PAR 



540 



PAR 



cone, these are commonly from 10,000 to [ 

 12,000 feet in height, where snow fre- 

 quently falls, but lies only a very short 

 time. 



PAK'AMOCNT, from per and mount, to 

 ascend. Superior : possessing a highest 

 jurisdiction or title. Thus the lord-para- 

 mount is the chief lord of the fee. In 

 England, the sovereign is the lord-para- 

 mount, of whom all land in the kingdom 

 is supposed to be held ; but sometimes 

 the lord of several manors is called the 

 lord-paramount. 



PAKAMC'CIC ACID. An acid isomeric 

 with mueic acid, and corresponding with 

 it in most of its actions with other bodies, 

 but soluble in alcohol, and also much 

 more freely in water than the mucic 

 acid. It is obtained by saturating water 

 with mucic acid, evaporating to dryness, 

 digesting the residual matter in alcohol, 

 and allowing this alcoholic solution to 

 evaporate spontaneously, when a crystal- 

 line mass of paramucic acid is obtained. 

 Ila, beyond, and mucic acid (q. v.) 



PARAXAPH'THALINE. A substance ob- 

 tained by M. Dumas from coal-tar, and 

 thus named by him because it appears in 

 its composition to be identical with naph- 

 thaline: :r<x|a, beyond, and napthaline. 

 It crystallises in hard grains : and melts 

 at 356 (while naphthaline melts at 174;, 

 is insoluble in water, and hardly soluble 

 in alcohol even when boiling. 



PARAN'GON. A variety of black marble, 

 which the ancients procured from Egypt 

 and Greece, and which they called "also 

 lasaltes. 



PAR'APEGM, ireifrv?yt**- A brazen table 

 on a pillar, on which laws and proclama- 

 tions were anciently engraved. Also a 

 table, affixed in a public place, containing 

 an account of the rising and setting of the 

 stars, eclipses, seasons, &c. 



PAR'APH, tfot^a and TT4i, I touch. In 

 diplomatics, the figure formed by the 

 flourish of a pen at the end of a signature. 

 PARAPHERNA'LIA, jracsEva- Some 

 thing in addition to a dower: jrajat, be- 

 yond, and Qigw,, dower. The goods which 

 a woman brings with her at her marriage 

 or which she possesses beyond her dower 

 and which remain at her disposal after 

 her husband's death. Such are her wear- 

 ing- apparel, and personal ornaments, over 

 which the executors have no control un- 

 less the husband has died insolvent. 



PAR'APLEGY, Lat. paraplegia, palsy of 

 the upper or lower half of the body : from 

 ra.a., beyond, and trXr^r., a stroke. 



PAR'A.SANO. An ancient Persian mea- 

 sure, different at different times, and in 

 different places ; being sometimes 30, 

 bometimr-s 40, and at other times 50 stadia 

 or t'urlon?*- 



PARASCE'NIUM, from jraot, beyond, and 

 scenium, a scene. A place beyond or 

 behind the scenes, in the ancient theatres, 

 where the actors withdrew to diess and 

 undress themselves. The Romans called 

 t more commonly postscenium. 



PARASELE'ME, from tra^a,, near, and 

 rvJws,, the moon ; a mock moon. A 

 uininous ring encompassing the moon, in 

 which are sometimes bright spots, bear- 

 ing some resemblance to the moon. 



PARASI'TA. An order of insects, so 

 called from their parasitical habits. They 

 have only six legs, and are all apterous.. 

 According to Linu6, they form but one 

 genus, (Pediculus, Lin.), but the species 

 re exceedingly numerous, being found on 

 man, beasts, and birds, of which almost 

 every species has a peculiar species of 

 parasite to support and nourish. 



PAKASI'TJE. The name of a natural 

 order of plants, comprehending such as 

 are parasitical, or are produced on the 

 branches, trunk, &c., of other plants 

 The misletoe is an example. 



PAR'ASITE. Among the Greeks, ministers 

 of the gods, whose business was to collect 

 the corn allotted for the public sacrifices- 

 hence the name jra,by, and <rtTO<;, corn, 



d !raf(r<T6?, corn-keeper. The para- 

 sites also superintended the sacrifices, and 

 infested the tables of the wealthy. 



PARASIT'IC. Having the habits of a 

 parasite. Parasitic animals attach them- 

 selves to draw their nourishment from 

 the bodies of others. Parasitic plants do 

 not take root in the earth, but send their 

 roots into other plants, and draw their 

 nourishment from them. 



PARATARTAR'IC ACID. "When tartaric 

 acid is exposed to a moderate temperature 

 it loses water, and is converted into a 

 liquid which concretes on cooling. This 

 constitutes a new acid, composed of three 

 atoms tartaric acid and two atoms water, 

 and was called paratartaric acid by Prof. 

 Erdmann.who regarded it as isomeric with 

 tartaric acid : traja and tartaric acid (q. v.). 

 PARATONNER'RE. A name given by the 

 French to a conductor of lightning : para, 

 against, and tonnerre, thunder. 



PAR'AVAIL, Jfor. par, by, and ai-aille, 

 profit. In feudal laic, the tenant para vail 

 is the lowest tenant, holding under a 

 mediate lord, as distinguished from a 

 tenant in cajAte, who holds immediately 

 of the crown. 



PAR'BCCKLE, for pair-buckle. A contri- 

 vance to haul up or lower a cask, &c., 

 where there is no crane or other tackle. 

 It is formed by passing the. middle of a 

 rope round a post or ring, the two parts 

 of the rope being then passed under the 

 two quarters of the cask, bringing the 



two ends back again over it, so tlia' these, 



being hautedor slackened together, either 



