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LEFT FABMA 124 PARNELL London Symphony Orchestra. She made tours in various countries of Europe and in the United States. For several sea- sons she played as soloist for the Boston Symphony Orchestra. PARMA, a province and former duchy of northern Italy; having N. Lom- bardy, E. Modena, S. and W. Tuscany; area, 3,766 square miles. The surface is diversified, and the soil fertile in the plains. The climate is healthy except in the low-lying districts along the rivers Po, Trebbia, and Enza. Products, maize, wheat, tobacco, hemp and fruits. Nu- merous cattle are also reared; and it is noted for its cheese from the milk of goats. Minerals, iron, copper, salt, etc. Manufactures, silk, linen, and cotton goods, paper, glass, gunpowder, brass, etc. Capital, Parma; pop. about 160,000. During the decline of the Roman empire, Parma became a part of the kingdom of Lombardy. It was taken by Charle- magne, and transferred to the papal see In 774. In 1543 Paul III. erected Parma and Piacenza into a duchy, which he be- stowed upon the Farnese family, whose line became extinct in 1731. The treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle, in 1748, gave posses- sion of Parma to Philip, son of Philip V. and Elizabeth Farnese. In 1815 Parma, Piacenza, and Guastala were formed into a duchy, and bestowed upon Maria Louisa, wife of Napoleon I., with rever- sion after death to Ferdinand Charles, Duke of Lucca, the son of Maria Louisa of Spain, and the rightful heir. A revolution occurred in 1859, on which Marie Therese de Bourbon, widow of Charles III., and regent for her infant son, left the country, and Parma was annexed to the kingdom of Italy in 1860. Pop. about 350,000. PARMA, a fortified city, capital of the above province, 72 miles S. E. of Milan. It has a fine Gothic cathedral, and the ducal palace, which contains a library of 90,000 volumes, and a museum of antiquities. Parma has also a public library _ of 34,000 volumes. Manufac- tures, silk, cotton, and woolen goods, lace, cutlery, glass, and musical instruments. Pop. about 50,000. PARMIGIANO, or PARMIGIANINO, the nickname of Girolamo Francesco Maria Mazzola, an Italian painter of the Lombard school, and the most dis- tinguished of those who followed the style of Correggio; born in Parma, Jan. 11, 1504. He began to paint when little more than 14 years of age. In 1523 he went to Rome, and was employed by Clement VII. When that city was stormed by the imperalists under Con- stable Bourbon in 1527 Parmigiano sat calmly at work on his picture of "The Vision of St. Jerome" (now in the Na- tional Gallery, London), and was pro- tected from the soldiers by their leader. After this event he went to Bologna, where he painted the altar-piece, the "Madonna and Child," and returned to Parma in 1531. Having engaged to execute a series of frescoes in the Church of St. Maria Steccata, and being paid the money in advance, he delayed the work so long that he was imprisoned. After release he fled to Casal Maggiore: territory of Cremona, where he died on Aug. 24, 1540. His best-known picture is "Cupid Shaping a Bow"; he painted portraits, too, as of Charles V., Amerigo Vespucci and himself. PARNAHYBA, a river of Brazil, rises in the Serra Mangabeiras, about lat. 9° S., and throughout its course (650 miles) forms the boundary between the states of Maranhao and Piauhy. It enters the Atlantic by six mouths. The stream is swift, but navigable by boats for nearly 350 miles. On the E. bank, 14 miles from its mouth, is the unhealthy town of Parnahyba, with a considerable trade. PARNASSUS, a famous mountain of Greece, government of Phocis, N. W. of Mount Helicon. It has three peaks, the highest of which reaches an elevation of 8,068 feet. On the W. side lay Delphi, the seat of the famous oracle, and the fountain of Castalia. The highest peak was dedicated to Bacchus, and was the scene of the orgies of his worship. The rest of the mountain was sacred to Apollo and the Muses; hence, poets were said "to climb Parnassus." PARNELL, CHARLES STEWART, an Irish statesman; born at his father's estate of Avondale, Wicklow co., Ireland, in 1846, connected on his father's side with a family that originally belonged to Congleton, Cheshire, and whose members included Parnell the Poet, and Sir John Parnell, chancellor of the exchequer in Grattan's Parliament; while his mother was the daughter of Admiral Stewart of the United States navy. He was edu- cated at Magdalen College, Cambridge; became member of Parliament for Meath in 1875; organized the "active" Home Rule Party, and developed its obstruction tactics; and in 1879 formally adopted the policy of the newly formed Lnnd League, and was chosen president of the organization. In 1880 he was returned for the city of Cork, and was chosen as leader of the Irish party. In the ses- sion of 1881 he opposed the Crimes Act and the Land Act; was arrested, along