516 
P 3 I 
P S O 
Gold precipitated by the alkaline carbo- 
jrats, is rendered white by this acid. 
It disengages carbonic acid from the oxide 
of silver precipitated by the same alkalies ; 
but the oxide remains white. 
It dissolves red oxide of mercury, and 
forms with it a salt which may be obtained in 
crystals. 
Oxide of copper precipitated by carbonat 
of potass, effervesces in it, and acquires a 
slight orange-yellow colour. 
Oxide of iron precipitated from the sul- 
pliat of iron by carbonat of potass, effervesces 
in it, and becomes blue. 
Oxide of cobalt precipitated by the same 
alkali, gives in it some marks of effervescence, 
and becomes yellowish-brown. 
The compounds which prussic acid makes 
with zirconia and yttria, seem also to be in- 
soluble; for these earths are precipitated 
from their solutions by prussiat of potass ; a 
circumstance in which they differ from all 
the other earths and alkalies, and which in- 
dicates a coincidence between them and the 
metallic oxides. 
PltYTANEUM, in Grecian antiquity, a 
large building in Athens, where the council 
of the prvtanes, or presidents of the senate, 
assembled, and where those who had ren- 
dered any signal service to the common- 
wealth were maintained at the public ex- 
pence. 
PSIDIUM, the guava, a genus of the mo- 
nogynia order, in the icosandria class of 
plants, and in the natural method ranking 
under the 19th order, hesperideae. 1 he ca- 
lyx is quinquefid, superior: there are five 
petals : the berry is unilocular and mono- 
s{>ermous. There are eight species. 'I he 
most remarkable are : 
1. The pyriferum, or white guava. 2. The 
pomiferum, or red guava. Both these are 
however thought by some to be only varieties 
of the same plant. The red guava rises to 
ihe height of 20 feet, and is covered with a 
smooth bark; the branches are angular, co- 
vered with oval leaves, having a strong mid- 
rib, and many veins running towards the 
sides, of a light-green colour, standing oppo- 
site upon very short footstalks. I rom the 
wings of the leaves the flowers come out upon 
footstalks an inch and a half long: they are 
composed of five large roundish concave pe- 
tals, within which are a great number of sta- 
mina shorter than the petals, and tipped with 
pale-yellow tops. After the flower is past, 
the gerrnen becomes a large oval fruit shaped 
like a pomegranate. 
A decoction of the roots of guava is em- 
ployed' with success in dysenteries: a bath 
of a decoction of the leaves is said to cure 
the itch, and other cutaneous eruptions. 
Guayava, or guava, is distinguished from the 
colour of the pulp, into the two species above- 
mentioned, the white and the red ; and, from 
the figure of the fruit, into the round and the 
pear-fashioned or perfumed guava. The lat- 
ter has a thicker rind, and a more delicate 
taste, than the other. The fruit is about the 
bigness of a large tennis-ball ; the rind or skin 
generally of a russet stained with red. The 
pulp within the thick rind is of an agreeable 
flavour, and interspersed with a number of 
small white seeds. The rind, when stewed, 
is eaten with milk, and preferred to any other 
<tewed fruit. From the same part is made 
1* S I 
marmalade ; and from the whole fruit is pre- 
pared a tine jelly. The fruit is very astrin- 
gent, and nearly of the same quality with the 
pomegranate, and should be avoided by all 
who are subject to costiveness. r l he seeds 
are so hard as not to be affected by the fer- 
mentation in the stomachs of animals; so that 
when voided with the excrements, they take 
root, germinate, and produce thriving trees. 
Whole meadows in the West Indies are co- 
vered with guavas, which have been propa- 
gated in this manner. The buds of guava, 
boiled with barley and liquorice, produce an 
excellent ptisan for diarrhoeas, and even the 
bloody flux, when not too inveterate. The 
wood of the tree, employed as fuel, makes a 
lively, ardent, and lasting tire. 
PbHTAGUS, or parrot, a genus belong- 
ing to the order of pica*. 1 he bill in this 
genus is hooked from the base ; and the up- 
per mandible is moveable: the nostrils are 
round, placed in the base of the bill, which 
in some species is furnished with a kind of 
cere ; the tongue is broad, and blunt at one 
end ; the head is large, and the crown flat ; 
the legs are short, the toes placed two before 
and two behind. It might seem a wonder 
why nature has destined to this, which is not 
naturally a bird of prey, but feeds on fruits 
and vegetable substances, the crooked beak 
allotted to the hawk and other carnivorous 
birds ; but the reason seems to be, that the 
parrot being a heavy bird, and its legs not 
very fit for service, it climbs up and down 
trees by the help of this sharp and hooked 
bill, with which it lays hold of any thing and 
secures itself before it stirs a toot ; and be- 
sides this, it helps itself forward very much, 
by pulling its body on with this hold. 
’ Parrots are found almost every where with- 
in the tropics ; and in their natural state they 
live on fruits and seeds, though, when tame, 
they will eat flesh and even fish. 
In the East and West Indies they are very 
common ; and in such warm climates are 
very brisk and lively : here, however, they 
lose much of their vigour. They seldom 
make nests, but breed, like owls in hollow 
trees: they lay two eggs. At particular 
times they fly in very large troops, but still 
Lliev keep two and two together. The genus 
consists of infinite variety, not so much ow- 
ing to mixture of species, however, as might 
be supposed. They seem to run vastly into 
one another, so as to appear ta be related, 
though received from different parts of the 
world; this, however, may possibly be occa- 
sioned by their being carried from one place 
to another for the sake of sale. 
Buffon ranges the parrot in two great 
classes ; the first of which comprehends those 
of the Old Continent, and the second those 
of the New. The former he subdivides into 
five families; the cockatoos, the parrots pro- 
perly so called, the lories, the long-tailed 
paroquets, and the short-tailed ones ; and the 
latter into six, viz. the macaos, the atnazo- 
nians, the creeks, the popinjays, the long- 
tailed paroquets, and the short-tailed ones. 
Mr. Latham has increased the genus from 
47 to 163 ; and since the time he wrote his 
Index, at least 20 more have been discovered. 
They are very generally divided into three 
kinds: 1. The larger, which are as big as a 
moderate fowl, called macaos and cockatoos ; 
these have very long tails. 2. The middle- 
sized ones, commonly called parrots, which 
have short tails, and are a little larger than a 
pigeon. And, 3. The small ones, which are’ 
called paroquets, and have long tails, and are 
not larger than a lark or blackbird. The fol- 
lowing are the most remarkable : 
1. The psittacus macao, or red and blue 
macao, is red, except the wing-quills, which 
above are blue, before rufous; the scapular 
feathers are variegated with blue and green; 
the cheeks are naked and wrinkled, it is- 
about two feet seven inches and a half long, 
and about as big as a capon. Edwards says,, 
when perfect, it will measure a- full yard from 
bill to tail. It inhabits Brasil, Guiana, and 
other parts of South America. It was for- 
merly very common in St. Domingo, but is 
now rarely found there. It generally lives in 
moist woods, especially such as are planted 
with a particular kind of palm, perhaps what 
is called the macaw-tree. It does not in ge- 
neral learn to speak, and its voice is parti- 
cularly rough and disagreeable. The flesh 
is hard, black, and unsavoury, but makes 
good soup, and is much used by the inhabi- 
tants of Cayenne and other places. Ibis- 
species, in common with other parrots, is 
subject to fits when tamed; and though it 
will live for many years, yet if the returns 
are pretty frequent, it will generally fall a vic- 
tim to that disease at last. Ihe ’Americans; 
call it gonzalo. 
2. 'Ihe psittacus ararauna, or bine and' 
yellow macaw,, is blue above, and yellow be- 
low, and the cheeks are naked, witli feathery 
lines. It is about the same size with the last„ 
and inhabits Jamaica, Guiana, Brasil,, and 
Surinam. 
3. The psittacus severus, or Brasilian green 
macaw, is black, with a greenish splendour ; 
the bill and eyes are reddish, and the legs are 
yellow, it is about one foot and live inches 
long, and is common in Jamaica, Guiana, and 
Brasil. It is however comparatively rare: it 
is extremely beautiful, and of a very amiable' 
and sociable temper when familiar and ac- 
quainted;. but it can neither bear strangers 
nor rivals: its voice is not strong, nor does it 
articulate very distinctly the word ar.a. See 
Plate Nat. Hast. figs. 338, 339- 
4-, The psittacus aurora, or yellow ama- 
zon, is about 12 inches long, of a green co- 
lour, with blue wing-quills, and a white front ; 
its orbits are snowy. It inhabits Mexico or 
Brasil ; but in all probability the latter, from 
the one which Salerne saw, and which pro- 
nounced Portuguese words. The psittacus 
guineensis,. or yellow lory, is- about ten in- 
ches long,, and is an inhabitant of Guinea. 
The bill is of a black colour; the cere, the 
throat, and space about the eyes, are white % 
above the eye there is a patch of yellow, and 
the rest of the bead and- neck is crimson. 
The breast is yellow, wing-coverts green, 
and the quills are blue, edged with yellow.. 
Under the wings, belly,, thighs, vent, and 
to the under part of ths tail,, the colour is 
white, which last is tipped with red the legs 
areduskv, and the claws black. 
PSOPHIA, a genus belonging to the or- 
der gallinae. The bill is moderate ; the up- 
per mandible is convex ; the nostrils are ob- 
long, sunk, and pervious; the tongue is car- 
tilaginous, flat, and fringed at the end ; and 
the legs are naked a little above the knees. 
The toes are three before and one behind ; 
the last of which is small, with a round pro- 
tuberance beneath it, which is at a little dis* 
