PANATHENAEA 



PANDANACEAE 



Panathenaea. Festival of an- 

 cient Athens. It was held annually 

 in Aug. in honour of Athena. 

 Every fourth year the festival was 

 celebrated on a splendid scale ; it 

 was then called the greater Pana- 

 thenaea, the intervening festivals 

 being known as the lesser Pana- 

 thenaea. The festival, of legendary 

 origin, had grown by the time of 

 Pericles to great dimensions, and 

 included musical and athletic con- 

 tests. The great religious feature, a 

 procession symbolising the power of 

 Athens, is represented in the frieze 

 on the Parthenon. See Athena. 



Panay. Fifth in size of the 

 Philippine Islands. The extreme 

 W. island of the Visayan group, it 

 lies between Negros and Mindoro 

 islands, and covers an area of 4,610 

 sq. m., or with adjacent islands 

 an additional 300 sq. m. Panay 

 has a mountainous surface, ranges 

 extending from the centre to its 

 three corners, with peaks exceed- 

 ing 5,000 ft., Madiaas, the culmin- 

 ating summit, being 7,265 ft. The 

 N. and E. coasts are well indented, 

 and contain several good harbours, 

 Iloilo being one of the finest in the 

 Philippines. The principal rivers 

 are the Jalaur and Jaro. Agricul- 

 ture is the chief industry, and rice, 

 sugar, and copra are extensively 

 cultivated. Pineapples, bananas, 

 and mangoes are grown. 



In 1569 the Spaniard, Legaspi, 

 conquered Panay from his first base 

 at Cebu. From the headquarters he 

 established at Iloilo he proceeded 

 to the conquest of Mindoro and 

 Luzon. Pop. 775,000. 



Pancake. Thin, flat cake fried 

 in butter or fat. It is made of a 

 thin batter, turned in the pan by 

 tossing. The origin of eating pan- 

 cakes on Shrove Tuesday, the day 

 before Lent, is a survival of the old 

 custom of feasting on that day, 

 pancakes being fried in the grease 

 that was forbidden in Lent. For 

 300 years past a ceremony known 

 as tossing the pancake has been 

 enacted at Westminster School on 

 Shrove Tuesday, the boys scram- 

 bling for it and the successful one 

 receiving a guinea from the dean. 



Panchatantra (Skt., Five 

 Books). Oldest known collection of 

 fables. It is the origin of the Fables 

 of Bidpai (q.v.) and one of the 

 sources of the Hitopadesa (q.v. ) 

 or Book of Good Counsels. A work 

 in five tantras or sections, it de- 

 rives from a treatise in which the 

 ancient Brahmans of India inserted 

 the choicest treasures of worldly 

 wisdom and the most perfect rules 

 for government, and then pre- 

 sented them to their raj as. Written 

 in Sanskrit, the Panchatantra has 

 been rendered into the chief leu- 

 guages of Asia and Europe. 



Panchayat. Name given to the 

 committee that manages the affairs 

 of an Indian village. In some 

 cases it consists of the heads of the 

 various households ; in others of a 

 fixed number of persons chosen 

 by their fellows. See Village 

 Community. 



Panch Mahals (Five Districts). 

 Dist. of India, in the N. division of 

 Bombay. It is a small district, 

 area 1,606 sq. m., bounded W. by 

 the Mahi river. The annual rain- 

 fall is 38 ins. Rice and pulses are 

 grown, and native food grains 

 occupy half the tilled area. It has 

 been British since 1853. Godhra 

 is the chief town. Pop. 323,000. 



Pancorbo. Village of Spain, in 

 Burgos prov. It is 124 m. S.W. of 

 Inin and 10 m. S. of Miranda, on 

 the Ebro. It has two ruined 

 castles, and gives its name to the 

 Garganta or gorge of Pancorbo, 

 a rocky ravine in the outlying 

 spurs of the Pyrenees, leading to 

 Castile. 



Pancras. Patron saint of chil- 

 dren. He is said traditionally to 

 have been born at Synnada, in 

 Phrygia, of noble parentage, and 

 to have been taken in childhood to 

 Rome, where he was baptized by 

 the pope. During Diocletian's 

 persecution he was asked by the 

 emperor to give up Christianity, 

 and on his refusing was beheaded 

 at the age of 14. Numerous 

 churches and one London borough 

 are named after him. SeeS. Pancras. 



Pancratium (Gr. pan, all ; 

 kratos, strength). Event in the 

 Olympic and other games of an- 

 cient Greece. The term means a 

 " complete " contest, wrestling and 

 boxing combined. It was a trial of 

 strength in which the two unarmed 

 competitors were at liberty to use 

 any means, even strangulation, to 

 overcome one another. See Ludi. 



Pancratium. Genus of bulbous 

 herbs of the natural order Ama- 

 ryllidaceae. Natives of the Medi- 

 terranean region, the Canaries, and 

 W. Indies, they have strap-shaped 

 leaves and large funnel-shaped, 

 fragrant white flowers, mostly 

 forming a large umbel, on a tall 

 stem. The best known species are 

 P. illyricum and P. maritimum, 

 both natives of S. Europe. 



Pancreas. Organ situated be- 

 hind the stomach. About 6 to 8 ins. 

 long, it contains a duct which 



opens into the second part of the 

 duodenum in contact with the 

 common bile duct. The pancreas 

 secretes a juice which plays an im- 

 portant part in the digestion ol 

 food. It contains four enzymes or 

 ferments, namely trypsin, which 

 splits up the proteins of the food ; 

 amylase, which converts starch 

 into maltose, a form of sugar ; 

 lipase. which splits up fats ; and an 

 enzyme which causes milk to 

 curdle. The pancreas of 

 is called sweetbread (q.v.). 



Pancsova. Town of Yugo- 

 slavia, in the S. of the Banat. It 

 stands 3 m. N. of the confluence of 

 the Temes with the Danube, here 

 1 m. wide. Silks, bricks, and flour 

 are manufactured. The trade is 

 in grain and pigs. Pop. 21,000. 



Panda OR WAH (Aelurus ful- 

 gens). Small mammal of the order 

 Carnivora. It is a native of the 



Panda. Small Himalayan cat-bear 

 allied to tbe racoons 



W. S. Berridge, F.Z.S. 



Himalayas only. Allied to the 

 racoons, it resembles the kinkajou 

 (q.v. ) in having the claws partially 

 retractile. Its total length is about 

 2 ft., but somewhat more than half 

 this measurement is due to the long 



Pancreas. Tbe organ shown in section 



Pandanaceae. Leaves of tbe Screw 

 Pine, P. utilis 



bushy tail, which has suggested the 

 alternative name of cat- bear. Its 

 fine, dense coat of fur is chestnut- 

 brown above and black beneath. 

 Mainly nocturnal and arboreal in 

 habits, it is found on the outskirts 

 of the pine-woods. 



Pandanaceae. Natural order of 

 trees and shrubs. Natives of the 

 tropics, mainly of the Old World, 

 they have long, narrow, rigid leaves, 



