PAL 



PAL 



nate and frequent introduction of strong 

 oppositions of lights and shadows, or of 

 colours, produces a spotty and confused 

 appearance, wholly subversive of breadth 

 and grandeur of effect ; the mode- 

 rate and judicious use of contrasts is of 

 the greatest use ; it gives a zest to the 

 picture, and is like the discord in music, 

 which sheds additional sweetness on the 

 full harmony which succeeds it. 



PAIR, in anatomy, an assemblage or 

 conjugation of two nerves, which have 

 their origin together in the brain, or 

 spinal marrow, and thence distributed in- 

 to the several parts of the body, the one 

 on one side, and the other on the 

 other. 



PALE7E, in botany, thin, membrana- 

 ceous, chaffy plates, springing out of a 

 common receptacle, and intended as lines 

 of partition between the small partial 

 florets of compound and aggregate 

 flowers. 



PALAMEDEA, the screamer, in natural 

 history, a genus of birds of the order 

 Grallse. Generic character : bill conic, 

 the upper mandible hooked; nostrils 

 oval ; toes divided nearly to their origin, 

 with a small membrane between the bot- 

 toms of each. There are two species. 

 The horned screamer is about as large as 

 a common turkey, and has on the crown 

 of its head a slight horn, rising perpen- 

 dicularly about three inches in length. 

 It feeds on herbs and seeds, and, some 

 add, on reptiles. It is found in Guiana, 

 and other neighbouring territories of 

 South-America, principally in the low and 

 marshy grounds. These birds are never 

 observed but in pairs, and so faithful, 

 tender, and constant is their attachment, 

 that the death of one is generally attended 

 with a degree of distress and grief which 

 destroys the other. They are eaten by the 

 natives while young ; but their flesh is 

 very darkly coloured, though not ill 

 tasted. The crested screamer inhabits 

 Brazil, and is about as large as a heron, 

 and feeds on the same substances as that 

 bird. It is esteemed good for the table. 

 PALATE, in anatomy, the flesh that 

 composes the roof, or the upper and inner 

 part of the mouth. See ANATOMY. 



PA.LAVIA, in botany, so named in ho- 

 nour of Don Antonio Palau, an eminent 

 botanist, a genus of the Monadelphia 

 Polyandria class and order. Natural or- 

 der ot Columniferx. Malvaceae, Jussieu. 

 Essential character ; calyx half, five-cleft ; 

 style many-cleft; capsule many-celled; 

 cells in a ball on the raised central re- 

 ceptacle. There are two species: vis. 



P. malvitblia, and P. moschata : these 

 are both annuals, and natives of Lima in 

 Peru, where they were discovered by 

 Dombey. 



PALE, a little pointed stake or piece 

 of wood, used in making inclosures, 

 separations, &c. The pale was an instru- 

 ment of punishment, and execution, 

 among the ancient Romans, and still con- 

 tinues so among the Turks. Hence em- 

 paling, the passing a sharp pale up the 

 fundament through the body. 



PALE, in heraldry, one of the honour- 

 able ordinaries of an escutcheon ; being 

 the representation of a pale or stake 

 placed upright, and comprehending the 

 whole height of the coat from the top of 

 the chief to the point. When the pale 

 is single, it is to contain one third of 

 the breadth of the shield. When there 

 are several, more properly called pallets, 

 they are proportioned so as that two take 

 up two-fifths of the shield, and three 

 take up three sevenths; and in those 

 cases the number of pieces are specified, 

 as well as that of those they are charged 

 withal, &c. Pales are borne various 

 ways, as wavy, indented, ingrailed, in- 

 verted, &c. There are also cometed and 

 flaming pales, which are pointed, some- 

 times waved, &c. 



PALISADE, or PALISADO, in fortifi- 

 cation, an enclosure of stakes or piles 

 driven into the ground, each six or seven 

 inches square, and eight feet long, three 

 whereof are hidden under ground. Pali- 

 sadoes are generally used to fortify the 

 avenues of open forts, gorges, half-moons, 

 the bottoms of ditches, the parapets ot" 

 covert ways, and in general all posts lia- 

 ble to surprise, and to which the access 

 is easy. Paiisadoes are usually planted 

 perpendicularly, though some make an 

 angle inclining towards the ground next 

 the enemy, that the ropes cast over to 

 tear them up may slip. 



PALISADE, in gardening, denotes a 

 sort of ornament ; being a row of trees 

 which bear branches and leaves from the 

 bottom, cut and spread in manner of a 

 wall along the side of an alley, or the 

 like, so as to appear like a wall covered 

 with leaves. 



PALISSE, in heraldry, a bearing like 

 a range of palisades before a fortification, 

 represented on a fesse, rising up a conside- 

 rable height, and pointed a-top, with the 

 field appearing between them. 



PALLADIUM, in chemistry, a metal 

 discovered by Dr. Wollaston in the native 

 platina : it is of a greyish colour, and, 

 when polished, of considerable lustre - it 



