perch-loop 
perch-loop (pi-rch'lSp), n. An iron fastened to 
a carriage-perch. It has loops for the straps 
which pass to the bed, to limit the swinging of 
the body. 
perchlorate (per-klo'rat), . [< per- + i-lilo- 
rate.] A salt of perchloric acid. 
perchloric (per-klo'rik), . [< per- + chloric.] 
Noting an acid (HC1O 4 ), a syrupy liquid ob- 
tained by decomposing potassium perchlorate 
by means of sulphuric acid. It is remarkable for the 
great readiness with which it gives up oxygen. Brought 
into contact with organic matter, it is instantly decom- 
posed, often with explosive violence. Applied to the skin, 
it produces a very painful wound, which is extremely 
slow in healing. Also hi/perchloric. 
perch-pest (perch'pest), n. A crustaceous para- 
site ot the perch. 
perch-plate (perch'plat), n. In a vehicle, one 
of the head-blocks and bed-plates which are 
placed above and beneath the perch, at the 
king-bolt. 
perch-pole (perch'pol), n. A pole used by acro- 
bats. It is held by one man while another 
climbs it. 
perch-stay (perch'sta), u. In a vehicle, one of 
the side rods which pass from the perch to the 
hind axle and serve as braces. 
percid (per'sid), n. and a. I. n. A perch, as a 
member of the Percidee. 
II. a. Like a perch; percoid or percine. 
Percidae (per'si-de), n. pi. [NL., < Perm + 
-idse.] The perch family, a group of acanthop- 
terygian fishes, to which widely varying limits 
have been assigned, (a) In Bonaparte's system, same 
as the first family of acanthopterygian fishes in Cuvier's 
system (Percoides in French). It included those with ob- 
long bodies covered with scales which are generally hard 
or rough, with the operculum or preoperculum (or both) 
dentated or spinous at the edge, and the jaws and some 
part of the palate toothed. With such definition it In- 
eluded not only the modern Percidse proper, but also 
many other families, (b) In Gunther's system, the repre- 
sentative family of his Acanthopterygii perafarmet, having 
perfect ventrals, unarmed cheeks, uninterrupted lateral 
line, acute teeth in the jaws and on the palate, no barbels, 
the lower pectoral rays branched, and the vertical fins not 
scaly, (c) In recent American systems, Percoidea with an 
increased number of abdominal and caudal vertebrae, de- 
pressed cranium and little prominent cranial ridges, dorsal 
flns generally separate, and anal with one or two spines. 
The species are inhabitants of fresh waters, and are repre- 
sented by two genera common to North America and Eu- 
rope (Perm and Stizostedion), several peculiar to the Pale- 
arctic region (Acerina, Aspro, Percarina), and the numerous 
darters, constituting the subfamily Etheostominee, peculiar 
to North America. 
percidal (per'si-dal), a. [< percid + -al.~\ Same 
as percmd. [Kare.] 
perciform (per'si-form), a. and . [< L. perca, 
a perch, + forma, form.] I. a. Haying the 
form or structure of a perch; percoid; of or 
pertaining to the Perciformes. 
II. 11. A percoid fish; a member of the Perci- 
formes. 
Perciformes (per-si-for'rnez), . pi. [NL.: see 
perciform.] In Gunther's classification, a divi- 
sion of Acanthopterygii, having the body com- 
pressed, dorsal fin elongated and with the spi- 
nous larger than the soft portion, anal rather 
short, and ventrals generally with a spine and 
five rays. It includes the families Percidee, Squami- 
pinnes, Mullidx, Sparidse, Scorpsenidx, and several others. 
Percina (per-si'na), n.pl. [NL., < Perca + -ina.~\ 
In Gunther's system, the first group of Percidse. 
They have the cleft of the mouth horizontal or slightly ob- 
lique, usually two dorsals, and seldom more than ten py- 
loric appendages. The Percina are mostly fresh-water 
fishes and sea-fishes which enter rivers, and belong to the 
family Percidee and others of modem ichthyologists. 
Percins (per-sl'ne), n.pl. [NL., < Perca + -inee.] 
A subfamily of Percidse, to which very different 
limits have been assigned. By old ichthyologists 
it was used for a large assemblage of genera scarcely de- 
finable by exact characters. By recent authors it has been 
much restricted, and, in its narrowest sense, includes the 
genera Perca and Lueioperca or Stizostedi on that is, the 
true perches and the pike-perches. They have the pseu- 
dobranchiie well developed, the preoperculum serrate, 
seven branchiostegals, and a large air-bladder. 
percine (per'sin), a. and n. [< NL. *percinus, < 
L.perca, perch: see Bereft 1 .] I. a. Resembling 
a perch; perciform; percoid; of or pertaining 
to the Percina, or, in a narrow sense, to the 
Percinee. 
U. it. A perch or perch-like fish ; a percoid ; 
a member of the Percina, Percidse, or Percinee. 
percipience (per-sip'i-ens), n. [= It. percepenza, 
< ML. *percipientia (?), < L. percipien(t-)s, per- 
ceiving: see percipient.'] Same as percipiency. 
percipiency (per-sip'i-en-si), TO. [As percipi- 
ence (see -cy).] 1. The act or power of perceiv- 
ing ; the state of being percipient ; perception. 
Made ashamed 
By my percipiency of sin and fall. 
Mn. Browning, Drama of Exile. 
4388 
2. Specifically, the state of mind, faculty, or 
mental processes of a percipient. See percipi- 
ent, n., 2. Proc. London Soc. Psych. Research, 
percipient (per-sip'i-ent), a. and n, [< L. per- 
cipieii<t-)n,ppT.otperciperc, perceive: see per- 
ceive.] I. 11. Perceiving; having the faculty of 
perception. 
I have considered, during every period of my life, pain 
as a positive evil which every percipient, being must be de- 
sirous of escaping. Anecdotes of Up. Watson, I. 143. 
A musical ear being nothing more nor less than one 
which is percipient of such structure. 
JS. Gurney, Nineteenth Century, XIII. 448. 
II. n, 1. One who or that which perceives, or 
has the faculty of perception. 
The soul is the sole percipient, which alone hath ani- 
madvertion and sense, properly so called. 
Qlanvitte, Vanity of Dogmatizing, iv. 
Within the limits of appreciation, the same objective 
difference may seem great or small according to the per- 
cipient's nature and temporary condition. 
U. Spencer, Prin. of Psychol., 92. 
2. Specifically, one to whom the unexpressed 
thoughts of another (called the agent) are 
sought to be transferred in conducting tele- 
pathic experiments. [Recent.] 
We have therefore been able to convince ourselves that 
the agents, concentrating their looks on the given object, 
projected on the mental eye of the percipient a picture 
more or less resembling it, and we take it as incontrovert- 
ible that the above results could not have been achieved 
by conscious or unconscious guessing. 
Proc. Amer. Soc. Psych. Research, I. 535. 
Percis (per'sis), n. [NL., < Gr. irepulc, dim. of 
KfpK.ii, a perch : see perch 1 .] A genus of perco- 
phoid fishes, having a moderately elongated 
body, oblique mouth, scarcely projecting lower 
Percis (Parafcrcis] sexfasciata. 
jaw, and teeth on the jaws and vomer. The species 
inhabit the temperate and tropical Pacific. One species, 
Percis colias, is one of the most common fish of New Zea- 
land, and weighs about five pounds. It is known as the 
coalfish, rock-cod, and blue cod. Also called Parapercis. 
perclose (per'kloz), . [Also parclose (and 
erroneously paraclose ) ; < ME. perclose, par- 
clos, parcloos, < OF. perclose, parclose, par douse, 
an inclosure, < L. preeclusa, fern, of prsecluxits, 
pp. of preecludere, shut off, shut up: see pre- 
clude.] If. Conclusion. 
By the perclose of the same verse, vagabond is under- 
stood for such an one as travelleth in fear of revengement. 
Raleigh. 
2f. A place closed, inclosed, or secluded. 
And all this season the other englysshemen were on the 
felde, and the constable styll in his perclose, & issued not 
out. Berners, tr. of Froissart's Chron., I. cccvL 
3. In arch., a screen or railing made to separate 
or inclose any object or place, as to inclose a 
tomb, or to separate a chapel or an altar from 
an aisle. 
Vaceria, a raile or perclose made of 
timber, wherein something is closed. 
Florio. 
The fader loggid hem of sly purpos 
In a chambre nexte to his joynynge, 
For bitwixe hem nas but a perdos. 
Occleve, MS. Soc. Antiq. 134, f. 275. 
[(Hattiuxll.) 
Perctose, 4. 
4. Incr.,ademi-garter. [Rare.] 
percnopter (perk-nop'ter), 11. [< NL. Percnop- 
terus.] A vulture of the genus Neophron. 
Percnopterinae (perk-nop-te-ri'ne), n. pi. [NL., 
< Percnopterus + -inee.] A subfamily of vul- 
tures; the Neophroninee. Beielienbacli, 1850. 
Percnopterus (perk-nop'te-rus), n. [NL. 
(Rafinesque, 1815), < Gr. iripKvoc, dusky, dark- 
colored (see percli^), + irrepov, a wing.] A ge- 
nus of vultures : synonymous with Neophron. 
percoct (per-kokf), a. [< L. percoctus, pp. ofper- 
coqucre, cook thoroughly, ripen, < per, through, 
+ coquere, cook.] Well cooked; thoroughly 
done; hence, trite. 
Among the elect, to whom it is your distinction to as- 
pire to belong, the rule holds to abstain from any employ- 
ment of the obvious, the percoct, and likewise, for your 
own sake, from the epitonic, the overstrained. 
G. Meredith, Egoist, xxix. 
percoid (per'koid), . and . [< Gr. wepKj/, a 
perch (see perch 1 ), + eUof, form.] I. a. Perch- 
like ; perciform ; of or pertaining to the Per- 
coidcs or Percidse, inanysense. Also percoideoiis. 
II. w. A perch; any member of the Per- 
coides or Percidee. 
Percopsis 
Percoidae (per-koi'de), ii.pl. [NL.: see percoid.] 
Same as Percidee. 
Percoidea (per-koi'de-a), 11. pi. [NL., < Perca 
+ -oidea.] A superfamily of acanthopterygian 
fishes proposed for the families Percids; Seira- 
nidee, Hxmidonidse, Sparidee, Gerridee, and re- 
lated forms. 
percoideous (per-koi'de-us), . Same &spercoid. 
percolate (per'ko-lat),'f.; pret. and pp. perco- 
lated, ppr. percolating. [< L. percolatus, pp. of 
percolarc, strain through, filter, < per, through, 
+ colare, filter, strain, < cohim, a strainer, a 
colander: see colander.] I. trans. To strain 
through; cause to pass through small inter- 
stices, as a liquor; filter: literally and figura- 
tively. 
Therefore the evidences of fact are us it were percolated 
through a vast period of ages, and many very obscure to us. 
Sir M. Uale, Orig. of Mankind, p. 129. 
II. intrans. To pass through small interstices, 
as a liquor; filter: as, water percolates through 
a porous stone. 
As there is no escape for the rain-water which trickles 
down the sides of the ravine-like hollow, ... it must all 
percolate downwards through the fissures at its bottom. 
Darwin, Geol. Observations, L 29. 
percolate (per'kp-lat), n. [<percolate, v.] That 
which has percolated or passed through a filter 
or'strainer; a filtered liquid. 
percolation (per-ko-la'shon), u. [< L. percola- 
tio(n-), a straining through, the act of filtering, 
<percolare, pp. percolatus, strain through, filter : 
see percolate.] 1. The act of percolating; the 
act of straining or filtering; filtration; the act 
of passing through small interstices, as liquor 
through felt or a porous stone. 
Percolation or transmission (which is commonly called 
straining). Bacon, Nat. Hist., $ S. 
2. In phar., the process of extracting the sol- 
uble parts of powdered substances by passing 
through them successive quantities of a solvent 
which yields a clear extract free from insoluble 
matters : used in the sense of displacement. 
percolator (per'ko-la-tor), n. [= F. percola- 
teur; as percolate + -or*.] 1. One who or that 
which filters. 
These tissues . . . act as percolators. 
Hewjrey, Elem. Botany. 
2. A form of filtering coffee-pot. 
The best and most convenient form of coffee-pot is called 
& percolator. Spoils' Encyc. Manuf., I. 423. 
3. A nearly cylindrical or slightly conical ves- 
sel with a funnel end below, used in pharmacy 
for preparing extracts by the process of perco- 
lation. 
percollicet. H. An obsolete variant of portcullis. 
percomorph (per'ko-morf), a. and . I. a. 
Of or pertaining to tfie Percomorphi. Also per- 
comorphic,percomorphou8. 
II. . A member of the Percomorplti. 
Percomorphi (per-ko-m6r'fi), . pi. [NL., < 
Gr. irepKi/, perch, + pop^f/, form.] In Cope's 
ichthyological system (1870), an order of physo- 
clistous fishes, with the ventral fins thoracic or 
jugular, skull normal, bones of jaws distinct, 
and inferior pharyngeals separate. It thus in- 
cludes most acanthopterygian fishes. 
percomorphic (per-ko-mor'fik), a. [< perco- 
morpU + -if.] Same as percomorph. 
percomorphous (per-ko-mor'fus), a. [< per- 
comorph T -ous. ] Same &s percomorph. 
per contra (per kon'tra). [L.: per, by; contra, 
against: see per and contra.] On the contrary. 
Percophidae (per-kof 'i-de), . pi. [NL. (Ad- 
ams, 1854), < Percopliis + -idas.] A family of 
acanthopterygian fishes, typified by the genus 
Percophin. They have an elongate body, a pointed head, 
a short first and a long second dorsal, and complete tho- 
racic ventrals moderately approximated. The species are 
chiefly inhabitants of the seas of the southern hemisphere. 
They are sometimes called eerpenttform perches. 
Percophis (per'ko-fis), n. [NL., < Gr. nepm/, 
a river-fish, + o<t>i(, a serpent.] A genus of 
fishes, typical of the family Percophidie. 
percophoid (per'ko-foid), . and n. [< Perco- 
}>h(is) + -oid.] I. a. Of or relating to the Per- 
cophidee. 
II. H. A fish of the family Percophidie. 
Percopsidae (per-kop'si-de), n. pi. [NL., < 
Percopsis + -idee.] A family of physostomous 
fishes represented by the genus Percopsis; the 
trout-perches. The body has the form and flns, espe- 
cially the adipose fin, of a trout^ and is covered with cten- 
oid scales comparable with those of a perch. The margin 
of the upper jaw is fonned by the intermaxillary bones, 
the opercular apparatus is complete, the gill-openings are 
wide, and an adipose fin is present. Only one species is 
certainly known. 
Percopsis (per-kop'sis). n. [NL. (Agassiz, 
1848), < Gr. Tri/iHt/, a perch, + ui(>, face.] The 
