in Roman antiquity, denoted in its primary sense a cube or die; so called from the Greek word τετράγωνος, τετράγωνος, four: respect being had to its number of sides, distinct from the two horizontal planes above and below. And it was thus distinguished from the talus, which being round at each end, contained only four planes or faces on which it could stand; and therefore when thrown it had no more than two side faces in view. Hence ludere talis et ludere tesserae are spoken of by Roman writers as two different games. The word tessera was applied to many other things, not so much from a similitude in the figure, as from the relation they bore to some other things of which they were the sign or token; as the points on the upper plane of the die denoted the good or ill success of the cast.

The tessera hospitalis was either public or private. As to the former, we find among the inscriptions published by Gruter instances of two municipal towns which put themselves under the patronage of the Roman governor; and the reciprocal engagement between them, engraved on two copperplates, of an oblong form, with a pediment at the top, is called in both tessera hospitalis. The design of it

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1 See Du Pin, Bibliothèque des Anteurs Ecclesiastiques, tom. i. p. 106. Dr Kaye, bishop of Lincoln, has published a work of considerable value, under the title of "The Ecclesiastical History of the second and third Centuries illustrated from the Writings of Tertullian," Cambridge, 1826, 8vo. was to cultivate or maintain a lasting friendship between private persons and their families, and gave a mutual claim to the contracting parties and their descendants, of a reception and kind treatment at each other's houses, as occasion offered; for which end those tesserai were so contrived as best to preserve the memory of that transaction to posterity. And one method of doing this was by dividing one of them lengthwise into two equal parts, upon each of which one of the parties wrote his name, and interchanged it with the other. From this custom came the prevailing expression "tesserae hospitalem confingere," applied to persons who had violated their engagements.

The tesserae frumentariae were small tallies given by the emperors to the populace at Rome, entitling them to the reception of a quantity of corn from the public at stated seasons. The person who had the inspection of these was called tessararius. They were made of wood and of stone. There was another kind of tessera, which entitled persons to a sight of the public games and other diversions, usually made in an oblong form.

The tessera militaris was a signal given by the general or chief commander of an army, as a direction to the soldiers for executing any duty or service required of them. This, upon urgent occasions, was only vocal; but in ordinary cases it was written on a tablet, commonly made of wood. Besides these civil and military tesserae, there are others which relate to religious affairs, and may be called sacred.

TESSIN or TICINO, a canton of Switzerland, in the most southern part of the confederation, extending in longitude from $8^\circ 5'$ to $8^\circ 59'$ east, and in latitude from $45^\circ 46'$ to $46^\circ 33'$ north. It is bounded on the north by Uri, on the northeast by the Greybunden, on the south-east and south by Venetian Lombardy, and on the south-west and west by the Sardinian dominions. It is 781 geographical square miles in extent, contains twelve market-towns and 212 villages, thirteen monasteries, and seven nunneries, with 113,923 inhabitants in 1838, who all adhere to the Reformed church. They are all of the Italian race, and speak that language, except about a thousand, who use a corrupted German, and live in one of the valleys, unconnected with their fellow-citizens. The contingent to the force of the confederation is fixed at 1804, and the pecuniary contribution at L.1127.10s. It has lately received a new constitution of the representative kind, with a president changed monthly, and an assembly of 114, with another of eleven members. It is a most delightful and picturesque district, where, especially on the southern side, nature is exhibited in the wildest and most fantastic forms, intermingled with the valleys, which present less rugged beauty, and many of them a high degree of fertility. From St Gothard, 9000 feet high, the southern side displays the lakes scattered on the declivities. Although on the mountains there is little or no cultivation, with scarcely any productions except timber, and in a few summer months some butter, yet, on the declivities towards Italy, agriculture is carried on with great success. In some of the valleys prodigious crops of maize are gathered, in others the mulberry trees abound, and much silk is collected; and in most of them wine is extensively produced, though it is not well managed. Hemp, flax, tobacco, and all kinds of fruit, are likewise abundant. By the construction of roads, this canton has recently become more easily accessible, and the inns are much improved.