priests, or rather monks, of Siam, and is supposed to be | p. 110. In their dresses of yellow cotton or silk, which derived from the fan which they always carry, usually are of the same fashion with those of the Buddhist priests made of a leaf of the palmyra-tree, and hence, says Craw- in Ava and Ceylon, the Talapoins of Siam present a highly furd (Journal of Embassy to Siam, p. 358), denominated favourable contrast to the rags and squalidity of the geneby the Sanscrit word Talpat. Tal is the common Indian ral population. On the other hand, a talapoin is not only name for the palmyra; and the older travellers give Ta- separated from society by being condemned to celibacy, lapa as the Siamese word for a fan. In the Pali (or learned and is prohibited from possessing property, but is expected tongue) the Talapoins of Siam are said to be called Thayn- to observe very strictly several of the precepts of the ka; but in the common language of the country they are national religion which are very little attended to by anyspoken of, as well as to, simply by the term Chau-cou, or body else, especially the prohibitions against the slaying Chau-ca, which signifies My lord (or literally Lord of me), of animals (although they will eat them when slain), stealthe first of the two forms being that commonly used, the ing, adultery, lying, and drinking wine. There are differother that employed to express extraordinary inferiority on ent orders of Talapoins, and La Loubere says there are the part of the speaker. (La Loubere, Du Royaume de also female Talapoins, whom he calls Talapouines; but Siam, i. 407.) Mr. Crawfurd states that they are called these, according to Crawfurd, are only a few old women Phra, which he says is a Pali word signifying Lord, ap- who are allowed to live in the unoccupied cells of some of plied also to Gautama or Buddha, to the king, to the white the monasteries. The national head of the Talapoins, elephant, to the idols of Buddha, &c. By the Burmese styled the Son-krat, is appointed to that dignity by the the Talapoins are said to be called Rahans, whence seems king, and always resides in the royal palace. to come the name Raulins, given to them by the Mohammedans; as by the Chinese they are called Ho-changi; in Tibet, Lama-seng or Lamas; and in Japan, Bonzes. (Prevost, Histoire Générale des Voyages, vi. 328; and Dr. Fr. Buchanan, On the Religion and Literature of the Burmas, in Asiatic Researches, vol. vi.) In Ceylon the name for the ordinary priests is stated to be Tirounnanse; but, as the novices are said to be styled Saman Eroo Ounnanse, and certain inspectors, exercising a general superintendence over the temples, Naïke Ounnanse and Mahanaïke Ounnanse, it would seem that the name for priests of all kinds is Ounnanse. (Joinville, On the Religion and Manners of the People of Ceylon,' in Asiatic Researches, vol. vii.) Samana, or Somona, according to Dr. Buchanan, is a title given in Burma both to the priests and to the images of Buddha; whence the Buddhists are often called Samanians. It is derived, he says, from the Sanscrit word Saman, signifying gentleness or affability.

TALAVERA DE LA REYNA, or LA REAL, a large town of Spain, formerly in the province of Toledo, but now, since the late division of the Spanish territory, the capital of the province of its name. It is situated on the right bank of the Tagus, at the end of an extensive and well cultivated plain, 38° 52′ N. lat., 6° 39′ W. long. It was called by the Romans Ebora Talabriga, as the inscriptions and remains found in its territory show. It has a fine Gothic church, the foundation of the celebrated Rodrigo Ximenez, archbishop of Toledo, the author of a history of the Arabs and a Latin chronicle of Spain, about the beginning of the thirteenth century. The town is badly built, and the streets are narrow and crooked. The population does not exceed 12,000, who are chiefly occupied in the manufacture of pottery and hardware, for which Talavera is famous all over Spain. A large silk manufactory, which belongs to the government, employs also many of the population. In July, 1809, Talavera was the scene of a battle between the British under Wellington (then General Wellesley) and the French commanded by Jourdan. The battle was long and obstinately contested, but it ended in the complete defeat of the French. The exhausted condition of the English troops, who were without provisions, prevented them from following up their advantage and pursuing the enemy. There is another town, in La Mancha, called Talavera la Vieja, or

'the old.'

TALC, a mineral which occurs crystallized and massive, and it is probable that some distinct species of minerals have been so called. Primary form of the crystal a rhom boid, but usually occurs in the secondary form of hexagonal laminæ, and sometimes in long prisms. Cleavage distinct, perpendicular to the axis. It is easily separable into thin plates, which are flexible, but not elastic. It is easily scraped with a knife, and the powder is unetuous to the touch. Colour white, green, greyish, and blackish-green and red. Becomes negatively electrical by friction; lustre pearly. Transparent; translucent; opaque. Specific gravity 2-713.

Ample information on the subject of the Talapoins is given by La Loubere, who visited Siam in 1687-8, in quality of envoy from the French king, in his work entitled Du Royaume de Siam,' 2 vols. 12mo., Amsterdam, 1691, vol. i., chaps. 17, 18, 19, 21, pp. 341-368 and 381-426; and by Mr. Crawfurd, in his Journal of an Embassy from the Governor-General of India to the Courts of Siam and Cochin China' (in 1821-22), 4to., London, 1828, pp. 350, &c. They are, as has been stated, a species of monks living in communities of from ten to some hundreds, and employing their time in devotion, religious study, and meditation, and in begging, or rather receiving alms, for they are not permitted actually to solicit charity. Their monasteries, in which each monk has his separate cell, are always adjoining to some temple; but it does not appear that the Talapoins officiate as priests or ministers of religion in our sense of the term. Neither are they considered as forming or belonging to the literary or learned class: the pursuit of any secular study is looked upon as unseemly and profane in a Talapoin; and in fact they are mostly very ignorant. Yet the instruction of youth in the elements of learning appears to be chiefly or exclusively in their hands. Every Siamese, we are told, becomes a Talapoin for some time. Every male in the kingdom,' says Mr. Crawfurd, must at one period or another of his life enter the priesthood, for however short a time. Even the king will be a priest for two or three days, going about for alms like the rest, and the highest officers of the government continue in the priesthood for some months. Usually, it may be supposed, a man goes through the ceremony of getting The massive varieties of talc are less flexible than the himself made a talapoin without any intention of perma-crystallized: they are principally of an apple-green colour, nently forsaking the world; but if he enters one of the sa- and sometimes of a radiated structure. It is met with in cred communities a second time, he cannot again withdraw considerable quantity in beds in micaceous schistus, gneiss, from it. The Talapoins are said to be very numerous; but and serpentine. they seem to consist for the greater part of mere tempoSome of the varieties of talc are infusible; others be rary members of the order, and of persons who have thus come white, and yield a small button of enamel with entered it for the second time in advanced life. Its ad- borax. vantages, or temptations, are, a life of idleness, exemption Indurated talc is massive, of a greenish grey colour; the from taxation and from the conscription, security of sub-structure is schistose and curved: it is of a shining and sistence and comfortable raiment, together with the cere- sometimes of a pearly lustre, and somewhat translucent. monious marks of respect with which a talapoin is every-It is soft and rather unctuous to the touch. Its specific where treated. All the monasteries are endowed by the gravity is 2.9. government, or by wealthy individuals, under whose protec- It occurs in primitive mountains in clay slate and sertion they are considered to be. La Loubere has given a pentine, in several countries on the continent of Europe; drawing of one; and another is described in Finlayson's in Britain, in Perthshire and Banffshire in Scotland, and account of The Mission to Siam and Hué in 1821-22,' | in the Shetland Islands,

Crystallized talc is mostly white, or of a light green colour; is met with in serpentine rocks in small quantity, with carbonate of lime, actinolite, steatite, and massive talc, &c. It is found in the mountains of Salzburg and the Tyrol: it occurs in many other parts of the world, as in Cornwall, in Kynan's Cove, where a bed of it underlies serpentine. It also occurs in Scotland, in Glen Tilt, Perthshire; and in Saxony, Silesia, and Piedmont, &c.

According to Vauquelin, lamellar tale consists of

Silica
Magnesia
Alumina

Oxide of iron
Water.

62

27

1-8

3.2

6

100

Steatite, chlorite, and other magnesian minerals are nearly allied to mica, and they are by some mineralogists considered as varieties of the same substance. TALEGALLA. Mr. G. R. Gray makes the diina the third and last subfamily of his Palamedeidae (PALAMEDEA, Linn.).

The Megapodiinae comprise the following genera:Talegalla, Less. (Alectura, Lath.; Talegallus, Less.; Numida, James; Catheturus, Sw.); Megapodius, Quoy et Gaim. [MEGAPODIIDE; CRACIDE, vol. viii., p. 132]; Mesites? J. Geoffr.; Menura, Shaw (Parkinsonius, Bechst.; Megapodius, Wagl.) [MANURA]; Alecthelia, Less. (nec Swains.) [CRACIDE, vol. viii., p. 133].

We proceed in this article to notice the genera Talegalla, Leipoa, and Megapodius, the natural history of which, especially with regard to their habits and nidification, has lately been satisfactorily made out. And first of

affinity are not entertained, such a classification has some plausible reasons to recommend it. In fact, the feet of the two birds are formed nearly on the same principle; but, then, so are those of Orthonyx, a little scansonal bird not much bigger than a robin. All three genera, in short, are remarkable for their large disproportionable feet, long and slightly curved claws, and the equality of length, or nearly so, of the outer and the middle toe. It is by instances such as these that we perceive the full extent of those unnatural combinations which result from founding our notions of classification from one set of chaMegapo-racters, and forgetting to look at the full consequences of carrying those notions into extended operation. Nor is this the only peculiarity of the New Holland Vulture; for, unlike all others of its family, it possesses eighteen feathers in its tail. 'An examination of the bill,' Mr. Swainson gives a cut of it, which is decidedly raptorial, joined with many other considerations, shows that all these are but analogical relations to the Rasores, while the real affinities of the bird are in the circle of the Vulturide, of which it forms the rasorial type. A perfect specimen of this very rare vulture, now before us (procured by Mr. Allan Cunningham in the forests adjoining Van Diemen's Land), enables us to speak of its structure from personal examination.' In the synopsis to Mr. Swainson's second volume (1837), we find it in the family Vulturida, under the name of Catheturus (which cannot be retained), beGeneric Character.-Bill very robust, very thick, one- tween Neophron and Gypaetus, recorded as the rasorial third of the length of the head compressed above, with type of the Vulturida. And yet it is no bird of prey at the upper mandible convex; nostrils basal, lateral, oval-all. Latham, in his tenth volume, and Lesson, were right oblong, pierced in a large membrane; lower mandible in considering it a rasorial species. less high but wider than the upper, nearly straight below, with smooth edges, the branches widened at the base, and that width filled up by a feathered membrane; cheeks entirely naked; head and neck furnished with feathers with simple barbules. Wings rounded, moderate, the first quill very short, the second rather longer, the third longest of all, the fourth and fifth diminishing in length after the third. Tail rather long, rounded; tarsi rather robust, moderately long, furnished with large scutella in front; toes rather long, the middle longest, the external shortest; the three front toes furnished at their origin with a membranous border, which is widest between the external and middle toes; claws convex, flattened below, slightly curved and moderately robust; the hind-toe long, resting entirely on the ground, and furnished with an equally robust claw. (Lesson.)

nide.

Talegalla.

Head and foot of Talegalla. (Gould.) Example, Talegalla Lathami. Latham, in his General History of Birds (vol. i.), described and figured this bird under the name of the New Holland Vulture; but, correcting his error, he, in the tenth volume, placed it among the Gallinaceous Birds, with the generic name of Alectura,.which had been previously employed to designate a group of Flycatchers. M. Lesson places the genus at the end of the PhasiaMr. Swainson, in his Classification of Birds (vol. i., 1836), treating of the Vulturida, notices this species, under the name of the New Holland Vulture, as being so like a rasorial bird, that some authors have hesitated (not having seen a specimen) as to what order it really belonged. So completely indeed,' says he, has nature disguised this rare and extraordinary vulture in the semblance of that type which it is to represent in its own family, that it has even been classed by one writer with the Menura of the same Continent; and it must be confessed that if clear conceptions of the difference between analogy and

.

Mr. Gould, to whom we are indebted for a full and satisfactory account of the habits of this extraordinary bird, to which we shall presently advert, modestly says:After all the facts that have been stated, I trust it will be evident that its natural situation is among the Rasores, and that it forms one of a great family of birds peculiar to Australia and the Indian Islands, of which Megapodius forms a part; and in confirmation of this view I may add, that the sternum has the two deep emarginations so truly characteristic of the Gallinacea; at all events it is in no way allied to the Vulturida, and is nearly as far removed from Menura.' It seems to us that Talegalla Lathami may be considered, in a degree, as the representative of the turkey in Australia.

Description.-Adult male: whole of the upper surface, wings, and tail, blackish-brown; the feathers of the under surface blackish-brown at the base, becoming silvery-grey at the tip; skin of the head and neck deep pink-red, thinly sprinkled with short hair-like blackish-brown feathers; wattle bright yellow, tinged with red where it unites with the red of the neck; bill black; irides and feet brown.

Female about a fourth less than the male in size, but so closely the same in colour as to render a separate description unnecessary. She also possesses the wattle, but not to so great an extent. (Gould.)

Size about that of a turkey.

Mr. Gould gives the following synonyms:-New Holland Vulture, Lath.; genus Alectura, ibid.; Alectura Lathami, J. E. Gray; New Holland Vulture, Catheturus Australis, Sw.; Meleagris Lindesargii, Jameson; Brush Turkey of the colonists; Weelah of the aborigines of the Namoi.

Habits, Nidification, &c.-Mr. Gould describes Telegalla Lathami, or the Wattled Talegalla, as a gregarious bird, generally moving about in small companies, much after the manner of the Gallinaceae, and, like some species of that tribe, as very shy and distrustful. When it is disturbed, he states that it readily eludes pursuit by the facility with which it runs through the tangled brush. If hard pressed, or where rushed upon by their great enemy, the native dog, the whole company spring upon the lowermost bough of some neighbouring tree, and, by a succession of leaps from branch to branch, ascend to the top, and either perch there or fly off to another part of the brush. They resort also to the branches of trees as a shelter from the sun in the middle of the day, a habit which Mr. Gould notices as greatly tending to their destruction; for the sportsman is enabled to take a sure aim, and the birds, like the ruffed grouse of America, will allow a succession of shots to be fired till they are all brought down.

But the most remarkable circumstance connected with the economy of this bird is its nidification, for it does not

hatch its eggs by incubation. It collects together a great heap of decaying vegetables as the place of deposit of its eggs, thus making a hot-bed, arising from the decomposition of the collected matter, by the heat of which the young are hatched. Mr. Gould describes this heap as the result of several weeks' collection by the birds previous to the period of laying, as varying in quantity from two to four cart-loads, and as of a perfectly pyramidical form. This mound, he states, is not the work of a single pair of birds, but is the result of the united labour of many: the same site appeared to Mr. Gould to be resorted to for several years in succession, from the great size and entire decomposition of the lower part, the birds adding a fresh supply of materials on each occasion previous to laying.

early extinction of the race; an event, he remarks, much to be regretted, since, independently of its being an inte resting bird for the aviary, its flesh is extremely delicate, tender, and juicy. There is no doubt that this species may be domesticated, and it would make a noble addition to those foreign denizens of the poultry-yard which enrich our homesteads and tables. Mr. Gould saw a living specimen, which was in the possession of Mr. Alexander M'Leay for many years. On my arrival at Sydney,' says Mr. Gould, this venerable gentleman took me into his garden and showed me the bird, which, as if in its native woods, had for two successive years collected an immense mass of materials similar to those above described. The borders, lawn, and shrubbery over which it was allowed to range presented an appearance as if regularly swept, from the bird having scratched to one common centre everything that lay upon the surface: the mound in this case was about three feet and a half high, and ten feet over. On placing my arm in it, I found the heat to be about 90° or 95° Fahr. The bird itself was strutting about with a proud and majestic air, sometimes parading round the heap, at others perching on the top, and displaying its brilliantly coloured neck and wattle to the greatest advantage: this wattle it has the power of expanding and contracting at will; at one moment it is scarcely visible, while at another it is extremely prominent.'

Before Mr. Gould left New South Wales, this bird, which, during the greater part of the period when it was in Mr. M'Leay's possession, was at large, and usually associated with the fowls in the poultry-yard, was unfortunately drowned in a tank or water-butt. On dissection it was found to be a male, thereby proving, as Mr. Gould remarks, that the sexes are equally employed in forming the mound for the reception of the eggs.

The mode,' says Mr. Gould in continuation, in which the materials composing these mounds are accumulated is equally singular, the bird never using its bill, but always grasping a quantity in its foot, throwing it backwards to one common centre, and thus clearing the surface of the ground for a considerable distance so completely, that scarcely a leaf or a blade of grass is left. The heap being accumulated, and time allowed for a sufficient heat to be engendered, the eggs are deposited, not side by side, as is ordinarily the case, but planted at the distance of nine or twelve inches from each other, and buried at nearly an arm's depth, perfectly upright, with the large end upwards: they are covered up as they are laid, and allowed to remain until hatched. I have been credibly informed, both by natives and settlers living near their haunts, that it is not an unusual event to obtain nearly a bushel of eggs at one time from a single heap; and as they are delicious eating, they are eagerly sought after. Some of the natives state that the females are constantly in the neighbourhood of the heap about the time the young are likely to be hatched, and frequently uncover and cover them up Locality. Mr. Gould states that the extent of the again, apparently for the purpose of assisting those that range of this species over Australia is not yet satisfac may have appeared; while others have informed me that torily ascertained. It is known, he says, to inhabit various the eggs are merely deposited, and the young allowed to parts of New South Wales from Cape Howe on the south force their way unassisted. In all probability, as nature to Moreton Bay on the north; but the cedar-cutters and has adopted this mode of reproduction, she has also fur- others, who so frequently hunt through the brushes of Illa nished the tender birds with the power of sustaining them-warra and Maitland, have nearly extirpated it from those selves from the earliest period; and the great size of the localities, and it is now most plentiful in the dense and egg would equally lead to this conclusion, since in so large little-trodden brushes of the Manning and Clarence. Mr. a space it is reasonable to suppose that the bird would be Gould was at first led to believe that the country between much more developed than is usually found in eggs of the mountain-ranges and the coast constituted its sole smaller dimensions. In further confirmation of this point, habitat; but he was agreeably surprised to find it inI may add, that in searching for eggs in one of the mounds, habiting the scrubby gullies and sides of the lower hills I discovered the remains of a young bird, apparently just that branch off from the great range into the interior. excluded from the shell, and which was clothed with fea- He procured specimens on the Brezi range to the north of thers, not with down, as is usually the case: it is to be Liverpool Plains, and ascertained that it was abundant in hoped that those who are resident in Australia, in situa- all the hills on either side of the Namoi. (Ibid.) tions favourable for investigating the subject, will direct their attention to the further elucidation of these interesting points. The upright position of the eggs tends to strengthen the opinion that they are never disturbed after being deposited, as it is well known that the eggs of birds which are placed horizontally are frequently turned during incubation. Although, unfortunately, I was almost too late for the breeding-season, I nevertheless saw several of the heaps, both in the interior and at Illawarra: in every instance they were placed in the most retired and shady glens, and on the slope of a hill, the part above the nest being scratched clean, while all below remained untouched, as if the birds had found it more easy to convey the materials down than to throw them up. In one instance only was I fortunate enough to find a perfect egg, although the shells of many from which the young had been excluded were placed in the manner I have described. At Illawarra they were rather deposited in the light vegetable mould than among the leaves, which formed a considerable heap above them. The eggs are perfectly white, of a long, oval form, three inches and three-quarters long by two inches and a half in diameter.' (Birds of Australia.)

The same author relates that these birds, while stalking about the wood, frequently utter a loud clucking noise; and, in various parts of the bush, he observed depressions in the earth, which the natives informed him were made by the birds in dusting themselves. The stomach is stated by Mr. Gould to be extremely muscular; and he found the mop of one which he dissected filled with seeds, berries, and a few insects.

The composure with which these birds sit to be shot at, above noticed, must, as Mr. Gould observes, lead to an

Talegalla Lathami. (Gould.)

M. Lesson describes the species from New Guinea, which serves as the type of his genus Talegalla Cuvieri, figured in the Zoologie de la Coquille, as entirely black, of the size of a common small hen, and recalling to the observer some of the forms of the Porphyriones. [RALLIDE, vol. xix., p. 281.]

The history of Talegalla affords a striking instance of the futility of classification based upon reasoning which has no sufficient data for its foundation: most of the errors

of our zoological systems may be traced to the same | hill; and that in many instances that part of the mound surrounding the lower portion of the eggs had become so hard, that they were obliged to chip round them with a chisel to get the eggs out; the insides of the mounds were always hot.