Page:Cyclopaedia, Chambers - Supplement, Volume 2.djvu/243

 PHY

tremity, by which they admit the fea water: as thefe ftand above one another on the main {talks, each receives its por- tion of fluid, and tranfmhs it without mixing with the reft, pure to that part of the ftalk where it join3 : they are all nicely jointed on to the main ftalk or trunk, and chat alfo is hollow as well as the leaves. The leaves of mod of the fea plants, on being examined by the microfcope, appear to be full of glandules and tubercles, which are in reality fo many' fmall pipes deftined to admit the fea water ; but in this plant, as that water is admitted in fufficient plenty by the extremities of the leaves, the reft of their furface is kept fmooth and perfectly even. Marjtgti, Hift. de la Mer, p. 76. PHYLLOBOLIA, pi/MoCe****, in antiquity, a cuftom that pre- vailed amonf the antients to ftrow flowers and leaves on the tombs of the dead. The Romans adopted this cuftum from the Greeks, and added iikewife wool. See the article Bu-

RVING.

The pbytti,bol>a was alfo ufed on occafion of a victory ob- tained at any of the public games j when not only the vic- tors, but Iikewife their parents, were ftrowed with flowers and leaves. Hofm. Lex Univ. in voc.

PHYLOBASILES, pato&ttrAa?, among the Athenians, magif- trates, who, with refpe£t to particular tribes, had the fame office that the bafueus had, with refpect to the common- wealth.

They were chofen out of the cupatrid;e or nobility, had the care of public facrifices, and other divine worfhip peculiar to their refpeclive tribes, and kept their court in the portico called bafiieion, and fometimes in the buc.lcian. Pff/if<r,Areha;ol. GrEEC.T. 1. p. 78.

PHYRAMA, in the materia medica, a name given by fome of the old writers to the gum ammoniacum, particularly to that kind of it which was foft and ductile between the fingers. It is not clear that the gum ammoniacum of thofe times was the fame tiling which we now know by that name ; at leaft it is certain, that the other kind of it, which they called thrauma, or a?wnomacu?n thrauftum, was not j for Diofcorides defcribes this as being of a reddith-brown colour, and very friable ; and Avifenna fays, that it marked a fine yellow or gold colour upon paper. Thefe are properties by no means agreeiiig with our gum ammoniacum ; and if juftly appli- cable to that, muft prove that it could not be the fame ; and the characters given by Avifenna of its bitternefs, and mak- ing a yellow ftain upon paper, feems to make it the gamboge. This, however, by no means can agree with the other virtues attributed to it.

PHYSALUS, a name given by Rondeletius to a fpecies of fea infc£t, of ti\zfa,hpcndra ma' ina kind, fuppofed by fome to be the fame with the fcolapendra marina, or centimes of the Iriih fea, defcribed by Molyneux ; but this does not appear to be the cafe, on a ftrict enquiry. The phyfalus of Rondeletius has no mouth, whereas the fea certifies of Ireland has a remark- ably large one : that of Rondeletius is wider in the middle, and tapers at each end j but the Irifh kind is largeft at the head, and tapers from thence all the way to the tail. Ron- deletius's has tubercles on the back, but tie Iriih one has only hairy ftripes; and his is a poifonous animal, whereas that of Ireland was found in the ftomach of a cod-fifh, which had eaten it as food. The figure given by Rondeletius agrees alfo very well with the account lie gives, but not with the figure of that drawn upon the fpot from the Irifh fifh, and given in thcPhilofophical Tran factions. On the whole, nothing is more plain than that thefe are two diftinct fpecies of ani- mals, tho' of the fame genus. Phil. Tranf. N° 225. See the article ScolopendRA.

PHYSE TER, in ichthyology, the name of a genus of fifties of the plaglure kind, the characters of which are thefe : The teeth are crooked, and are placed only in the lower jaw There is one high fin or fpine on the back, and a fiftula or hole in the forehead. There are only two known fpecies of this genus; thefe are, 1. The phyfeter with the upper jaw longer than the under one, and with a long fpine on the back. The head of this fiih is fo large, that it is half as long as the body, and thicker than the thickeft part of it. The lower part of the upper jaw runs out two foot beyond the under one, and its upper part more than five foot. The eyes are remarkably fmall, fcarce longer than thofe of a haddock ; the fiftula or pipe, is placed a little above the center of the head ; it is divided into two channels, and covered with one common operculum ; the teeth are in number forty-four, and all of the fhape of a reaper's fickle, roundifh and a little flatted, thickeft and moft arched in the middle ; and at the end terminating in a cone very lharp-pointed ; the bafe is thinner than the middle of the tooth. 2. The phyfeter with a verv hi^h back-fin, with the tops of the teeth flat. This is a fpecies of whale, defcribed, as well as the former, by Sib- bald The head is very large; the fiftula, or pipe, is in the middle of the head ; the fin Hands fo high in the middle of the back, that it has been compared to the mizzen maft of a fhip. Artedi, Gen. Pifc See the article B*.L. <en a. The name phyfeter is of Greek origin, and is derived from the verb 9wr«w, to blow. It has this name from its quality of taking in a great quantity of fea water, and then blowing it out again with great force and violence. Suppl. Vol. II.

P I C

PHYSIOLOGI, in botany, thofe authors whofe writings terict to fet that (ludy in its cleared light, by explicating and enu- merating the various difpofitions of the male and female parts '"™ Savms of plants. Linnasi Fund. Bot. p. 2. PHYSOCELE, a word ufed by many authors to exovefs a

lvmd-ri,p are. PHYSTA, in ichthyology, a name given by Gefner, and fome others, to the fiih called by the Greeks, and many of the later authors, bal-erus and balerus. Artedi denies its right to any general name, reducing it to the genus of the cyprini, to which it evidently belongs, and cliff inguifhing it from the others of that numerous genus by the fpecific name of.'the very broad and thin eylrinus, with forty rays in the pinnaani. bee the articles Baihrus and CvPltiNus. PHYSTE, in the writings of the antient phyficians, a word ufed to exprefs a mafs of meal macerated in a clofe veffel with vvune, but not left to ferment. PHY I ALIA, a word ufed by the antients in two very different fenfes ; with fome exprefling the latter par; of the winter fea- fon, and with others a place where vines are planted, whi- ther in ifandard vineyards or otherwife. PHYTOLACA, in botany, the name of a genus of plants, the charaflers of which are thefe :• The flower is of the ro- faceous kind, confiding of feveral petals arranged in a cir- cular order ; from its center arifes a piftil, which finally be- comes a foft fruit or berry of an oval figure, or nearly round, and containing feveral feeds difnofed in a circular order. 'I he fpecies of pbytohca, enumerated by Mr. Tournefort, arc thefe: 1. The larger fruited American phytolaea, called by authors the great red clujier-f raited Virginian mgi.ljhadt. 2. The American fhytolaca, with (mailer fruit. Tamil lull p 299. PHYTCLOGi, pbytehgijis, authors who have written any trea- tile on botany, or the iiiitory or ufes of vegetables. Limai Fund Bot p. 4 PiA mater (Cycl.) -According to Mr. Le Cat, the pia mater gives three membranes to the eye ; the firft lines the fclerotic coat, and is joined to it ; the fecond is the choroid coat, and the third is the villous mammary one, proceeding from the choroid, and is commonly called Ruyfches coat. Med Elf. Edinb. abrid. Vol II. p. 482. PIABA, in ichthyology, the name of a fmall frefh-water fiih, caught in all the frefli rivers and brooks in the Brafils, and fome other parts of America.

It is of the fize of the common minow ; its eyes have a fine black pupil, and a yellow iris ; it is covered with fmall fcales, and has a triangular fin on its back, two under the belly, two at the gills, and one behind the anus ; its tail is lorked ; its head is of a mixed yellow and white, and of the briofit- nefs of gold and fiber; its back is of a filvery hue, with an admixture of green, and in fome parts of a fine ftrong blue; and the fides of a filvery whire and blue, without any ad- mixture of green ; and its belly of a mixed yellow and white, with only a (light caft of blue; behind each of the gills it has a fine deep blue fpot, and immediately behind that ano- ther of the fame colour, but of a lunated (hape ; and two other oblong ones of the fame colour, near the origin of the tail ; its tail and back-fins are yellow ; its belly-fins red ; it is a well-tailed fiih, an! much efteemed by the natives. IVil- highby's Hill. Pifc. p. 269. PIABUCU, in zoo'ogy, the name of an American fiih eaten by the natives in many places. It is a ravenous fifli, and fo greedy of blood, that if a man goes into the water with a wound in any part of his body, this fifh will make up to it to fuck the blood. It is a (mall fifh, feldom exceeding four inches in length, and of no great breadth ; its belly isTome- what protuberant, and the whole fifh is covered with briolit filver-coloured fcales. The lines running one on each fide from the gills to the tail are broad, and not fhining like the reft of the body ; the back is of a greenifh olive-colour; and the fins are white. Marggreive's Hift. of Brafil. PIAFFEUR, in the manege, is a proud, {lately horfe, who, being full of mettle, or fire, reftlefs and foreward, with a great deal of motion, and an exceffive eagernefs to go for- wards, makes this motion the more that you endeavour to keep him in, and bends his leg up to his belly. He fnorts, traverfes if he can, and by his fiery aflion Ihews his reftlefs- nefs ; whence fome, though very improperly, fay, he dances. Such horfes as thefe, or fuch as are bred to pafiawe upon a ftraight line, are much admired in caroufels and magnificent feftivals. See the articles Snort and Passade. PIANISSIMO, in the Italian mufic, is ufed to fignify that the part to which it is added Ihould be played very foftly, and fo as that the found may feem at a great diftance, and almoft 1 ft in air. See Core.ii Concerto VIII. in fine. PIANO, in the Italian mufic, fignifies foft and fweet, bv way

of an eccho. Piano Piano, or Pi) Piano, in the Italian mufic, is nsarly the fame with pianijfmo, or rather a degree between it and piano. Phi Piano, _in the Italian mufic, fonifies more flow, or more

foft, and is much the fame with piano piano. PIC, an Eaft Indian weight, containing 100 catis. See the ar- ticle Cati

. 2 LI PICA,