PALOS 



PAMLICO SOUND 



729 



numbers that the water seems to be full of them, 

 and they may be grasped by handfuls. After sun- 

 rise the creatures break 

 into pieces and the shoals 

 are not seen till the next 

 peri<xl, which seems to 

 have a definite relation 

 to the lunar time ; the 

 two stated periods being 

 in October and again in 

 November. 



Palos, a small Span- 

 ish port at the mouth of 

 the Rio Tinto, and 5 

 miles SE. of Huelva, 

 Once an important place, 

 from whence Columbus 

 started on his great voy- 

 age, it has now sunk to 

 a village of 1200 inhabit- 

 ants. 



Palpitation is the 



term used of the condi- 

 tion in which a person 

 becomes painfully aware 

 a, Palolo viridii, half natural of the Ixjating of his own 

 size ; b, c. anterior and pos- heart. This occasionally 

 tenor extremities (mag.). i la ,, ]H , ns even when t |, e 



heart's action is appar- 

 ently quite natural ; but much more generally the 

 MMttMM are found to be greatly increased in 

 force, and in most cases in frequency as well. It 

 may be either functional or a symptom of organic 

 disenseof the heart. Here we sfialf merely consider 

 it as a functional disorder. Although it may be 

 panMmti it far more frequently comes on in 

 paroxysms, which usually terminate within half 

 an hour, recurring afterwards quite irregularly, 

 sometimes daily or several times a day, and some- 

 times not till after a long interval. The attack 

 often comes on under some mental or physical 

 excitement, but sometimes when the patient is 

 quite composed, or even asleep. If the paroxysm 

 is a severe one the heart feels as if bounding up- 

 wards into the throat; and there is a sensation of 

 omnwdoa over the cardiac region, with hurried or 

 dilh'cult respiration. Excluding organic diseases, 

 the causes of this affection are either ( 1 ) an 

 abnormally excitable condition of the nerves of the 

 heart, or (2) an unhealthy condition of the blood. 



(1) Amongst the causes of disturlied innervalion 

 may l>e especially noticed the abuse of tea ( especially 

 preen tea), coffee, spirits, and tobacco. Any irrita- 

 tion of the stomach and intestinal canal may be 

 reflected to the heart ; and hence palpitation may 

 frequently be traced to flatulence, undue acid- 

 ity, and intestinal worms, especially tapeworms. 

 Everything that causes pressure on the heart, such 

 as tight-lacing, abdominal dropsy, or an enlarged 

 uterus, is also liable to occasion this affection. 



(2) If the blood is abnormally rich and stimulat- 

 ing it may give rise to palpitation, as in Plethora 

 (i|.v. ); but the opposite condition, known as 

 Anii'inia (q.v.), is a much more common cause of 

 this affection. In anaemia the blood is watery and 

 deficient in fibrine, and (far more) in red colour- 

 ing matter ; and, bein" thus in an unnatural state, 

 it acts as an unnatural stimulant, and induces fre- 

 quent and abnormally strong pulsations. 



The age at which palpitation most usually comes 

 on is from fifteen to twenty-live ; and the affection 

 especially if it arise from ana-mia is very much 

 more common in the female than in the male sex. 



The treatment of palpitation must entirely depend 

 upon its cause. The use of all nervous stimulants 

 (tea, coffee, alcohol, and tobacco) should be sus- 

 pended or abandoned. If the patient is clearly 



plethoric, with a full strong pulse, he should take 

 saline cathartics, and live upon comparatively low 

 diet (including little animal food) until this con- 

 dition is removed. When, on the other hand, the 

 palpitation is due to an anremic condition, the 

 remedies are preparations of iron, aloetic purgatives, 

 an abundance of animal food, bitter ale, the cold 

 shower-bath, and moderate exercise. 

 Palsy. See PARALYSIS. 



l*:i I lock, ROBERT, born in London apparently 

 in 1697, and educated at St Paul's School, was 

 bred to the law, and while in Clement's Inn 

 secured his title to remembrance by writing the 

 wondrous tale of Peter Wilkins, a Cornish Man, 

 published anonymously in 1750, and often re- 

 printed. The authorship, known to some in 1802, 

 remained generally a mystery till 1835, and first 

 ap|>eared on the title-page in 1839. Paltock died 

 20th March 1767. See the preface to A. H. 

 Bullen's edition of Peter Wilkins (2 vols. 1884), 

 anil AtheniEum, August 1884 to February 1885. 



Paludan-lHUller, FREDERIK, Danish poet, 

 Imrn at Kjerteminde in Fiinen, on 7th February 

 1809, led a quiet, uneventful life, and died at 

 Copenhagen on 29th December 1876. Whilst still 

 a student at the university in that city he gained 

 the ear of the public with a play, Love at Court 

 (1832); a poem, The Dancer (1833); and a lyric 

 drama, Amor and Psyche ( 1834 ; 8th ed. 1883) all 

 three decidedly romantic in temper, the second 

 especially showing Byronic influence. But his 

 fame rests on Adam Homo (3 vols. 1841-49; 7th 

 ed. 1885), a humorous, didactic poem, full of 

 deep and suggestive thought, with no small share 

 of satiric wit and irony, and strong realistic touches, 

 and of the most finished literary workmanship ; on 

 KII/IIHUS (1854), a contrast lietween Alexander the 

 Great and the Indian sage Kalanus, as representa- 

 tives of Greek culture and Hindu religion, a work 

 written in the loftiest spirit of idealism ; and on 

 Adonis ( 1874), an exquisitely finished little mytho- 

 logical poem. Along with 'Kalanus he published 

 the poems Paradise, Abel's Death, Cain, Ahasuerns, 

 and Benedict of Nnrsia ; and he wrote also two 

 prose romances, The Source of Youth (1865) and 

 Jmr Lykke'i History (3 vols. 1866-73). His poeti- 

 cal works were published in 8 "ols. in 1878-79. 

 See Georg Brandos, Dantke Die/fere ( 1877). 



Pamir' ('roof of the world'), the nucleus of 

 the central Asian highland system, is a lofty 

 plateau-region, with a mean elevation of 13,000 

 feet, uniting the western terminations of the Him- 

 alaya and the Tian-Shan Mountains, and both with 

 the Hindn-Kush. It is traversed by mountain -ridges 

 that rise from 4000 to 5000 feet above the plateaus, 

 and the culminating points attain in some cases 

 25,500 feet above sea-level. Between these ridges 

 are a series of broad valleys, to which the generic 

 name 'pamir' is given. 'On the west side this 

 plateau-region sinks rapidly in terraces to the 

 deserts of Turkestan. These lofty plateaus are 

 exposed to great extremes of heat and cold, and 

 are visited by terrible snow and sand storms. 

 Nevertheless the Kirghiz drive up their flocks and 

 herds for summer pasture, and from time imme- 

 morial traders have crossed them along celebrated 

 routes. It was crossed by Marco Polo (q.v.). 

 Animal and bird life is plentiful, the moufflon 

 having its home there. Amongst the lakes are 

 Karakul, 120 sq. m., and Shivakul, 100 sq. m. See 

 the Earl of Dunmore, The Pamirs ( 1893 ) ; Alcock's 

 Report of the Boundary Commission (1898); Sven 

 Hedin's Through Asia ( 1898). 



Pamlico Sound, a shallow body of water, 

 some 75 by 10 to 25 miles, on the coast of North 

 Carolina, separated from the ocean by long, narrow 

 islands of sand, with narrow passages. 



