PEP 



PEP 



viz. P. phcenicea, scarlet-flowered penta- 

 petes, a nutive of the East Indies and 

 Japan. 



PEXTHORUM, in botany, a 'genus of 

 the Decandria Pentagynia class and order. 

 Natural order of Succulents. Sempervi- 

 vx, Jussieu. Essential character : calyx 

 five or ten cleft ; petals none, or five : 

 capsule five-cusped, five-celled. There 

 is only one species, viz- P. sedoides, 

 American penthorum. 



PENTSTEMON, in botany, a genus of 

 the Didynamia Angiospermia class and or- 

 der. Natural order of Personatae. Essen- 

 tial character : calyx five-leaved ; corolla 

 bilabiate, ventricose ; rudiment of a fifth 

 stamen bearded above ; capsule two-cell- 

 ed. There are two species, viz. P. laeviga- 

 ta, smooth pentstemon, and P. pubescens, 

 hairy pentstemon. 



PKNULTIMA, or penultimate syllable, 

 in grammar, denotes the last syllable but 

 one of a word; and hence the anti-penul- 

 timate syllable is the last but two, or that 

 immediately before the penultima. 



PENUMBRA, in astronomy, a partial 

 shade observed between the perfect sha- 

 dow and the full light in an eclipse. It 

 arises from the magnitude of the sun's 

 body; for were he only a luminous point, 

 the shadow would be all perfect ; but by 

 reason of the diameter of the sun, it hap- 

 pens that a place which is not illuminat- 

 ed by the whole body of the sun, does 

 yet receive rays from a part thereof. See 

 ASTRONOMY. 



PEPJLtS, in botany, purslane, a genus 

 of the Hexandria Monogynia class and 

 order. Natural order of Calycanthemse. 

 Salicarise, Jussieu. Essential character : 

 calyx bell-shaped, with a twelve-cleft 

 mouth ; petals six, inserted into the ca- 

 lyx ; capsule two-celled. There are two 

 species, viz. P. portula, water purslane, 

 and P. tetrandria. 



PEPPER, in natural history, an aroma- 

 tic berry, ot a hot dry quality, chiefly used 

 in seasoning. See PIPER. 



We have three kinds of pepper at this 

 time in use in the shops ; the black, the 

 white, and the long pepper. 



Black pepper is the fruit of a plant of 

 the Diandria Trigynia class, without any 

 flower petals ; the fruit itself is roundish 

 and rugose, and disposed in clusters : it is 

 brought from the Dutch settlements in 

 the East Indies. 



The common white pepper is factitious, 

 being prepared from the black in the fol- 

 lowing manner: they steep this in sea 

 water, exposed to the heat of the sun for 

 several days, till the rind or outer bark 



loosens ; they then take it out, and when 

 it is half dry, rub it till the rind falls oft'; 

 then they dry the white fruit, and the re- 

 mains of the rind blow away like chaff". 

 A great deal of the heat of the pepper is 

 taken off by this process ; so that the 

 white kind is fitter for many purposes 

 than the black. However, there is a 

 sort of native white pepper, produced on 

 a species of the same plant, which is much 

 better than the factitious, and indeed lit- 

 tle inferior to the black. 



The long pepper is a dried fruit of an 

 inch, or an inch and a half in length, and 

 about the thickness of a large goose quill : 

 it is of a brownish-grey colour, cylindrical 

 in figure, and said to be produced on a 

 plant of tlie same genus. 



Pepper is principally used by us in food, 

 to assist digestion ; but the people in the 

 East Indies esteem it as a stomachic, and 

 drink a strong infusion of it in water by 

 way of giving them an appetite : they 

 have also a way of making a fiery spirit 

 of fermented fresh pepper with water, 

 which they use for the same purpose. 

 They have also a way of preserving the 

 common and long pepper in vinegar, and 

 eating them afterwards at meals. 



PEPPER -water, a liquor prepared in the 

 following manner, for microscopical obser- 

 vations : put common black pepper, gross- 

 ly powdered, into an open vessel, so as to 

 cover the bottom of it half an inch thick, 

 and put to it rain or river water, till it 

 covers it an inch ; shake or stir the whole 

 well together at the first mixing, but 

 never disturb it afterwards : let the ves- 

 sel be exposed to the air uncovered ; and 

 in a few days there will be seen a pellicle 

 or thin skin swimming on the surface of 

 the liquor, looking of several colours. 



This is a congeries of multitudes of 

 small animals ; and being examined by 

 the microscope, will be seen all in mo- 

 tion : the animals, at first sight, are so 

 small as not to be distinguishable, unless 

 to the greatest magnifiers ; but they grow 

 daily till they arrive at their full size. 

 Their numbers are also continually in- 

 creasing, till the whole surface of the 

 liquor is full of them, to a considerable 

 depth. When disturbed they will some- 

 times all dart down to the bottom, but 

 they soon after come up to the surface 

 again. The skin appears soonest in warm 

 weather, and the animals grow the quick- 

 est ; but in the severest cold it will suc- 

 ceed, unless the water freezes. 



About the quantity of a pin's head of 

 this scum, taken up on the nib of a new 

 pen, or the tip of a hair pencil, is to be 



