P^O 
panes aequales, or equal parts lof the ingre- 
dients ; P. P. signifies pulvis patrum, i. e. 
the Jesuits-powder ; and ppt, pra'paratiis, 
prepared. 
PACE, a raeasui e taken from the space 
between the two feet of a man, in walking ; 
usually reckoned two feet and an half, and 
in some men a yard or three feet. See 
Measure. 
The geometrical pace is five feet ; and 
60,000 such paces make one degree of the 
equator. 
PACKERS, persons whose employment 
it is to pack up all goods intended for ex- 
portation ; which they do for the great 
trading companies and merchants of Lon- 
don, and are answerable if the goods re- 
ceive any damage through bad package. 
PACO, a species of the Camelus, found 
in Peru. 
PjEDERIA, in botany, a genus of the 
Pentandria Monogynia class and order. 
Natural order of Contortae. Rubiaceae, 
Jussieu. Essential character: contorted; 
berry void, brittle, two-seeded; style bifid. 
There are two species, viz. P. fcetida, and 
P. fragrans, the former is a native of the 
East Indies, and the latter of the island of 
Mauritius. 
PjEDEROTA, in botany, a genus of the 
Diandria Monogynia class and order. Na- 
tural order of Persoiiatae. Scrophulariae, 
Jussieu. Essential character : corolla four- 
cleft ; calyx five-parted ; capsule two- 
celled. There are three species. 
PjEONIA, in botany, peony, a genus of 
the Polyandria Digynia class and order. 
Natuial order of Multisilique. Ranuncula- 
ceas, Jus.sieu. Essential character; calyx 
five-leaved ; petals five ; styles none ; cap- 
sule many-seeded. There are five species, 
of which P. albiflora, white-flowered peony, 
has the root composed of a few cylindrical 
or fusiform tubers, united at top ; stem, 
from a radical leafless sheath, two feet in 
height, slender, round ; leaves alternate on 
long petioles ; leaflets three-parted ; the 
whole plant is very smooth and shining ; the 
calyx is raised above the floral leaf on a 
short thick peduncle ; petals eight, very 
large, milk white, oval, concave, stamens 
about one hundred and fifty, with the fila- 
ments as well as anthers yellow ; witliin the 
stamens is a fungose, subcontinuous, lobed 
erown, more slender than in its congeners ; 
the germs are smooth, conical, purple at 
the tip ; stigma compressed ifito a comb or 
crest, suborbiciilar, hooked ; seeds when ripe 
of a yellowish testaceous colour. It is a na- 
PAG 
tive of Siberia ; it is well knowm among the 
Daurians and Mongols on account of the 
root, which they boil in their broth ; the 
seeds they grind to put into their tea. 
PAGANISM, the religion of the Heathen 
nations, in which the Deity is represented 
under various forms, and by all kinds of 
images, or idols ; it is therefore called ido- 
latry, or image worship. The theology of 
the Pagans was of three sorts, viz. fabu- 
lous, natural, and political or civil. The 
first treats of the genealogy, woiship, and 
attributes of their deities ; who were, for the 
most part, the offspring of the imagination 
of poets, painters, and statuaries. To tlieir 
gods were given different names and oppo- 
site attributes, ascribing to them every spe- 
cies of vice, as well as to some ot them every 
virtue. Tliere is, however, in the delightful 
fictions of Homer and Hesiod, much that is 
entertaining, curious, and even useful. The 
flowers of the garden and the field, whose 
beauties we so much admire, were once 
thought to be produced by the tears of Au- 
rora, the goddess of the morning, whose 
rose-coloured fingers open the gates of the 
east, pour the dew upon the earth, and 
make the flowers grow. When the leaves 
were agitated, or the long grass of the 
meadows performed its graceful undu- 
lations, all was put in motion by the breath 
of Zephyrus, the god of the west-wind. 
The murmurs of the waters were the, 
sighs of the Naiades; little deities who, pre- 
sided over rivers, springs, wells, and foun- 
tains. A god impels the wind ; a god pours 
out the rivers ; grapes are the gift of 
Bacchus ; Ceres presides over the harvest j 
orchards are the care of Pomona. Does a 
shepherd sound his reed on the summit of a 
mountain, it is Pan, who, with his pastoral 
pipe, returns the amorous lay. Wlien the 
sportsman’s horn rouses the attentive ear, it 
is Diana, armed with her bow and quiver, 
and more nimble than the stag tlmt she pur- 
sues, who takes the diversion of the chace. 
The sun is a god, riding on a car of fire, dif- 
fusing his light tliroiigh the world ; the 
stars are so many divinities ; who measure 
with their beams the regular progress of 
fire ; the moon presides over the silence of 
the night, and consoles the world for the ab- 
sence of her brother. Neptune reigns in 
the sea, surrounded by the Nereides, who 
dance to thejoyous shells of the Tritons. In 
the highest heaven is seated Jupiter, the 
master and father of men and gods. Under 
his feet roll the thunders, forged by the 
Cyclops in the caverns of Etna ; his smile 
