Ptyas 
Ptyas (ti'as), . [NL.,< Gr. KTvdf, a kind of 
serpent, lit. 'spitter,' < nriV/i', spit.] A genus 
of ColnliriniF or snakes. They have the posterior 
maxillary teeth not abruptly longer than the preceding 
ones, rostral plate narrow and free laterally, one median 
dorsal row of scales, internasals separate from nasals, 
several lorals, and two or more preoculare. P. mucomiti is 
known as the rat-snake. 
ptychodont (ti'ko-dont). a. [< Gr. irrf'f (KTVX-), 
KTi'xi/, a fold, + ooWf (OOOIT-) = E. tooth.'] In 
odontol., having the crowns of the molar teeth 
folded. 
Ptychodus (ti'ko-dus), . [NL. (Agassiz, 1837), 
< Gr. jrri'f (irn>x~)j im>x>j, a fold, + odoif (bSovr-) 
= E. tooth."] A genus of fossil selachians, of 
the Cretaceous age: so called from the trans- 
verse or radiating plications on the large square 
teeth. It was formerly supposed to be related to the ces- 
traciont sharks, but is now referred to or near the family 
Myliabalid/e. 
Ptychopleura (ti-ko-plo'rii), n. pi, [NL., < Gr. 
irri-t- (irri'x-), Tm'X 1 /, a fold, T Tttei-pa, the side.] 
A group of lizards: same as Cyclosriiirn. Also 
I'tyeliopleuri. 
ptychopleural (ti-ko-plo'ral), a. [< I'tyclio- 
plcurn + -at.] Of or pertaining to the I'tycho- 
pleura. 
Ptychopteris (ti-kop'te-ris), w. [NL., < Gr. jrrfi 
(irn<x-), xri'X'l, a fold, + irrepif, fern.] lnfoiil 
lot., a genus of fossil ferns, known chiefly 
from the form of the leaf-scars. These are elon- 
gated-oval or elliptic in form ; of their details but little 
has been made out. The fern-stems which have heen 
placed in this genus are said by Hchimper to l>ear a close 
resemblance in external appearance to the living Cyathe a 
and Alaoph.Ua. They are found in abundance in the Car- 
boniferous, especially in the St. Etlenne (France) coal 
field, where they occur associated with leaves of Pecop- 
ti'rix. to which they may belong. 
Ptychosperma (ti-ko-swer'ma), M. [NL. (Ln- 
billardiere, 1808), < Gr. Trrrf (irrvx-), xrvxb, a 
fold, + am/>/ta, seed.] A genus of palms of 
the tribe Areceie, type of the subtribe I'ti/clio- 
MJM'ruirtf. It Is characterized by moncecious flowers, 
twtli sexes within the same spadix, the staminate flowers 
having orbicular concave broadly imbricated and heeled 
sepals, acute petals as many as the sepals, and from 
twenty to thirty stamens the pistillate flowers being 
smaller, nearly globose, and having a single ovary which 
becomes a one-celled fruit whose thick fibrous pericarp 
contains a single erect seed with ruminate albumen and 
a smooth or deeply five-grooved surface. The 11 spe- 
cies are natives of the Malay archipelago, 1'apua, Aus- 
tralia, and the islands of the Pacific. They are thorn- 
less palms, with a tall trunk marked by annular scars, 
and terminal pinnatcly divided leaves with the segments 
commonly diluted to the broad apex and tin-re erose, or 
appearing as if eaten off. The flowers are small, and are 
borne in clusters on the slender spreading branches of 
a spadix inclosed by two spwthes. The species are of 
little known industrial use, but rank among the most 
elegant of decorative palms. Those in greenhouse cultiva- 
tion are sometimes called in general feather-palim, and 
very often Seaforthia(K,. Brown, 1810), from Lord Seaforth, 
a patron of botany. P. Seemani, a beautiful dwarf species, 
produces a stem only about one inch in diameter and very 
strong and straight. .Most of the species reach acommand- 
ing height: among them P. Alexandra?, the Alexandra 
palm, is remarkable as the tallest palm of Australia, ex- 
ceeding 100 feet in height; P. Cunninghainii, the Ilia- 
warra palm, as found further south than almost any other 
palm ; and P. (Sea.forthia) elr/ians, the bangalow palm, as 
the most common in cultivation, and one of the most l>eau* 
ttfnl of all palms. The trunk of the last-named species is 
a smooth cylindrical shaft, swollen at the base and crown- 
ed by drooping feather-like leaves of a bright and intense 
green. Each leaf-stalk is dilated at the base into a smooth 
bright-green sheath completely inclosing the upper part 
of the trunk for 5 feet or more, below which the trunk 
is variegated by the broad deep-brown ring-like scars left 
by the preceding similar sheaths. This palm occurs in 
the coast forests of tropical Australia and to 85" south. 
See i><i! in-, and under it Alexandra, palm, bangaloic palm, 
and ff atker-palm, 
Ptychozoon (ti-ko-zo'on), . [< Gr. ffri'f (Trrvj-), 
7rr 'Vf'/! " fold, + fv"'', an animal.] A genus of 
Flying -gecko ( /Vj't Ao~<v ht>*nato<ephal 
gecko lizards, containing the Hying-gecko of 
India and the K;ist Indian archipdugo, /'. liniiiii- 
4820 
lorejrtialum, about 7 inches long, having alate 
folds of the integument, whence the name. 
ptygodere (ti'go-der), . A lizard of the genus 
I'ti/goileruA. 
Ptygoderus (ti-god'e-rus), M. [NL., irreg. < Gr. 
irri'S (im>x~)i jrrvx'l, a fold, + mpof, skin, hide.] 
A genus of iguanoid lizards, having a crest of 
keeled scales on each side, as P. pectinatux. 
Ptynx (tingks), n. [NL., < Gr. jmyj. the eagle- 
owl.] It. An old generic name of the darters : 
same as 1'lotus. Moeltriug, 1752. 2. A genus 
of smooth-headed owls, so named by Blyth in 
1840. The type is Ptynx uralenxis, commonly 
called Syrnium uraleiise. 
Ptyobranchina (ti'o-brang-ki'na), . pi. [NL., 
< rtyobrnnehus + -im 2 .] In Gttuthers system, 
a group of Miireenidplntyschiiitfe, with the tail 
much shorter than the trunk, and the heart 
situated at a great distance behind the gills: 
same as the family JUoringuidee. 
ptysmagogue (tis'mft-KOft), " [< 9 r - irri>a f a < 
saliva (< Trrrm 1 , spit), T njujof, leading, < ayetv, 
lead, bring.] A medicine that promotes dis- 
charges of saliva ; a sialogogue. 
ptyxis (tik'sis), 11. [NL., <. Gr. jrn'f/f, a folding, 
< irrivaetv, fold.] In hot., the folding or con- 
figuration of a single part in a leaf- or flower- 
bud: opposed to vernation and estivation, the 
disposition of the parts conjointly. 
pu' (pu). r. A Scotch form of pull. 
Why pit' ye the rose, Janet? 
What gars ye break the tree ? 
'//. Young Tamtatu (Child's Ballads, 1. 116). 
pua (jio'a), ii. [Hawaiian.] A Hawaiian musi- 
cal instrument, made of a gourd or a joint of 
bamboo, it has three holes, two of which are finger- 
holes. It is blown by putting the third hole to the play* 
er'a nose. When made of gourd, It resembles the ocarina : 
and when of bamboo, it is a variety of nose-mite. 
puantt, n. [< OF. pliant, < L. patriot-)*, ppr. 
of putere, stink: see putid.] Stinking, fikeltoii. 
(Hitlliwcll.) 
pub (pub), n. [Alibr. of puMir, .. 2.] A pub- 
lic house; a tavern. Athcntfinn, No. 3198, p. 177. 
[Slang, Bug.] 
pub. An abbreviation of public, publixii. or pub- 
lisher. 
pubblet (pub'l), a. [Origin obscure.] Fat; 
plump. [Prov. Kng.] 
Thou shalt Me fynde fat and well fed, 
As pubMe as may be. 
Drant, tr. of Horace's Ep. to Tibullus. 
pub. doc. An abbreviation of public document. 
puberal (pii'be-ral), n. [< L. pubex, puber, adult 
(see puberty), + -/.] Pertaining to puberty. 
Dunglison. [Rare.] 
puberty (pu'ber-ti), M. [< OF. pubfrte, F. pit- 
bertt' = Pr. pubertat = Sp. pubertad = Pg. pu- 
berdadf = It. piiberta, < L. pttberta(t-)fi, the age 
of maturity, manhood, < pubex, puber, grown 
up, of mature age, adult; of plants, downy, 
pubescent; < T/ pu, beget.] 1. The condition 
of being able to reproduce ; sexual maturity in 
the human race. In males this is usually developed 
between the ages of thirteen and sixteen, and in females 
somewhat earlier ; and It appears that in very warm cli- 
mates puberty Is reached somewhat sooner than else- 
where. At common law the age of puberty is conclu- 
sively presumed to be fourteen in the male and twelve in 
the female. 
2. In bot., the period when a plant begins to 
bear flowers. 
puberulent (pu-ber'ij-lent), a. [< L. pubes, pu- 
ber, downy, pubescent, T -ulent.] 1. Finely 
and softly pubescent ; downy. 2. In bot., cov- 
ered with fine, short down ; minutely pubescent. 
pubes (pu'bez), H. [< L. pubes, the hair which 
appears on the body at the age of puberty, the 
genitals, < pubes,pitber, grown up, of mature age ; 
of plants, downy, pubescent: see puberty.] It. 
The pubescence or hairiness of the genitals, 
which appears at puberty. Hence 2. (a) The 
place where hair grows "at puberty; the supra- 
pubic or hypogastric region, at the middle of 
the lowest part of the abdomen: in women 
known as the won*, or wons Venerin. (b) The 
pubic bones, or bony framework of the pubes ; 
the underlying skeleton of the pubic region, 
more fnlly called on pubix. There being a pair of 
pubic bones, right and left, each is now called as pubis, 
plural iixsii iiiilii*. or, more frequently, pubii, in the plural 
pube*. See ptMt. 
3. In bot., same as pubese ence, 3. 4. Plural of 
pubi.1. 
pubescence (pu-bes'ens). n. [< pubexee>i(t) + 
-ee.] 1 . The coming of puberty, or attaining to 
puberty ; the state of being pubescent ; puberty. 
In the first [septenary! is di-dcntition or falling of teeth : 
in the second iiuliefeeiuv. Sir T. Brrriir,Vul(t. Err., iv. 12. 
public 
2. Hairiness; especially, the fine soft hairs of 
various insects, etc.; lanugo. 3. In but.: (a) 
The condition or character of being pubescent 
(6) The down or hair which grows on many 
plant-surfaces. See pubescent. 
pubescency (pu-bes'en-si), n. [As pubexceHcr 
(see -ci/).] Pubescence. 
From crude pubacenry unto perfection. 
Sir T. Brmene, Garden of Cynu, III. 
pubescent (pu-bes'ent), a. [< L. pnbet<cen(t-)x, 
reach the age of puberty, become downy, < pu- 
bex, puber, of mature age, downy : see ]>ubex.~\ 
1. Arriving at puberty. 2. Covered with pu- 
bescence, or fine short hair; downy. 3. In 
bot., covered or sprinkled with down or hairs: 
a general term, including rilloutt, hirsute, stri- 
gose, lanate, etc., but when used alone in spe- 
cific description denoting a soft or downy and 
short pubescence. 
pubic (pu'bik), n. [< pnb-ix + ->.] Of or per- 
taining to the pubes or pubis: as, the jmbir 
bones; the pubic symphysis, ramus, spine, liga- 
ment, artery, etc Pubic angle, the angle formed by 
the pubic crest and the inner Ixn-der of the pubis Pubic 
arch, the arch formed by the Inferior ramus of each pu- 
bis converging to the pubic symphysis. In the male it 
is narrower and more acute-angled than in the female, be- 
ing in the former case like a letter V Inverted. It repre- 
sents a great part of the Inferior outlet of the pelvis. Also 
called arch qf tht pubix, sometimes subpubic arch. Pubic 
crest, the crista pubis (which see, under cmfo). Pubic 
ligaments, certain ligaments uniting the two pubic 
bones : an anterior, a superior, an inferior, and a pos- 
terior are distinguished, respectively specifically called 
prepubic, wprapubic, infrapubic, and puftjnibie. Pubic 
ramus, one of the two branches of which each puhis 
chiefly consists in man and some other animals. In man 
the two rami are (a) the superior or horizontal, forming 
much of the true brim of the pelvis, and ankylosed with 
the ilium, and (b) the inferior, oblique, or descending ramus, 
forming each half of the pubic arch, partly circumscribing 
the obturator foramen, and ankylosed witli the ischium. 
Pubic spine, a prominent tul>ercle on the upper bor- 
der of the horizontal ranuis of the puhis of man, u)ont 
an inch from the symphysis. Foupart's ligament is in- 
serteil into it. Also called titberculum jmbi* or tttbercu- 
lumpubicum.fu'bic BvmphysiB.or symphysis pubia, 
the coming or growing together of the right and left pubic 
bones at the median line of the puhes. It may be a sim- 
ple apposition or articulation of the bones, or complete 
ankylosis. In man the bones are commonly articulated 
but not ankylosed, forming in any case an immovable 
joint Pubic vein, a tributary to the external iliac vein 
from the obturator vein. 
pubigerous (pu-bij'e-ms), . [< L. pubes, the 
hair which appears on the body at the age of 
puberty (see piiben), + yerrrc, carry.] Bearing 
down or downy hail's ; pubescent. 
pubiotomy (pu-bi-ot'o-mi), w. [< L. pubix (see 
puhix) + Gr. To/tin, <[ re/ivnv, rn/ifiv, cut.] Ill 
sura.., a section of the pubic symphysis. 
pubis (pu'bis), ii.; pi. ;>6f.<t(-bez). [NL.,for<>. 
pubiji: os, bone; pubis, gen. of piibex, pubes: 
see pube/t.'] In mat. and ;oi>l., a pubic bone, 
or bone of the pubes (os pubis); a distal in- 
ferior and antenor division of the pelvic arch, 
forming a part of the os innominatum or 
haunch-bone by ankylosis at the acetabulum 
with the ilium and ischium, and often, as in 
man and most mammals, united also with the 
ischium to circumscribe the obturator fora- 
men, and, with its fellow of the opposite side, 
forming the pubic symphysis. In man each pubis 
is united to its fellow In the median line at the pubic sym- 
physis, and the two circumscribe the brim of the pelvis in 
front by their bodies and horizontal rami, their descend- 
ing rami becoming ankylosed with the Ischinm to cir- 
cumscribe the obturator foramen, furnishing bony sup- 
port to the genitals, and forming part of the inferior strait 
or outlet of the pelvis. In a few mammals, and in all 
birds excepting the ostrich, there is no pubic symphysis. 
See epipulnn, prepvbii, and cuts under Dronuewt, eptplevra, 
ligament, OrnithoKtlida, pelrut, mcramnn, and marmpial. 
Angle, arch, etc., of the pubis. seepuWc. 
public (pub'lik), a. and . [Formerly wihlifl:, 
earlier publique, publike, publyke; < OF. (and 
V.) public, m., F. publiquc, m. and f., = Sp. ptib- 
lico = Pg. publico = It. pubblico, jmblico, < L. 
publicus, in inscriptions also poblicits, popliciix, 
pertaining tothepeople, contr. from *ponulicnx. 
< populux, people : see people.'] I. a. 1. Of or 
belonging to the people at large ; relating to 
or affecting the whole people of a state, nation, 
or community: opposed to private: as, tiiejmb- 
lic good; public affairs; the public sen-ice; a 
public calamity; public opinion. 
PtMilre toke his begynnyr.g of people, whiche In latin 
is Populus, in whiche worde is conteyned all the Inhabi 
tantes of a realme or citie, of what astate or condition so 
euer they be. Sir T. Klyat, The Governour, i. 1. 
That here was an Vniuersitie, the students whereof wen- 
maintained at publiqut charge, of which number himselfe 
was one. Purcha*, Pilgrimage, p. 74. 
Many springs are gathered together . . . into an ample 
ristern. . . . and . . . from thence by conduitaconductrd 
unto their publique uses. Sandys, Travailes. p. :.%. 
