PUR 



PUR 



PURFLED, ornamental work, whether in ftone or 

 other materials, reprclenting embroidery or lace work. 



PURFLEW, a term in Heraldry, expreffing ermines, 

 peans, or any of the furs, when they compofe a border 

 round a coat of arms. 



Thus they fay, he beareth gules a border, purflew, vairy ; 

 meaning, that the border is vairy. 



PURG, or FoiiG, in Geography, a town of Perfia, in 

 the province of Lariftan ; 60 miles N.E. of Lar. N. lat. 

 28° 30'. E. long. 54° 40'. 



PURGATION, PuRGATio, the aft of purging, fcour- 

 ing, or purifying any thing, by feparating and carrying off 

 any impurities found therein. 



PuKGATlON, in Pharmacy, is the cleanfmg of a medicine 

 by retrenching its fuperfluities ; as taking the woo'd and 

 feeds out of caffia, and the ilones out of dates, tamarinds, 

 and other fruits. 



Purgation is alfo ufed, in Chemiflry, for feveral prepa- 

 rations of metals and minerals, intended to clear them of 

 their impurities ; more ufually called purification and rejiiiing. 



The ordinary purgation of mercury is performed, by 

 pafiing it through a chamois flcin. (See Mercury.) Gold 

 is purged by the coppel, cementation, &c. See Gold, 



CoPPEi,, &c. 



Purgation, in other metals, is performed by repeated 

 fufion, &c. 



Purgation, Catharfis, in Medicine, the evacuation of 

 the alimentary canal of its faecal contents, by means of fub- 

 Itances which ilimulate its fibres, and excite them to a more 

 aftive periftaltic motion. Purgation is alfo fometimes car- 

 ried farther, and, by caufing a copious difcharge of fluids 

 from the exhalent veflels of the inner furface of the bowels, 

 produces a confiderable evacuation from the fyftem at large. 

 For an elucidation of the doftrine of purgation, fee Ca- 

 thartic. 



Purgation, in Lam, is the clearing one's felf of a crime, 

 whereof publicly fufpefted or accufed before a judge, called 

 alfo judicium Dei. 



Of thefe purgations there was anciently much ufe in 

 England, efpecially touching matters of felony charged on 

 clerks ; and there is fomething of them ftill retained in the 

 ecclefiaftical court on fufpicion of incontinency, Sec. Pur- 

 gation is either canonical or vulgar. 



Purgation, Canonical, is that prefcribed in the canon 

 law, the form of which, obtaining in the fpiritual court, is, 

 that the party fufpefted fliall take his oath that he is clear of 

 the faft objefted againlt him ; and bring fo many of his 

 honeft neighbours, not above twelve, as the court Ihall aflign 

 him, to fwear, on their confciences, that they believe he 

 fwears truly. 



The canonical doftrine of purgation, whereby the parties 

 were obliged to anfwer upon oath to any matter, however 

 criminal, that might be objected againli them, continued 

 till the .middle of the I7tli century to be upheld by the 

 fpiritual courts ; when the legiflature was obliged to inter- 

 pofe, to teach them a leflbn of fimilar moderation. By the 

 llatute of 13 Car. II. cap. 12. it is enafted, that it fhall 

 not be lawful for any blfhop, or ecclefiailical judge, to 

 tender or adminifter to any perfon whatfoever, the oath 

 ufually called the oath ex officio, or any other oath whereby 

 he may be compelled to confefs, accufe, or purge himfelf 

 of any criminal matter or tiling, whereby he may be liable 

 to any cenfure or puniihment. But this doth not extend 

 to oaths m a civil fuit ; and, therefore, it is itill the prac- 

 tice both in the fpiritual courts, and in equity, to demand 

 the perfonal anfwer of the party himfelf upon oath. Yet if 

 in the bill any queftion be put, that tends to the difcovery 



Vol. XXIX. 



of any ci-ime, the defendant may thereupon demur, and re- 

 fufe to anfwer. Anciently, upon the allowance of . the 

 benefit of clergy, the perfon accufed v/as delivered to the 

 ordinary, to make his purgation, which was to be before a 

 jury of twelve clerks, by his own oath affirming hi§ inno- 

 cence, and the oaths of twelve compurgators as to their 

 belief of it. But now, by the ftat. iSEliz. cap. 7. this 

 kind of purgation is alfo taken away ; and the perfon ad- 

 mitted to his clergy (hall not be dehvered to the ordinai-y. 



Purgation, Vulgar, being the moft ancient manner, was 

 by fire, or water, or combat ; ufed by infidels, and by 

 Chriftians too, till abohlhed by the canon law. See Oudeal, 

 and CoR.SNED. 



Combat, though now difufed, may yet be ftill praftifed 

 by the laws of the realm, in cafes where evidence is wanting, 

 and where the defendant rather choofes combat than any 

 other trial. See Combat. 



Terris bonis, &c. redhabendis pojl Purgalionem. See Terhis. 



Purgation, in Rhetoric, is ufed for that kind of defence 

 which takes place when the accufed perfon owns the faft, 

 but denies that he did it with defign, or with any bad 

 intention. 



Purgation, in Tragedy, is a term which Ariftotle ufes 

 for the effeft of tragedy on the mind. 



That philofoplier obferves, that tragedy, by means of the 

 terror and compaffion which it excites, purges paffions out 

 of the foul. 



Indeed, Corneille adds, that tragedy frequently creates 

 paflions, inftead of purging them ; fo that he takes Arif- 

 totlt's purgation to be no more than a chimera. 



Purgations, Menjlrual, the catamenia or menfcs of 

 women. 



PURGATIVE, or Purging- Aftv/iani", a medicament, 

 which evacuates the contents of the bowels by ftool. See 

 Cathartic. 



PURGATORY, Purgatorium, in the Romifh church, 

 a place where the juil are fuppofed to fuffer the pains due 

 to their fins, for which they have not fatisfied in this 

 world. 

 * It is by the mercy of God, the indulgences of the church, 

 and the prayers of the faithful, that people are fuppofed to 

 be delivered out of purgatory. 



This doftrine of purgatory, which fome derive from the 

 Platonic fancies of Origen, the Montanifm of Tertullian, 

 pretended vifions, and pagan ftories, rhetorical flourilhes, 

 and doubtful expreffions of the later fathers, and in which 

 we may difcern an obvious refemblance to the famous pagan 

 doftrine, concerning the purification of departed fouls by 

 means of a certain kind of fire, was partly introduced, at 

 leaft in the fpirit of it, towards the clofe of the fifth cen- 

 tury, and by Gregory the Great in the fixth century ; but 

 it was not, however, pofitively affirmed' till about the year 

 1 140, nor made an article of faith till the council of Trent. 

 Sefl". 25. Decret. de Purgat. See Papists and Popery. 



In Ireland is a place called " St. Patrick's purgatory-," 

 where, as the legend has it, at the prayers of St. Patrick, 

 bifliop of the place, there was made a vifible reprefentation 

 of the pains which the wicked undergo after death, in order 

 to deter finners, &c. 



PURG ATT Y, in Geography, a town of Hindooftan, in 

 the circar of Cicacole ; 40 miles N.W. of Vizniagram. 



PURGE, in Medicine, a term frequently ufed for a dot 

 of fome purgative medicine. 



PURGING Ale, Butler's. See Ale. 



Purging Grain, Oily, in Botany. See Sesamum. 



Purging Nut, m Botany. See Jatropha. 



Purging Thorn. See Buckthorn. 



E , PURGLITZ. 



