PAC 



530 



PAD 



hold by virtue of the Queen's commission, 

 to hear and determine all treasons, felo- 

 nies, and misdemeanors. Norm, oyer, to 

 hear, and terminer, to determine. 



O' YES, corrupted from the French oyez, 

 hear ye. An expression used by the crier 

 of a court, in order to enjoin silence when 

 any proclamation is made. 



OYS'TEK. A name common to all the 

 molluscs of the genus Ostrea, but especi- 

 ally applied to the 0. edulis, which is 

 nursed and fed on several parts of the 

 British coasts, and is deemed nourishing 

 and delicious food. There are about 200 

 vessels, with from 400 to 500 men and 

 boys attached to them, employed in 

 dredging for oysters. The English oysters 

 are the best procurable in Europe, and 

 were much sought after by the epicures 

 of ancient Rome. 



OYS'TER-BED. A bank where oysters are 

 planted, nursed, and fed. 



OYS'TER-CATCHER. A bird which is 

 provided with a beak somewhat longer 

 than the plovers or the lapwings ; straight, 

 pointed, compressed into a wedge, and 

 sufficiently strong to enable it to force 

 open the bivalve shells of oysters, &c., on 

 which it feeds. See H.EMATOPUS. 



OZ-E'NA, from />&, a stench. An ulcer 

 in the nose, discharging fetid purulent 

 matter, and sometimes accompanied with 

 caries of the bone. 



P. 



P, the sixteenth letter of the English 

 alphabet, stands as an abbreviation 1. 



Among astronomers, for post, after. 2. 



Among physicians, for pugil, the eighth 

 part of a handful ; and sometimes for part 

 or parts, as P. JE. for paries eequales, equal 



parts ; and also for piilris, powder. 3. 



In music, for piano, softly; pp. for piit 

 piano, more softly ; andppp. for pianissi- 



wu , very softly. 4. In numismatics, &c. 



for PuMius ; Pat. Dig. for Patricia digni- 

 tas ; T. C. for Patres Conscripti ; P. M. for 

 Pont if ex Maximus ; P. P. for propositum 

 publice ; P. R. for Populus Somantu ; 

 PR. S. for Preetoris Sententia; PRS. P. 

 for Prases Provincits. 



PA'CA. A small American animal, of a 

 fawn colour, spotted with white ; the 

 Cavia paca, Lin., placed in a new genus, 

 Calogenys, by Fred. Cuvier. 



PACE, from passus, a step. 1. The space 

 between the two feet in walking, usually 

 estimated at two and a half feet. But 

 the geometrical pace is five feet, or the 

 whole space passed over by the same foot 

 from one step to another. 60,000 such 

 paces make one degree on the equator. 



2. In the numige, the pace is of three 



kindi , the walk, the trot, and the gallop. 



PA'CHA, t The military governor of a 



PA'SHA. I Turkish province. Pasha is 

 the proper spelling. 



PACHTDER'MATA, from jr%y?, thick, 

 and SE'^UO, skin. Thick-skinned animals; 

 the seventh order of the class Mammalia, 

 in Cuvier's arrangement, divided into 

 three families : Proboscidea, comprehend- 

 ing the elephant and mammoth ; Pachyder- 

 mata Ordinaria, of which the hippopota- 

 mus and rhinoceros are examples ; and 

 Solidungula, at the head of which is the 

 horse. Several genera of pachydermatous 

 animals are now extinct, and known only 

 by their fossil remains ; among these are 

 the mastodon, the anoplotherium, and the 

 lophiodon. 



PACIF'IC OCZAX. The ocean which lies 

 between America on the east, and Asia 

 and Australia on the west. 



PACK' AGE. 1. A bundle or bale of goods. 



2. Used sometimes synonymously with 



baillage, scavage and portage. See BAILLAOE. 



PACK'FONG. The Chinese name of the 

 alloy; now usually called white copper, 

 or German silver. It is composed of cop- 

 per, zinc, and nickel. 



PA'CO, ) A Peruvian word. 1. In zoo- 



PA'COS. / logy) a species of lama, the 

 Camelus vicunna, Lin., frequently named 

 the Peruvian sheep, but resembles the 

 camel in shape. It is smaller than the 

 true lama, the C. llama, Lin., but is 

 highly prized for its wool. 2. In mine- 

 ralogy, an earthy-looking ore, which con- 

 sists of brown oxide of iron, with imper- 

 ceptible particles of native silver dissemi- 

 nated through it. This ore is found in 

 Peru, and is named from its colour, which 

 resembles the peculiar blackish-brown 

 colour of the wool of the Paco. 



PAD'DING. In calico-printing, the pro 

 cess of imbuing a piece of cloth thoroughly 

 and uniformly with a mordant. This is 

 usually effected by a machine called the 

 padding machine. 



PAD'DLE. 1. A short oar : batillus is a pad 

 die : a-arraXoj a pole. The name is now 

 applied to a sort of short oar, used in pro- 

 pelling canoes ; and has been adopted in 

 natural history, to designate the swim- 

 ming apparatus of the chelonian reptiles 

 and marine saurians. 2. In engineer- 

 ing, a paddle or dough is a panel, to fit the 

 openings left in lock gates and sluices, fo' 

 the purpose of letting the water in or out 

 as may be desired. Paddle-holes or clough- 

 arches are small culverts or drains, con- 

 nected with canal work, as the small pas- 

 sages through which the water passes 

 from the upper pond of a canal into the 

 lock-chamber during the process of filling. 

 Paddle-wheels are those wheels employed 

 in the propulsion of steam-boats. 



PAD'DOCK. 1. Sax. pad or pada, a frog. 

 2. Sax. parrw, a email inclosura 



