281 



PHARMACOSIDERITE. 



PHASIANID^E. 



282 



Arsenic Acid 

 Lime 

 Water . 



Klaprotb. 

 . 50-54 

 . 25-00 

 . 24-46 



100 



John. 

 45-68 

 27-28 

 23-86 



96-82 



PHARMACOSIDERITE, Cubic Arseniate of Iron, Cube Ore, 

 Mineral occurring crystallised and sometimes massive. Primary form 

 cube. Cleavage parallel to the primary planes, indistinct. Colour o 

 various shades between light-green and bottle-green, and yellowish ana 

 brownish green ; streak paler. Fracture uneven ; cross-fracture uneven 

 >r imperfectly conchoidal. Hardness 2'5. Brittle. Lustre vitreou-- 

 Transparent, translucent. Opaque. Specific gravity 2'9 to 3'0. Massiv. 

 variety amorphous, structure granular. It is found in Cornwall, am 

 more rarely at St. Leonard in France, Schneeberg, Schwartzenberg in 

 Saxony, and Franklin, North America. Its analysis by Berzeliu 

 gives 



Arsenic Acid 38-00 



Peroxide of Iron ...... 40'56 



Phosphoric Acid 070 



Oxide, of Copper 0'60 



Water ........ 10-57 



Insoluble Matter 0-35 



100-78 



PHARYNX is the cavity in which the food is received in its passagi 

 from the mouth to the oesophagus or gullet. In man it is somewha 

 funnel-shaped, having its widest part above, where it is fixed to the 

 base of the skull. Tbe uasal passages, the mouth, and the air passages 

 open into the pharynx in front ; behind it is attached to the spina 

 column ; and at its sides it is bounded by the deep vessels and muscles 

 of the neck. It is lined by a mucous membrane, but is chiefly com 

 posed of layers of strong muscular fibres, called the constrictors of 

 the pharynx, by whose successive contractions the food received from 

 the mouth is gradually forced from above downwards into the 

 oesophagus. 



PHASCOCHCERUS. [Sum*.] 



PHASCO'GALE. [MABSOPIATA.] 



PHASCOLA'RCTOS. [MA.RSUPIATA.] 



PHASCO'LOMYS. [MARSUFIATA.] 



PHASCOLOTHE'RIUM. [MABSCPIATA.] 



PHA'SEOLUS, a genus of Plants of the tribe PhateoUa;, in the 



natural order Leyuminoxz. The name is said to be derived from 



Phaselus, a little boat, which the pods are thought to resemble ; but 



it may be that the meaning of ' boat ' is derived from the resemblance 



of a boat to the form of a bean. Two species are very well known 



in this country, P. vulgaru, the Common Kidney Bean, and P. multi- 



Jlonu, the Scarlet Kunner ; their unripe pods being much esteemed as 



legumes, and also for pickling. The ripe seeds are however employed 



on the continent, and form the Haricots of the French. The genus 



in however one of which the species are indigenous in tropical parts 



both of the Old and New World. Several are cultivated in India, and 



are some of the principal articles of the agriculturist's attention, as 



the ripe seeds of several species form pulses which are much used by 



the natives as a portion of their diet, and some of which, like the 



Kidney Bean, abound in nutritious matter. 



Phattuliu is characterised by having a bell-shaped 2-lipped calyx. 

 The corolla is papilionaceous, and has the keel, as well as the dia- 

 delphous stamens and the style, spirally twisted. The legume is com- 

 pressed or cylindrical, with two valves, and is many-seeded, with more 

 or less conspicuous cellular partitions between the seeds. The hilum 

 of (he seed is oval-oblong. The plants are herbaceous or suffrutescent 

 in habit The leaves are pinnately trifoliate, the leaflets with 

 partial stipules. Racemes axillary. Pedicels usually in pairs, single 

 flowered. 



P. vulgarit, Kidney-Bean, is said to be a native of India, but Dr. 

 Royle states that seeds were brought to him from Cashmere, and he 

 therefore inclined to consider that it was introduced into Europe 

 from the most northern parts, such as Cabul and Cashmere, and that 

 this accounts for our being able to cultivate it at a lower temperature 

 than other species of the genus. 



P. mulliflortu, the Scarlet Runner, is a native of South America. 

 Both are delicate, and cannot be safely planted in the open air till the 

 beginning of May. 



P. Mungo, or Moog, is one of the dry leguminous grains of India, 

 fhich are of great value whenever the periodical rains fail and rice 

 cannot be grown, and famine is the consequence. 



P. Max, Kala Moog of the natives, and Black Gram of the English, 

 i like the former, but distinguished by its black seeds, and is, like it, 

 found in a cultivated state : it takes about the same time to ripen, 

 and yields nearly the same produce. 



P. radiatut, called by the natives Mash and Oorad, is, like the two 



former, found in a cultivated state, and is the most esteemed of all 



the Indian leguminous plants. Besides using it as an article of 



;iet, the natives make bread of the meal for some of their religious 



ceremonies. 



P. aureui, or Sona Moog of the Bengalees, is found in a cultivated 

 3 in the Bengal presidency, but is not known on the Coromandel 



Coast. It is sown, like the others, about the end of October or beginni::^ 

 of November, and reaped iu February or the beginning of March. 



P. aconitifolius, Moth of the natives, is cultivated in the north- 

 western provinces, and used for feeding cattlo. 



PHASIANELLA. [TBOOHIDA] 



PHASIA'NID^E, a family of Rasorial Birds related to the Pavonidte 

 [PAVONID.E.] 



Mr. G. R Gray arranges the Pkaaianidfe as the second family of 

 RatoresCracidte being the first, and he divides the Phadanida: into 

 the sub-families Pavonine, Phasianina, Gallina, and Meleagi-intc. The 

 Phaiianirue consist of the genera Argus, Phcusianus, Syrmaticus, T/tau- 

 ma.Ua,, and Gennatus. The Gallince comprehend the genera Euplocamus 

 ifonaulut, Lophophorua, Gollus, and Tmgopan. 



Phaiianus (Linn.). Bill of mean length, strong ; upper mandible 

 convex, naked at the base, and with the tip bent downwards. Nostrils 

 basal, lateral, covered with a cartilaginous scale ; cheeks and region 

 of the eyes destitute of feathers, and covered with verrucose red skin. 

 Wings short, the first quills equally narrowed towards their tipg, the 

 fourth and fifth the longest. Tail long, regularly wedge-shaped, and 

 composed of 18 feathers. Feet having the three anterior toes united 

 by a membrane as far as the first joint, and the hind toe articulated 

 upon the tarsus, which in the male birds is furnished with a horny 

 cone-shaped sharp spur. (Gould.) 



The type of this genus is generally considered to be P. Colcldcu, 

 Linn., the Common Pheasant, a bird which, though not originally 

 British, is completely naturalised in our islands, and indeed appears 

 to adapt itself with great facility to most countries where ordinary 

 care is taken to preserve it, and the temperature is not too low for 

 its constitution. The species is too well known to need description. 



If we are to listen to the tales which form that period of history 

 which borders upon fable, we owe this ornament of our preserves and 

 tables to Jason and his companions, who brought it from Colchis iu 

 the good ship Argo. Martial thus notices its introduction into Europe 

 (lib. xiii, ep. 72) : Phasianus loquitur 



" Argiva primum sum transportata carina ; 

 Ante mihi nomm nil nisi Pbasis erat." 



In Greece it soon became known under the name of 4>a<7<oi'o? 

 and QaauuiiKfa opvts (Phasiau bird). (Aristophanes, 'Clouds,' 110; 

 'Birds,' 68.) Indeed it had become sufficiently celebrated in the 

 time of Aristophanes to form a proverb "Not if you would give 

 me the pheasants which Leogoras feeds," says Strepsiades, in the 

 'Clouds' (109, 110). Aristotle writes succinctly but clearly of the 

 habits of the Pheasant as a well-known bird (' Hist. Anim.,' v. 31 ; 

 vi. 2); nor is Athenseus silent concerning so delicate a dish, which 

 appears to have become more common as luxury waxed strong, nor 

 regarding the royal conduct of Ptolemy, who, though he kept them 

 and provided them with hens (i/o^as upneas) for multiplication, being 

 iware of their excellence . for the table, appears not to have tasted 

 them. From the same author it would appear that the ancients, 

 contrary to the opinion of modern epicures, thought the cock birds 

 ;he best (' Deipn.,' xiv., Ixix. p. 654.) It is the P/iamanus of the 

 Romans (Pliny, ' Nat. Hist.,' x., xlviii. ; xi., xxxviL), but seems to 



lave only been within reach of the wealthy. Thus Martial (xiii., xlv. 



PulliGallinacei') 



" Si Libycz nobis volucres et Pbasides etsent, 

 Amperes : at nunc accipe cortis aves." 



And again, in the epigram addressed to Bassus (iii. 58), which gives so 

 >retty a picture of a genuine rural Roman villa, and so agreeably fills 

 liu imagination with country sights and sounds 



" Vagatur omnis turba sorilidtc cortis, 

 Argutus anser, gemmcique pavones, 

 Nomenque debet qua; * rubentibus pcnnis, 

 Et picta pcrdix, Numidicffique guttate, 

 Et impiorum phasiana Colchorum. 

 Rbodias superbi ficminas premunt galli 

 Sonantque turres plausibus columbarura, 

 Gemit bine palumbus, inde cercus turtur." 



The Pheasant has now been spread over the whole of temperate 



iurope and the greater part of the old continent ; and it is probable 



hat it will be introduced with success wherever the face of tho 



-ountry and the supply of food are congenial to it, and the temperature 



does not vary too much from that of its native river, the ancient Phasis 



and the modern Faz, along whose banks Mingrelia, formerly Colchis, 



extends, between 42 and 43 N. lat, 41 19' and 42 19' E. long. 



PHASIS, in GEOCJ. Div.] It is even said to be common iu Siberia, a 



much colder climate, which would prove the facility with which it 



dapts itself to temperature ; and an attempt has, we believe, been 



made to introduce it into North America, a locality well suited to 



ts habits. 



The south of Europe owed the Pheasant, in all probability, partially 

 o the Greeks, and more proximately to the Romans. It is the Fasiano 

 f the Italians, and Faisan of the French. More doubt hangs 

 bout its introduction into Great Britain, and the time of that, intro- 

 uction. We are told that the price of one was id. in the time of 

 ur first Edward (1299). In 'The Forme of Cury,' which is stated 



The Flamingo. 



