PERKIN WARBECK PERON. 



469 



lib. xii. tit. 2, 13). The punishment of perjury, by 

 the common law in England, was, anciently, death; 

 afterwards banishment, or cutting out the tongue; 

 then forfeiture of goods. At the present time, it is 

 fine, imprisonment, and pillory, at the discretion of 

 the court, to which the statute Geo. II., c. 25, adds 

 a power in the court to order the offender to be sent 

 to the house of correction for a term not exceeding 

 seven years, or to be transported for the same pe- 

 riod. The offender is incapacitated from giving evi- 

 dence in a court of justice; but a pardon will restore 

 his competency. By the law of the United States 

 of America, the punishment on conviction for per- 

 jury, committed in any cause depending in any of 

 the courts of the United States, or in any deposition 

 taken in pursuance of the laws of the United States, 

 is imprisonment not above three years, and fine not 

 exceeding 800 dollars, pillory one hour, and disquali- 

 fication for being a witness until the judgment is 

 reversed. By the capitularies of Charlemagne and 

 Louis le Debonnaire, perjury was punished by cutting 

 off the hand. By the Napoleon code, perjury in 

 criminal cases is punishable by confinement at hard 

 labour for a limited time. If the party accused is 

 sentenced to a severer punishment, the perjurer is 

 to suffer the like. In cases of correctional or police 

 jurisdiction, it is punishable by confinement. Per- 

 jury in civil suits is punishable by civic degradation. 

 By the Prussian code, promulgated by Frederic 

 William in 1794, whoever, whether he appears as a 

 party or as a witness, perjures himself, is to be ex- 

 cluded for ever from his employments, rights, and 

 civil profession, to undergo an ignominious exposi- 

 tion as a perjured person, or to be publicly declared 

 such, and, in addition thereto, to be condemned to 

 confinement from one to three years. If the perjury 

 be with a view to profit the perjurer, he is to forfeit 

 a sum quadruple of that which lie endeavoured to 

 obtain. If the perjury is committed in a capital 

 case, and an innocent person is, in consequence, 

 condemned, the punishment of the perjurer is death; 

 and in cases not capital, the punishment of the per- 

 jurer is to be proportioned to the crime of which the 

 innocent person was accused and convicted. By the 

 law of Spain in 1804, perjury, in civil causes, is 

 punishable with ten years' condemnation to the gal- 

 leys ; and in criminal cases, in which the punish- 

 ment for the offence charged does not extend to 

 death, public infamy and perpetual condemnation to 

 the galleys. (Johnston's Civil Law of Spain, \. vii. 

 tit. 17, lib. 8, Rec.) 



PERKIN WARBECK. See fVarbeck. 

 PERKINS, DOCTOR ELISHA, the inventor of the 

 metallic tractors, was born at Norwich, Connecticut, 

 North America, in January, 1740, and was educated 

 by his father, doctor Joseph Perkins, for the profes- 

 sion of medicine. He was indebted to nature for 

 uncommon endowments, both bodily and mental. In 

 person he was six feet high, and of remarkable sym- 

 metry. He possessed extraordinary ability to endure 

 fatigue. His reputation and success as a physician 

 were considerable, but he is principally known by 

 his metallic tractors. These were formed by him 

 from a composition which he discovered after nu- 

 merous experiments with various kinds of metals, 

 during several years, he having conceived the idea 

 that metallic substances might have an influence on 

 the nerves and muscles of animals, and be capable 

 of being converted to useful purposes as external 

 agents in medicine. They consisted of two instru- 

 ments, one of the appearance of steel, the other of 

 brass, and were about three inches in length, and 

 pointed at one end. The manner in which they 

 were applied was, by drawing the points over the 

 affected parts in a downward direction, for about 



twenty minutes each time. The complaints in which 

 this operation was found most useful, were local in- 

 flammations in general, pains in the head, face, 

 teeth, breast, side, stomach, back, rheumatism, &c. 

 Doctor Perkins procured a patent for his discovery, 

 and the success which it obtained was great, not 

 only in America, but Europe. The professors of 

 three universities in America gave attestations in 

 favour of its efficacy. In Copenhagen, twelve phy- 

 sicians and surgeons, chiefly professors and lecturers 

 in the Royal Frederic's Hospital, commenced a 

 course of experiments, accounts of which were pub- 

 lished in an octavo volume. They introduced the 

 term Perkinism, in honour of Hie discoverer, and 

 asserted that it was of great importance to the phy- 

 sician. In London, a Perkinian institution, as it was 

 called, was established, principally with the view of 

 benefiting the poor by the use of the tractors ; and, 

 in a pamphlet giving an account of the institution, 

 it was stated that the communications of cases were 

 from disinterested and intelligent characters from 

 almost every quarter of Great Britain, including pro- 

 fessors, regular physicians, surgeons, and clergymen. 

 A computation of the cures said to have been elected, 

 presents the number of one million five hundred 

 thousand. It may be well deemed a matter of sur- 

 prise, after what we have stated, that the tractors 

 have sunk into oblivion; but such is the fact. Dur- 

 ing the prevalence of yellow fever in New York in 

 1799, doctor Perkins went thither for the purpose 

 of testing the merits of a highly antiseptic remedy 

 which he had introduced into practice ; but after 

 about four weeks of unremitted assiduity in attend- 

 ing the sick, he took the disease himself, and died 

 at the age of fifty-nine years. He was a man of 

 great liberality of character, and of strict honour 

 and integrity. In address and colloquial powers few 

 of his profession excelled him. 



PERMUTATIONS. See Combinations. 



PERNAMBUCO; the name generally given to 

 the two cities of Olinda and Recife, in Brazil. The 

 former contains 4000 inhabitants, and is the see of 

 a bishop. It lies about three miles north-east of the 

 latter, in lat. 8 S. It was formerly more populous 

 and flourishing, but since its capture by the Dutcli 

 in 1640, its commerce and manufactures have de- 

 serted it for the latter. See Recife. 



PERON, FRANCOIS, a distinguished French natu- 

 ralist, born at Cerilly in 1775, studied in the college 

 at that place, and, in 1792, joined the army on the 

 Rhine. Having been captured at Kaiserslautern, in 

 about a year he was exchanged, and, having lost the 

 sight of one eye, was discharged from the service, 

 and returned to Cerilly in August, 1795. He then 

 obtained admission into the school of medicine at 

 Paris, where he applied himself closely to his studies, 

 and also attended the lectures of the museum of 

 natural history. When the expedition to the South 

 ieas, under captain Baudin, had been projected, 

 Peron, with some difficulty, obtained the situation of 

 zoologist. The vessels appointed for this service, 

 ;he Geographer and the Naturalist, sailed from 

 Havre, October 19th, 1800, and returned to France 

 in April, 1804. They had visited New Holland, 

 and many of the Australian and Polynesian islands; 

 and during the whole of the voyage, Peron seized 

 every opportunity for augmenting the stores of sci- 

 ence, by making collections and observations. After 

 lis return, he was employed, in conjunction with 

 captain Freycinet, to draw up an account of the 

 voyage, and, with M. Le Sueur, to describe the new 

 objects of natural history which iiad been procured. 

 Peron died December 14th, 1810. His works are, 

 Observations sur f Anthropologies and t'oyage de 

 Dtcouvertes aux Te*res Australes (18071816, 3 



