THADD^TJS. 179 THALES. name is Lebbopus, while in Luke vi. 14-16, Acts i. 14 it is given as JuJas [son] of James. Some of these reailings are not above suspicion, as the manuscripts ditfer considerably. It is possible that the original name was Judas Thaddoeus. for which Judas Lebbaeus was often used, Lebbaeus being a eujiheniism for Thaddoeus. Eusebius makes Tliacldseus one of the seventy, and sent by Thomas the Apostle to Abgar, King of Edes- sa, to heal liim and to evangelize his people. Eusebius claims to have taken this story direct from Syrian sources. The Syrian tradition embodied in the "Doctrine of Addai" makes Ad- dai, one of the seventy, the apostle of the Syr- ian Church. THAD'DETJS OF WAR'SAW. A romance by Jane Porter (1S03). The chief character is Count Thaddeus Sobieski, who devotes himself to the liberation of Poland and becomes a refu- gee teacher of languages in London. THAEK, tar. Ai.hreciit Daniel (1752-1828). A noted German agriculturist, w hose work revolu- tionized certain forms of farm management and animal production of his day. Born at Celle, Hanover, he studied medicine and philosophy at Giittingen, and succeeded his father as Court physician, but early turned his attention to agriculture. He worked out a new system of farm management on his small farm in Celle, where he demonstrated the value of more inten- sive farming, stall feeding of soiling crops, and the rotation of crops in connection with potato culture. He was especially active in applying scientific principles to agriciilture, systematizing agricultural accounts, introducing agricultural implements and appliances, and improving sheep for the production of fine wool. The fame of his system of farm management attracted large num- bers of young agriculturists, to whom he began delivering lectures in 1802. out of which grew the Agricultural Institute of Celle. In 1804 he b6ught the Moglin Manor, near Berlin, for the purpose of demonstrating how under his system an exhausted farm could be brought to a high state of production, and in 1800 founded there an agricultural institute, which became celebrated. He was appointed professor at the L'niversity of Berlin and councilor in the ilinistry of the In- terior in 1810. started his famous sheep-breeding farm at Jliiglin in 1811. and from 1815 on had charge of the royal sheep-breeding farms, which he greatly improved. Resigning his professorship in 1818, he devoted himself to his institute at Mbglin. which was raised to a Royal Academy of Agriculture in 1824. Thaer founded and edited the Annalen der niedersiiclisischen Landwirt- schnft ( 1798-1804) , and was the author of a large number of treatises on agriculture, several of which are characterized as epoch-making. The Einleitung zur Kenntiiis der englischen Land- irirtscliuf't (1708: .3d ed. 1810) made his name first more widely known, and his great work Grundsiiize der rationellcn Landicirtschnft (1809- 10; new ed., ISSO) was translated into most of the European languages. Jlonuments to his memory were erected at Leipzig, Berlin, and Celle. For his biographv, consult Korte (Leip- zig, 1839). THAI, ta'^ (free). A group of peoples of Farther India, including the Thos (q.v. ) and Muongs (q.v.) in the northeast (Tongking and China), the Shans (q.v.) in the northwest (Bur- ma, Siam, China), the Laotians (see Laos) in the south (the Laos States, French Siam), and the Siamese in the southwest (Siam). The term Thai is applied by certain writers to the Siamese in particular, but their proper ap- pellation is rather Little Thai, their ancestors, the Shans, being called the Great Thai. The Thai peoples speak languages belonging to the same linguistic stock. The Siamese present the Thai type, nuich clianged by intermixture with Khmers. Hindus. Kuis, Malay's, and other stocks. They are of medium stature and hrachycephalic, while the Laotians are shorter and less broad- headed. Among some of the Shan tribes the primitive Thai type is best preserved. The Thai peoples have shown much political capacity. Con- sult: Pellegoix, Description dii royciume Thai ou Siam (Paris, 1854) : Bastian, Die V Hiker dcs ostliehen Asieiis (Leipzig, 1800) ; Hellwald, Uin- terindische Liinder tind Viilker (ib., 1880) ; Forbes, Comparatii-e Grnmmar of the Languages of Further India (London, 1881); Colquhoun, Across Chrijse (ib., 1883) ; Diguet, Etude de la langue Tui (Paris, 1890). THA'IS (Lat., from Gk. Qaic,). An Athenian courtesan, famous for her wit and beauty. She accompanied Alexander the Great on his expe- dition into Asia, and, according to Cleitarchus, induced him, during a festival, to set fire to the palace of the Persian kings at Persepolis. After the death of Alexander she lived with Ptolemy Lagi, King of Egypt, who is said (by Athenfeus) to have married her, and by whom she had two sons, Leontiscus and Lagus, and a daughter, Irene. THALBERG, tiil'berK, Sigismcnd (1812-71). A distinguished GJerman pianist, born at Geneva, Switzerland. He was the natural son of Prince Jloritz Dietrichstein and received his musical education from 1822 on at Vienna, where he stud- ied under Hummel and composition under Sechter. Making his appearance in public in 1830 with brilliant success, he was appointed chamber virtuoso to the Emperor of Austria in 1834, and the following j'ear appeared in Paris, as a rival of Liszt. After a succession of tri- umphs in England. Russia, and Italy, in Brazil (1855-50), and in the LTnited States (1856-58). he retired to his home at Posilippo, near Naples, whence he only once more undertook a concert tour to Paris and London in 1862 and to Brazil in 1803. Perhaps his strongest point as a pianist was his masterly of the legato singing tone. In every other respect his style, though brilliant, was shallow. THALER, tii'lPr. A German coin, first struck at Joachimsthal. Bohemia, in 1519 and hence called .Joachimsthaler, whence the modern name. The thaler, divided into thirty silbergroschen of 12 pfennigs, was the German unit of value until 1873, when the mark was adopted. The thaler is still in circulation with the value of 3 marks, about 09 cents. THALES, thii'lez (Lat., from Gk. On^w)- The earliest of the Greek philosophers, and the founder of the Ionic or Physical school. He flour- ished in the first half of the sixth century B.C. He was a native of Jliletus. in Asia Minor, and is said to have been of Phoenician descent. He was reckoned one of the Seven Wise Men,
