PHELLOPLASTICS PHIDIAS. 



507 



common domestic fowl. (See Cock.) The true phea- 

 sant is distinguished by having a long tail, the fea- 

 thers of which are of different lengths, and overlay 

 each other like tiles. The most common species is 

 the P. Co/chicus, originally a native of the East, but 

 now naturalized in many parts of Europe, especially 

 in the southern parts. In their wild state, these 

 birds feed, like the rest of the gallinaceous tribe, 

 upon vegetable food : when young, however, they 

 principally subsist on insects, and are exceedingly 

 fond of ants' eggs. The female constructs her nest 

 in some retired spot, forming it of leaves, and with- 

 out grass. The number of eggs she lays is various ; 

 for, if they are carried away, she continues, like the 

 common hen, to lay an additional quantity. The 

 males and females only associate together in the first 

 spring months. When disturbed, they jake a whir- 

 ring noise, like the partridge, and, from being a large 

 mark, and flying slowly, they are readily brought 

 down, even by an inexperienced sportsman. There 

 are several varieties, produced by climate and do- 

 mestication, among which is the white. The golden 

 pheasant (P.pictus), a native of China, is remark- 

 able for the beauty of its plumage : the prevailing 

 colours are red, yellow and blue, and it is distin- 

 guished by a crest upon the head, which can be 

 raised at pleasure. The iris, bill and legs are yel- 

 low. The tail is long, and richly tinted, and from 

 above it arise a number of long, straight feathers, 

 of a scarlet hue, mixed with yellow. Cuvier is of 

 opinion that the description given by Pliny of the 

 phoenix (lib. x. cap. 2) is meant for this bird. An- 

 other fine species found in China is the silver phea- 

 sant (P. nycthemerus). This is of a silvery white 

 colour, with very delicate black lines on each fea- 

 ther, and black belly. The most splendid bird of 

 this genus, and perhaps of the feathered race, is the 

 argus pheasant (P. argus). This species, which is 

 of a large size, is an inhabitant of the mountains in 

 the island of Sumatra, and perhaps of others of the 

 Indian islands. The male has a very long tail, and 

 the feathers of the wings are large, and much pro- 

 duced, the whole thickly covered with ocellate spots, 

 giving to the bird a most extraordinary aspect. 

 There are several other species of this genus, which 

 inhabit different parts of Asia : none, however, 

 have yet been discovered in America. 



PHELLOPLASTICS (from tf^Xa, cork); the 

 art of representing works of architecture on a re- 

 duced scale in cork, invented by an artist in Rome, 

 between 1780 and 1790, and improved by a German 

 named Mey. The phelloplastic works afford very 

 fine models, and are cheaper than models in wood, 

 gypsum, stone, or papier machS. 



PHERECYDES ; a celebrated sage of ancient 

 Greece. He is regarded as the first who wrote in 

 prose, on philosophy and religion, although his ex- 

 pression, as is natural, inclines much to poetry. He 

 was a native of the island of Syros, flourished in the 

 sixth century, B. C., and was a contemporary of 

 Thales. The fragments of his work on nature and 

 the gods, are merely allegorical thoughts. Sturz 

 collected them (2d edit., Cera, 1798). Pherecydes 

 considered Jupiter or aifag, Time or %<<is, and the 

 earth, which he esteemed a chaos, as the elements 

 of all things. According to Cicero, he was the first 

 that taught the immortality of the soul ; he was also 

 the instructer of Pythagoras. 



PHIDIAS of Athens ; the great master of statu- 

 ary, who, in the age of Pericles (about the 84th 

 Olympiad, or B. C. 444), embodied the lofty ideal 

 of a Pallas-Minerva and an Olympian Jove. Ac- 

 cording to Bottiger, Phidias executed three statues 

 of Pallas, which were all in the Acropolis in the 

 time of Pausanias. One colossal statue of Pallas, 



he cast in bronze (taken from the tenth of the spoils 

 won on the plains of Marathon), for the temple of 

 Minerva Polias, in which she was represented as a 

 guardian deity. Mys wrought upon her shield, in 

 relievo, the battle of the Centaurs, from designs by 

 Parrhasius. Near the statue stood the primitive pos- 

 sessor of the mount, an owl. It is related of this 

 statue, that mariners, doubling the promontory of 

 Sunium, still saw her crested helmet and the point 

 of her spear. The second of his most famous sta- 

 tws was made of ivory and gold. It was denomi- 

 nated the statue of the Parthenon, or Parthenos (the 

 virgin), and measured, with the pedestal, about 41J 

 English feet. Instead of marble, he made use of ivory, 

 which admitted of a much softer and more brilliant 

 polish. It was, in reality, formed of wood, overlaid 

 with ivory. He threw over it a garment of gold, 

 either beaten or cast with such exquisite skill, that it 

 might be put off or on at pleasure, and could be weigh- 

 ed, at any time, by the treasurer of the temple. It 

 weighed forty four talents. During the government 

 of Demetrius Poliorcetes, it was carried off. The 

 eyes were of marble, let in, and probably painted, 

 according to the prevailing custom. The goddess 

 stood upright, with the asgis on her breast and a 

 spear in her left hand. There was likewise an im- 

 mense serpent, or dragon, near her, supposed to be 

 that of Ericthonius, In her right hand was the god- 

 dess Victoria, formed in like manner of ivory, with 

 a vestment of gold, four cubits high. By her side 

 stood the great shield, representing, on the convex 

 side, the battle of the Amazons, and on the concave, 

 the battle of the Titans. The different parts of the 

 statue, as well as the pedestal, were wrought in re- 

 lievo. Thus, for example, Phidias introduced him- 

 self and Pericles on the shield. A complete descrip- 

 tion of this statue is given in Bottiger's Andeutungei, 

 uber die Archaologie (Observations on Archaeology). 

 The third statue, in bronze, of a smaller size, which 

 was called, emphatically, the beautiful, on account 

 of its exquisite proportions, was purchased by the 

 people of Lemnos, and sent by them to the Acro- 

 polis of Athens. The Olympian Jupiter of Phidias 

 represented the serene majesty of the king of hea- 

 ven, and was ranked for its beauty, among the won- 

 ders of the world. Jupiter was here seen sitting 

 upon a throne, with an olive wreath of gold about his 

 temples ; the upper part of his body was naked ; a 

 wide mantle, covering the rest of it, hung down, in 

 the richest folds, to his feet, which rested on a foot- 

 stool. The naked parts of the statue were of ivory, 

 the dress was of beaten gold, with an imitation of 

 embroidery painted by Panaenus, brother of Phidias. 

 In the right hand stood the goddess Victoria, turning 

 towards the statue, and carved, like it, out of ivory 

 and gold j she was holding out a band, with which 

 she appeared desirous to encircle his olive crown. 

 In his left hand, the divinity held a parti-coloured 

 sceptre, made of various metals skilfully joined, and 

 on the sceptre rested an eagle. Power, wisdom and 

 goodness were admirably expressed in his features. 

 He sat with the air of a divinity, presiding among 

 the judges of the games, and dispensing the laurel 

 wreaths to the victors, calm in conscious dignity, 

 the beau ideal of Greek anthropomorphism. Cicero 

 (De Oraiore, ii.) relates that the artist was led, by a 

 passage in the Iliad, to imagine such a figure. The 

 statue was surrounded with magnificent drapery, 

 which was drawn aside only on particular occasions, 

 when the deity was to be exhibited. A sense of 

 greatness and splendour overwhelmed the spectator. 

 There was also a splendid statue of Nemesis at 

 Rhamnus, falsely ascribed to Argoracritus, the favour- 

 ite of Phidias. He made it of a block of Parian 

 marble, which the Persians had designed as the 



