PARDON 



5972 



PARI-MUTUEL 



travelled in Europe, and divided 

 her home-life between Madrid and 

 Galicia, becoming not only an in- 

 dustrious writer, but a leading 

 spirit in the Spanish feminist move- 

 ment and an eloquent public 

 speaker. Among her works are 

 several novels and numerous 

 literary studies and descriptions of 

 her travels. She died May 12, 1921. 

 Pardon. Legal term for the 

 forgiveness of a crime. It is in all 

 countries the peculiar prerogative 

 of the head of the state ; although 

 in constitutional countries he 

 always acts upon the advice of his 

 ministers. In Great Britain the 

 king has the sole right of pardon 

 and the home secretary advises 

 him. He also has the legal right of 

 pardon over the whole empire ; but 

 in practice he does not interfere in 

 the Oversea Dominions, colonies, 

 or India, where the exercise of the 

 prerogative is left in the hands of 

 the governor or viceroy. A pardon 

 can be granted before or after 

 trial except that no pardon can be 

 pleaded to bar an impeachment. 

 See Amnesty. 



Pardon. Name given to popu- 

 lar religious gatherings and village 

 feasts in Brittany. In rural dis- 

 tricts, where the pardon is primarily 

 devotional and associated with the 

 quest of absolution, or cure of 

 some bodily ill is the object of 

 pilgrimage, the ceremonial begins 

 overnight with vespers. Mass is 

 said at 3 a.m., there is a procession 

 in the afternoon, and sometimes 

 one in the evening, and stalls are 

 set up at which refreshments and 

 souvenirs of the occasion may be 

 purchased. 



Pardubitz OR PARDUBICE. Town 

 of Czecho-Slovakia, in Bohemia. 

 It is 65 m. by rly. from Prague 

 on the route to Brno (Briinn), 

 on the Elbe (Labe). Spirits, 

 sugar, farm machines, flour, and 

 timber products are manufactured. 

 The ruined castle of Kunetitz 

 (1,000 ft.) crowns an isolated 

 hill N. of the town. Pop. 20,400. 

 Pare, AMBROISE (1510-90). 

 French surgeon. Born near Laval, 

 Mayenne, he was apprenticed to a 

 tarbersur- 

 geon, and, 

 serving with 

 the army, 

 gained such 

 distinction 

 that, although 

 a Protestant, 

 he became 

 surgeon to 

 Henry II and 

 three other 

 kings, Charles IX saving him at the 

 massacre of S. Bartholomew. He 

 wrote on gunshot wounds and 

 anatomy, and was the first to use 



Ambroise Pare, 

 French surgeon 



ligatures for arteries after amputa- 

 tion, his rational treatment earning 

 him the title of Father of modern 

 French surgery. He died in Paris, 

 Dec. 22, 1590. See Ambroise Pare 

 and His Times, Stephen Paget,1897. 



Paregoric. Compound tincture 

 of camphor. It is used as a seda- 

 tive in conditions associated with 

 irritating cough. It should not be 

 given to children. 



Pareira Brava (Chondrodend- 

 ron tomentosum). Climbing shrub 

 of the natural order Menisperm- 

 aceae. It is a native of Brazil and 

 the W. Indies. It has roundish 

 leaves with the leaf-stalk attached 

 to the middle, and silky on the 

 underside. The flowers are green- 

 ish, in sprays, and the sexes 

 separate. From the dried root a 

 substance called pelosine is ob- 

 tained, better known by the 

 druggists' name of pareira brava. 



Parent (Lat. par ere, to bring 

 forth). Primarily a father or 

 mother. The word is also used for 

 anything that begets something 

 else, e.g, a parent plant. The 

 complement of parent is child, 

 and in all civilized countries a 

 body of law deals with the duties 

 of parents towards their children. 

 See Children ; Family. 



Pargasite. In mineralogy, 

 name given to a variety of horn- 

 blende found at Pargas, in 

 Sweden. Green or bluish green in 

 colour, it forms large shiny crystals. 

 See Hornblende. 



Parham. Village of Sussex, 

 England, 10 m. from Petworth. 

 The church of S. Peter is note- 

 worthy. Close by under the downs 

 is Parham Park, the residence of 

 Earl French, with a deer park and 

 a famous heronry. The house was 

 built in the time of Elizabeth, her 

 arms and date, 1583, being on the 

 wall. The noted collection of 

 objects of art and manuscripts was 

 dispersed in 1920. 



Parhelia (Gr. para, beside ; 

 helios, sun). Name for the mock 

 suns of a solar halo. See Mock Sun. 



Paria, GULF OF. Almost 

 enclosed arm of the sea in N.E. 

 Venezuela. The island of Trinidad 

 is separated at its N.W. corner 

 from the peninsula of Paria on the 

 mainland by the passage called the 

 Dragon's Mouth, and at its S. W. by 

 that of the Serpent's Mouth from 

 the Orinoco delta. These passages, 

 discovered and named by Colum- 

 bus in 1498, connect the Gulf of 

 Paria with the Atlantic Ocean. 

 The gulf receives the Guanipa and 

 theManamo, and is 100 m. from 

 Trinidad to its most westerly point 

 in the prov. of Sucre. 



Pariah. Term popularly applied 

 to natives of India who have no 

 caste, and hence figuratively to any 



social outcast. The Paraiyans, 

 drum-beaters, from whom 'they 

 take their name, numbering 

 2,448,295 (1911), mostly in Madras, 

 are a low labouring caste with 

 many sub-castes, and although 

 classed as " untouchables " they 



m 



VS. -;5'M 



Pareira Brava. Foliage and sprays 

 of, left, flowers, and, right, seed ; 



actually rank higher than several 

 true castes. 



Parian Ware. Felspar pottery 

 fired at a moderate temperature. 

 It is a pure white, marble-like 

 substance, much used for figure 

 work and vases. See Pottery. 



Parima, SIERRA. Western 

 section of the Venezuelan High- 

 lands. From Boraima, where 

 British Guiana, Brazil, and Venez- 

 uela meet, an elevated region 

 separates the tributaries of the 

 Amazon from those of the Orinoco. 

 This area is known first as the 

 Sierra Pacaraima and in the W. as 

 Sierra Parima. From the latter, 

 which contains Mts. Maraguaca 

 and Duida, both over 8,000 ft. alt., 

 descend the Orinoco and its tribu- 

 tary the Ventuari, the Casiquiare 

 and the Branco, tributaries of the 

 Rio Negro. 



Pari-Mutuel OR TOTALISATOR. 

 Method of backing horses by means 

 of a machine, in vogue on the race- 

 courses of the Continent and in 

 some of the British colonies. The 

 actual machine registers and 

 indicates the number of tickets 

 sold in connexion with each horse. 

 On a board are exhibited the 

 names of the horses competing in 

 each race, and a person wishing to 

 back a particular horse pays in, 

 for example, 1 or several pounds 

 to the officer in charge ; when the 

 race is decided all the money paid 

 in over the various horses is 

 divided between the backers of the 

 winner, in proportion to the 

 amount subscribed. Ten p.c. is 

 deducted from the receipts of those 

 persons who have backed the 

 winner, and in countries, such as 

 France, where the totalisator is 

 run by the government, this per- 

 centage goes towards taxation, 

 bringing in a large revenue. 



