384 



P PACIFIC OCEAN. 



riments of naturalists, however, it appears that they 

 can move from place to place by suddenly closing 

 their shells, and thus ejecting the water contained 

 between them with sufficient force to throw them- 

 selves backward, or in a lateral direction. Oysters 

 form the basis of many culinary preparations, but 

 are much more digestible in their raw state than 

 after any mode uf cooking them, as this process, in a 

 great measure, deprives them of the nourishing ani- 

 mal jelly which forms so large a portion of their sub- 

 stance. The shell of the oyster is composed of car- 

 bonate of lime and animal matter, and was, at one 



time, supposed to possess peculiar medical proper- 

 ties ; but analysis has shown that the only advantage 

 of these animal carbonates of lime over those from 

 the mineral kingdom arises from their containing no 

 admixture of any metallic substance. The lime ob- 

 tained from the calcination of oyster shells, though 

 exceedingly pure and white, is better suited for work 

 which does not require great tenacity, as for plaster- 

 ing rooms, than for the common purposes of build- 

 ing, as it does not form as hard a compound will) 

 sand as the mineral limes. 



P ; the sixteenth letter and twelfth consonant in the 

 English alphabet. It is one of the mutes and labials, 

 and represents a sound produced by closely compres- 

 sing the lips till the breath is collected, and then 

 letting it issue. (For the similarity and mutual in- 

 terchange of b and p, see B.) P also interchanges 

 in many languages with other letters, as in Polly, for 

 Molly. The dialects of Upper Germany in general 

 prefer the p, those of Lower Germany the b ; and 

 Ihre declares all Swedish words beginning with a p 

 to be of foreign origin. The n of the Greeks signi- 

 fied SO ; in low Latin, P signified, according to Ugu- 

 tion, 100 : 



P timilem cum C numerum monstratur habere ; 

 according to Baronius, 7. In music, p signifies 

 piano (softly). S. P. S. P. is an abbreviation for 

 St Peter and Saint Paul, as on the papal seals. On 

 medals, P stands for various names of persons, places, 

 and qualities, as pater, populus, pius, perpetuus, 

 pontifex, proconsul, &c. ; P. P., pater patriee ; S. P. 

 Q. R., senatus populusque Romanus ; P. M., ponti- 

 fex maximus; C. P., Constantinople. It is a curious 

 circumstance, that the Romans gave to their P the 

 same form which the Greeks had given to their Rho. 

 pp is used in German as a sign for 8fc. The He- 

 brews had no p, and used the ph instead. The Arabi- 

 ans have no p. On visiting cards, p. p. c., p.f. s. a., 

 or p. d a., are abbreviations for pour prendre conge, 

 pour faire ses adieus, or pour dire adieu, and signify 

 the taking of leave. See Abbreviations. 



PACA (coelogenus); a genus of animals inhabiting 

 South America, living in the woods, in the vicinity 

 of water, concealing themselves in superficial bur- 

 rows, which have three openings to them. They are 

 thick set. and of a clumsy form, and, when full 

 grown, measure about two feet in length from the 

 tip of the nose to the extremity of the body, and 

 about one foot in height both before and behind ; 

 for, although the hinder legs are much longer than 

 the anterior, they are so bent as to allow a much 

 greater proportion of their length to touch the sur- 

 face of the ground. Their eyes are large, prominent, 

 and of a brownish hue, their ears nearly naked, and 

 their whiskers long and rigid. They swim and dive 

 remarkably well, and run with considerable swift- 

 ness. Their cry is not unlike that of a pig. Their 

 flesh is said to be very savoury, and forms a staple 

 article of food in many parts of South America. 

 They seldom leave their burrows, except during the 

 night, when they sally forth in search of their food, 

 which consists of herbs and fruit. They are taken 

 alive by closing two of the openings to their burrows, 

 and digging up the third. They often make an ob- 



stinate defence, and are capable of biting very 

 severely. They are readily tamed, and might prove 

 a valuable addition to the stock of domestic animals, 

 especially in the Southern States, where the winter 

 is not sufficiently severe to injure them. They are 

 very prolific, and, in a warm climate, would require 

 but little attention. 



PACHA, OR PASHAW ; the military governor of 

 a Turkish province. The most distinguished have 

 three horse-tails carried before them ; the inferior, 

 two. The power of a pacha is very great. He is, 

 however, appointed and removed at the will of the 

 sultan, is obliged to serve when called on in the wars 

 of his master, and to pay over a certain portion of the 

 revenue of his province into the imperial treasury. 

 The provincial administration is entirely in his hands. 



PACIFICATOR. The attitude of a person who 

 makes peace, or performs any other act of grace, 

 consisted, among the ancients, in the horizontal ex- 

 tension of the right arm, the hand being quite open. 

 No title was so much coveted by Napoleon as that 

 of pacificateur, at the beginning of his power; hence 

 it appears so often on the early medals commemorat- 

 ing his exploits. Alexander of Russia, too, was 

 highly desirous of the same character. Nothing flat- 

 tered him more than the praise of having given peace 

 to the world. 



PACIFIC OCEAN ; the great mass of waters 

 extending from Beering's straits to the Antartic 

 circle, a distance of 3200 leagues, and from Asia and 

 New Holland to America. It is separated from the 

 Atlantic and Antarctic oceans only by imaginary 

 lines. The Andes and Rocky mountains of the west 

 era coast of America, and a series of mountainous 

 ranges near the eastern coast of Asia and New Hol- 

 land, nearly surround this vast basin. Its extreme 

 breadth a little north of the equator is 4550 leagues; 

 between South America and New Holland (lat. 30 

 S.) it is 2970 leagues. (See Ocean.} It contains an 

 infinite number of isles scattered over its surface, 

 more particularly between lat. 30 N. and 50 S.,to 

 which modern geographers have given the general 

 appellation of Oceanica. (q. v.) It was at first called 

 the South sea, by the European navigators, who en- 

 tered it from the north. Magellan gave it the name 

 of Pacific, on account of the prevalence of calms 

 which he experienced in it ; but it by no means de- 

 serves this name, as it is remarkable for the fury of 

 its storms and the agitation of its waters. The trade- 

 winds, which constantly blow between the tropics, 

 render the passage from the western coast of America 

 to Asia very short ; but the return is proportionately 

 difficult. (See ffmds.) The Portuguese were the 



