PED 



519 



PEG 



PECD'LIUM (Lat.). In Roman into, the 

 property which a slave might acquire, 

 independent of the control of his master. 



PEDAGOGUE, xous, boy, and ttya-yo; , 

 leader. Among the ancient Greeks, a 

 slave charged with the personal care of a 

 boy, from the earliest age after infancy, 

 until the 17th or 20th year. 



PED'AL, Lat. pedalis. 1. Belonging to 



the foot (pes, pedis). 2. A large pipe of 



an organ, because played and stopped by 

 the foot. 



PEDAI-MA'SOBI. A Turkish officer, who 

 looks after the interest of the Sultan in 

 cases of legacies. 



PED' ATE, Lat. pedattis, bird-foot-like. 

 Applied to ternate leaves, which have 

 their lateral leaflets compounded in their 

 forepart. 



PEDAT'IFID, Lat. pedatifidus, divided like 

 the toes of a waterfowl. Applied to leaves 

 when their segments are not entirely se- 

 parated. 



PED'ICEL, Lat. pedicellus. A partial 

 flower-stalk, or subdivision of the general 

 peduncle. 



PEDICEL'LATE, Lat. pedicellatus, having 

 a pedicel or partial flower-stalk : pedicellus, 

 a partial flower-stalk. Applied to flowers, 

 glands, nectaries, &c. when placed at the 

 top of a stalk. 



PEDICBLLA'TA. An order of radiated 

 animals or zoophytes, of the class Echino- 

 dennata, of which the star- fish (aster tits') 

 may be taken as the type. 



P'EUICLE, Lat. pediculus, a little foot. 

 1. Applied to the support of some species 

 of Lepas, by which they attach them- 

 selves to wood, &c. 2. In botany, the 



term is used in the same sense as pedicel 

 (q. v.) 



PEDICULA'TION. Morbis pedicularis. A 

 disease of the body in which lice are con- 

 tinually bred in the skin: pediculus, a 

 louse. 



PED'IOULUS, a louse : from pes, a foot, 

 so named from its many feet. A genus 

 of parasitical insects, including the va- 

 rious species of lice found on man, beasts, 

 and birds. 



PEDIG'EROCS. Having legs : pes, a foot, 

 and gero, to bear. The body of the my- 

 riapod is divided into numerous pediger- 

 ous segments. 



PEDIMA'NI, Lat. pes, and mnu,ahand. 

 A family of marsupial animals. 



PED'IMENT, from pes, a foot. An orna- 

 ment, generally of a low triansruhir form, 

 which crowns the ordonnances, finishes 

 the fronts of buildings, and is used as a 

 decoration of windows, doors, &c. ; or 

 more properly the angular end of a build- 

 ing which surmounts a portico. 



PEDIPAL'PI. A family of Arachnides, 

 the second of the Pulmonarise, in which 

 are observed very large palpi, resembling 

 projecting arms terminated by a forceps 



or a claw (pes). The scorpions belong to 

 the family. 



PEDOM'ETER, from pes, a foot, and 

 , measure. 1. A mechanical instru- 



ment in the form of a watch, and carried 

 in the pocket, to register the number of 

 steps or paces which the bearer makes in 

 travelling between one place and another. 

 The old pedometer has a string or chain 

 attached to the foot, but the improved 

 instrument now in use consists of a lever 

 or pendulum, one end of which is weighted 

 or inlaid, and the other supported by a 

 delicate spring, and so nicely adjusted 

 that each step of the wearer produces a 

 vibration, and moves a ratchet wheel one 

 tooth, and the latter being geared into a 

 train of wheels, moves indexes or hands 

 over the face of a dial-plate, on which 

 the number of vibrations, and conse- 

 quently of steps, is indicated. - 2. The 

 name pedometer has also been used to de- 

 signate an instrument similar to a pera- 

 ineter, attached to carriage -wheels, to 

 register the number of revolutions wMch 

 they make; and the perambulator is 

 sometimes also so called. 



PEDUN'CULATE, Lat. pedunculatus, hav- 

 ing a peduncle. Growing on a fruit-stalk. 

 PEDCN'CLE, Lat. pedunculus. 1. A 

 flower-stalk, or that which springs from 

 the stem, and bears the flowers and fruit 

 and not the leaves. - 2. In conchology. 

 See PEDICLE. 



PEEK. In nautical language, a general 

 name for the upper corners of sails, ex- 

 tended by a gaff, or by a yard crossing 

 the mast obliquely, as the mizen-yard of 

 a ship. To peek the mizen is to put the 

 mizen-yard perpendicular to the mast. 

 The peek-hahards are the ropes or tackles 

 by which the outer end of the gaff is 

 hoisted. 



PEE'PUL-TREE. The Ficus religiosa or 

 sacred fig of the East Indies. 



PEER. 1. An equal. - 2. A nobleman, 

 as a peer of the realm. In England per- 

 sons belonging to the five degrees of no- 

 bility are all peers, for whatever forma- 

 lity of precedence may attach to the title 

 of duke, earl, marquis, viscount or baron. 

 it is a barony which conveys the right to 

 a seat in the house of peers, and confers 

 every privilege annexed. It is as barons, 

 not as dukes, bishops, &c.that peers take. 

 their seats in parliament, and they take 

 their general name of peers from being 

 formerly regarded as the companions of 

 the sovereign. 



PEG'ASUS. 1. The winged horse of the 

 poets, which according to the Greeks 

 sprung from the blood of the gorgon Me- 

 dusa, after Perseus had cut off her head. 

 - 2. A constellation of the northern 

 hemisphere ; it contains 89 stars, of which 

 4 are of the second magnitude. - 3. In 

 z'Mloyy, a genus of Lophobranchiatc fishes. 



