Panopticon, a prison so arranged that the warder can see every prisoner in charge without being seen by them.

Panslavism, the name given to a movement for union of all the Slavonic races in one nationality, a project which lags heavily owing to the jealousy on the part of one section or another.

Pantagruel, the principal character of one of the two great works of Rabelais, and named after him; he and his father Gargantua figured as two enormous giants, being personifications of royalty with its insatiable lust of territory and power.

Pantheism, the doctrine or creed which affirms the immanency of God in nature, or that God is within nature, but ignores or denies His transcendency, or that He is above nature; distinguished from deism, which denies the former but affirms the latter, from theism, which affirms both, and from atheism, which denies both.

Pantheon, a temple in Rome, first erected by Agrippa, son-in-law of Augustus, circular in form, 150 ft. in height, with niches all round for statues of the gods, to whom in general it was dedicated; it is now a church, and affords sepulture to illustrious men. Also a building in Paris, originally intended to be a church in honour of the patron saint of Paris, but at the time of the Revolution converted into a receptacle for the ashes of the illustrious dead, Mirabeau being its first occupant, and bearing this inscription, Aux grands hommes la patrie reconnaissant; it was subsequently appropriated to other uses, but under the third republic it became again a resting-place for the ashes of eminent men.

Pantograph, the name given to a contrivance for copying a drawing or a design on an enlarged or a reduced scale.

Panurge, one of the principal characters in the "Pantagruel" of Rabelais, an exceedingly crafty knave, a libertine, and a coward.

Panza, Sancho, Don Quixote's squire, a squat, paunchy peasant endowed with rude common-sense, but incapable of imagination.

Paoli, Pasquale de, a Corsican patriot; sought to achieve the independence of his country, but was defeated by the Genoese, aided by France, in 1769; took refuge in England, where he was well received and granted a pension; returned to Corsica and became lieutenant-general under the French republic, raised a fresh insurrection, had George III. proclaimed king, but failed to receive the viceroyalty, and returned to England, where he died a disappointed man (1726-1807).

Papal States, a territory in the N. of Italy extending irregularly from Naples to the Po, at one time subject to the temporal sovereignty of the Pope, originating in a gift to his Holiness of Pepin the Short, and taking shape as such about the 11th century, till in the 16th and 17th centuries the papal power began to assert itself in the general politics of Europe, and after being suppressed for a time by Napoleon it was formally abolished by annexation of the territory to the crown of Sardinia in 1870.

Paphos, the name of two ancient cities in the SW. of Cyprus; the older (now Kyklia) was a Phoenician settlement, in which afterwards stood a temple of Venus, who was fabled to have sprung from the sea-foam close by; the other, 8 m. westward, was the scene of Paul's interview with Sergius Paulus and encounter with Elymas.

Papias, bishop of Hierapolis, in Phrygia, who flourished in the middle of the 2nd century, and wrote a book entitled "Exposition of the Lord's Sayings," fragments of which have been preserved by Eusebius and others; he was, it is said, the companion of Polycarp.

Papier-Mâche is a light, durable substance made from paper pulp or sheets of paper pasted together and variously treated with chemicals, heat, and pressure, largely used for ornamental trays, boxes, light furniture, &c., in which it is varnished and decorated to resemble lacquer-work, and for architectural decoration, in which it is made to imitate plaster moulding; the manufacture was learned from the Eastern nations. Persia, India, and Japan having been long familiar with it; America has adapted it to use for railroad wheels, &c.

Papin, Denis, French physicist, born at Blois, practised medicine at Angers; came to England and assisted Boyle in his experiments, made a special study of the expansive power of steam and its motive power, invented a steam-digester with a safety-valve, since called after him, for cooking purposes at a high temperature; became professor of Mathematics at Marburg (1647-1712).

Papinianus, Æmilius, a celebrated Roman jurist; was put to death by Caracalla for refusing, it is said, when requested, to vindicate his conduct in murdering his brother (142-212).

Papirius, a Roman pontiff to whom is ascribed a collection of laws constituting the Roman code under the kings.

Pappenheim, Count von, imperial general, born in Bavaria; played a prominent part in the Thirty Years' War; was distinguished for his zeal as well as his successes on the Catholic side; was mortally wounded at Lützen, expressed his gratitude to God when he learned that Gustavas Adolphus, who fell in the same battle, had died before him (1594-1632).

Pappus of Alexandria, a Greek geometer of the third or fourth century, author of "Mathematical Collections," in eight books, of which the first and second have been lost.

Papuans, the name of the members of the negro race inhabiting certain islands of Oceania, including New Guinea, New Hebrides, New Caledonia, Fiji Islands, &c.

Papy`rus, the Greek name of the Egyptian papu, is a kind of sedge growing 10 ft. high, with a soft triangular stem, the pith of which is easily split into ribbons, found still in Egypt, Nubia, Abyssinia, &c.; the pith ribbons were the paper of the ancient Egyptians, of the Greeks after Alexander, and of the later Romans; they were used by the Arabs of the 8th century, and in Europe till the 12th; at first long strips were rolled up, but later rectangular pages were cut and bound together book fashion; though age has rendered the soft white pages brown and brittle, much ancient literature is still preserved on papyrus; the use of papyrus was superseded by that of parchment and rag-made paper.

Pará (40), a Brazilian port at the mouth of the Guama, on the E. shore of the Pará estuary, is a compact, regularly-built, thriving town, with whitewashed buildings, blue and white tiled roofs, tree-shaded streets, tram-cars, telephones, theatre, and cathedral; it is the emporium of the Amazon trade, exporting india-rubber and cacao, and sending foreign goods into the interior; though hot, it is healthy.

Parable, a short allegorical narrative intended to illustrate and convey some spiritual instruction.

Parabola, a conic section formed by the intersection of a cone by a plane parallel to one of its sides.

Paracelsus, a Swiss physician, alchemist, and mystic, whose real name was Theophrastus Bombastus, born at Einsiedeln, in Schwyz; was a violent revolutionary in the medical art, and provoked much hostility, so that he was driven to lead a wandering and unsettled life; notwithstanding, he contributed not a little, by his knowledge and practice, to inaugurate a more scientific study of nature than till his time prevailed (1493-1541).

Paraffin, name given by Baron Reichenbach to a transparent crystalline substance obtained by distillation from wood, bituminous coal, shale, &c., and so called because it resists the action of the strongest acids and alkalies.

Paraguay (400), except Uruguay the smallest State in South America, is an inland Republic whose territories lie in the fork between the Pilcomayo and Paraguay and the Paraná Rivers, with Argentina on the W. and S., Bolivia on the N., and Brazil on the N. and E.; it is less than half the size of Spain, consists of rich undulating plains, and, in the S., of some of the most fertile land on the continent; the climate is temperate for the latitude; the population, Spanish, Indian, and half-caste, is Roman Catholic; education is free and compulsory; the country is rich in natural products, but without minerals; timber, dye-woods, rubber, Paraguay tea (a kind of holly), gums, fruits, wax, honey, cochineal, and many medicinal herbs are gathered for export; maize, rice, cotton, and tobacco are cultivated; the industries include some tanning, brick-works, and lace-making; founded by Spain in 1535, Paraguay was the scene of an interesting experiment in the 17th century, when the country was governed wholly by the Jesuits, who, excluding all European settlers, built up a fabric of Christian civilisation; they were expelled in 1768; in 1810 the country joined the revolt against Spain, and was the first to establish its independence; for 26 years it was under the government of Dr. Francia; from 1865 to 1870 it maintained a heroic but disastrous war against the Argentine, Brazil, and Uruguay, as a consequence of which the population fell from a million and a half to a quarter of a million; it is again prosperous and progressing. The capital is Asunçion (18), at the confluence of the Pilcomayo and Paraguay.

Paraguay River, a South American river 1800 m. long, the chief tributary of the Paraná, rises in some lakes near Matto Grosso, Brazil, and flows southward through marshy country till it forms the boundary between Brazil and Bolivia, then traversing Paraguay, it becomes the boundary between that State and the Argentine Republic, and finally enters the Paraná above Corrientes; it receives many affluents, and is navigable by ocean steamers almost to its source.

Paraklete, the Holy Spirit which Christ promised to His disciples would take His place as their teacher and guide after He left them. Also the name of the monastery founded by Abelard near Nogent-sur-Seine, and of which Heloïse (q. v.) was abbess.

Parallax, an astronomical term to denote an apparent change in the position of a heavenly body due to a change in the position or assumed position of the observer.

Paramar`ibo (24), the capital of Dutch Guiana, on the Surinam, 10 m. from the sea, and the centre of the trade of the colony.

Paramo, the name given to an elevated track of desert on the Andes.

Paraná River, a great river of South America, formed by the confluence of the Rio Grande and the Paranahyba, in SE. Brazil, flows SW. through Brazil and round the SE. border of Paraguay, then receiving the Paraguay River, turns S. through the Argentine, then E. till the junction of the Uruguay forms the estuary of the Plate. The river is broad and rapid, 2000 m. long, more than half of it navigable from the sea; at the confluence of the Yguassu it enters a narrow gorge, and for 100 m. forms one of the most remarkable rapids in the world; the chief towns on its banks are in the Argentine, viz. Corrientes, Santa Fé, and Rosario.

Parcæ, the Roman name of the Three Fates (q. v.), derived from "pars," a part, as apportioning to every individual his destiny.

Parchment consists of skins specially prepared for writing on, and is so called from a king of Pergamos, who introduced it when the export of papyrus from Egypt was stopped; the skins used are of sheep, for fine parchment or vellum, of calves, goats, and lambs; parchment for drumheads is made from calves' and asses' skins.

Parcs-aux-Cerfs, the French name for clearings to provide hunting fields for the French aristocracy prior to the Revolution.

Paré, Ambroise, great French surgeon, born at Laval; was from the improved methods he introduced in the treatment of surgical cases entitled to be called, as he has been, the father of modern surgery, for his success as an operator, in particular the tying of divided arteries and the treatment of gunshot wounds; he was in the habit of saying of any patient he had successfully operated upon, "I cared for him; God healed him"; his writings exercised a beneficent influence on the treatment of surgical cases in all lands (1517-1590).

Pariah, a Hindu of the lowest class, and of no caste; of the class they are of various grades, but all are outcast, and treated as such.

Paris (2,448), the capital of France, in the centre of the northern half of the country, on both banks of the Seine, and on two islands (La Cité and St. Louis) in the middle, 110 m. from the sea; is the largest city on the Continent, and one of the most beautiful in the world. No city has finer or gayer streets, or so many noble buildings. The Hôtel de Cluny and the Hôtel de Sens are rare specimens of 15th-century civic architecture. The Palace of the Tuileries, on the right bank of the Seine, dates from the 16th century, and was the royal residence till the Revolution. Connected with it is the Louvre, a series of galleries of painting, sculpture, and antiquities, whose contents form one of the richest collections existing, and include the peerless "Venus de Milo." The Palais Royal encloses a large public garden, and consists of shops, restaurants, the Théâtre Français, and the Royal Palace of the Orleans family. South of the river is the Luxembourg, where the Senate meets, and on the Ile de la Cité stands the Palais de Justice and the Conciergerie, one of the oldest Paris prisons. St.-Germain-des-Prés is the most ancient church, but the most important is the cathedral of Notre Dame, 12th century, which might tell the whole history of France could it speak. Saint-Chapelle is said to be the finest Gothic masterpiece extant. The Pantheon, originally meant for a church, is the burial-place of the great men of the country, where lie the remains of Voltaire, Rousseau, and Carnot. The oldest hospitals are the Hôtel Dieu, La Charité, and La Pitié. The University Schools in the Quartier Latin attract the youth of all France; the chief are the Schools of Medicine and Law, the Scotch College, the College of France, and the Sorbonne, the seat of the faculties of letters, science, and Protestant theology. Triumphal arches are prominent in the city. There are many museums and charitable institutions; the Bibliothèque Nationale, in the Rue Richelieu, rivals the British Museum in numbers of books and manuscripts. The Palace of Industry and the Eiffel Tower commemorate the exhibitions of 1854 and 1889 respectively. Great market-places stand in various parts of the city. The Rue de Rivoli, Rue de la Paix, Rue du Faubourg St.-Honoré, and the Rue Royale are among the chief streets; beautiful squares are numerous, the most noted being the Place de la Concorde, between the Champs Elysées and the Gardens of the Tuileries, in the centre of which the Obelisk of Luxor stands on the site of the guillotine at which Louis XVI. and Marie Antoinette, Philippe Egalité, Danton, and Robespierre died. Boulevards lined with trees run to the outskirts of the city. The many roads, railways, canals, and rivers which converge on Paris have made it the most important trading centre in France, and the concourse of wealthy men of all nations has given it a high place in the financial world. It is a manufacturing city, producing jewellery, ornamental furniture, and all sorts of artistic "articles de Paris." The centre of French, and indeed European, fashion, it is noted for its pleasure and gaiety. The concentration of Government makes it the abode of countless officials. It is strongly fortified, being surrounded by a ring of forts, and a wall 22 m. long, at the 56 gates of which the octroi dues are levied. The Préfect of the Seine, appointed by the Government, and advised by a large council, is the head of the municipality, of the police and fire brigades, cleansing, draining, and water-supply departments. The history of Paris is the history of France, for the national life has been, and is, in an extraordinary degree centred in the capital. It was the scene of the great tragic drama of the Revolution, and of the minor struggles of 1830 and 1849. In recent times its great humiliation was its siege and capture by the Germans in 1870-71.

Paris, the second son of Priam and Hecuba; was exposed on Mount Ida at his birth; brought up by a shepherd; distinguished himself by his prowess, by which his parentage was revealed; married Oenonë (q. v.); appealed to to decide to whom the "apple of discord" belonged, gave it to Aphrodité in preference to her two rivals Hera and Athena; was promised in return that he should receive the most beautiful woman in the world to wife, Helen of Sparta, whom he carried off to Greece, and which led to the Trojan War (q. v.); slew Achilles, and was mortally wounded by the poisoned arrows of Hercules.

Paris, Matthew, English chronicler; a Benedictine monk of St. Albans; author of "Chronica Majora," which contains a history written in Latin of England from the Conquest to the year in which he died (1195-1259).

Park, Mungo, African traveller, born at Foulshiels, near Selkirk; was apprenticed to a surgeon, and studied medicine at Edinburgh; 1791-93 he spent in a voyage to Sumatra, and in 1795 went for the first time to Africa under the auspices of the African Association of London; starting from the Gambia he penetrated eastward to the Niger, then westward to Kamalia, where illness seized him; conveyed to his starting-point by a slave-trader, he returned to England and published "Travels in the Interior of Africa," 1799; he married and settled to practice at Peebles, but he was not happy till in 1805 he set out for Africa again at Government expense; starting from Pisania he reached the Niger, and sending back his journals attempted to descend the river in a canoe, but, attacked by natives, the canoe overturned; and he and his companions were drowned (1771-1805).

Parker, John Henry, archæologist and writer on architecture; originally a London publisher, his chief work the "Archæology of Rome," in nine vols., a subject to which he devoted much study (1800-1884).

Parker, Joseph, an eminent Nonconformist divine, born in Hexham; minister of the City Temple; a vigorous and popular preacher, and the author of numerous works bearing upon biblical theology and the defence of it; his magnum opus is the "People's Bible," of which 25 vols. are already complete; b. 1830.

Parker, Matthew, archbishop of Canterbury, born at Norwich; was a Fellow of Cambridge; embraced the Protestant doctrines; became Master of Corpus Christi College, Oxford; was chaplain to Anne Boleyn, and made Dean of Ely by Edward VI.; was deprived of his offices under Mary, but made Primate under Elizabeth, and the Bishop's Bible was translated and issued under his auspices (1504-1575).

Parker, Theodore, an American preacher and lecturer; adopted and professed the Unitarian creed, but discarded it, like Emerson, for a still more liberal; distinguished himself in the propagation of it by his lectures as well as his writings; was a vigorous anti-slavery agitator, and in general a champion of freedom; died at Florence while on a tour for his health (1810-1860).

Parkman, Francis, American historian, born in Boston; his writings valuable, particularly in their bearing on the dominion of the French in America, its rise, decline, and fall (1823-1893).

Parlement, the name given to the local courts of justice in France prior to the Revolution, in which the edicts of the king required to be registered before they became laws; given by pre-eminence to the one in Paris, composed of lawyers, or gentlemen of the long robe, as they were called, whose action the rest uniformly endorsed, and which played an important part on the eve of the Revolution, and contributed to further the outbreak of it, to its own dissolution in the end.

Parliament is the name of the great legislative council of Britain representing the three estates of the realm—Clergy, Lords, and Commons. The Clergy are represented in the Upper House by the archbishops and bishops of sees founded prior to 1846, in number 26; the rest of the Upper House comprises the dukes, marquises, earls, viscounts, and barons of the peerage of Great Britain who sit in virtue of their titles, and representatives of the Scotch and Irish peerages elected for life; the total membership is over 550; the House of Lords may initiate any bill not a money bill, it does not deal with financial measures at all except to give its formal assent; it also revises bills passed by the Commons, and may reject these. Of late years this veto has come to be exercised only in cases where it seems likely that the Commons do not retain the confidence of the people, having thus the effect of referring the question for the decision of the constituencies. The Lords constitute the final court of appeal in all legal questions, but in exercising this function only those who hold or have held high judicial office take part. The House of Commons comprises 670 representatives of the people; its members represent counties, divisions of counties, burghs, wards of burghs, and universities, and are elected by owners of land and by occupiers of land or buildings of £10 annual rental who are commoners, males, of age, and not disqualified by unsoundness of mind, conviction for crime, or receipt of parochial relief. The Commons initiates most of the legislation, deals with bills already initiated and passed by the Lords, inquires into all matters of public concern, discusses and determines imperial questions, and exercises the sole right to vote supplies of money. To become law bills must pass the successive stages of first and second reading, committee, and third reading in both Houses, and receive the assent of the sovereign, which has not been refused for nearly two centuries.

Parliament, The Long, the name given to the last English Parliament convoked by Charles I. in 1640, dissolved by Cromwell in 1653, and recalled twice after the death of the Protector before it finally gave up the ghost.

Parliament of Dunces, name given to a parliament held at Coventry by Henry IV. in 1494, because no lawyer was allowed to sit in it.

Parliamentarian, one who, in the English Civil War, supported the cause of the Parliament against the king.

Parma (44), a cathedral and university town in N. Italy, on the Parma, a tributary of the Po, 70 m. NE. of Genoa; is rich in art treasures, has a school of music, picture-gallery, and museum of antiquities; it manufactures pianofortes, silks, and woollens, and has a cattle and grain market; Parma was formerly the capital of the duchy of that name; it was the residence of Correggio as well as the birthplace of Parmigiano.

Parmenion, an able and much-esteemed Macedonian general, distinguished as second in command at Granicus, Issus, and Arbela, but whom Alexander in some fit of jealousy and under unfounded suspicion caused to be assassinated in Media.

Parmenides, a distinguished Greek philosopher of the Eleatic school, who flourished in the 5th century B.C.; his system was developed by him in the form of an epic poem, in which he demonstrates the existence of an Absolute which is unthinkable, because it is without limits, and which he identifies with thought, as the one in the many.

Parmigiano, a Lombard painter whose proper name was Girolamo Mazzola, born at Parma; went to Rome when 19 and obtained the patronage of Clement VII.; after the storming of the city in 1527, during which he sat at work in his studio, he went to Bologna, and four years later returned to his native city; failing to implement a contract to paint frescoes he was imprisoned, and on his release retired to Casalmaggiore, where he died; in style he followed Correggio, and is best known by his "Cupid shaping a Bow" (1504-1540).

Parnassus, a mountain in Phocis, 10 m. N. of the Gulf of Corinth, 8000 ft. high, one of the chief seats of Apollo and the Muses, and an inspiring source of poetry and song, with the oracle of Delphi and the Castalian spring on its slopes; it was conceived of by the Greeks as in the centre of the earth.

Parnell, Charles Stuart, Irish Home-Ruler, born at Avondale, in Wicklow; was practically the dictator of his party for a time and carried matters with a high hand, but at the height of his popularity he suffered a fall, and his death, which was sudden, happened soon after (1846-1891).

Parnell, Thomas, English minor poet of the Queen Anne period, born in Dublin, of a Cheshire family; studied at Trinity College, took orders, and became archdeacon of Clogher; is best known as the author of "The Hermit," though his odes "The Night-Piece on Death" and the "Hymn to Contentment" are of more poetic worth; he was the friend of Swift and Pope, and a member of the Scriblerus Club (1679-1718).

Paros (7), one of the Cyclades, lying between Naxos and Siphanto, exports wine, figs, and wool; in a quarry near the summit of Mount St. Elias the famous Parian marble is still cut; the capital is Paroekia (2).

Parr, Catherine, sixth wife of Henry VIII., daughter of Sir Thomas Parr of Kendal, was a woman of learning and great discretion, acquired great power over the king, persuaded him to consent to the succession of his daughters, and surviving him, married her former suitor Sir Thomas Seymour, and died from the effects of childbirth the year after (1512-1548).

Parr, Samuel, a famous classical scholar, born at Harrow; became head-master of first Colchester and then Norwich Grammar-School and a prebend of St. Paul's; he had an extraordinary memory and was a great talker; he was a good Latinist, but nothing he has left justifies the high repute in which he was held by his contemporaries (1747-1825).

Parr, Thomas, called Old Parr, a man notable for his long life, being said to have lived 152 years and 9 months, from 1483 to 1635.

Parramatta (12), next to Sydney, from which it is 14 m. W., the oldest town in New South Wales; manufactures colonial tweeds and Parramatta cloths, and is in the centre of orange groves and fruit gardens.

Parrhasius, a gifted painter of ancient Greece, born at Ephesus; came to Athens and became the rival of Zeuxis; he was the contemporary of Socrates and a man of an arrogant temper; his works were characterised by the pains bestowed on them.

Parry, Sir William Edward, celebrated Arctic explorer, born at Bath; visited the Arctic Seas under Ross in 1818, conducted a second expedition himself in 1819-20, a third in 1821-23, a fourth in 1824-26 with unequal success, and a fifth in 1827 in quest of the North Pole viâ Spitzbergen, in which he was baffled by an adverse current; received sundry honours for his achievements; died governor of Greenwich Hospital, and left several accounts of his voyages (1790-1855).

Parsees (i. e. inhabitants of Pars or Persia), a name given to the disciples of Zoroaster or their descendants in Persia and India, and sometimes called Guebres; in India they number some 90,000, are to be found chiefly in the Bombay Presidency, form a wealthy community, and are engaged mostly in commerce; in religion they incline to deism, and pay homage to the sun as the symbol of the deity; they neither bury their dead nor burn them, but expose them apart in the open air, where they are left till the flesh is eaten away and only the bones remain, to be removed afterwards for consignment to a subterranean cavern.

Parsifal, the hero of the legend of the Holy Grail (q. v.), and identified with Galahad (q. v.) in the Arthurian legend.

Parson Adams, a simple-minded 18th-century clergyman in Fielding's "Joseph Andrews."

Parsons, Robert, English Jesuit, born in Somersetshire, educated at Oxford and a Fellow of Balliol College; he became a convert to Roman Catholicism and entered the Society of Jesus in 1575; conceived the idea of reclaiming England from her Protestant apostasy, and embarked on the enterprise in 1580, but found it too hot for him, and had to escape to the Continent; after this he busied himself partly in intrigues to force England into submission and partly in organising seminaries abroad for English Roman Catholics, and became head of one at Rome, where he died; he appears to have been a Jesuit to the backbone, and to have served the cause of Jesuitry with his whole soul (1546-1610).

Parthenogenesis, name given to asexual reproduction, that is, to reproduction of plants or animals by means of unimpregnated germs or ova.

Parthenon, a celebrated temple of the Doric order at Athens, dedicated to Athena, and constructed under Phidias of the marble of Pentelicus, and regarded as the finest specimen of Greek architecture that exists; it is 228 ft. in length and 64 ft. in height. Parthenon means the chamber of the maiden goddess, that is, Athena.

Parthenope, in the Greek mythology one of the three Sirens (q. v.), threw herself into the sea because her love for Ulysses was not returned, and was drowned; her body was washed ashore at Naples, which was called Parthenope after her name.

Parthia, an ancient country corresponding to Northern Persia; was inhabited by a people of Scythian origin, who adopted the Aryan speech and manners, and subsequently yielded much to Greek influence; after being tributary successively to Assyria, Media, Persia, Alexander the Great, and Syria, they set up an independent kingdom in 250 B.C. In two great contests with Rome they made the empire respect their prowess; between 53 and 36 B.C. they defeated Crassus in Mesopotamia, conquered Syria and Palestine, and inflicted disaster on Mark Antony in Armenia; the renewal of hostilities by Trajan in A.D. 115 brought more varied fortunes, but they extorted a tribute of 50,000,000 denarii from the Emperor Macrinus in 218. Ctesiphon was their capital; the Euphrates lay between them and Rome; they were over thrown by Ardashir of Persia in 224. The Parthians were famous horse-archers, and in retreat shot their arrows backwards often with deadly effect on a pursuing enemy.

Partick (36), a western suburb of Glasgow, has numerous villas, and its working population is very largely engaged in shipbuilding.

Partington, Mrs., an imaginary lady, the creation of the American humorist Shillaber, distinguished for her misuse of learned words; also another celebrity who attempted to sweep back the Atlantic with her mop, the type of those who think to stave back the inevitable.

Pascal, Blaise, illustrious French thinker and writer, born at Clermont, in Auvergne; was distinguished at once as a mathematician, a physicist, and a philosopher; at 16 wrote a treatise on conic sections, which astonished Descartes; at 18 invented a calculating machine; he afterwards made experiments in pneumatics and hydrostatics, by which his name became associated with those of Torricelli and Boyle; an accident which befell him turned his thoughts to religious subjects, and in 1654 he retired to the convent of Port Royal (q. v.), where he spent as an ascetic the rest of his days, and wrote his celebrated "Provincial Letters" in defence of the Jansenists against the Jesuits, and his no less famous "Pensées," which were published after his death; "his great weapon in polemics," says Prof. Saintsbury, "is polite irony, which he first brought to perfection, and in the use of which he has hardly been equalled, and has certainly not been surpassed since" (1623-1662).

Pas-de-Calais, the French name for the Strait of Dover; also the name of the adjacent department of France.

Pasha, a Turkish title, originally bestowed on princes of the blood, but now extended to governors of provinces and prominent officers in the army and navy.

Pasiphaë, the wife of Minos (q. v.) and mother of the Minotaur (q. v.).

Paskievitch, a Russian general, born at Poltava; took part in repelling the French in 1812, defeated the Persians in 1826-27 and the Turks in 1828-29; suppressed a Polish insurrection in 1831 and a Magyar revolution in 1849; was wounded at Silistria in 1854 and resigned (1782-1856).

Pasquino, a cobbler or tailor who lived in Rome at the end of the 15th century, notable for his witty and sarcastic sayings, near whose shop after his death a fragment of a statue was dug up and named after him, on which, as representing him, the Roman populace claim to this day, it would seem, the privilege of placarding jibes against particularly the ecclesiastical authorities of the place, hence Pasquinade.

Passau (17), a Bavarian fortified town, situated at the confluence of the Inn and the Danube, 105 m. E. of Münich by rail; is a picturesque place, strategically important, with manufactures of leather, porcelain, and parquet, and trade in salt and corn.

Passing-bell, a bell tolled at the moment of the death of a person to invite his neighbours to pray for the safe passing of his soul.

Passion Play, a dramatic representation of the several stages in the passion of Christ.

Passion Sunday, the fifth Sunday in Lent, which is succeeded by what is called the Passion Week.

Passion Week is properly the week preceding Holy Week, but in common English usage the name is given to Holy Week itself, i. e. to the week immediately preceding Easter, commemorating Christ's passion.

Passionists, an order of priests, called of the Holy Cross, founded in 1694 by Paul Francisco, of the Cross in Sardinia, whose mission it is to preach the Passion of Christ and bear witness to its spirit and import, and who have recently established themselves in England and America; they are noted for their austerity.

Passover, the chief festival of the Jews in commemoration of the passing of the destroying angel over the houses of the Israelites on the night when he slew the first-born of the Egyptians; it was celebrated in April, lasted eight days, only unleavened bread was used in its observance, and a lamb roasted whole was eaten with bitter herbs, the partakers standing and road-ready as on their departure from the land of bondage.

Passow, Franz, German philologist, born in Mecklenburg, professor at Breslau; his chief work "Hand-Wörterbuch der Griechischen Sprache"; an authority in subsequent Greek lexicography (1786-1833).

Pasta, Judith, a famous Italian operatic singer, born near Milan, of Jewish birth; her celebrity lasted from 1822 to 1835, after which she retired into private life; she had a voice of great compass (1798-1865).

Pasteur, Louis, an eminent French chemist, born at Dôle, in dep. of Jura, celebrated for his studies and discoveries in fermentation, and also for his researches in hydrophobia and his suggestion of inoculation as a cure; the Pasteur Institute in Paris was the scene of his researches from 1886 (1822-1895).

Paston Letters, a series of letters and papers, over a thousand in number, belonging to a Norfolk family of the name, and published by Sir John Fenn over a century ago, dating from the reign of Henry V. to the close of the reign of Henry VII.; of importance in connection with the political and social history of the period.

Pastoral Staff, a bishop's staff with a crooked head, symbolical of his authority and function as a shepherd in spiritual matters of the souls in his diocese.

Patagonia is the territory at the extreme S. of South America, lying between the Rio Colorado and the Strait of Magellan. Chilian Patagonia is a narrow strip W. of the Andes, with a broken coast-line, many rocky islands and peninsulas. Its climate is temperate but very rainy, and much of it is covered with dense forests which yield valuable timber; coal is found at Punta Arenas on the Strait. The population (3) consists chiefly of migratory Araucanian Indians and the Chilian settlers at Punta Arenas. Eastern or Argentine Patagonia is an extensive stretch of undulating plateaux intersected by ravines, swept by cold W. winds, and rainless for eight months of the year. The base of the Andes is fertile and forest-clad, the river valleys can be cultivated, but most of the plains are covered with coarse grass or sparse scrub, and there are some utterly desolate regions. Lagoons abound, and there are many rivers running eastward from the Andes. Herds of horses and cattle are bred on the pampas. The Indians of this region (7) are among the tallest races of the world. There are 2000 settlers at Patagones on the Rio Negro, and a Welsh colony on the Chubut.