PEL 



550 



PEL 



I'EO'MATITE. A name given by the 

 French mineralogists to a variety of gra- 

 nite composed of granular quartz and 

 felspar, called from its appearance gra- 

 phic stone. 



PEIKI.M'ETER, from trtigota, to strain. 



An instrument invented by John Mac- 

 neill, to indicate the amount of resist- 

 ance offered to the passing of wheeled 

 carriages, &c., by the surfaces of roads 

 of different constructions. 



PELA'GIAN. Belonging to the sea : pe- 

 layvs, the sea. 



PELA'GIANS. A Christian sect, follow- 

 ers of the doctrines of Pelagius, a monk 

 of Bangor, who denied original sin, as- 

 serted the doctrine of free will, the 

 merit of good works, &c. 



PEL'AGUS. A sub-genus of seal (Phoca, 

 Liin.). The monk (Phoca monachus , Gm.) 

 found among the Grecian and Adriatic 

 islands, is from 10 to 12 feet in length, 

 and is that best known to the ancients. 

 Name pelagus, the sea ; it being found 

 only in Pelagian situations. 



PELECAN'IDJE. Pelicanus, the type. A 

 family of swimming birds. 



PELECA'NOIDES. The name given by 

 Xacepede to certain birds of the antarc- 

 tic seas, which have the bill and figure 

 of the petrel and the dilatable throat of 

 the cormorant. Sailors call them petrels. 



PELECA'NUS. The pelican: a genus of 

 aquatic birds. Order Palmipedes ; family 

 TotipalmatcB. There is only one species, 

 the Ponocrotalus, Lin., as large as a 

 swan, entirely white, bill of extreme 

 length, very broad, the lower mandible 

 sustaining a naked membrane attached 

 to its flexible branches, susceptible of 

 toeing dilated into a large sac, in which 

 it is said to transport both food and water. 

 It is found more or less disseminated 

 throughout the eastern continent, breeds 

 in marshes, and lives entirely on live 

 fish. Linn6 included in the genus the 

 cormorants, frigate bird, and boobies. 

 Jfame pelicanus, from irtXsxeww, to per- 

 forate. 



PEL'ECOID, \ from xiXtxut, a hatchet, 



PELECOI'DES, j and n$ti , like. A ma- 



theiuatical figure in the form of ahutcK-:t, 

 contained un- 

 der two qua- 

 drantal ar :s 

 and a 

 circle. 



senoi- 



sl PEL'ICAJ*. 1. 

 I In. ornithology- 

 I SeePELECANJS. 

 | 2. Adescrjp- 



Ition of alembic 

 formerly much 

 _, used in cases of 

 PSLSCOID. long digestions 



on a sand-bath, with a contrivance for 

 constantly returning on the materials at 

 the bottom all the liquid of the menstruum, 

 which would 

 otherwise eva- 

 porate. It is 

 not now used. 

 3. An instru- 

 ment for ex- 

 tracting teeih. 

 4. A piece of 

 ordnance equal 

 to a quarter 

 culverin, and 

 carrying a six- 

 pound ball. 

 PELLA'GHA, ) 

 PELA'GBA, ) 

 from 3-sXcs, 

 black, &aj/5*, 

 seizure. The 

 name of a pe- 

 culiar disease, 

 very common 

 to the inhabit- 

 ants of the 

 Lombardo-Ve- 

 PBLICA.N. netian plains. 



It commences with a red shining spot, 

 on the back of the hands, or some other 

 part of the body; this increases in size, 

 produces numerous small tubercles of 

 different colours, and assumes a very 

 malignant appearance ; but usually dis- 

 appears during the winter, and the part 

 again becomes well. During this first 

 attack the health does not seem to suffer, 

 but next season the affection returns with 

 increased vigour, the patient becomes 

 emaciated, enfeebled, and melancholy; 

 and as the disease advances, it assumes 

 various forms, the patient becomes truly 

 wretched, and suffers every extreme of 

 torture which is known to attack the 

 human being, before death puts an end 

 to his misery. Before the disease breaks 

 up the constitution, the local affection 

 sometimes appears successively for several 

 summers, but often proves fatal after the 

 second or third. The disease is confined 

 to the agricultural population, and the 

 poorest classes, but the cause of it is no* 

 known. 



