754 



PARAMARIBO 



PARASITIC ANIMALS 



calve* of the legs, in tUe thighs, and liack. Kxain- 

 ination of tin- muscles slums that lli<> special mus- 

 cular tissue i- n-placi-d h\ fai. while ilir nerves 

 themselves are apparently not diseased. Injun', 

 ueli a* rupture or utilising of muscle, \\ill produce 

 paralysis, wliii-h may ! only tem|N>rary. 



Hysterical J'anilyat. Paralysis, which may fur 

 the 'time being be as complete as in any of the 

 cues above described, may occur without any 

 discoverable lesion. To this the term bvcteried ' 

 has been applied (see HYSTERIA). '!'! umulatioa 

 of organic paralysU by hysteria is frequently so 

 close as to deceive even expert observers. See 

 tiowers, Ditetua of Spinal Cord and Hi, 

 Quain's Dictiunury of Mdtirine. For 'general 

 paralysis,' see INSANITY, Vol. VI. p. 158. 



Paraiuar iho, the capital of Dutch Guiana, is 

 situated mi the Surinam, about 10 miles from its 

 mouth. It has broad, tree-shaded street*, with 

 clean wooden houses, painted light gray, and 

 numerous canals and churches. There are also a 



S>vernor's palace, two foils, a park, &c. The 

 ernihnters I Moravian Hrethren) are a strong 

 IK|V in the town. Kxcept for the Mimll harlnmr 

 of Sickerie, all the trade of the colony is concen- 

 trated at Paramaribo. See statistics under GUIANA 

 (Dl'TCH ). l'o|>. ( 1895) 29,300. 



Paramatta. See PAHRAMATTA. 



I'nraiiUM-iiiin, or SMI-I-KH ANIMALCULE, an 

 Infiisoriau xcry common in jxind water or in vege- 

 table infusions. In shape it is an asvmmcti ical 

 oval, in length about ,J 5 of an inch. If dry grass 

 be steeped in a glass of water for some days, the 

 animalcules dormant about the steins revive and 

 multiply very rapidly. Each paraiiiecinm is 

 covered witli rows of cilia which lash it through 

 the water and drive food-particles into an a]enim> 

 which serves as mouth. As the food particles 

 enter they take bubbles of water with them, ami 

 are moved round and round in the living substance 

 until they are digested or got rid oil'. There are 

 two (excretory) contractile vocuoles ; the large 

 nucleus has a small one ( paranncleus) lying beside 

 it ; iK'neath the thin rind there are remarkable 

 eversible threads. A paramecium often divides 

 transversely into two; these two repeat tin- pro 

 cess, and with continually diminishing size rapid 

 multiplication may thus proceed for a while. It 

 has its limits, however, and then two individual 

 Inftisorians conjugate, exchange some of the 

 material of their paranuclei, and separate. Thus 

 they seem to renew their youth. 



Parana* ( 1 ) an imjiortant river of South 

 America, rises as the Kio Grande in the Kra/ilian 

 state of Minos Ueraes, about 100 miles N\V. of 

 de Janeiro. It Hows north-west and west 

 through and along the southern frontier of Minos 

 Geraes, 1411 it unites with the I'antnahyba. It 

 then receives the name Parana, and turns to the 

 south-west and afterwards to the south, separating 

 Parana state from Mat to (iro-so and from Para 

 K"ay, round the southern Iwrder of which republic 

 it sweep* westward to its continence with the 

 Paraguay Kivr. It then rolls southward through 

 the Argentine provinces, mist Santa I-Y-, below 

 which it* channel frequently divides ami encloses 

 numerous islands, and linally southeastward, till 

 it unites with the I'nigimy, aliove Ituci 

 to form the Hio de la Plata. The entire length 

 of the river i* a little over 2000 miles ; it drains 

 an area of more than I.)IKI.(KK) sq. m. It* chief 

 tributaries, besides those already mentioned, are 

 the Mog\ GIIOMII. Tide, Pummipancma, Ivahy, 

 lgimw.il, nrid Salodo ; at San Pedro < :t:t to' S. lat.) 

 n delta l-gin Tin- piiii<-ipal towns on its banks are 

 rarui. SantA Fe, and Kosario all 

 Aigcntinian. The river is navigable at all times 



to the inlliix of the Paraguay (TO'i miles), and 

 except at low water to the month of the Iguana 

 (400 miles L Immediately aliove this | M iint occurs 

 on'- m' the most remarkable rapids in the world. 

 It extends for KM) miles in a straight line up the 

 river, between ranges of frowning dill's which eon 

 line the stream to a narrow, rocky bed, little mine 

 than 100 yards wide. Through this gorge tin- 

 water pours in tumultuous fury; for alxne the 

 rapid the river, then iM miles broad, lushes down 

 over the Salto of Gtinyra, an inclined plane .Vi feet 

 high, and then forces its waters, tossing and churn- 

 ing, into the narrow channel In-low. (2) A southern 

 state of Brazil, on the coast, with an area of *.., t:a 

 sij. m., and a pop. (1888) of 187,548, including 



of (ie 



several colonies 



ieiumns and Italians. The 



Ornamented Gothic Parapet 



used as parapets. In 

 irly work parapets are generally plain, but in 

 .ter buildings they are pierced and ornamented 



capital is Curitiba (34,000), with a railway (09 

 miles) to Paranagud, the port of the state (pop. 

 5000). (3) Capital of the Argentinian province of 

 Kntre Kios, stands on a high bluff overlooking tin- 

 Parana, opposite Santa Fe, 410 miles by steamer 

 from Buenos Ayres. The town was the capital of 

 the Confederation from 1852 to 1861 ; afterwards it 

 sank rapidly, but has now again a pop. of 15,000. 



Parapet ( Hal. para-petto, from jmrnre, ' to 

 protect,' and petto, 'the breast'), a wall raised 

 higher than the gutter of a roof for protection ; in 

 military works, for defence against missiles from 

 without (see 

 FORTIFICA- 

 TION) ; in 

 domestic build- 

 ings, churches, 

 >Ve.. to pre- 

 vent accident 

 by falling from 

 the roof. In 

 classic archi- 

 tecture l>aliistrades were 

 early 

 later 

 with tracery. 



Paraphrase (Gr. para, ' licside,' and ;./. 

 'to speak') is the name given to a verbal expan- 

 sion of the meaning either of a whole book, or 

 of a separate passage in it. A paraphrase conse- 

 quently differs from Metaphrase, or strict Iv literal 

 translation, in this, that it aims to make the sei,-i- 

 of the text clearer by a lucid circumlocution, with- 

 out actually passing into commentary. The versi- 

 fied passages of Scripture forming part of the 

 Psalmody of the Scottish Church are known as 

 'the Paraphrases." See HYMN, Vol. VI. p. 48. 



Paraplegia. See PAKAI.VSIS. 



Parasite (Gr. from para, 'beside,' si/us, 

 ' food ; ' one who eats with another ; hence one who 

 eats at the expense of another), a common char- 

 acter in the Greek comedies ; a low fellow, who is 

 ready to submit to an v. indignity that he mav be 

 permitted to partake of a banquet, and who lives 

 as much as possible at the expense ot others. 



Parasitic Animals are those which live on 

 or in other organisms, from which they derive their 

 food. But this mode of life ha~ many forms and 

 degrees; the hosts may lie animals or plants ; the 

 parasites mav be external or internal (ectoparasitie 

 or cndoparositic). fixed or with the power of move- 

 ment ; they mav l>c parasitic temporarily, for a 

 prolonged ]>criiKl, or for the whole lite ; restricted to 

 one host, or requiring to pass from one kind of 

 animal to another if the life-cycle i- to he completed. 

 I''or the parasitic animals which infest plants, 



see CliKN INSKITS, GAI.I.S, itc. ; and AsCAItlS, 

 I'l.fKI. T\l'K\Mi|!V. TllliK.Ui WtiltMS, TlllCHIXA, 

 Ac., and other parasites are separately discussed. 



Gratict of Partaititm. The grades recognised 

 by Leuckart are: (1) Temporary I'arusitistn. 



