Page:Cyclopaedia, Chambers - Supplement, Volume 2.djvu/199

 PAS

PAS

Its head arid heck are large and thick ; the upper part of its head of a dufky grey, and its back of a deep bluifli black, but with a little whitcnefs at the ends of the feathers ; its tail is of a brownifh black, and its wings are variegated with brown, black, and a little white ; its breaft, throat, and belly are beau- tifully variegated with black* white, and grey; its beak is long and ftrong, and its legs of a blackifh brown, and very Ihort: it feeds on berries and other vegetable*. The male i: more beautiful than the female, and has a call: of purple in the blue of his back. It fings very fweetly, and loves the tops of old buildings. It builds in the fame places, and is the bird mentioned in the book of pfalms. It is much efteemed for

its fin

and will learn to imitate the human voice, and

talk as the ftarling, parrot, &c, Ra/s On i thai. p. 140.

Passer Jlidtus, in ichthyology, a name given by Nieremberg to a fpecies of the larus, or feagull, fo tame and foolifh that it will Hand ftill for any to lay his hand upon it. 'Nuremberg.

Passer troglod'iies, in zoology, the name by which authors call the fmalJ bird known in Englifh by the name of the wren. Some have very erroneoufly called this the regulus, which is the name of a perfectly different bird. See Regulus. Our wren, tho' a very fmall bird, is three times as large as the regulus, and of a brownifh colour, with tranfverfe {freaks of black on its back, wings, and tail ; a yellowifh throat and a white breaft, with fome tranfverfe ftreaks of black alfo on its lower part, and its belly of a reddifh hue ; arid finglng very fweetly and melodioufly, much finer and louder in its voice than could be expected from fo fmall a bird. Say's Ornithol. p. 164.

PASSERINE, in botany, a name by which Ruellius and fome other authors have called the common afine or chic Indeed.

PASSION (Cycl.) — PASsiON-/?<rcw?r, granadilla, in botany. See the article Granadilla.

The different fpecies of this plant cultivated in the gardens of the curious are very numerous, and moft of them very beau- tiful.

The three more common kinds, which are what we fee in moft gardens, are very hardy, and bear all the feverities of our climates as well as if natives of it ; for, tho' the tender bran- ches, and fometimes even the main ftem, are deftroyed in our fevercr winters, yet it always fhoots up again from the root.

Thefe are propagated by laying down their branches, which in one year's time will take good roots, and may be removed to the places where they are dcfigned to remain. The beft fea- fon for tranfplanting them is the latter end of March or the beginning of April : they fhould be planted againft a wall, or other building, which faces the fouth eaft or fouth weft ; or elfe mixed among the flowering fhrubs in quarters of large gardens : in this cafe they muft be trained up to poles fixed in the earth for that purpofe, and thus will flower well, and ap- pear extremely beautiful. The beft: feafon for pruning them it in the fpring, and it is a good cuftom to lay a foot thicknefs of mulch at the roots, which will effectually, preferve them from the feverity of the winter, and is neceffary when they are planted in open quarters, and have not the defence of a wall behind them. The manner of pruning is to cut entirely off all the weak fhoots, and fhorten the ftrong ones to about three feet in length. When they are planted againft high buildings, they may be left fomething longer than this, to fill up the wall; but this is not very neceffary, for they are very quick growing plants, and in open quarters they fhouid be always pruned much Ihorter than this, to bring their flowers nearer the ground.

The moft common kind with us never bearing fruit in this climate, can never be propagated any way but this ; hut there Is another fpecies which has by fome been miftakqn for the fame, tho' really very different, which conftantlv bears fruit with us ; and the plants of this may be railed from feeds in the common way. Miller's Gard. Diet.

Hyjferic PassioS. See Hysterics.

PASSIONATO, in the Italian mufic, intimates that the part to which it is annexed ought to be played pafiionately, or in a moving and affecting manner.

PASSUL ^TUM, a name given by the antients to medicine compofed of the pulp of raiftns palled through a neve, fome- times alone, fometimes with other ingredients.

PASSUM, a name given by the antients to a kind of wine made of grapes, which had been fuffered to remain on the vines 'tilt much withered and dried up : it is hence ufed alfo by fome of the moderns to exprefs raifin wine.

PASTE (CycL)— Pastes, in the glafs trade, a fort of compo- fitions of the glafs kind, made from calcined cryftal, lead, and metallic preparations, to imitate the feveral natural gems. Thefe are no wav inferior to the native ftones, when carefully made and well polifhed, in brightnefs or tranfparence, but want their hardnefs.

The general rules to be obferved in the making them are thefe: 1. That all the veflels in which they are made are firmly luted, and the lute left to dry before they are put into the fire. 2. That fucb veflels are chofen for the work as will bear the lire well. 3. That the powders be prepared on a porphyry ftone, not in a metal mortar, which would com- Suppl. Vol. II.

municate a tinge to them. 4. That the juft proportion Irt the quantities of the feveral ingredients be nicely obferved. 5. That the materials be all well mixed ; and if not fufficiently baked the fir ft time, to be committed to the fire again, with- out breaking the pot ; for if this be not obferved, they will be full of bhfters and air-bladders. 6. That a fmall vacuity be always left at the top of the pot, to give room to the fwelling of the ingredients. Nerts Art of Glafs, p. 127.

To make a pafte of extreme hardnefs, and capable of all the colours of the gems, with great luftre and beauty, take of pre- pared cryftal ten pounds; faltof polverine, fix pounds; ful- phur of lead, two pounds ; mix all thefe well together into a fine powder, make the whole, with common water, into a hard pajle, and make of this pafle fmall cakes, of about three ounces weight e^ch, with a hole in them made in their middle; dry thefe in the fun, and afterwards calcine them in the frraigbteft part of a potter's furnace; after this powder them, and levigate them to a perfect finenefs on a porphyry, and ftt this powder in pots in a ghfs-furnace to purify for three days ; then caft the whole into water, and afterwards return it into thefurnace, where let it ftand fifteen days ; in which time all foulnefs and blifters will difappear, and the pafte will greatly referable the natural jewels. To give this the colour of the emerald, add to it brafs thrice calcined : for a fea-green, brafs fimply calcined to a rednefs : for a fapphire, add /.after, with manganefe : and for a topaz, manganefe and tartar. All the gems are thus imitated in this, by the fame way of working as the making the coloured glafies ; and this is fo hard, that they very much approach to the natural gems. Neri's Art of Glafs, p. 142.

The colours in all the counterfeit gems made of the feveral fajies* may be made deeper or lighter, according to the works for which the ftones arc defigned ; and it is a neceffary general rule, that fmall ftones for rings, &e. require a deeper colour, and large ones a paler. Befides the colours made from man- ganefe, verdigreafe, and zaffer, which are the ingredients commonly ufed, there are other very fine ones, which care and fkill may prepare : very fine red may be made from gold, and one not much inferior to that from iron ; a very fine o-reeu from brafs or copper, and a Iky colour from filver ; and a much finer one from the common fmall garnets of Bohemia, which are of little value. The gems alfo afford glorious colours like their own. Neri's Art of Glafs, p. 136. The fine blue from filver is, probably, only from, the fmall quan- tity of copper ufed in the alloy.

A very fingular and excellent way of making the pafte to imi- tate the coloured gems', is this : take a quantity of faccharuni faturni, or fugar of lead, made with vinegar iii the common way ; fet it in fand, in a glafs body well luted from the neck downwards; leave the mouth of the glafs open, and continue the fire twenty-four hours ; then take out the fait, and if it be 1 not red, but yellowifh, powder it fine and return it into tho veffel, and keep it in the fand-heat twenty-four hours more* till it becomes as red as cinnabar. The fire muft not be made fo ftrong as to melt it, for then all the procefs is fpoiled. Pour diftilled vinegar on this calcined fait, and feparate the folution from the dregs ; let the decanted liquor ftand fix days in an earthen veffel, to give time for the finer fediment to fubfide ; filter this liquor, and evaporate it in a glafs body, and there will remain a moft pure fait of lead ; dry this well, then diffolve it in fair water; let the folution ftand fix days in a glazed pan ; let it fubfide, then filtre the clear folution and evaporate it to a yet more pure white and fweet fait ; repeat this operation three times ; put the now perfectly pure fait into a glafs veffel, fet it in a fand heat for feveral days, and it will be calcined to a fine impalpable powder, of a lively red. This is called the fulphur of lead. Neri's Art of Glafs, p. 140. Take all the ingredients as in the common compofition of the pajles of the feveral colours, only inftead of red lead ufe this powder, and the produce will well reward the trouble of the operation, as experience has often proved.

Paste for angling. There are many receipts which particular people are fond of, but the following compofition feems one of the beft: take equal quantities of frefh butter and fheep's fuet, about half as much of good old cheefe, and the crumb of an old ftale white loaf, as much as will, when they are all beaten in a mortar, make the whole into a pajh; add a little wool or tow ; that it mav keep the better on the hook. The jSlace Ihould be baited with blood and grains over night, and in the morning this pafte will be found an excellent bait.

Pastes for birds, a general fort of food made by the people who breed up birds from the neft, and f ui ting almoft all kinds. It is made in the following manner : grind half a peck of large beans, well dried, to a very fine meal ; take of this meal two pounds, of the beft fweet almonds blanched one pound ; thefe muft be well beat together in a mortar, till perfectly mixed; then to a quarter of a pound of frefh butter, in a faurepan well tinned, add the pafte, and mix all well together over a charcoal fire, ftirring it as it boils with a wooden fpoon ; then add the yolks of four eggs, and a little faffVon, and finally a fmall quantity of the fincft virgin honey. When thefe are well incorporated, and are tolerably thin and without lumps, Z z tfie