PEN 



PEP 



and plants : it is soluble, transparent, 

 insipid, and much like i,'iim ; foriiuila, 

 Cij Hi7 On -{- H 0. Pcctic acid is 

 very similar, isomeric, and bibasic ; 

 the salts are called pectates. 



PECTINATE. Divided so as to 

 resemble the teeth of a comb. 



PECTOK.\L {from pectus, the chest). 

 Relating to the chest. 



PEDATE. Resembling the foot of 

 a bird. 



PEDICEL. The foot stalk of the 

 flower, and not of the bunch of flow- 

 ers, which is the peduncle. 



PEDIMENT. The triangular or- 

 nament over a building, door, win- 

 dow, &c. ; it is often sculptured, and 

 seldom exceeds in height two ninths 

 of its width. 



PEDIPALPS. Spiders and other 

 araehnidans, with the feelers in the 

 shape of claws. 



The water chestnut. 

 The main flower 



A delicate covering. 



PEE-TSEE 



PEDUNCLE, 

 stem. 



PELLICLE, 

 film, or membrane 



PELLITORY OF SPAIN. Anfhe- 

 mis pyrethrum. A perennial herba- 

 ceous composite, the root of which is 

 very pungent, and is chewed for tooth- 

 ache. It is very similar to chamomile. 



PELTA. Ashield ; the seed shield 

 of some lichens. A peltate leaf is 

 shield-shaped. 



PELT ROT. Hunger rot. 



PELTRY, PELTS. The dry, im- 

 prepared skins of animals. 



PELVIS. The bony cavity situa- 

 ted at the lower part of the belly, 

 formed by the sacrum and innomina- 

 ta bones. 



PENCIL OF LIGHT. A diver- 

 gent beam of small size. 



PENDANT. "In Gothic archi- 

 tecture, an ornamented polygonal 

 piece of stone or timber hanging 

 down from the vault or roof of a 

 building. In ancient writers the 

 springers of arches, which rest on 

 shafts or corbels, are called pendants. " 



PENDENTIVE. "In architecture, 

 the portion of a vault 

 between the arches 

 I under a dome, call- 

 ed by the French 

 670 



fourchc, or panache, lettered a in the 

 diagram, by wiiich it will be seen 

 that it falls at its superior part into 

 a circle inscribed in the square form- 

 ed on the plan of the four arches. 

 Hence it is obvious that a dome may 

 be formed by means of pendentives 

 over any regular polygon." — {Brandc.) 



PENDULOUS. Hanging, branch- 

 ing over. 



PENDULUM. Any weight sus- 

 pended by an inflexible rod, and mo- 

 ving freely about a point. Its oscilla- 

 tions, whether wide or limited, are 

 always performed in the same period 

 of time ; but the period is directly as 

 the square root of the length of the 

 rod. The seconds pendulum in New- 

 York is 39- 10 12 inches from the point 

 of suspension to the weight, or bob. 



PENNICILLATE. Furnished 

 with small bunches of hairs. 



PENNYROYAL. Mentha pulegi- 

 um. A kind of mint cultivated for its 

 essential oil : used in medicine. See 

 Mint. The American plant is Hedeo- 

 ma pulegioides ; its odour is similar 

 to that of the European plant ; many 

 insects, especially ticks, are remark- 

 ably annoyed by its presence. 



PENNYWEIGHT. Twenty- 

 four grains, or ^'^ of an ounce troy. 



PENTAMERANS. Coleopterous 

 insects, with five joints on the tarsus 

 of each leg. 



PENTANDRIA, PENTAGYNIA. 

 See Botany. 



PENUMBRA. The partially dark 

 outer shadow. 



PEPO. The form of fruit similar 

 to the melon and other cucurbitaceae. 



PEPPER BRAND. See Burned 

 Ear. 



PEPPER GRASS, PEPPER- 

 WORT. Garden cress {Lepidium sa- 

 tivum), cultivated for small salad : it 

 grows with great rapidity. See Cress. 



PEPPERIDGE. The barberry: 

 sometimes the black gum. 



PEPPERMINT. iMe?itha piperita. 

 See Mint. It is of great use as an 

 adjunct with cathartics, to hinder 

 griping. 



PEPPERS. This term is usually 

 applied, in agriculture, to the species 

 of Capsicum. The most common is 



