peptone 
by the action nf the (,'iistric or of the pancre- 
atic .juice. 'I liis i-iinviT.-iiui is caused hy the action of 
the chrmii -ul ferment pepsin, which is present In the KHB- 
trlc juice, r of trypam present in the pancreatic juicr. 
Tlirrhicf point* of ditference between peptones anil ollu-r 
pioti-ids are that peptones me nut precipitated liy ]M.ta.s. 
sinm fcri'in-yiiniile and acetic arid, are not coagulated by 
In it and are very readily diffusible through membrane*. 
peptonic (pep-ton'ik), . [< peptone + -u-.\ 
IVrtiiining I" r continuing peptones: as, pep- 
Imiii- properties; p<-ptonir pills or tablets. 
peptonization fpep*t$-ni-*'8hjjB), u. [< ///- 
toni;<' + -niton.] Tile ]>rocess of peptoni/.ing, 
or cotivertini; into peptones. 
peptonize (pep'to-niz), . t. ; pret. ami pp. pi-p- 
toiii^ni, ppr. peptonMng, [< prptonr + -/ . \ 
To convert into peptones. 
peptonoid (pep'to-noid), n. [< pc]itn>ir + -ni/l.] 
A substance resembling or claimed to resem- 
ble peptones: used as a trade-name for cer- 
tain food-preparations. 
peptonuria (pep-to-nu'ri-jl), . [NL., < E. //)- 
tuiif + Or. ovpov, urine.] The presence of pep- 
tones in the urine. 
peptotoxine (pep-to-tok'sin), n. [< pepto(n< ) 4- 
to.i-(ii-) + -iinti.] A poisonous alkaloid occur- 
ring in peptonized albumin, disappearing as 
putrefaction progresses. Billrotli. 
Pepysian (pep'is-i-an), . [< Pepyti (see def.) 
+ -ian.] Of or relating to Samuel Pepys (163:i- 
170:t). for many years an official of the British 
Admiralty. He Is Iwst known through his diary, which 
gives a valuable picture of English life and manners in 
the time of Charles II. 
We cannot breathe the thin air of that Pepysian self- 
denial, that Himalayan selectness, which, content with 
one bookcase, would have no tomes In It but porphyro- 
genlti, lKx>ks of the bluest blood. 
Lowell, Study Windows, p. 2!tt. 
Pepysian Library, a collection of prints, books, and 
manuscripts bequeathed by Samuel Pepys to the library 
of Magdalene College, Cambridge. 
per (per), prep. [L. : see per-.] Through; by 
means of. (a) A Latin preposition, the source of the pre- 
fix per-, and used independently in certain Latin phrases 
i-ommon in English use, as per se, per saltum, especially 
in law phrases, as per capita, per mriam, per pares, per 
stirpex, etc., and certain common commercial phrases, as 
per centum, per diem, per annum, whence, by an imper- 
fect translation, as a quasi-English preposition, in similar 
commercial phrases with an English noun, as per day, per 
. jter year, per hour, per hundred, per dozen, etc., per 
bearer, per express, by credit as per ledger, received per 
steamer Southampton, etc. (b) An Old French preposi- 
tion (from the Latin), occurring in some phrases now writ- 
ten as one word, as peradvetttttre, percase, perchance, per- 
haps, etc., and in phrases of heraldry : as, party per pale ; 
per bar ; per bend ; per saltier. It occurs as par- in para- 
mom, parfaij, pardy (also perdy\ etc. Five per cent, 
cases. s ee casei. per accidens, by accident Per an- 
num, by the year ; in each year ; annually. Per capita, 
in law, by the head or poll : applied to succession when 
two or more persons have equal right. See per stirpes, 
below. Per-cent. mark, the commercial sign %. Per 
centum, per cent., in or by the hundred. See <;>*. Per 
chief. See chief. Per curtain, in laie, by the court: a 
phrase prefixed to judicial opinionsindicating the sanction 
of the court to the statements therein, as distinguished 
from the individual opinions of a particular judge. Per 
diem, by the day ; in each day ; daily : used of the fees 
of officers when computed by the number of days of ser- 
vice. Per fas et nefas, thiough right or wrong; whe- 
ther light or wrong. Per fease, fret, long, etc. See the 
nouns. Per my et per tout [OF., by half anil by all], in 
the law of real property, a phrase used to describe a joint 
tenancy, under which each tenant is conceived as owning 
the whole jointly, and nothing separately nothing be- 
longs to him individually, and the whole belongs to him 
in association -with his cotenanta. The phrase is pecu- 
liarly appropriated to a strict joint tenancy with the 
resulting right of survivorship: but some writers have 
deemed it equally appropriate to tenancies In common. 
Per pals, pale, pall, etc. See the nouns. Per pares, 
in laif, by one's equals or peel's, Per saltuni, by a leap; 
at a single leap or bound ; without intermediate steps. 
Per se, by himself, herself, or itself ; in itself ; essentially. 
Per stirpes, in late, l>y families: applied to succession 
when divided so as to give the representatives belonging 
to one branch the share only that their head or ancestor 
would have taken had he survived. Thus, in a gift to A 
and the children of B, if they are to take per capita, each 
child will have a share equal to that of A ; but if they are 
to take per stirpes, A will take one half and the other half 
will be divided among the children of B. The twenty 
per cent, cases, a number of cases litigated in the courts 
of the I'nited states, arising on the construction of a con- 
gressional resolution adding twenty per cent, to the sala- 
ries of certain officers. 
per-. [ME. per-, pur-, < OF. per-, par- = Pr.]>er- 
= Sp. Pg. It. per-, < L. per, prep., through, by, 
by means of; for, on account of, for the sake 
of; in coinp., as a prefix, in the above senses, 
or with adjectives and adverbs; as an intensive, 
as peniruiiijt, very sharp, perfaeilin, very easy, 
1 rliiriflux, pelliii'iiln.t. very clear; akin to Or. 
irapa, beside (see para-), to Skt. para, away, and 
to E. from. Before I, per- is usually assimilated 
to pel-. This prefix occurs as par-, not recog- 
nized as a prefix, in parboil, partlan, parson, etc., 
nnd as a merged preposition \nparamour,pnr<li/, 
par fay, etc.: see per (ft). But most words in 
4385 
which par- formerly occurred have now /XT-, as 
)irjit, now prrj'n't. jxirfoitrmc, now pi-rfunii, 
etc.] 1. A prefix of Latin origin, meaning pri- 
ni.-mly 'through.' See t lie etymology. It occurs 
chiefly In words formed In Latin, as in peract, peragrate, 
perambulate, etc. Though the primary senae of per- is 
usually distinctly felt In English, it is scarcely used in tin: 
formation of new words. 
2. As an inseparable prefix of intensity, 'thor- 
oughly,' ' very,' as in peracute, perfemtl, pellu- 
ciil specifically, in client., noting the maximum 
or an unusual amount, as pcroxid, the highest 
oxid, or an oxid containing more oxygen than 
the protoxid, etc. 
peracephalus (per-a-sef'a-lus), .; pi. pi-rn- 
ce.phali (-H). [NL.,< ii.per, through, + atcplia- 
lun: see acephalus, 2.] In teratol., an acepha- 
lous monster without arms and with defective 
thorax. 
peractt (per-akf), v. t. [< L. peractus, pp. of 
jirragrrr, thrust through, carry through, ac- 
complish, < per, through, + at/ere, move, con- 
duct, do: see act.] To perform; practise. 
I would speake nothing to the Cause or Continuance of 
these wearisome Warres hitherto ; the one is enough de- 
bated, the other more than enough peracted. 
y. Ward, Simple Coblcr, p. 38. 
In certain sports called Floralia divers lusolencies and 
strange villainies were peracted. 
Sylvester, Summary of 1m Bartaa (1621), p. 149. (Latham.) 
peracute (per-a-kut'), [< L. peracutus, very 
sharp, < per-, very, + acutus, sharp: see acute.] 
Very sharp ; very violent. 
Malign, continual peracute fevers, after most dangerous 
attacks, suddenly remit of the ardent heat Harvey. 
peradventure (per-ad-ven'tur), adv. (X ME. 
p<i racenture, per aventure, neraunter, < OF. (and 
F.) par aventure: par, < L. per, by; aventure, 
adventure: see adventure.] Perchance; per- 
haps ; it may be. 
Pruide now and presumpcioun, per-auenture, wole the ap- 
pele. 
That Clergye thi compalgnye ne kepeth noiigt to sue. 
Piers Plowman (B), xi. 413. 
A third hath means, but he wants health peradcenture, 
or wit to manage his estate. Burton, Anat. of Mel. , p. 171. 
Peradoenture, had he seen her first, 
She might have made this and that other world 
Another world for the sick man. 
Tennyson, Lancelot and Elaine. 
peradventure (per-ad-ven'tur), . [< perad- 
vnitiire, adr.] Doubt; question; uncertainty. 
For out of all peradventure there are no antinomies with 
God. Hooter, Eccles. Polity, v. app. 1. 
There Is no peradoenture, but this will amount to as 
much as the grace of baptism will come to. 
Jer. Taylor, Works (ed. 1835), II. 399. 
peragratet (per'a-grat), ff. t. [Also peregrate; < 
L. peragratus, pp. of peragrare ("> It.peragrare), 
travel or pass through or over, <per, through, + 
at/er, country, territory : see acre. Hence pere- 
grine, pilgrim, etc.] To travel over or through ; 
wander over; ramble through. 
Two pillars . . . which Hercules (when he had pere- 
ffrated all the worlde as ferre as any lande went) did erecte 
and set vp for a memorial! that there he had been. 
Udall, tr. of Apophthegms of 1 j a-tuii-, p. 297. 
peragrationt (per-a-gra'shon), 11. [= F. pera- 
gration, < li. peragratio(n-), a traversing, (.pera- 
grare, pp. peragratus, pass through or over: see 
perayrate.] The act of peragrating. 
A month of peraijration is the time of the moon's revo- 
lution from any part of the zodiack unto the same again. 
Sir T. Browne, Vulg. Err., Iv. 12. 
perambulate (per-am'bu-lat), v . ; pret. and pp. 
perambulated, ppr. perambulating. [< L. per- 
anibulatiis, pp. of perambulare, traverse, go 
through, < per, through, + ambulare, go about, 
walk: see amble, ambulate.] I. trans. 1. To 
walk through, about, or over. 
He got out of bed and perambulated the room for some 
minutes. 
Hiirhfiin, in Memoir prefixed to Ingoldsby Legends, I. 63. 
2. To survey while passing through; traverse 
and examine ; survey the boundaries of : as, to 
perambulate a parish or its boundaries. 
The forest, formerly called Penhill vaccary, and some- 
times the Chace of Penhill, was perambttlated in person 
by the first Henry de Lacy ; and about the year 1824 this 
ancient ceremony was repeated. 
Bainet, Hist Lancashire, II. 25. 
Boundary stones, which used to be annually perambu- 
lated by the mayor and corporation. 
The American, VI. S59. 
H. intrans. 1. To walk, or walk about. 2. 
To be carried in a perambulator. [Rare.] 
Each perambulating infant 
Had a magic in its squall. 
Athentrtim, No. 3239, p. 703. 
perambulation (per-am-bu-la'shon). . [< 
ML. (AL.) pernnilinlatio(n-), < L. peramhitlare, 
Perca 
perambulate: see peruiubiilatr.] I. The act 
ut 1 perainliiilating, or of passing or wandering 
through or over. 
Then he sent scouU to watch on the sides of the hills 
thereabouts, and U> view the way of their prramktil 
.\nrth, tr. of Plutarch, p. 181. 
In tiieprrnnii'i'l:iii"n of Italy young travellers must be 
raiitiouH, among diners others, to avoyd one kind of fur- 
bi:i\ or rlii-at, wlR'ix'Unto many are subject. 
Hmeell, Korrclne Travell, p. 48. 
2. A traveling survey or inspection ; a survey. 
Adrian spent his whole reign, which was peaceable, In 
a perambulation or survey of thr Kni:in rmpire. 
l:,i. nn, Ad>ani'. mi-lit of Learning, I. 7s. 
3. A district within which a person has the 
right of inspection; jurisdiction. 
It might In point of conscience be demanded by what 
authority a private person can extend a personal correc- 
tion beyond the persons and bounds of his own perambu- 
lation. Heyday. 
4. A method used in early Scotch and English 
history, and thence followed in the colonial 
period in the United States, of determining and 
maintaining boundaries and monuments or 
marks of boundaries between the possessions 
of neighboring tenants, and between neighbor- 
ing parishes, and thus to some extent of decid- 
ing disputed tenancies and rights of possession, 
and questions of taxation. It wai accomplished 
chiefly by a rude official survey, usually by parish officers, 
which involved walking around the tract, following the 
boundary.line. 
On Monday last, the justice-seat was kept at Stratford 
Langthen, in Essex, where all the judges delivered their 
opinions that by the perambulation of the 29th of Edward 
I., and also by a judgment of the king's bench in Klchard 
the Second's time, all that part of Essex is forest which 
was lately delivered to be in the bounds. 
Court and Timet of Charles I., II. 248. 
Perambulation of a parish, a custom formerly prac- 
tised in England and her colonies, but now largely fallen 
into disuse, by which, once a year, in or about Ascension 
Week, the minister, churchwardens, and parishioners of 
a given parish walk alraut its boundaries for the purpose 
of preserving accurately the recollection of them. In Eng- 
land also sometimes popularly called beating the bounds. 
perambulator (per-ain'bu-la-tor), . [< per- 
ambulate + -or 1 .] 1. One who perambulates. 
2. An instrument for measuring distances 
traveled. See odometer. 3. A small three- or 
four-wheeled carriage for a child, propelled 
by hand from behind; a baby-carriage. 
The young man from the country who talks to the nurse- 
maid after she has upset the perambulator. 
M. Arnold, Friendship's Garland (My Countrymen). 
perambulatory (per-am'bu-la-to-ri), a. [< per- 
ambulate + -ory.] Of or relating to perambu- 
lation ; walking or moving about. 
His mind took an apparently sharp impression from it 
[the water-cart], but lost the recollection of this perambu- 
latory shower, before Its next reappearance, as completely 
as did the street itself, along which the heat so quickly 
strewed white dust again. Hawthorne, Seven Gables, xi. 
Perameles (pe-ram'e-lez), n. [NL. (Geoffrey 
St. Hilaire), < L. pera, < Gr. tri/pa, a bag, wallet 
(pouch), -I- NL. Meles, a badger.] The typical 
genus of the family Peramelidx; those bandi- 
coots which have no disproportionate develop- 
ment of the limbs nor greatly elongated ears. 
They are small terrestrial omnivorous animals, generally 
distributed over the Australian region, of several species, 
some of which are also Papuan. 
Peramelidae (per-a-mel'i-de), n. pi. [NL., < 
1'erameleg + -ids.] A family of Australian and 
Papuan polyprotodont marsupial mammals; the 
so-called bandicoots or bandicoot-rats. Tney 
have the incisors four above and three below In each half- 
jaw, the hind feet syndactylous, with the second and third 
toes united In a common integument, the hallux rudimen- 
tary or wanting, and the fourth digit larger than the rest. 
The fore feet are peculiar among marsupials in having the 
two or three middle toes large and clawed and the others 
rudimentary. There are no clavicles, and the pouch is 
complete, usually opening backward. The leading genera 
are I'erameles, aacrotis, and Choeropus. See cut under 
Chceropus. 
perameline (pe-ram'e-lin), a. Of or pertaining 
to the Perametidx. 
peramountf, a. An obsoleteform of paramount. 
perauntert, adr. A Middle English form otper- 
peravailet, a. An obsolete form of paravail. 
perbend (per'bend), . See perpend 3 . 
perboilt, r. '. An obsolete form of parboil. 
perbreakt, . See parbreak. 
Perca (per'ka), n. [NL. (Linneus, 1766), < L. 
I" red, a perch: seeperrh^.] A genus of acan- 
thopterygian fishes, formerly used with wide 
and indefinite limits to cover many heterogene- 
ous forms, variously separated by modern ich- 
thyologists; now restricted to snch species as 
the common yellow perches of Europe and 
North America, as Pr-rca jluriatilis of the for- 
mer and P. americana, lutea, or flarescens of 
