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PALOMINO DE VALASCO PAMPHLET. 



covered by Wood and Dawkins, and described in the 

 magnificent work of Wood, the Ruins of Palmyra. 

 Among the ruins are a great number of beantiful 

 columns, ruins of temples and towers, all admirably 

 wrought of marble. Many Greek and Palmyrene 

 inscriptions, and one in Latin, increase their value. 

 The most beautiful monument is a temple of the sun, 

 which is also in the best preservation. Palmyra, 

 under its old name (Tadmor), is now a village in the 

 desert of Syria, and some poor families have built 

 their huts amidst its magnificent ruins. See St 

 Martin's Histoire de Palmyre (Paris, 1823). 



PALOMINO DE VALASCO, ACISCLE ANTONIO, 

 one of the most distinguished painters of Spain, was 

 born at Bajalance, near Cordova, in 1653. He 

 studied in the latter place, but, as his inclination led 

 him to cultivate the arts, he placed himself tinder the 

 painter Valdes. In 1678, he went to Madrid, where, 

 in the reign of Philip IV., many distinguished artists 

 resided. Palomino was presented to the king by the 

 celebrated Coello, and was employed by the former to 

 execute the frescoes in the gallery del Cierzo in the 

 Prado. This commission he executed with so much 

 success, that he was appointed court-painter, with a 

 considerable pension. In Valencia, Salamanca, 

 Granada, and Cordova, to which he was successively 

 invited, he executed numerous works which were 

 highly esteemed. His son assisted him in some of 

 his productions. It has been objected to Palomino 

 that his figures, even in his most elevated composi- 

 tions, partake too much of the character of common 

 life ; but his colouring and perspective are admirable. 

 He died at Madrid in 1726. He is the author of a 

 history of Spanish painters, El Museo pictorico, y 

 Escala optica (3 vols., Madrid), of which the third 

 volume, containing an account of the most dis- 

 tinguished Spanish artists, has been translated into 

 French (Paris, 1742). Quilliet, in his Dictionnaire 

 des Peintres Espagnols (Paris, 1816), borrows much 

 from Palomino. 



PALOS ; a small town of Andalusia, in Spain, 

 where Columbus fitted out his ships, and whence he 

 sailed, on his first voyage for the discovery of the 

 new world, in 1492. Here, also, is the convent, at 

 the gate of which Columbus appeared as a poor 

 stranger, and asked bread and water for his child. 

 It is now almost deserted, being occupied by a few 

 hundred inhabitants. It lies on the Tinto ; Ion. 6" 

 58' W. ; lat. 37 10' N. See Irving's interesting 

 account of Ins pilgrimage to Palos, in company with 

 a descendant of the Pinzon family, in the appendix to 

 his Voyages of the Companions of Columbus. 



PALSY, PARALYSIS ; a nervous disease, known 

 by the loss or diminution of the power of voluntary 

 motion, and sometimes of sensation, in one or several 

 parts of the body. (See Nervous Diseases.) It ap- 

 pears under different forms ; sometimes it attacks 

 the whole system ; at others, it affects one side of 

 the body (hemiplegia), and at others a single mem- 

 ber. The causes of palsy are numerous, but their 

 mode of action is not clearly ascertained. The action 

 of cold on the body in a heated state, a violent physi- 

 cal or moral excitement, or the suppression of an 

 ordinary evacuation, sometimes produces it. The 

 introduction of metallic substances, particularly lead 

 or copper, into the system, often brings on incurable 

 palsy. The paralysis of the vital organs is attended 

 with immediate death ; and, when the head is attack- 

 ed, the memory and judgment are often impaired. 



PALUS M^EOTIS. See Azoph. 



PAMLICO, called also TAR RIVER, in North 

 Carolina, passes by Tarborough, Greenville, and 

 Washington, and runs south-east into Pamlico sound ; 

 Int. 35 22' N, It is navigable, for vessels drawing 

 nine feet of water, to Washington, forty miles, and 



for boats carrying thirty or forty hogsheads of tobacco 

 to Tarborough, ninety miles. 



PAMLICO SOUND ; a large bay on the coast of 

 North Carolina, eighty-six miles long and from ten 

 to twenty broad. It is separated from the sea by a 

 sandy beach, hardly a mile wide, which is covered 

 with bushes. It communicates with Albemarle 

 sound. Ocracoke is its principal outlet. 



PAMPAS; vast plains in the southern part of 

 Buenos Ayres, extending from the de la Plata nearly 

 to the Andes, 750 miles in length by 450 in breadth. 

 A part is covered with grass, affording excellent 

 pasturage ; and another portion, at the foot of the 

 Andes, forms an immense forest, which, however, is 

 easily passable in all directions. Herds of horses 

 and cattle, in a wild state, feed in these wide plains. 

 Several beasts of prey infest them, and the bisacho, 

 a small animal, burrows like the rabbit. The inha- 

 bitants are the Gauchos, who are of Spanish origin, 

 but who lead a life of wild independence, living on 

 horseback, eating nothing but jerked beef, and drink- 

 ing nothing but water, hospitable and generous to 

 the traveller, and professing the Catholic religion ; 

 and, to the south, fierce tribes of mounted Indians, 

 who lead much the same kind of life as the 

 Gauchos, with whom they are perpetually at 

 war. Armed with his lasso, or leather strap, the 

 Gaucho, or pampas Indian, rides on horseback, and, 

 with great dexterity, throws it round the neck of a 

 wild horse, bull, or other animal which he wishes to 

 take, by a sudden jerk, throws the animal to the 

 ground, and gallops off with his booty. There is a 

 route across the pampas from Buenos Ayres to 

 Chile, on which is a chain of cabins, called posts, 

 seven or eight leagues distant from each other. The 

 journey is performed on horseback, or in a wheeled 

 carriage ; but it is difficult, and rendered dangerous 

 by robbers and the Indians. 



The pamperos are violent winds from the west or 

 south-west, which sweep over the pampas, and of- 

 ten do much injury on the coasts. Head's amusing 

 Journey across the Pampas (London, 1826) gives a 

 very spirited and picturesque account of his gallop 

 through this immense wilderness of grass and water. 



Pampas del Sacramento are vast plains, similar to 

 those above described (about 60,000 square miles), in 

 the northern part of Peru. They abound in vegeta- 

 ble productions, but are infested with troublesome or 

 dangerous insects and reptiles. They are inhabited 

 by different native tribes. See Llano. 



PAMPHLET. There are several derivations of 

 this word, most of which are much strained. The 

 most probable is that which considers it as coming 

 from the phrase par unjilet (on a thread), whence the 

 word is written, anciently, and by Caxton, paunflet, 

 properly denoting a book sold unbound, and only 

 stitched, as the French brochure. The German Plug- 

 schrift (fugitive publications) is more significant. 

 Pamphlets are not of recent origin ; they were early 

 used under the name of libelli, in religious contro- 

 versies. They are generally intended for immediate 

 effect. Political pamphlets may be considered as the 

 shells used in party warfare, while newspapers more 

 resemble the common weapons. They generally 

 bear the imprint of the excited spirit of the time. 

 When their object is scientific or religious, they exhi- 

 bit that sort of information on these subjects which it 

 was thought expedient to present immediately to the 

 public. They are of great interest to the historian, 

 but like newspapers, he must use them with great 

 caution. It is highly important that public libraries 

 should collect and preserve such publications ; other- 

 wise they are generally lost. Myles Davies has writ- 

 ten an Icon Libellorum, or a critical history of pam- 

 phlets. See also, D'lsraeli's Curiosities of Literature. 





