Page:Cyclopaedia, Chambers - Supplement, Volume 2.djvu/264

 P L I

O

mfficiendy by the fourth day, it may be neceflary to give a dofe or two of fomethingof this kind ; and to this purpofe a decoc tion of hyflbp is preferred by many before all other medicines. Nitre is to be given boldly for the four firft days ; but after this, if the dlfeafe go on regularly, it is to be given in frrial- ler quantities, and not oftener than twice in a day. All oily and fatty fuhftances are to be excluded from external ufe, bu.: camphor in any form is found to do fervice. Opiates in there cafes are dangerous ; for as there is in all ct them a tenacity of the blood, this frate of it requires con cufiion, refolution, and excretion, but opiates effect the cxac. contrary of all thefe. Cafcarilla properly given, will almoi always mitigate the pain; and when that fails of it effect it is certain that opiates cannot procure it, but muft inevit- ably do harm. Junck. Confp. Med. p. 297, feq. Mr. Du Harnel found the poly^ala vulgaris of fervice in pro- moting expectoration in pkurifies. Med. de l'Acad. Science.

J739-

Blifters too, on the part affected, are faid to give great relief. PLEUROCYSTUS, in natural bifrory, the name of one of the general arrangements of the echini marini. The word_ is derived from the Greek w-xet^o*, the fide, and kv?<h the anus.

The echini of this divifion are diftinguifhed from the others, by having their anus neither on the fummit, nor in any part of the bafe, but in fome part of the fuperficies of one of the fides. Kleiris Echin. p. 32. PLEURONECTES, in ichthyology, the name of a genus of fifties of the malacoptervgious kind, the characters of which are thefe : The branchioltege membrane, on each fide, con- tains fix bones of a cylindric figure; and in the 'middle be- tween thefe, but lower down, there are two others joined to- gether at the end, but thefe are fcarce confpicuous. Both the eyes are placed in one fide of the head ; in fome they are in the right fide, and in others m the left. The eyes are co- vered with a fkin. One fide of the fifli is always white, the other is fpotted or obfeure.

Of thefe filh there arc fome which have a very fhort fpine at the anus, and the eyes ufualiy on the right fide. The fpecies of this fort, enumerated by Artedl, are thefe : 1. The pleti- roneiles ectilis ct talehuh's fexa dextra capitis, lateribus glabris, fpina ad anum : this is die plaife, 2. TntpU uroneftes with the eyes on the right fide, with rough (cafes, a fpine at the anus, and obtufe teeth. This is the filh we in England call the dab. 3. The pic urorte&es "with the eyes on the right fide, altogether fmooth. This is the hippoglojfus of Rondelctius ; it is about a foot long. 4. The pleuroneftes with the eyes on the right fide, with the lateral lines rough, with obtufe teeth, and with little fpines at the origin of the fins. This is our founder. 5. The plcuroneSies with the eyes on the right fide, with fharp teeth and with the anus on the left fide. This is the fifii called linguatala at Rome, and the pola of Bellonius. 6. The oblong plcuronecles with the upper jaw Jongeft, and fc'ales rough on each fide. This is the bughjjus of authors, or the Jle. 7. The pkuroneftc! with the eyes on the right fide, with a rough hoary body, and the lateral fins fcarce viiible. This is brought from Amboina.

The other feries of the pleurovcfl '^ have their eyes on the left fide of the head, and have no fpine, or fcarce any at the anus. Of thefe Artedi enumerates the following fpecies : i- The fmooth pleurcneffes^ with the eyes on the left" fide. This is the rbomhu s nan actileatus of Willughby, and is called the pearl in fome parts of England, in Cornwall the lugakaf. ?. The rough-bodied pleunnefteS) with the eyes on the left fide. This is our common turlott. ?. The left fide-eyed pleuronecles, with prickly lateral lines. This is the rhombus acaleatus of authors. The lines on the fide where the eyes are, are only prickly. Audi, Gen. Pifc. 14. The name is of Greek origin, and is derived from the words irXiL-pw, the fide, and yz&v,$, a fwimmcr ; and exprefies the pe- culiar and diftinctive character of thefe fifties; which is, that they all fwim on one fide, not ay other fifties.

PLEUROPNEUMONY, a name given by medical writers to a difeafc approaching to, and partaking of the nature of both the pleurifv and peripneumony.

PLEURORTHNOP.'EA, a term ufed by medical writers to ex- prefs that kind of plcurify in which the patient cannot breathe, unlefs'in an erect pdftufe.

PLICARIA, in botany, a name ufed by fome for the club-mof's. Dale-, Pharm. 60.

PLICATED leaf, among botanifts. See Leaf.

PLINIA, in botany,'the name of a genus of plants, defcribed by Piumierand Linnaeus, the characters of which are thefe: The perianthium is fin all, plane, and confifts of one leaf; the flower confifis aifo of one petal, which is plane, and is divided into five equal parts; the framina are numerous fila- ments, very (lender, and of the length of the flower ; the an- thers are fmall ; the germen of the piftii is fmall; the fly] e is fubulated, and of the length of the ftamina ; the ftigma is

■ fimple; the fruit is a large globofe berry, of a ftriatedor fid- cated furface,^ containing only one cell, in which is a very large, fmooth and globofe feed. Lbmcsi Gen. PI. 239.. Plu- mier, Gen. 11.

PLINTHiTIS, a kind of alum found in fome of the iflands of

the Archipelago, and called alfo plactii^ frorh its ufualiy be- ing found in thin cal;cs.

PLINTHIUM, a name r-iven by the antitinfis to a rrndv: : *i- vented for the making extenfion of iMocated or In.ciun.d limbs, Oribafius defbribes fevefal kinds.

PLITE of law:, in our old wi iter", fecms to he an antient mea- fure, 35 a yard or ell, at this time : 'tis mentioned in the Li.iz. Ed. IV c. ■-,. Blount.

. 3 LOMO, in metallurgy, a nam? given by the Spaniard?, who have ihe care of the Jilver mine., to the ore of that metal when it is found adhering to the furface of ft nes, and in- crufting their cracks and cavities in the form of fmall and loofie grains of gunpowder. Tho' thefe grains be but few in numbe, ajid the reft of the flone have no filver in it, vet they are always very happv in meeting with it, as it is a cer- tain token that there is a very rich vein fomewhere in the neighbourhood. And if in digging forwards they ffill meet with thefe grains, or the plon.o in greater quantity, it is a cer- tain fign that they arc getting more and more near the good vein.

PLGNKETS, in our old writers, a kind of coarfe woollen cloth. 1 Rich. Hi. c 8. feloutit, I'otucL

PLOTTING {('yd.) -Plotting-/^/?, in furveying, is ufed for a plain table, as improved by Mr. Heighten, who has ob- viated a good many inconveniencies attending the ufe of the common plain table. See Phil. Tranf N° 461. Seel:. 1,

PL- VER, phiv'uilis, in zoology. See the article Pluvialis, This bird ufualiy flies in exceedingly large flocks in the pla- ces they frequent ; people talk of twenty or thirty thoufand being feen in a flock. They generally come to us in Sep- tember, and leave us about the end of March. In cold wea- ther they are found very commonly on lands lying near the fea, in quell of food ; hut in thuws and open feafons, they ^o higher up in the country..

They love to feed in pluughe i lands, hut never remain ion°- at a time on them, for they are very cleanlv in their nature; and the dirt which lodges on their beats and feet, gives them fo much uncafinefs, that they fly t 1 the neartf: water to wafli themfeives. When they rooff, they do not go to trees or hedges, but fit fquattingon the ground like ducks or <reefe, far from trees or hedges, when the weather is calm ; but when it is ilormy they often get under ilie'ter. In wet weather they do not fleep in the night at all, but run about picking up the worms as they crawl out of the ground : during this feeding they are continually making a fmal! cry, that ftrves to keep them together, and in the morning they take flight. If in their flight they fpy any others on the ground, they call them up ; and if they rcfufe to come, the whole I jdy defcends to fee what food there is in the place that detains them. The plover vie very eafily taken at the time of their firft com- ing over, when they have not got any other birds mixed among them ; but when they afterwards pick up the teal and other fhy birds among them, it becomes more difficult. The belt fcafon for taking them is in October; efpccially in the beginning of that month : after thp*> they grow timorous, and are not eafily taken again till March, which is the time of their coupling. The fevercft frofts are not the beft feafoa for taking them in nefts, but variable weather does better. The north weft wind is found difadvantageous to the taking of them ; and in general great regard is to be paid to the courfe of the wind in the fetting of the nets. AH fea-fowl fly againfr. the wind when the land lies that way; and the nets for the taking them are therefore to be placed in a pro- per direction accordingly.

Plover-/^, in zoology, a name ufed in fome parts of Eng- land for the godwit, or agaccpkalus of authors. See the ar- ticle iEcOCEPHALUS.

PLOUGH (Cycl ) — The advantage of digging with the fpade, or fuch other initrument, verv naumdly^led men to the in- vention of the plough, as a greatly more expeditious way of doing the fame thing ; that is, cutting and breaking the earth into fmall pieces; but in this the fpade has the advantage of the common plough^ as it goes deeper, and divides the earth more minutely ; but the improvement of the common plough into the four cotdtered one, {hews that ir is eafy to make the plough p.-rform this office as much better, as it ufualiy does it worfe than the fpade.

The fLiigh defcribed by Virgilhad no coulter; and at this time the ploughs in I aly and the fouth of France, have none ; and the f loughs in Greece, and in the eaflern nations in ge- neral, are of the fame kind Neither is it indeed poffible to ufe a coulter in fuch a plough; becaufe the Ihare docs not cut the bottom of the furrow horizontally, but obliquely : in going one way it turns oft* the furrow to the right hand, but in coming back it turns it off to the left ; therefore if it had a coulter, it muff be on the wrong fide every other furrow.

It is a great mtflake in thole who fay that Virgil's plough had two earth-boards, for it had really none at all; but the fhaie itiVif aPways going obliquely, ferved inffcad of an earth-board ; and the two e3tr>, which were the corners of a piece of wood lying under the ihares, did the office of ground-wrifirs. This fafhion of the /-/ tigh continues to this daym thofe coun- tries ; and in Languedoc this fort of phi-gh performs tolera- bly