with a thin coating of gold or silver, brass foil, or the like. Who can discern the tinsel from the gold Dryden.

overing the neck, or the neck and shoulders, -- usually made of fur, cloth, or other warm material. Chaucer. Bacon.

One of the elementary materials or fibres, having a uniform structure and a specialized function, of which ordinary animals and plants are composed; a texture; as, epithelial tissue; connective tissue.

st. [R.] -- Tobacco pipe. (a) A pipe used for smoking, made of baked clay, wood, or other material. (b) (Bot.) Same as Indian pipe, under Indian. -- Tobacco-pipe clay (Min.), a species of clay used in making tobacco pipes; -- called also cimolite. -- Tobacco-pipe fish. (Zoöl.) See Pipemouth. -- Tobacco stopper, a sm…

being so called by Dr. James Rush (1833) " from their forming the purest and most plastic material of intonation."