PAL 



PAL 



sist, according to Brandes, of one half 

 per cent, matter resembling glue, 983 

 carbonate of lime, and 12 per cent, 

 of phosphate and sulphate of lime. 

 They are, therefore, a manure re- 

 sembling ciialk, when ground into 

 powder, and have been used with 

 good effects on wheat and legumin- 

 ous crops. They can be crushed with 

 a common bark mill. When burned 

 in an open kiln, the animal matter is 

 driven off, and the best description of 

 lime is formed. These remarks apply 

 to all shells which are not porcclanous. 

 OZCENA (from os^w, / smell). A 

 putrid discharge from the nose. 



P. 



PACANE-NUT. The Louisiana 

 hickory. The nut is the best of the 

 hickory kind. 



PACE. A distance of from four to 

 five feet. 



PACHYDERM ATA (from Tvaxv^, 

 thick, and dep^ua, skm). I'he order of 

 quadrupeds with thick hides, as the 

 horse, elephant, oxen, pig, &c. 



PACLNG, AMBLING. A natural 

 pace of the horse, in which both legs 

 of one side are raised. 



PADDLE STAFF. A staff or im- 

 plement used to free the ploughshare 

 from earth, &c. 



PADDOCK. A small enclosure at 

 pasture. 



PAGINA. The flat surface of the 

 leaf. 



PAGODITE. A kind of steatite. 



PALATE. The roof of the mouth. 

 It is divided into hard or bony palate, 

 and soft palate, the latter being the 

 membrane at the innermost portion. 

 The shape and markings of the pal- 

 ate are adduced by zoologists in their 

 descriptions. The elevated portion 

 of the lower lip of a personate flower. 



PALE/E, CHAFF. A name giv- 

 en to the brac^ts that are stationed 

 upon the receptacle of compositae be- 

 tween the florets, and having gener- 

 ally a membranous texture and no 

 colour ; also the interior bracts of the 

 flowers of grasses. 



PALINGS. Light fences made by 

 driving posts at distances of ten or 

 twelve feet into the soil, crossing 



them above and below by stout tim- 

 bers, and nailing slabs or laths of 

 wood to these in an upright direction, 

 and at intervals of three or four 

 inches. 



PALLADIUM. A rare metal, re- 

 sembling platinum: sp. gr., 11-8. 



PALMA CHRISTI. The castor 

 oil plant, which sec. 



PALMATE. Resembling the hand, 

 five-lobed or toothed. 



PA LM ETTO. Chammrops palmet- 

 to. A cabbage-tree palm, growing as 

 far north as 34° N. lat. It some- 

 times rises ninety feet ; the stem is 

 nearly cylindrical, capped by a splen- 

 did frond, the centre of which, an 

 immense bud, is tender, and can be 

 eaten as a vegetable, but its removal 

 destroys the tree. Like other palms, 

 the outside of the trunks is very hard 

 and durable, and the interior spongy. 

 The hollowed stems make good tubes 

 to convey water, or, being split in 

 halves, they serve for piles, and last 

 a long time in water. The fully- 

 expanded leaf is very large ; fans, 

 hats, and a good thatch may be made 

 from it. The fruit is like a date, 

 not very palatable. The genus Cfia- 

 mxrops contains also the indigenous 

 species scrrulata and hijstnx, with 

 creeping stems, and which, when 

 burned, are said to yield a large 

 amount of potashes. 



PALMIPEDES. The anseres, or 

 swimming birds of Linnaeus. 



PALM OIL. The solid, fragrant 

 oil of the Avoiraclais,din African palm- 

 tree 



PALMS, PALMACE.E. A natu- 

 ral order of arborescent endogens, 

 like the palmetto, chiefly inhabiting 

 the tropics, distinguished by their 

 fleshy, colourless, six-parted flowers, 

 enclosed within spathes, and rigid 

 plaited or pinnate inarticulated leaves, 

 sometimes called fronds. They yield 

 bread, oil, wine, cordage, fuel, and all 

 necessaries to the savages of the 

 tropics. 



PALP, PALPUS. The jointed or- 

 gans attached to the labium and max- 

 illa of insects : the feelers. 



PALPATORS. Those clavicora 

 beetles with long palpi. 



551 



