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 PARAMATTA PARAPHERNALIA PARAMATTA, a town of Australia, in New South Wales, on the Paramatta river (an arm of the sea), 14 m. N. W. of Sydney ; pop. in 1871, 6,103. Among the notable public build- ings are the government house, the benevolent asylum, the schools, the court house and town hall, several places of worship, among which the new Gothic Congregational church is prom- inent, and a school of arts. Its observatory has been transferred to Sydney. There are two orphan schools and two lunatic asylums, two woollen factories, and two flour mills. The walks are planted with oaks, the largest in Aus- tralia. The vicinity is famous for its orange- ries and orchards. Paramatta is next to Syd- ney the oldest town in the colony, and has been under municipal government since 1861. PARANA, a river of South America, formed by the union of the Paranahyba and Grande, both from the mountains of Minas Geraes in Brazil. From the point of junction of these rivers, about lat. 20 S., Ion. 52 W., the Parana flows S. W. by S. as a majestic stream to lat. 24 4', where it forms the cataract of Guayra or Salto Grande, described by travellers as eclipsing in magnificence all others in the world, not even excepting Niagara. After collecting the waters of several rivers on both banks, and especially those of the Tiete and Paranapanema from the east, the Parana in- creases in width until it attains nearly 4,500 yards a short distance above the falls; then the immense mass of water is suddenly con- fined within a gorge of 200 ft., through which it dashes with fury to the ledge, whence it is precipitated to a depth of 56 ft. It is com- puted that the volume of water per minute is equal to 1,000,000 tons; the velocity of the flood through the gorge is 40 m. an hour, and the roar of the cataract is distinctly audible at a distance of 30 m. The river continues in a southerly direction for nearly 200 m., forming the boundary between Brazil and the Argentine Republic on the E. and Paraguay on the W., and then turns S. W. and afterward "W., flowing between Paraguay and the Argen- tine Republic, till it is joined by the Paraguay at Tres Bocas, a little above Corrientes, 900 m. above its mouth. Thence it pursues a S. course through the Argentine Republic to Santa Fe, where it separates, forming several islands, and flows S. E. till it unites with the Uruguay to form the Rio de la Plata, after a course of 1,860 m., exclusive of that of the Paranahyba and Grande. Its principal tributary is the Paraguay (which is more voluminous, though shorter and narrower, than the stream in which its name is lost), and between their point of junction and Salto Grande empties the Igua- zti. The Parana is full of islands, which un- dergo a constant round of decay and renova- tion. Within the past century many have dis- appeared, and others have been formed and protected by vegetation. They are all well wooded, as are also the adjacent shores ; but being composed of mud and sand, without even a pebble, and extremely low, they are inun- dated during the periodical rises of the river. The Parana is in general more picturesque than the Paraguay, especially in the lower half of its course, where the cliffs are sometimes abso- lutely perpendicular, and of a reddish tinge, and at other times presented in large broken masses, clothed with cacti and mimosa trees. Several lines of steamers regularly ply be- tween Buenos Ayres and Rosario and Cor- rientes. It is navigable to Corrientes for ves- sels drawing 16 ft., for smaller craft to Can- delaria, and thence only for small boats up to the cataract. PARANA, a S. E. province of Brazil, bound- ed N. by Matto Grosso and Sao Paulo, E. by the Atlantic and Santa Oatharina, S. by the latter province and that of Sao Pedro or Rio Grande do Sul, and W. by Paraguay and Mat- to Grosso ; area, 72,000 sq. m. ; pop. in 1871, 90,000. The coasts are generally low, the country rising inward more or less abruptly to the plateau. The surface in the latter region, which forms part of the Brazilian highland, is generally undulating ; but there are no eleva- ted summits. The principal rivers are the Pa- ranapanema in the north, the Uruguay along the southern boundary, and the Parana in the west ; the interior is drained by the Tibagy, an affluent of the Paranapanema, and the Iva- hy and Iguazu, tributaries of the Parana. All these rivers are navigable by canoes. Little is known of the geology of Parana. Coal is sup- posed to exist on the coast ; mercury has been found near Paranagua, and gold and diamonds on the banks of the Tibagy, with emeralds, to- pazes, amethysts, turquoises, and rubies. The climate is mild and equable. There are exten- sive forests yielding valuable timber and cabi- net wood, and many trees and plants furnish useful drugs and dyes. (See BRAZIL.) Mate" or Paraguay tea thrives here, and is largely con- sumed ; coffee, the sugar cane, and tobacco yield good crops, the tobacco having been pro- nounced at least equal to that of Havana. Va- nilla grows spontaneously, and the Chinese tea plant thrives well, but the natives are igno- rant of the preparation of tea. Cotton gives two fine crops a year. The expenditure for public instruction in 1873 was $37,810 ; there were 121 primary schools (35 for females), 5 private night schools, and 8 grammar schools (one for females) ; and the total number of scholars was 3,268, of whom 892 were females. The capital is Curitiba ; chief port, Paranagua. PARAPHERNALIA (Gr. irapd, besides, and fepvfa dowry), in law, all the personal apparel and ornaments of the wife, which she possesses, and which are suitable to her condition in life. The word was borrowed from the Roman law. The dos or dowry of a Roman wife was that portion which was contributed by her, or in her behalf, toward bearing the expense of the household (ad sustinenda matrimonii onera). That part of her property, over and above her dos, which she withheld, constituted her ~bona