Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 16.djvu/638

* PURGATIVES. 556 PURITAN. of secretion they excite. (4) Saline purgatives. These also increase the secretion of intestinal Jluid and hinder its reabsorption, so that a large amount of it accumulates in the bowel and excites gentle peristalsis and a free evacuation. The salines are largely used as habitual purgatives. They form the essential ingredient of most pur- gative mineral waters (q.v. ). In this class are sulpliate of magnesia, sulphate of soda, phos- phate of soda, and the potassio-tartrate of soda either in simple solution or in the form of Seid- litz powder (q.v.). (5) ChoUigoyue purgatives are those which have a stimulating ettect either on the secretion or flow of the bile, and produce green-colored or 'bilious' stools. Several of the drugs already mentioned possess this property. Among the "cholayogues most frequently em- ployed are podopliyllin, calomel, mercury, and the phospliate and sulphate of soda. Consult Pot- ter, Materia ilcdica. I'haniutcy, and Therapeu- tics (Xcw York, 1!H)3). PURGATORIO, poor'ga-tu're-6 (It., Purga- tory). The second part of Dante's Divina Coin- media. After leaving the Inferno, Dante, guided by Vergil, readies the Jlount of Purgatory in the Western Ocean. They ascend the steep ap- proach to the gate of Purgatory, where Dante's forehead is marked by an angel with seven P's (standing for Fccealuni — "sin'), one of which he loses on each of the seven terraces where the seven deadly sins are ]nmished. When they reach the river bounding Purgatory, Vergil leaves Dante, and Beatrice approaches to lead him onward to Paradise. PURGATORY (ML. purgatorium, from Lat. puryatorius, cleansing, from purgare, to cleanse). The name given, in the Roman Catholic and Oriental churches, to a place of purgation, in which, accordingto'their doctrine, souls after death either are purified from venial sins or undergo the temporal punishment which, after the guilt of mortal sin has been remitted, still remains to be endured by the sinner. The ultimate eternal happiness of their souls is supposed to be se- cured; but they are detained for a time in a .state of purgation, in order to be fitted to ap- pear in the presence of God. See Intermediate State. PURG^STALL, .Joseph Hammeb-. See Ham- MER-PlRG.STALL. PURIFICATION (Lat. purificatio. from purificiirc. to make pure, from purus, pure + faccre, to make). In a biblical sense, the act through which an individual became fit to ap- proach the deity, or regained his place in the community after liaving been excluded from it by some disability. Purification consisted chiefly in ablutions, but these were sometimes accompanied by special sacrifices as ex|)iations. Priests and Levites were consecrated for the divine service by 'purification' (Lev. viii.), and certain religious acts could only be performed after ablutions. Generally no one was allowed to enter the tem- ple or synagogue w'ithout washing or 'sancti- fying' himself. In the post-exilic period washing was considered by some (as the Pharisees and Essenes) one of the chief duties of piety. Apart from the temple service, however, many other things required purification, (Sec L'nclean^- NEs.s.) It is a mistake to assume that the origin of laws of purification is hygienic; they are merely phases of the general notions of taboo (q.v.). The question of health naturally enters later, in the reflective age, but has no force in primitive times. Laws similar to the Jewisli are found among Mohammedans, and with Hindus and Persians laws of purification are even more exacting. PU'RIM. One of the later Jewish festivals, for which the .Jewisli Church accepts the Hook of Esther as the historical basis. According to this book, the festival was instituted to com- memorate the deliverance of the Jews of Persia from a massacre with which they were threatened in the days of Xerxes (B.C. 485-4li5) at the insti- gation of Hainan, the King's prime minister. It is celebrated on the 14th and loth of the month Adar and is preceded by a day of fasting as preparation, (Cf, Esther iv. 15-17.) Scholars who hold that the Book of Esther (q.v.) is large- ly or purely fictitious, think that it may have been written to justify and account for a fast and festival, the origin of which was lost in obscurity. What the earlier significance of fast and festival was is conjectural in the absence of definite data. They are thought to be of Babylonian origin. The occurrence in the spring suggests a solar festival, the fast representing the death of winter, while the festival marks the joyous return of spring. Thus interpreted Haman and Vashti symbolize the disapjiearance of the old year; ilordecai and Esther, hailed as King and Queen, are the new favorites who bring in fer- tility and renewal of vegetation. The feast of Purim corresponds in time with a festival, men- tioned in the Books of the ^Maccabees, in celebra- tion of a victory gained by Judas Maccabaeus, on the 13th of Adar, B,c, 161, over Nicanor (I. Mac. vii. 49; II. Mac. xv. 36). This seems to have been earlier a festival in honor of the dead. See Festivals. The name Purim is explained in the Book of Esther as 'lots,' and the ap|ilication of it to the festival as due to the fact that Haman cast lots to determine a day favorable for the extermina- tion of the Jews (Esther iii. 7; ix. '26). This is probably merely a piece of folk-etymology and illustrates the obscurity as to the meaning of the name at the time of composition of the book. In Babylonian there is a word puru, one meaning of which seems to have been 'a rovmd stone.' and then 'lot,' from the use of stones in divination. Possibly the Jewish author of the Book of Esther^ living in Persia or Babylonia, had this word in mind, but it does not necessarily follow that purlni is identical with puni. The problem may be solved if a festival be discovered among Baby- lonians or Persians bearing the name purim,. or something sufliciently like it to account for the .Jewish form. As celebrated by Orthodox .Jews, the Purim festival is a time of feasting and merry-making. It begins as soon as the stars appear on the even- ing of the 14th of Adar. Candles are lighted. Consult: Lagarde, Purim, ein Beitrag zur Ge- | schichte der Religion (Gfittingen, 1887); Erbt, ■ Die Purimsage in der Bihel (Berlin, 1900); i Frazer, The Golden Bough, vol. iii. (2d ed., Lon- | don, 1900). " : PURITAN, The. A yacht designed by Ed- I ward F. Burgess, built for a syndicate by Law- ley, and launched in South Boston. May 26, 188.5. She combined the features of the centre- board sloop with the outside ballast of the Eng-