POTERIUM. 



IMtKIINITE. 



441 



It appear* to have been the offlciual plant of the aacienU, and is the 

 n-.rrfe.VAi. of Theophrastus, ix. 19, and of Diosooridet, ir. 42. Pliny 

 u v.. v ^W.i, 25, ; 27, 10. It M still used w a 

 practitioner*. 



has a procumbent or aacondiog stem, tomato sessile 

 leaves, sad longitudinally wrinkled carpel* ; th* leaflets are acute and 

 somewhat hairy. Th* dowers are bright-yellow, small, with the parts 

 of the calyx and corolla in fours on slender hairy stalks much longer 

 than the leaves. It U the TormtntiUa ertda of Linusras. It abounds 

 in Great Britain. The roots are very astringent, and have been used 

 medidnallr. In toe Western ISM* of Scotland and the Orkneys they 

 are ueed for *""*"f leather, and are preferred even to oak-bark. They 

 are also used for dyeing a red colour. We are told that pigs are fed 

 on them in Killarney, and they are also thought to be serviceable in 

 some ifr sails to which sheep are subject 



P. ejurruxi ha* a rreepim stem, interruptedly pinnate leaves ; the 

 leaflets numerous, oblong, (cutely serrate, silky beneath ; the peduncles 

 aolitary. The flowers are large and yellow, and the leave* form a 

 favourite food with gesss : they are sometimes used a* pot-herbs. Its 

 roots are eaten both by hog* and men ; they taste like a parsnep, but 

 are small ; the common people roast or boil them for food. In the 

 island* of Tiray and Col they answer in some measure the purposes of 

 bread, and have been known to support the inhabitants for months 

 together during a time of scarcity. 



The leave*) of P. frulicom and P. rupettrii are employed in Siberia 

 M a substitute for tea, 



P. kirta has a pilose erect few-flowered stem; the leave* with 

 57-leafleU, pilose, and cut at the apex; the stipules lanceolate, 

 entire; the petals oboordate, longer than the calyx. It is native of 

 the Pyrenees, South of France, Silesia, Ac., and is the Dsvrs'fsrUsr of 

 Hippocrates. (' Die,,' 880.) 



(Undley, VtgttaUt Kingdom; Liodley, Flora Malica; Babington, 

 Manual af Brititk Botany ; Burnett, Outline* of Botany ; Fraas, Synojuii 

 flan* CkMtoE.) 



POTE'BIUM (from wvr^awr, a drinking- vrwel, or cup, one of 

 the species being infuted in drink), a genus of Plants belonging to 

 the natural order Kotaeta. It ha* monoxiou* or polygamous flowers ; 

 a 4 cleft calyx, with three external scales at its base ; and a quadran- 

 gular tube. The petals are wanting, the style terminal, stamens 

 numerous, and the seed suspended. 



P. fanynaorboj Lesser Burnt t, is an herbaceou* plsnt, with a slightly 

 HTfl<" stem, the calyx of the fruit quadrangular and hardened. The 

 leave* are pinnate, with numerous small ovate coarntly serrate leaflets, 

 glabrous or slightly hairy beneath. It is found on dry calcareous soils 

 in Great Britain. It form* a useful fodder for cattle, and at one time 

 was extensively cultivated for that purpose, but U now generally super- 

 seded by Sainfoin and other artificial grasses. On the continent, and 

 occasionally in this country, the young leave* are eaten a* salad, and it 

 is said to form one of the ingredient* of the favourite cool tankard. 

 It is said to give the name to the species, from the custom of infusing 

 it in liquors. The common people of Siberia eat the root*. There 

 are about nine specie* of Buroet described, which ate distributed over 

 Europe, Africa, and America. 



(Lindley, VryttaUc Kingdom ; Babington, Manual of Britli/t Botany; 

 Burnett, ISulliiui of Baton f.) 



POTEROCIUNITES. [EXCRIJUTM.] 



POTSTONE. [TALC.] 



POTTO. [VlVIRMDA] 



POULTRY. [PiiASiAKiDJ-.] 



I'U.Kl'Kni'Tl S. [SUN. OIDEA] 



PRANOOS, a genus of Plants of the natural family of UmlcUifenr, 

 tribe Smfrnttr, ao named by Dr. Lindley from the name by which the 

 only species U known in its Tartarian habitat, where it was discovered 

 by Mr. Moorcruft, in the neighbourhood of Imbal or Drox, and which 

 h visited for the purpose of examining into the reputed qualities of 

 this plant, of which the account* seemed to border on exaggeration. 

 Almost all the knowledge which we possess respecting the plant, i* 

 derived from the observations of that lamented and enterprising 

 traveller. 



The Prango* Hay-Plant is herbaceou* and perennial, having a large 

 fleshy root-stalk, usually measuring at th* top from 18 to 22 inches 

 in circumference, and formed by the aggregation of an infinite number 

 of crowns or winter-buds, clustered together at or above the surface 

 of the ground. These crowns being closely covered by the fibrous 

 remain* of th* old leaves, are thus protected from the frost* of winter. 

 The crop consists of the leaves, which rise in abundance from each 

 crown, are finely cut, about two feet hi length, and have a highly 

 fragrant smell, extremely similar to that of very good new clover hay. 



This Mr. Mooreroft considered a* a most important and interesting 

 object of rural economy, and says that the properties of Prangos as 

 a food appear to he beating, producing fatnee* in a space of time 

 singularly abort; it I* also destructive to the Fatciola hepatica, or 

 Liver-Fliike, which in Britain, after a wet autumn, destroys some 

 thousand* of sheep by the rot The last-mentioned property, of 

 iUslf. if it be retained by the plant in Britain, would render it ripe- 

 cially valuable to our country. But this, taken along with IU highly 

 nutritions qualities', its vast yield, iU easy culture, its great duration, 

 its capability of flourishing on land of the most inferior quality and 



wholly inadapted to tillage, impart to it a general character of 

 probable utility unrivalled in the history of agricultural productions. 

 When once in possession of the ground, for which the preparation is 

 easy, it requires no subsequent ploughing, weeding, manuring, or other 

 operation, save that of cutting and of converting the foliage into hay. 

 Of its duration he relate* that its seeds, having been carried westward 

 along with those of yellow lucerne, above 40 years ago, and sown 

 on the eastern frontier of Cashmere, vegetated, and that the plants 

 of the first growth still remain in a flourishing condition. He con- 

 ceived that by the cultivation of this plant, moors and wastes 

 hitherto uncultivated may bo made to produce large quantities of 

 winter fodder, and that the yield of high lauds aud downs enjoying 

 a considerable depth of soil may be trebled. 



1 >r. Falconer, in his visit to Cashmere and Tibet, found it in the 

 latter, u well as ou a low trap hill in the former, but not ao vigorous 

 in the CashmerUn as in its Tibetan habitat He states that though 

 abundant in various directions, the Caihmerians do not esteem it of 

 any value. 



Arriaii, in describing Alexander's expedition across the mountains 

 which he calls Caucasus and Paropamisus (iii. 28), says, nothing but 

 Silphium and the Turpentine-Tree grow there, notwithstanding which 

 it U very populous, and multitudes of sheep and neat cattle are seen, 

 for they feed upon Silphium, of which the sheep especially are very 

 fond. This bears so close a resemblance to the I'rangoi, both in 

 locality and properties, that it U as likely to have been the Stfphiuui 

 of the ancients, as the assafootida plant, which it U supposed to be by 

 others. [Siu-uiUM.] 

 1'UANI'ZA. [I80PODA.1 

 PRASE. [QuAim-.] 



1'RASEOLITE, an imperfectly crystallised Mineral, occurring in 

 prisms of several sides, with the edges rounded. Cleavage in one 

 direction. Colour light or dark green ; streak clear green. Fracture 

 splintery and flat conchoidaL Hardness 3'5. Lustre weak. Specific 

 gravity 2754. It is found near Brevig, Norway. Its analysis by 

 Erdinaun gives 



Silica 40-94 



Alumina 28*79 



Protoxide of Iron 6*96 



Protoxide of Manganese 0-32 



Magnesia 1373 



Titanic Acid 0-40 



Oxide of Lead, Copper, and Cobalt with Lime 0*50 



Water 7-38 



99-02 



PRASILITE, a Mineral, occurring massive. Composed of loosely 

 adhering fibres. Colour dark leek-green. Hardness not sufficient to 

 scratch selenite, and may be crumbled to powder between the fingers. 

 Specific gravity 2-311. It is found on the Kilpatrick Hills. Its 

 analysts, by Dr. Thomson, gives 



Silica 38-55 



Magnesia 15-55 



Peroxide of Iron 14'90 



Alumina . 5-65 



Lime 2-55 



Oxide of Manganese 1 .">() 



Water 18-00 



967 



The IO.-H, amounting to 3 per cent, U attributed to on alkali 

 PRATI'COLA. [STLVIAD*.] 

 PRATINCOLA. [CHARADRIAD.S,] 



PRAWN. _rPALEM01IID*.) 



j'KKHN'ITE, a Mineral, which occurs crystallised and massive. 

 Primary form a right rhombic prism. Cleavage easy, parallel to tho 

 base of the primary form, aud lets so in the direction of the lateral 

 faces. Fracture uneven. Hardness, scratches glass easily. Becomes 

 electric by heat. Colour white, gray, and various shades of green 

 and greenish-yellow. Lustre vitreous. Transparent, translucent. 

 Specific gravity, 2-920. The variety which occurs in small thin crys- 

 tal* U called Koupltolite. The crystals of this substance have n 

 remarkable tendency to exhibit rounded faces. 



Massive varieties botryoidal, globular, and stalactitic, structure 

 broad fibrous ; amorphous, structure granular, compact, with rough 

 surfaces. It occur* also in rolled masse*. 



Before the blow-pipe it is converted into a white scoria, and fuses 

 into a compact globule ; with borax it readily becomes a clear glass. 



This mineral was first found at the Cape of Oood Hope ; it has 

 since been met with in many places in different quarter* of the globe, 

 as Scotland, Cornwall, France, Ac, Koupholitc occurs at Bareges in 

 the department of Hautes-Pyrence*. It is composed of silica, 

 alumina, lime, oxide of iron, potash, soda, and water. 



The following forms of J'rrhnite are given by Dana : 



Strtlite, In fibrous stellar groups like mesole ; lustre silky and 

 shining. It fuses to a white enamel Gelatinizes with muriatic acid. 

 It comes from Kilsyth, Scotland. 



A ntrimoii'f. A stalactitic zeolite, from Antrim, Ireland. 



Diphanite. In six-sided prisms with a distinct basal cleavage; 

 v itr uus lustra, tran*parent A silicate of alumina and lime, and near 

 prchnite. From the Ural, with emerald. 



