PHARMACEUTICAL. 



Pharmaceutical Society. Brit- 

 ish society. It was established in 

 1841 for the purpose of advanc- 

 ing chemistry 

 and pharmacy, 

 for promoting 

 the education 

 of those who 

 practise the 

 same, and for the 

 protection of per- 



Pharmaceutical 

 Society tarns 



sons who carry 

 on the business 

 of chemists and 

 druggists. A royal charter of in- 

 corporation was granted to the 

 Society in 1843. Under the Phar- 

 macy Acts the society conducts 

 an examination in materia medica, 

 pharmacy, etc., qualifying persons 

 for registration as pharmaceutical 

 chemists, or chemists and drug- 

 gists, and institutes proceedings 

 against persons who contravene the 

 Pharmacy Acts. It advises the 

 Privy Council as to additions to, or 

 changes in, the Poison Schedule. It 

 publishes The Pharmaceutical Jour- 

 nal. The offices are at 17, Blooms- 

 bury Square, London, W.C. 



Pharmacopoeia (Gr. phar- 

 makon, a drug ; poiein, to make). 

 Authoritative treatise on the pre- 

 paration, constitution, and dosage 

 of drugs and medicines. The 

 British Pharmacopoeia is issued by 

 the General Medical Council, and 

 is revised from time to time. It 

 first appeared in 1864, and took 

 the place of the London Pharma- 

 copoeia which had been first pub- 

 lished in 1618. 



Pharmacy. Greek word mean- 

 ing originally the use of drugs. It 

 appears to have been at first prac- 

 tised by priests, this being the case 

 in Egypt and among the Jews, and 

 later in Europe it was largely in the 

 hands of monks. In course of time 

 more became known about the use 

 of drugs, but for long a great deal 

 of superstition was mingled with 

 the art. In the 17th century the 

 word began to be used for the com- 

 pounding of medicines, and the 

 work of the chemist became quite 

 distinct from that of the medical 

 man. After 1852, in Great Britain, 

 registered chemists were distin- 

 guished from unregistered ones, 

 since when the former have been 

 known as pharmaceutical chemists. 

 See Chemist ; Dispensing. 

 Pharos. Western extremity of 

 the city of Alexandria. Formerly 

 an island, it was joined to the city 

 by a causeway which divided the 

 harbour into two portions. Here 

 stood the ancient Pharos, or light- 

 house, accounted one of the seven 

 wonders of the world, built under 

 Ptolemy II, about 260 B.C., and 

 reaching a height of about 500 ft. 

 The site of the old lighthouse was 



6100 



later occupied by the picturesque 

 Fort Kait Bey. See Alexandria ; 

 Lighthouse. 



Pharsalus. Town of ancient 

 Greece, in the dist. of Pharsalia, 

 Thessaly. Situated near the river 

 Enipeus, it was the scene of fighting 

 during the war between Rome and 

 Macedonia (197 B.C.). There are 

 many ruins of the ancient walls 

 and of the Acropolis. 



The battle of Pharsalus was 

 fought Aug. 9, 48 B.C., on the 

 territory (Pharsalia) of the town 

 of Pharsalus, between Caesar with 

 22,000 men, and Pompey with 

 twice that number. It was the 

 decisive battle of the civil war, 

 Pompey's complete defeat making 

 further organized resistance to 

 Caesar impossible. See Lucan. 



Pharynx (Gr., throat). Cavity 

 extending from the base of the 

 skull to the level of the cricoid 

 cartilage of the throat, where it 

 becomes continuous with the oeso- 

 phagus or gullet. About 4J ins. 

 long, it lies behind the mouth and 

 nose, and thus forms the passage 

 through which food passes from 

 the mouth to the oesophagus, or 

 air between the mouth and nose 

 and the larynx. The Eustachian 

 tubes (q.v. ) open into the upper 

 part of the pharynx, one on each 

 side. Inflammation of the pharynx 

 is known as pharyngitis. Acute 

 pharyngitis may be the simple sore 

 throat of a common cold, or may 

 be due to more serious infection 

 from scarlet fever, diphtheria, etc. 

 Chronic pharyngitis or " clergy- 

 man's sore throat " is a condition 

 met with in speakers, coster- 

 mongers, and others, resulting from 

 over-use of the voice. It is often 

 associated with excessive smoking 

 and drinking. Treatment demands 

 restof the voice and abstention from 

 smoking and alcohol. Astringent 

 sprays containing menthol may be 

 prescribed. See Anatomy ; Man. 



Phase. Term used by electrical 

 engineers to denote the time 

 relationship between the voltage 

 of an alternating electric current 

 and the current impulse. In an 

 alternating current it is seldom 

 that the current attains its maxi- 

 mum and zero values at the same 

 instant as the voltage. Thus 

 electrostatic capacity in the circuit 

 causes the currents to lead the 

 volts, whilst inductance, i.e. the in- 

 duced counter electromotive force, 

 causes the currents to lag behind 

 the volts. The extent of the time 

 difference measured on the zero 

 line is known as the phase, and is 

 usually measured by a theoretical 

 angle termed the angle of lag. 



Phase (Gr. phasis, appearance). 

 In astronomy, term used for the 

 different luminous appearances of 



PHEASANT 



the moon and certain planets. The 

 well-known phases of the moon are 

 caused as the moon travels in its 

 orbit about the earth, thus altering 

 the amount of the illuminated sur- 

 face which is seen. 



The phases of the inferior or 

 fnner planets, Mercury and Venus, 

 are similar to those of the moon, 

 but take a complete Mercurial or 

 Venusian year for their accom- 

 plishment. The crescent Venus or 

 Mercury occurs as the planets come 

 more and more in line between the 

 earth and the sun. It is at these 

 times, unfortunately, when the 

 planets are nearest the earth that 

 less of the surface becomes visible, 

 making accurate astronomical ob- 

 servations difficult. See Moon. 



Ph.D. (Philosophiae Doctor). 

 Abbrev. for Doctor of Philosophy. 



Pharynx. Section of throat show- 

 ing position of the pharynx. A. 

 Posterior edge of nasal septum. 

 B. Orifice of Eustachian tube. C. 

 Soft palate. D. Palatine tonsil. 

 E. Pharyngo-palatine arch. F. 

 Epiglottis 



Pheasant. Family (Phasianidae) 

 of game birds greatly esteemed for 

 the table. The family includes over 

 50 genera, and comprises the part- 

 ridges, quails, domestic poultry, 

 guinea fowl, and peafowl. The 

 typical pheasants, to which belongs 

 the common pheasant of British 

 woods, form the genus Phasianus, 

 including over a dozen species. 



In a wild state the true pheasants 

 range from S.E. Europe across 

 Central and S. Asia to Japan, and 

 are usually found in wooded val- 

 leys. In structure they have much 

 in common with the partridge, but 

 with a long and wedge-shaped tail. 



The common pheasant (Phasi- 

 anu-s colchicus) is a native of 

 Turkey, Greece, and Asia Minor, 

 and is believed to have been intro- 

 duced into Britain by the Romans. 

 It has, however, been freely inter- 

 bred with other species introduced 

 later, notably the ring-necked 

 pheasant (P. torquatus) from China 

 and the green pheasant (P. versi- 

 color) from Japan. 



The pheasant feeds upon insects 

 and snails, in addition to seeds, 

 grain, and berries. It will flourish 

 in the coverts without attention if 



