388 
P H A 
P E W 
packed in barrels by layers, between each of 
which is a layer of bay-leaves, and spices, 
sprinkled over with vinegar. In this state 
they are sent into many other parts of the 
German empire. In the river Baustgr in 
Courland, great quantities are taken -from 
beneath the ice with. nets;, they are much 
larger than those found elsewhere, and are 
packed in snow, and sent to any distance ; 
and v; hen put into cold water recover them- 
selves. Tuis species spawns in March and 
April, and is a prolilic fish, rt is so tenacious 
of lire, that it will live many days out of 
water. 
3. Petromyzon planeri, Planer’s lamprey : 
length from lire or six to ten inches ; general 
resemblance that of the lampern: native of 
the rivers of Thuringia and other parts of the 
German empire. Like most of the genus, te- 
nacious of life, living for the space of a quar- 
ter of an hour when immersed ,n spirits of 
wine, and moving with .violence during the 
whole tune. When thus killed in spirit's, the 
mouth remains open, but when the fish dies 
in water it is shut. 
4. Petromyzon bran: hialis, minute lam- 
prey: in : iu bits the European rivers; in Eng- 
land more frequent in the Isis than elsewhere. 
Instead of con ealing itself under stones, this 
species lodges Itself among the mud, and is 
not observed to adhere to any other body 
like the rest of the genus: it is yised as a 
bait for other fish. It seems to have been 
fir t distinctly described as an English spe- 
cies by Dr. Plot, in his History of Oxford- 
shire. 
5. Petromyzon sanguisuga, leech lamprey. 
It seems in many points so nearly to resemble 
the common lamprey as to leave some sus- 
picion of its being the young of that species ; 
yet Mons. Noel seems convinced of its being 
specifically different. It is said to be found 
only at those times in which the shad (elupea 
alosa) is in the river. These fishes it perse- 
cutes, by fastening beneath their bellies, and 
sucking their blood with the avidity of a 
leech: its body being constantly found full 
of that lluid alone : they sometimes attack 
salmon in a similar way, but from the greater 
thickness of the skin in those fishes, are able 
to obtain but a small quantity of blood from 
them. 
PETUNSE, in natural history, one of the 
two substances whereof the porcelain or Chi- 
na-ware is made. The petunse is a coarse 
kind of fiint or pebble, the surface of which 
is not so smooth when broken as that of our 
common flint. See Stoneware. 
PEUCEDANUM, or Sulphurwort, 
a genus of the digynia order, in the pentan- 
dria class of plants, and in the natural me- 
thod ranking under the 45th order, umbeilatse. 
The fruit is lobated, striated on both sides, 
and surrounded by a membrane; the involu- 
cre are very short. There are 10 species, 
none of which have any remarkable proper- 
ties excepting the officinale, or common 
hoa’s-fcimcl, growing naturally in the English 
salt marshes. The roots, when bruised, have 
a strong fetid scent like sulphur, and an 
acrid, bitterish, unctuous taste. Wounded 
in the spring they yield a considerable quan- 
tity of yellow juice, which dries into a gum- 
my resin, and retains the strong smell 'of the 
root. The expressed juice was used by the 
yntients in lethargic disorder?. 
PEWTER, a factitious metal, used in 
V H A 
i making' domestic utensils, as plates, dbhe*, 
Ac. Bee Zinc. 
PEZiZA, cup-mushroom, a genus of the 
natural order of fungi, in the cryplogamia 
class of plants. The fungus is cam panuiated 
and sessile. Linnaeus enumerates If species; 
Dr. Withering, 40 British species. 
PHACA, a genus of the decandria order, 
in the diadclpbia class of plants; and in the 
natural method ranking under the 32 d order, 
papilionaceae. The legumen is semibilocular. 
There are 1 1 species. 
PILETI1USA, a genus of the class and 
order syngenesia polygamia supertlua. The 
calyx is subcyliudric, many-leaved ; florets 
hermaphrodite; recept. chaffy ; seeds vispid. 
There is one species, a tree ot Virginia. 
PHAETON, in ornithology, a genus of 
birds belonging to the order of anseres, the 
characters of which are : The bill is sharp, 
straight, and pointed, the nostrils are oblong, 
and the binder toe is turned forward. There 
are two species, viz. 
1. The demersus, or red-footed pinguin, 
has a thick, arched, red bill ; the head, hind- 
part of the neck, and the back, of a dusky 
purplish hue, and breast and belly white; 
brown wings, with the tips of the feathers 
white ; instead of a tail, a few black bristles ; 
and red legs. It is found on Pinguin isle, 
near the Cape of Good Hope, is common all 
over the South Seas, and is about the size of 
a goose. 
2. The ethereus, or tropic bird, is about 
the size of a partridge, and has very long 
wings. The bill -is red, with an angle under 
the lower mandible. 'Die eyes are encom- 
passed with black, which ends in a point to- 
wards the back of the head. Three or four 
of the larger quill-feathers towards their ends 
are black, tipped with white; all the rest of 
the bird is white, except the back, which is 
variegated with curved lines of black. The 
legs and feet are of a vermilion red. The 
toes are webbed. The tail consists of two 
long straight narrow feathers, almost of equal 
breadth from their quills to their points. 
The name tropic bird, given to this genus, 
arises from its being chiefly found within the 
tropical circles; but we are not to conclude 
that they never stray voluntarily, or are 
driven beyond them: for we have met with a 
few instances to prove the contrary. It is, 
however, so generally found within the tro- 
pical limits, that the sight of this bird alone 
is sufficient to inform the mariner of a very 
near approach to, if not his entrance therein. 
It has also been thought to portend the con- 
tiguity of land ; but this has often proved fal- 
lacious, as it is not unfrcquently found at very 
great distances from it. The flight of this 
bird is often to a prodigious height; but at 
other times it is seen along with the frigate- 
pelican, booby, and other birds, attending 
the dying-fishes at their rise from the water, 
driven from their native element into the air 
by their watery enemies, the shark, porpoise, 
albicpre, bonito, and dolphin, which pursue 
them beneath, and prey upon them. These 
birds are sometimes observed to rest on the 
surface of the water, and have been now and 
then seen in calm weather upon the backs of 
the drowsy tortoises, supinely floating in the 
sea, so that they have been easily taken by 
the long-boat manned. On shore they will 
perch on trees, and are said to breed in the 
woods, on the ground beneath, hem. They 
have been met with in pleni y on the islands of 
St. Helena, Ascension, Mauritius, New Hol- 
land, and various places in the South Seas ; 
but in no place so numerous as at Palmerston 
island, where these birds, as well as the fri- 
gates, wbje in such plenty, that the trees- 
were absolutely loaded with them, and so 
tame, that they suffered themselves to be 
taken off ihe boughs with the hand. At Ota- 
heite, and in the Friendly isles, the natives 
give them the names of bain goo and toolaiee. 
Some ornithologies reckon two other species 
(perhaps -varieties) of the tropic bird. 
PilAL/EN A, moth, a genus of insects of 
the order lepidoptera : the generic character 
is; antennae setaceous, gradually lessening 
from base to tip; wings (when silting) gene- 
sally deflex (flight nocturnal). Tins genus,, like 
that of papilio, containing a vast number of 
species, is divided into assortments, according 
to the different habits of the animals. These 
assortments are as follow, viz. 
Attaci, or those in which the wings, when 
at rest, are spread out horizontally. 
Bombyccs, in which the wings are incum- 
bent, anti the antenna: pectinated. 
Nocture, with incumbent wings and seta- 
ceous antenna;. 
Geometric, with wings horizontally spread 
out, nearly as in the attaci. 
Tortrices, with very obtuse wing', curved" 
on the exterior margin. 
Pyralides, with wings converging into a 
deltoid and slightly furcated figure. 
Tiueae, with wings convoluted into a cy- 
linder. 
Alucitse, with wings divided into distinct 
plumes. 
These distributions, like those of the genus 
papilio, are not strictly accurate, and must 
therefore be regarded with a proper degree- 
of allowance. 
In the first division or attaci ranks the most 
splendid, and largest, of all the phalxnaf yet 
known, viz. the phalaena atlas, an insect' so 
large that the extent of its wings measures 
not less than eight inches and a half ; the 
ground-colour is a very fine deep orange- 
brown, and in the middle of each wing is a 
large subtriangular transparent spot or patch, 
resembling the appearance of a piece of Mus- 
covy talc ;, each of these transparent parts is 
succeeded by a black border, and across all 
the wings run lighter and darker bars, exhi- 
biting a very fine assortment of varying 
shades; the upper wings are slightly curved 
downwards at their tips in a ml cat -d manner, 
and the lower wings are edged with a border 
of black spots on a pale bufl-colourcd ground; 
the antennae are widely pectinated "with- a 
quadruple series of fibres, exhibiting a highly 
elegant appearance. This insect is a native 
of both the Indies, and occasionally varies 
both in size and colours. 
Pbalsenu luna is an American species, of 
large size, and extremely beautiful; its co- 
lour is a most elegant pea-green, with a small 
yellowish eye-shaped spot with a transparent 
centre in the middle of each wing, and the 
lower wings are produced at the bottom into 
a long and broad tail or continuation: the 
ridge of the upper wings is broad, and of a 
fine purple-brown colour; the head and tho- 
rax yellowish white, and the body milk-white. 
Of the European species of this division 
beyond comparison the finest is the phalxna 
junoaia (ph. pavonia Lin.}, a native of mmy 
