Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume XIII.djvu/83

 PARASITIC ANIMALS PARCHMENT paraphernalia (bona qua, prater dotem uxor habet). This property generally remained in the hands of her father or tutor (guardian), and the husband had no rights over it, except those which were expressly given him by the wife. The wife might dispose of it, or bring an ac- tion in respect of it, without his authority or consent. These, and the other rules of the Roman code upon the topic, remain without material modification in the modern civil law of Europe. In the English law paraphernalia has acquired a meaning which limits it to the personal apparel and ornaments possessed by the wife, and which are suitable to her rank and condition in life. It is essential that these things came to her from the husband, for ar- ticles given to the wife by any other, as by her father or other relative, or even by a stranger, are absolute gifts to her, and are secured to her separate use ; but the paraphernalia are gifts sub modo. During his lifetime the husband may dispose of all of them but her necessary apparel, and, with the same exception, they are subject after the husband's death to the claims of his creditors. Nothing however but insol- vency, or complete alienation or sale by the husband, will defeat the wife's right of owner- ship. Pledge of the goods will not suffice. Her right cannot be defeated by the husband's will bequeathing the paraphernalia. If they were in her possession at the time of her hus- band's death, she would hold them against his executors or personal representatives. Para- Ehernalia is quite an obsolete title in American iw, the common law rules on the subject being generally superseded by the provisions of state statutes ; and by these the wife sur- viving her husband is entitled to hold her wear- ing apparel and personal ornaments against the claims of all other persons. PARASITIC ANIMALS. See ENTOZOA, and EPIZOA. PARASITIC PLANTS. See EPIPHYTES. PARAY-LE-MONIAL, a town of Burgundy, France, in the department of Sa6ne-et-Loire, 35 m. W. N. W. of Macon, and 180 m. S. E. of Paris; pop. about 3,500. It has a remarka- ble church and a Benedictine abbey founded in 973 ; but it is chiefly celebrated as having been the abode of Marguerite Marie Alacoque, whose tomb is in the chapel attached to the Visitation convent, in which she lived and died. As she was mainly instrumental in es- tablishing the devotions of the Sacred Heart, which have of late spread so rapidly in Roman Catholic countries, the occasion of her beatifi- cation by Pius IX. in 1865 gave rise to numer- ous pilgrimages to her shrine, which have in- 1 in frequency and numbers ever since. In 1873 and 1874, besides the crowds of pil- grims from France and Belgium, companies went from Great Britain, Ireland, and the Uni- ted States, headed by distinguished prelates and laymen, their departure from home and their arrival at Paray-le-Monial being marked by impressive religious ceremonies. PARC3E (Gr. Moipai), or Fates, in Grecian and Roman mythology, daughters of Erebus and Night or of Jupiter and Themis. They had control over the universe, and particularly human destinies, presided over all great events in the lives of men, executed the decrees of nature, and punished criminals through their ministers the Furies, whose sisters they were sometimes said to be. In Homer MoZpa is fate personified, and is almost invariably mentioned in the singular; but Hesiod describes three fates : Clotho or the spinner, who spun out the thread of human life; Lachesis, the disposer of destinies, who twirled the spindle while Clo- tho held the distaff ; and Atropos the inevita- ble, who cut the thread when it had reached its proper length. They are sometimes regarded simply as the goddesses of the duration of hu- man life, in which case they are but two, one presiding over birth and the other over death. They were described by the poets as hideous, stern, and cruel old women. They had shrines in many parts of Greece. PARCHMENT (Lat. pergamena), the skins of sheep and other animals, prepared in sheets to render them fit for being written upon. Parch- ment was known at a very early period, and the manufacture of it is said to have been im- proved if not originated by Eumenes II., king of Pergamus (who reigned 197-159 B. 0.), whence its name. According to Herodotus, the ancient lonians wrote on skins many ages be- fore that time, and it is certain that its use was common in Egypt ages before the time of Eu- menes. The early Arabs inscribed their poe- try and compositions on the shoulder bones of sheep; but after their conquests in Asia and Africa they so profited by the inventions of the nations they subdued, that parchment was manufactured in Syria, Arabia, and Egypt, which in color and delicacy might vie with our modern paper. The ancients generally wrote only on one side of their parchment; but so valuable was it, that they not unfrequently erased the writing and used it a second time. To the present day no substitute has been found for a variety of purposes to which it is applied. The finer sorts of parchment called vellum, used for important writings, as deeds, wills, &c., are manufactured from the skins of calves, kids, and still-born lambs. The heavier parchment for drum heads is made from the skins of asses, older calves, wolves, and goats. All these are similarly prepared. The skin, being freed from the hair, is placed in a lime pit to cleanse it from fat. The pelt is then stretched upon a frame, care being taken that the surface be perfectly free from wrinkles, and dressed with knives, scrapers, and pumice stone. The skin is dried gradually, tightening being occasion- ally required. If traces of grease remain, it must be replaced in the lime pit for a week or ten days, and again stretched and dried. A green color is given to parchment by a solu- tion made with 30 parts of crystallized acetate of copper and 8 of bitartrate of potassa in 500