336 INDEX. 



East apes and peacocks ; JElian relates, they were brought 

 into Greece from some barbarous country ; and that a male 

 and female were valued at thirty pounds of our money ; it 

 is said also, that when Alexander was in India, he saw them 

 flying wild on the banks of the river Hyarotis, and was so 

 struck with their beauty, that he laid a fine and punishment 

 on all who should kill or disturb them ; the Greeks were so 

 much taken with the beauty of this bird, when first brought 

 among them, that it was shown for money, and many came 

 to Athens from Lacedaemon and Thessaly to see it ; once 

 esteemed a delicacy at the tables of the rich and great; 

 Aufidius Hurco stands charged by Pliny with being the first 

 who fatted up the peacock for the feasts of the luxurious ; 

 Hortensius, the orator, was the first who served them up at 

 an entertainment at Rome ; and they are talked of as the 

 first of viands ; in the times of Francis I. it was a custom to 

 serve up peacocks to the tables of the great, not to be eaten, 

 but seen ; in what manner they served them ; its flesh is said 

 to keep longer unputrefied than any other ; has a predilec- 

 tion for barley; but, as a proud and fickle bird, there is 

 scarce any food it will at all times like; it strips the tops of 

 houses of tiles or thatch, lays waste the labours of the gar- 

 dener, roots up the choicest seeds, and nips favourite flowers 

 in the bud ; is still more salacious than the cock ; requires 

 five females at least to attend him ; and, the number not 

 sufficient, will run upon and tread the sitting hen ; the pea- 

 hen, as much as possible, hides her nest from him, that he 

 may not disturb her sitting ; she seldom lays above five or 

 six eggs in this climate; Aristotle describes her laying 

 twelve ; in forests where they breed naturally, they are very 

 numerous; this bird lives about twenty years; and not till 

 the third year has that beautiful variegated plumage of its 

 tail ; in the kingdom of Cambaya, says Taverner, near the 

 city of Baruch, whole flocks of them are in the fields ; des- 

 cription of their habits ; decoy made use of to catch them 

 there, iv. 137, &c. 



Peacock (sea), a name given, and by which has been described 

 the Balearic crane, from some resemblance in disposition 

 and manner, iv. 3} 2. 



Pearl, an animal substance concreted and taking a tincture 

 from the air ; found in all bivalved shells, the inside of which 

 resemble that substance called mother-of-pearl ; the forma- 

 tion of pearls a disease or an accident in the animal, is not 

 known ; common opinion upon this subject ; the pearl bred 

 from no disorder in the animal ; pearl-oyster, from which the 

 mother-of-pearl is taken ; several pearl-fisheries ; the chief 

 of them in the Persian Gulf, and the most valuable of 

 pearls brought from thence; different sizes, figures, and 

 colours ; whence their different colours proceed ; pearls con- 



