PEL 



PEN 



ty, but frequently eat to so great an ex- 

 cess as to induce a species of lethargy, in 

 which, in England, they are caught by 

 nets thrown over them without their 

 making an effort to escape. They are 

 trained by the Chinese to fish for them. 

 By a ring" placed round their necks, they 

 are prevented from swallowing what they 

 take, and, when their pouches are filled, 

 they unload them, and, at the command 

 of their owners, renew their divings : 

 two will be seen combining their efforts 

 to secure a fish, too large for the manage- 

 ment of one only. Wnen their work is 

 finished to the employer's satisfaction, 

 the birds have a full" allotment of the 

 spoil, for their reward and encourage- 

 ment. In Macao, also, these birds are 

 thus domesticated, taking extreme de- 

 light in the exercise, and constituting a 

 source of very considerable profit to their 

 owners. They were formerly trained, 

 and used in the same manner in England; 

 and Charles I. had an officer of his 

 household, called master of the cormo- 

 rants. See Aves, Plate XI. fig. 3. 



P. bassanus, or the island'-goose, or 

 gannet, weighs about seven pounds, and 

 inhabits, in great numbers, the northern 

 isles of Great Britain. It is migratory, 

 and drawn to that country by the shoals 

 of herrings and pilchards, whose move- 

 ments it watches with the most anxious 

 vigilance. The young birds are sold in 

 great plenty at Edinburgh, where they 

 are frequently introduced before dinner 

 as a stimulus to appetite. In St. Kilda, 

 it is supposed that upwards of twenty 

 thousand of these birds are taken annu- 

 ally. They constitute tin important ar- 

 ticle of food to the inhabitants, who, to 

 procure both the eggs and the young 

 ones, expose themselves to the most im- 

 minent dangers on elevated and precipi- 

 tous cliffs, and, in several instances, have 

 fallen victims to the hardihood with which 

 they have pursued their researches. See 

 Aves, Plate XI. fig. 4. 



PELECOIDES, in geometry, a figure 

 in form of an hatchet : such is the figure 

 B C D A, Plate XII. Mi$cel.fig. 7. contain- 

 ed under the two inverted quadrantal 

 arcs, AB, and AD, and the semi -circle 

 BCD. The area of the pelecoides is 

 demonstrated to be equal to the square, 

 A C, and that again to the parallelogram, 

 E B. It is equal to the square, A C, be- 

 cause it wants of the square on the left 

 hand the two segments, A B, and A C, 

 which are equal to the two segments, 

 B C, and C D, by which it exceeds on the 

 right hand. 



PELICAN. See PELECAXUS. 



PELLETS, in heraldry, are those 

 roundles that are black, called also 

 ogresses and gun-stones, and by the 

 French torteaux de sable. 



PELT A, in botany, a term by which 

 the flower or flat fructification of the ge- 

 nus lichen or lever- wort is characterized, 

 which, in most of its species, is glued to 

 the edges of the leaves. 



PELTARIA, in botany, a genus of the 

 Tetradynamia Siliculosa class and order. 

 Natural order of Siliquosae. Cruciformes 

 or Cruciferae. Essential character: sili- 

 cle entire, suborbiculate, compressed, 

 flat, not opening. There are two spe- 

 cies, viz. P. alliacea, garlick scented pel- 

 taria, and P. capensis, cape peltaria. 



PELVIS, in anatomy, the lower part of 

 the cavity of the abdomen, thus called 

 from its resemblance to a basin, or ewer, 

 in Latin called pelvis. It is formed by the 

 ossa iliae and ischia, the os sacrum, the os 

 coccygis, and the ossa pubis. See ANATOMY-. 



PEN, fountain, is a pen made of silver, 

 brass, Sec. contrived to contain a consi- 

 derable quantity of ink, and let it flow 

 out by gentle degrees, so as to supply 

 the writer a long time \vithout being un- 

 der the necessity of taking fresh ink. 



PENJEA, in botany, so named from 

 Peter Pena, a genus of the Tetrandria 

 Monogynia class and order. Essential 

 character: calyx two-leaved; corolla bell- 

 shaped; style quadrangular; capsule 

 four cornered, four-celled, eight-seeded. 

 There are nine species ; these are shrubs 

 which are rugged below, with the ves- 

 tiges of fallen leaves, leafy above ; leaves 

 opposite, crosswise, sessile, approximat- 

 ing imbricately in a fourfold row, the up- 

 per ones near the flowers, like scales, 

 and coloured ; flowers terminating, ses- 

 sile, solitary, or several together; fruit 

 as in the order of Acanthi, but four cell- 

 ed ; this genus may perhaps be allied to 

 them, but having been hitherto little exa- 

 mined, except in dried specimens, the 

 natural order of the genus Pensea must 

 yet remain uncertain. Jussieu. 



PENAL La~vs or Statutes, having been 

 made on many occasions, to punish and 

 deter offenders, they ought to be con- 

 strued strictly, and not be extended by 

 equity, but the words of them may be 

 interpreted beneficially, according to the 

 intent of the legislator. 



PENALTY, is a forfeiture inflicted for 

 not complying with the regulations of 

 certain acts of parliament ; a penalty is 



