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 PERKINS tary on Genesis and Daniel, besides aiding in the general missionary work and in establish- ing and directing the various mission schools. In 1842 he visited America, and brought with him Mar Yohanan, a bishop of the Nestorian church, who was one of the first converts. He returned to Persia in 1843, and was called soon after in company with another missionary to visit Teheran, the capital, to defend the Prot- estants against misrepresentation and perse- cution, in which he was entirely successful. He visited his native country a second time in 1858, and again in 1868. His connection with the mission, of which he was the chief support, lasted about 36 years. He published "A Residence of Eight Years in Persia" (An- dover, 1843). PERKINS, Thomas Handasyd, an American merchant, born in Boston, Mass., Dec. 15, 1764, died in Brookline, Jan. 11, 1854. After spending some years in a counting house, he became associated with his brother James in a mercantile house in Santo Domingo. The cli- mate proving prejudicial to his health, he re- turned to Boston. In 1789 he went as super- cargo to Batavia and Canton, and afterward made several successful ventures in the Pacific, on the N. W. coast of America, and in China. He then formed a partnership with his brother James, which for the next 30 years was re- markable for the extent, foresight, and success of its enterprises. In 1805 he was elected to the Massachusetts senate, and for 18 or 20 years subsequently he was most of the time a mem- ber of one or the other branch of the legis- lature. He heartily aided many schemes of practical philanthropy, and was one of the chief contributors to the funds of the Massa- chusetts general hospital and the Boston Athe- naeum. In 1833 he gave his mansion house and grounds in Pearl street, worth over $50,000 for a blind asylum (now the Perkins institution and Massachusetts asylum for the blind), on condition that $50,000 should be raised as a fund for its support. PERM. I. A government of Russia, lying partly in Europe and partly in Asia, though officially wholly included in Europe, and bor- dering on Vologda, Tobolsk, Orenburg, Ufa, and Viatka; extreme length 500 m., breadth 450 m. ; area, 128,216 sq. m.; pop. in 1867, 2,173,501. The Ural mountains traverse it N. and S., dividing the government into two un- equal parts, that in Europe being the larger. Deneshkin Kamen, the loftiest summit, is 5,360 ft. above the sea ; and the principal pass across the Ural leads by Kungur, between Perm and Tobolsk. From the principal chain the sur- face descends in a series of terraces, and a great part of it is mountainous. The European por- tion belongs principally to the basin of the Caspian, and the Asiatic to that of the Arctic ocean. The Kama, an affluent of the Volga, enters the government from the northwest, and leaves it at the southwest, receiving many tributaries, the most important of which are PERNAMBUCO 307 the Vishera, Kosva, and Tschusovaya. The E. part has several lakes, and is drained by nu- merous tributaries of the Obi, the largest of which are the Sosva, Losva, Tura, Pyshma, Iset, and Miyas. The climate of the elevated regions and of the north is cold and bleak. Gold, silver, platinum, iron, copper, lead, dia- monds, and other precious stones, loadstone, salt, and marble are found. The S. W. part is generally fertile, but elsewhere the soil is bet- ter suited for pasture than agriculture, and much of it is uncultivated. Rye, barley, oats, potatoes, flax, and different vegetables are grown. Oak, elm, cedar, pine, and larch are the chief trees. The forests abound in large and small game ; the rivers are filled with fish, including sturgeon and salmon, and many of the inhabitants find employment in hunting, fishing, and cutting wood for use at the mines. The government mines are extensively worked. Excepting such industries as are connected with mining, there are few manufactures ; but some cloth, leather, soap, glass, and candles are made. About three fourths of the inhabitants are Russians, and the remainder are composed of various Finnic and Tartar tribes. By far the greater part belong to the Greek church, but there are some of other Christian sects, and about 4 per cent, are Mohammedans. II. A city, capital of the government, on the left bank of the Kama, in lat. 58 1' N., Ion. 56 16 ; E., 700 m. E. K E. of Moscow; pop. in 1867, 22,712. The houses are chiefly construct- ed of wood. It is the seat of a Greek bishop, and there are nine churches, several public buildings, a convent, hospitals, a gymnasium, a theological seminary, extensive iron founde- ries, and copper refineries. PERMUTATION. See COMBINATIONS. PERNAJHBUCO. I. An eastern province of Brazil, bounded N. by Ceara and Parahyba, E. by the Atlantic, S. by Alag6as, Bahia (from which it is separated by the Rio Sao Fran- cisco), and Minas Geraes, and W. by Piauhy, the dividing line with which is the Serra dos Dons Irmaos ; area, 57,583 sq. m. ; pop. in 1871, 1,250,000. The coast of this province, which comprises the larger part of the northern side of the Sao Francisco basin, is 135 m. long, and for the most part low, with high red cliffs fronting the sea. There are few ports capable of admitting large vessels. That of Recife or Pernambuco, the capital, is defended by a reef (whence its name) remarkable for its length and straightness ; a part of it has been built up with masonry, to render it still more effi- cient as a breakwater. The face of the coun- try is divided into three zones: the mattas or littoral, very fertile, and densely wooded ; the carrasco or bushwood zone, undulating and dry, but yielding good crops of cotton and vegetables; and the sert&o or elevated zone, very mountainous, stony, and dry, being only suitable for pasturage. There do not appear to be any summits of over 4,000 ft. above the sea. All the drainage of the middle and west-