Page:Cyclopaedia, Chambers - Volume 2.djvu/351

 PAR

The Ufe of Pdrdgogic Letters is only to give a more full and agreeable Sound to Words, either for the Sake of the Verfe, or the Period. , ,

The Word is form'd of the Greek vu&.yti I add ; compounded

of V&&- Slid a.yu

PARAGOR1CKS, Medicines prefcrib'd with an Inten- tion to affwage Pain. SeePAiN.

They are thus call'd, from the Greek m&yav I mitigate, abate ; but are more ordinarily denominated Opiates. See

PARAGRAPH, a Term originally in Jurif-prudence, fig- nifyinga SeBion, or Divifion of the Text of a Law ; other- wife cali'd an Article.

Thus fuch a Law is (aid to be divided into fo many 'Para- graphs. The Charafter of a Paragraph in a Quotation is, 5. See Character. ., , _..

The Greek Poets alfo ufed Paragraphs to mark the Couplets Strophes, and other Divifions of Odes, and other poetical

PARAGUAY, or PARAGOUE, in Nat. Hiftory, a ce- lebrated Plant, of the Shrub Kind, growing in fome Provinces of South America, eftecially at Paraguay, whence its Name; tho' better known, ot iate, among us, under the Denomination of South-Sea Tea. ... .,

This Plant, which does not rife above a Foot and halt high, has very (lender Branches, and Leaves like thofe of Senna 5 it may be look'd on as a Kind of Occidental Tea, which, like the Oriental, is taken infufed in hot Water, to which it com- municates a Colour and Smell nearly like thofe of the belt Tea feen in Europe..

There are two Kinds of Paraguay, the one call Id limply Paraguay ; the other Camint, by the Spaniards, T.rva-La- mini ; which laflismoft edeem'd, and fold for a Third more than the other. , . „."-..

The firit the Spaniards call Terva-Conpalos, 1. e. Herb with little Sticks b»caufe fall of broken Branches, and is chiefly uled by Domedicks and Slaves : The latter is the Drink of the richeft. But both are of fo much Ufe, and etteem J ot iuch ab- folute Neceffity, that nobody in that Part of America will Jive without 'em. The Works of the Mines ot Potcfi wou'd (land dill, but that the Mailers take care to fupply the poor Slaves that labour therein, with Paraguay. Nor will a Ser- vant enoage himfelf with any Mailer, but upon this among other Conditions, that he have nothing but Paraguay for

The Paraguay makes one of the mod confiderable Arti- cles of the South American Commerce. At Peru, Chilly, and Buenos Aires, there are above two Millions Worth fold per Annum ; which p^ffes almoll altogether thro' the Hands of the Jefuits. The Ufe of Paraguay began lately to obtain in England ; where many People leem'd to like it as well as Tea. But Foreigners fay, that their Approbation flow'd as much from their Intered as their Tafte ; in regard they come fo eafi- ly by it, by reafon of their Commerce with the Spaniards of S. America, and •Buenos Aires, (ince the Treaty of Utrecht

in 1715. ,, ....

The Preparation of the Plant, and the making it into a Drink is much the fame with that of Tea, except that they infufe both Leaves and Wood, that they drink it immediately out of the Veflil 'tis made in ; without letting it have Time to infufe, by reafon of the black Tincture it gives ; and that, to prevent Leaves and all from coming, they fuck it thro' a fil- ver, or glafs Pipe, which goes round the Company one after another. Frezier.

Befide all the Virtues which the Eaflern People afcribe to their Tea; as lobe good in Difeafesofthe Head, Bread, Sto- mach, againft Phlegm, and to redore Sleep ; the Americans attribute to theirs this further of purifying all Kinds of Water, how foul and corrupted foever, by only infufmg it therein, either hot or cold. Thus, having always fome of it with 'em, if they meet with none but the word Waters in the vail Defarts to be crofs'd in going from "Buenos Aires to Peru and Chilly, they are not afraid to drink it, after deeping fome of the Plant a little while therein. It is alfo held iovercign againd the Scurvy, and putrid Fevers.

PARALEPSIS, in Rhetoric, a Feint, or Pretence of omit- ting or palling over a Thing, and yet expreflmg it. See Fi- gure.

When the Imagination is warm'd, and Reafons and Argu- ments prefent themfelves in abundance ; the Orator wou'd wil- lingly lay ! em all down, in Form ; but, for Fear of wearying his Audience, only produces fome of 'em en pajjant, and without dwelling on them : and this is call'd a Parakffis ; forlndance, Ipafs over in Silence the many Injuries I have receiv'd, &e. J wont bifid on lis left Outrage.

PARALIPOMENA, a Supplement of Things omitted, or forgot in fome preceding Work, orTreatife.

In the Canon of Scripture, there are two Books of parali- fomena, call'd alfo Chronicles ; being a Supplement to the four Books of Kings, the two firfl whereof are alfo caked Books of Samuel.

guintus Calaber has a Work entituled, the Paralipomena, of Homer.

C 34 2 )

PAR

The Word is form'd from the Greek ira^hilvsc^ $i'(etermi {tQ I pafs by.

Some Authors ufe the Word Snbrelitlormn inflcad of Para-. Vipomenan.

PARALLAX, in Affronomy, an Arch of the Heavens in- tercepted between the true Place of a Star, and its apparent Place. SeePLACE.

The true Place of a Star is that Point of the Heavens, B, 'Tab. Agronomy Fig. 27. wherein it wou'd be feen by an Bye placed in the Centre of the Earth, as at T. The apparent Place is that Point of the Heavens C, wherein the Star appears to an Eye on the Surface of the Earth, as at E.

Now, as in Effect, we view the CelelHal Bodies not from the Centre but from the Surface of our Earth, which is a Se- mi-diameter diilant from the Centre ; we fee it by a viliial Ray, which paffing thro' the Centre of the Star, and proceed- ing thence to the Surface of the Mundane Sphere, marks out another Point C, which isits apparent Place.

This Difference of Places, is what we call abfolutely the Pa- rallax, asea^Adir/fjOr the 'Parallax of 'Altitude ; by Copernicm call'd the Commutation ; which,therefore,is an Angle form'd by two vifual Rays, drawn, the one from the Centre, the other from the Circumference of the Earth, and traverfingthe Body of the Star} and is meafured by an Arch of a great Circle inter- cepted between the two Points of true and apparent Place C and B.

Parallax is alfo ufed for the Angle made in the Centre of the Star, by two right Lines, drawn, the one from the Cen- tre, the other from the Surface of the Earth.

The Angle is alfo call'd 'Parallactic Angle. See Paral- lactic Angle.

Hence the Parallax diminifhes the Altitude of a Star, or jncreafes its Diftance from the Zenith,and has, therefore, a con- trary Effect to the Refraction. See Refraction.

The Parallax ot the Altitude, C B is, ftriclly, the Diffe- rence between the true Diitance from the Zenith C A, and the apparent Diftance B A. See Parallactic Angle.

The parallax is greater! in the Horizon ; in the Zenith, or Meridian, a Star has no Parallax at all, the true and apparent Places, then co-inciding.

The Horizontal Parallax is the fame, whether the Star be in the true or apparent Horizon.

The fix'd Stars have no fenfible parallax, by reafon of their immenfe Diitance to which the Semi-diameter of the Earthisbuta merePoint. See Star.

Hence alfo the nearer a Star is to the Earth, the greater is its Parallax, at an equal Elevation above the Horizon; Saturn is fo high, that we have much ado to obferve any Parallax ar all.

The Parallax increafes the right and oblique Afccniion, diminifhes the Defcenfion, diminifhes the Northern Declina- tion, and Latitude in the Eaflern Part, increafes it in the Weftern ; increafes the Southern in the Eaflern and Weflern Part; diminifhes the Longitude in the Weffern Parr, increafes it in the Eaflern. The Parallax, therefore, has juff oppofite Effects to the Refraction. See Refraction.

Parallax of Declination, is an Arch of a Circle of Declina- tion S I. Fig. 28. whereby the Parallax of the Altitude increafes or diminifhes the Declination of a Star. See Declina- tion.

Parallax of Afcenfion and DeJcenJIonjs an Arch of the Equa- tor Ud,Fig. 29. whereby the Parallax of the Altitude increafes the Afcenfion, and diminifhes the Defcenfion. See Ascension and Descension.

Parali ax of Longitude, is an Arch of the Ecliptic T t, Fig. 28. whereby the Parallax of the Altitude increafes or diminifhes the Longitude. See Longitude.

Parallax of Latitude, is an Arch of a Circle of Latitude SI, whereby the Parallax of Altitude increafes or diminifhes the Latitude. See Latitude.

PARALLACTIC Angle, called alfo fimply Parallax, is the Angle made in the Centre of the Star by two risiht Lines, drawn, the one from the Centre oftheEarth TB, P'ab. Afiro- nomy, Fig. 27. the other from its Surface E B.

Or, which amounts to the fame, the Parallactic Angle is the Difference of the Angles CE A, and B T A, under which the real and apparent Dillances from the Zenith are feen. See Parallax.

The Sines of the Parallactic Angles ALT and AST, Tab. AJiron. Fig. 50. at the fame or equal Diftances from the Zenith SZ ; are in a reciprocal Ratio of the Diffances of the Stars from the Centre of Earth T L and T S. Hence the Pa- rallax of the remoter Star S, is lefs than the Parallax of the nearer L, at the fame Diflance from the Zenith ; as before ob- ferv'd.

The Sines of the Parallactic Angles M and S, of Stars equally diftant from the Centre of the Earth T, are as the Sines of the Difknces feen from the Vertex Z M and Z S.

Hence, as the Diftances from the Vertex decreafe, i. e. as the Altitudes decreafe, the Parallaxdccv cafes ; and hence, alfo, theparallax affects the Altitude of the Star, from the Horizon to the Zenith-.

The