3^S 
V A 11 
P A It 
Parian marble, in the natural history of 
the antients, the white marble used then, and 
to this day, for carving statues, &c. and call- 
ed by us at tiiis time statuary marble. Too 
many ot the iater writer have confounded 
afi me white marbles under the name of the 
Parian ; and among the workmen, this and 
all the other white marbles have the common 
name of alabasters ; so that it is in general 
forgotten among them that there is such a 
thing as alabaster different from marble; 
which, however, is truly the case. Almost 
all the world also have confounded the Car- 
rara marble with this, though they are really 
very different; the Carrara kind being of a 
finer structure and clearer white than the Pa- 
rian, but less bright and splendid, harder to 
cut, and not capable of so glittering a polish. 
The true Parian marble has usually some- 
what of a faint blueish tinge among the white, 
and often has blue veins in different parts of 
it. 
P Alii AN A, a genus of the moncecia po- 
lyandria class and order. The male flowers 
in whorls, forming spikes ; calyx two-valved ; 
corolla two-valved, larger than the calyx; 
filaments 40. Female flowers solitary in each 
whorl; calyx two-valved; corolla two-valved ; I 
stigma two-seeded, three-cornered. There is j 
one species, of no note. 
PARI ETA LI A OSSA. See Anatomy. 
^ PARLETARIA, pellitonj of the wall, aj 
genus of the moiicecia order, in the polyga- ! 
mia class of plants, and in the natural method 
ranking under the 53d order, scabrida;. The j 
calyx or the hermaphrodite is quadrifid ; there i 
is no corolla; there are four stamina; one: 
style; and one seed, .superior and elongated. | 
The female calyx is quadrifld ; there is no j 
corolla; nor are there any stamina. There 
is one style; and one seed, superior and elon- | 
gated. There are 10 species, of which one, 
named the officinalis, is used in medicine, j 
The plant lias a cooling and diuretic quality. 
'Three ounces of the juice taken internally, | 
or a fomentation externally applied, have 
been found serviceable in the strangury. The 
plant laid upon heaps of corn infested with 
weevils, is said to drive away those destruc- 
tive insects. See Plate Nat. Hist. fig. 3iG. 
PARIS, kerb Paris, or trueloxs, a genus 
of the trigynia order, in the oetandria class of 
plants, and in the natural method ranking 
under the 1 ith order, sarmentacese. The ea- j 
Ivx ia tetrapln lions; there are four petals 
narrow in proportion ; the berry quadriloeu- 
iar. There is but one species, growing natu- 
rally in woods and shady places in England. 
It has a single naked . tern, greenish blossoms, 
and blueish-black berries. Though this plant 
has been reckoned of a poisonous nature, be- 
ing nked among the aconites, yet late au- 
thors attribute quite other properties to it, 
esteeming it to be a counter-poison, and good 
in malignant and pestilential fevers. 
PARISH. In England there are 9913 
parishes, of which 3845 are churches impro- 
priate, and the rest are annexed to colleges 
or church dignities. In many of ti.ese pa- 
rishes, on account of their large extent and 
the number of parishioners, there are several 
chapels of ease. 
Parish-officers, officers chosen annu- 
ally to regulate and manage the concerns of 
the parish. 
PARK, a piece of ground inclosed and 
PAR 
stored with w ild beasts of chase, which a man 
may have by prescription or the king’s grant. 
Jiy 16 Geo. 111. c. 30. if any person shall 
pull down or destroy the pale or wall of a 
park, he shall forfeit 30/. 
Park of artillery. See Artillery, 
park of. 
PARKIN SON! A, so called in honour of 
the English botanist Parkinson, a genus ot the 
monogyma order, in the decandria class ot 
plants, and in the natural method it ranks 
under the 33d order, lomentaceae. The ca- 
lyx is quinquefid ; there are live petals, all 
ot them oval except the lowest, which is reni- 
form ; there is no style ; the legumen moni- 
litorm, or like strung beads. We know' but 
one species of this plant, which is very com- 
mon in the Spanish West Indies, but has of 
late years been introduced into the English 
settlements, for the beauty and sweetness of 
its flowers. In the countries where it grows 
naturally, it rises to be a tree of 20 or more 
feet high, and bears long slender bunches of 
yellow flowers, which have a most agreeable 
sw r eet scent. 
PARLIAMENT, is the legislative branch ' 
of the supreme power of Great Britain, con- 
sisting of the king, the lords spiritual and 
'temporal, and the knights, citizens, burgesses, 
representatives of the commons of the realm, 
in parliament assembled. 
The power and jurisdiction of parliament 
is so transc.endunt and absolute, that it cannot 
be confined, either for causes or persons, 
w ithin any bounds. 4 Inst. 36. 
.1 he house of commons is a denomination 
given to tiie lower house of parliament. In a 
tree state, every man, who is supposed a free 
agent, ought to be, in some measure, his 
own governor; and therefore a branch at least 
oi the legislative power should reside in the 
whole body of the people. In elections for 
representatives for Great Britain, antiently, 
all the people had votes; but king Henry 
VI. to avoid tumults, first appointed that 
none should vote for knight- but such as were 
freeholders, did reside in the county, and had 
forty shillings yearly revenue. In so large a 
state as ours, therefore, it is very wisely con- 
trived, that the people should do“th:it by their 
representatives which it is impracticable to 
perform in person ; representatives chosen by 
a number of minute and separate districts, 
wherein all the voters are or may be easily 
distinguished. The counties are therefore 
represented by knights, elected by the pro- 
prietors of lands ; the cities and boroughs are 
represented by citizens and burgesses, chosen 
by the mercantile or supposed trading interest 
of the nation. 
The peculiar laws and customs of the house 
of commons, relate principally to the raising 
of taxes, aw! the elections of members to 
serve in parliament. 
I he method of making laws is nearly the 
same in both houses. In the house of com- 
mons, in order to bring in the bill, if the re- 
lief sought is of a private nature, it' is first 
necessary to prefer a petition ; which must 
be presented by a member, and usually set 
forth a grievance required to be remedied. 
This petition, when founded on facts of a dis- 
putable nature, is referred to a committee of 
members, who examine the matter alleged, 
and accordingly report it to the house ; and 
then (or otherwise upon the mere petition), 
leave is given to bring in the bill. In public 
matters, the bill is brought in upon motion 
made to the house, without any petition. 
If the bill begins in the house of lords, if of 
a private nature, it is referred to two judges, 
to make report. After the second reading, 
the bill is said to be committed, that is, re- 
ferred to a committee ; which is selected by 
the house, in matters of small importance ; 
or upon a bill of consequence, the house ie- 
solves itself into a committee of the whole 
house. A committee of the whole house is 
composed of every member; and to form it 
the speaker quits the chair, and may conse- 
quently sit and debate upon the merits of it 
as a private member, another member being 
appointed chairman for the time. In these 
committees the bill is usually debated clause 
by clause, amendments made, and sometimes 
it is entirely new-modelled. Upon the third 
reading, further amendments are sometimes 
made; and if a new clause is added, it is 
done by tacking a separate piece of parch- 
ment on the bill, which is called a rider. 1 
Black. 182. 
The royal assent may be given two ways : 
1. in person, when the king comes to the 
house of peers, in his crown and royal robes, 
and sending for the commons to the bar, the 
titles of all the bills that have passed both 
houses are read; and the king’s answer is 
declared by the clerk of the parliament. If 
the king consents to a public bill, the clerk 
usually declares, It: roy It veut, the king wills 
it so to be ; if to a private bill, so it fait comine 
il est desire, be it as it is desired. If the king 
refuses his assent, it is in the gentle language 
of, le roy s’avisera, the king will advise upon 
it. When a bill of supply is passed, if is car- 
ried up and presented to the king by the 
speaker of the house of commons ; and the 
royal assent is thus expressed, le roy remercie 
ses loyal s u jets, accepts leur benevolence, 
et. aussi le veut ; the king thanks his loyal 
subjects, accepts their benevolence, and also 
wills it o to be. By the slat. 33 lien. VIII. 
c. 21., the king may give his assent by let- 
ters patent under his great seal, signed with 
his hand, and notified in his absence to both 
houses assembled together in the upper house. 
And when the bill has received the royal as- 
sent in either of these ways, it is then, and 
not before, a statute or act of parliament. 
An act of parliament thus made is the ex- 
ercise of the highest authority that this king- 
dom acknowledges upon the earth. It lias 
power to bind every subject in the land, and 
the dominions thereunto. belonging, nay even 
the king himself, if particularly named in it; 
and it cannot be altered, amended, dispensed 
with, suspended, or repealed, but in the 
same forms, and by the same authority, of 
parliament. 
Adjournment is no more than a continu- 
ance of the session from one day to another, 
as the word itself signifies ; and this is done 
by the authority of each house separately 
every day, or for a longer period ; but the 
adjournment of one house is no adjournment 
of the other. 1 Black. 186. 
Prorogation is the continuance of the par- 
liament from one session to another, as an 
adjournment is a continuation of the session 
from day to day. And this is done by the 
royal authority, expressed either by the lord 
chancellor in his majesty’s presence, or by 
