PHRYGIANS PHYSIOCRATIC SYSTEM. 



549 



PHRYGIANS appears to have been the name of 

 the primitive inhabitants of Asia Minor, since not 

 only the Trojans, but also the Mysians and Lydians, 

 were so called. Under the Persian dominion, Phry- 

 gia was the largest and most central province of 

 Asia Minor. At a later period it was divided into 

 Greater and Lesser Phrygia and Phrygia Epictetus, 

 the north-western part of Phrygia proper. The 

 principal cities were Apamea, Laodicea and Colossae. 

 The inhabitants of this fertile region were early civi- 

 lized, and paid much attention to grazing and tillage. 

 The history of Phrygia is altogether connected with 

 mythological events. Several of its kings are men- 

 tioned of the names of Gordius and Midas, (q. v.) 

 On the death of Adrastus (B. C. 560), the royal 

 family of Phrygia became extinct, and the kingdom 

 became a province of Lydia. It afterwards formed 

 a part of the Persian, and still later of the Roman 

 empire. In the music of the ancients, the Phrygian 

 mode was of a martial character. See Mode, and 

 Music. 



PHRYNE ; one of the most celebrated courtezans 

 of Greece, born at Thespias, in Boeotia. She arrived 

 at Athens in a humble condition, but soon began to 

 acquire wealth by trafficking in her charms. She 

 became the mistress of Praxiteles (q. v.) and of 

 Hyperides ; the former of whom immortalized her 

 beauty by his art ; the latter obtained her acquittal 

 when she had been accused of atheism, by exposing 

 her charms to the aged judges of the Heliaea. This 

 event was decisive of her success. She henceforth 

 veiled her beauties, and sold her favours only at an 

 enormous price. At Eleusis, she went naked into 

 the sea, before the assembled multitude, but this 

 was probably to renew the impression of her charms. 

 (See Anadyomene.) Phryne, or, according to some, 

 Lais, once wagered that she could melt the stern and 

 rigid Xenocrates ; but her temptations proved un- 

 successful, and she declared that he was not a man, 

 but a statue. Even in her old age, she was not 

 without admirers, as U was esteemed an honour for 

 any one to be able to l-oast that he had enjoyed her 

 favours. 



PHRYXUS. See Argonauts, Athamas, and 

 Hfille. 



PHTHA. See Hieroglyphics. 

 PHTHIOTIS. See Thessaly. 

 PHTHISIS. See Consumption. 

 PHYSICAL ASTRONOMY. See Astronomy. 

 PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY, or the NATURAL 

 HISTORY OF THE EARTH, is that branch of 

 geography which treats of the surface of the earth, 

 of the atmosphere which surrounds it, of the sub- 

 stances which compose it, and of the organized bodies 

 which it produces or supports. (See Geography.} 

 Physical geography does not, however, enter into 

 the minute details of natural science; it gives a 

 general view of phenomena and their mutual rela- 

 tions, and leaves to the more rigorous sciences the 

 classification of the substances of which they treat, 

 borrowing from each its results, and connecting them 

 into one whole. The figure of the earth and its re- 

 lations to the other parts of the universe are deter- 

 mined by mathematical geography ; physical geogra- 

 phy points out its natural divisions into land and 

 water, continents, seas, oceans, &c., and treats o] 

 the external configuration of mountains, valleys, 

 coasts, &c. (See Earth, and the separate articles.] 

 Having examined the surface, we attempt to pene- 

 trate the interior, and determine the structure ane 

 composition of the solid parts of the earth, its strata, 

 caverns, veins, &c., the rocks or aggregate substances 

 of which it is formed, their distribution, properties 

 age, &c (see Geology) ; we study the remains of its 

 past inhabitants and the proofs of the violent revolu- 



tions which it has undergone (see Organic Remains)', 

 and seek for the causes of those revolutions. (See 

 Earthquake, Volcano.) We next examine the simple 

 substances of which the earth is composed (see 

 Mineralogy), and their various combinations (see 

 Metals, Earths, Salts), from which we obtain so 

 many contributions to our comfort, health or luxury. 

 If we then turn to the fluid parts of the globe, hydro- 

 graphy points out its divisions into lakes, rivers, 

 seas, oceans (see the articles), determines the differ- 

 ent natural qualities of water, its temperature, che- 

 mical properties, &c. (see Mineral Waters), and the 

 nature, extent and causes of those great fluctuations, 

 which it regularly or irregularly undergoes. (See 

 Tides, Currents.) The fluid which surrounds the 

 globe may next be examined (see Meteorology), its 

 composition determined, and the curious phenomena 

 of which it is the theatre, and the movements to 

 which it is subject, be studied. (See Atmosphere, 

 Rain, Hail, Snow, Magnet, Electricity, f Finds, &c.) 

 After concluding our examination of inorganic na- 

 ture, by researches into the local temperature of the 

 atmosphere (see Climate, Temperature, Zones), we 

 may next consider the earth as the residence of or- 

 ganized living beings, which adorn its surface, and 

 feed upon its inexhaustible resources. Vegetables, 

 from the abundance with which they are produced, 

 and from their intimate connexion with the surface 

 of the globe, first attract attention ; botany ex- 

 amines, in detail, the treasures of the vegetable 

 world, while physical geography marks its general 

 relations and traces the influence of climate, tempe- 

 rature, soil, atmosphere, &c., upon the progress and 

 extent of vegetation, and the geographical distribu- 

 tion of plants. (See Plants) Rising above the 

 lowest form of organic to animal life, we search the 

 air, the land and the sea, following the motions of 

 insects, reptiles, birds, fish and beasts, and fix the 

 boundaries within which they are confined, or the 

 spot of their origin and the progress of their migra- 

 tions. (See Animals, Zoology, &c.) Man, in his 

 physical capacity, his animal organization, his variety 

 of complexion, stature, conformation and mode of 

 life, the proportions of the ages, sexes, deaths and 

 births, with the influence of heat and cold, moisture 

 and drought, local habitation and climate, upon his 

 body and mind, is the last and highest subject of 

 physical geography. (See Man, Longevity, Physio- 

 logy, &c.) Considered as a moral, social, political 

 and religious being, man in organized societies is 

 the subject of political geography. It is not to be 

 denied that physical geography is yet in its infancy. 

 But an inconsiderable part of the surface of the globe 

 has yet been examined ; the seas still conceal their 

 treasures from us, and the bosom of the earth has 

 been but partially and superficially opened to us. - 

 See Bergmann's Physical Geography (Swedish, 2 

 vols., 8vo), the geographical works of Humboldt, 

 Malte-Brun's System of Geography (vol. i.). 

 PHYSICS. See Natural Philosophy. 

 PHYSIOCRATIC or AGRICULTURAL SYS- 

 TEM, iri political economy. Francis Quesnoy, 

 physician to Louis XV., had observed the very de- 

 pressed state of agriculture in France, whilst travel- 

 ling with the king, and ascribed it to the mercantile 

 system (q. v.) introduced under Colbert, which fav- 

 oured the industry of the cities. Quesnoy published 

 his Tableau Economique avec son Explication (1758), 

 and developed his system in his La Physiocratie, ou 

 Constitution Naturelle du Gouvernement le plus 

 avantageux au Genre Humain (Paris, 1767, improv- 

 ed ; Yverdun, 1768, 6 vols.), and a whole school, 

 called the physiocratic, soon sprung up. It was not, 

 however, until the reign of Louis XVI., under the 

 minister Turgot, that the followers of the system 



