VAR 
fore the Revolution, the true principles of 
which are the only genuine grounds on 
which to rest the foundation of British 
liberty. 
PARNASSIA, in botany, a genus of the 
Pentandria Tetragynia class and order. Na- 
tural order of Capparides, Jussieu. Essen- 
tial character: calyx five-parted; petals 
five ; nectaries five, cordate, ciliate, with 
globular apexes ; capsule four-valved. There 
is but one species, viz. P. palustris, common 
marsh parnassia, or grass of Parnassus. 
PARODICAL degrees of an equation, in 
algebra, are the several regular terms in 
quadratic, cubic, biquadratic equations, &c. 
the indexes of whose powers ascend or de- 
scend orderly in an arithmetical progress, 
as zi m ZT = s, is a cubical equa- 
tion, where no term is wanting, but having 
all its parodic degrees, the indexes of the 
terms regularly desending. 
PARODY, a popular maxim, adage, or 
proverb. Parody is also a poetical plea- 
santry, consisting in applying the verses 
written on one subject, by way of ridicule 
to another; or in turning a serious work 
into a burlesque, by affecting to observe, as 
nearly as possible, the same rhymes, words, 
and cadences. It comes nearly to what some 
of our late writers call travesty ; and was 
first set on foot by the Greeks, from whom 
we borrow the name. 
PAROLE, a term signifying any thing 
done verbally or by word of mouth, in con- 
tradistinction to what is written : thus, an 
agreement may be by parole. Evidence 
also may be divided into parole evidence 
and written evidence. A parole release is 
good to discharge a debt by simple con- 
tract. The holder of a bill of exchange 
may authorize another to indorse his name 
upon it by parole ; and generally all agree- 
ments by parole are good, except such as 
are within the statute of frauds, and parti- 
cularly such as relate to lands, and agree- 
ments for any term beyond three years in 
lands or houses, and also all executory 
agreements for the sale of goods above 10/. 
not forfeited by delivery. See Agreement 
and Lease. 
PARRA, the jflcana, in natural history, 
a genus of birds of the order Grallae. Ge- 
neric character: bill slender and sharply 
pointed, the base carunculated ; nostrils in 
the middle, and somewhat oval; wings 
spinous; toes four, very long, and claws 
sharply pointed and long. There are six- 
teen species mentioned by Gmelin. La- 
tham notices nine. 
PAR 
P. jacana, or the chesnut jacana, is the 
size of the water rail, frequents the watery 
places of South America, and is extremely 
clamorous. These birds often wade up to 
the thighs in water, are particularly shy, 
scarcely ever seen but in pairs, and when 
separated, incessantly calling for each other 
till a reunion is accomplished. They are 
called by the French chirurgieus. Their 
fiesh is valued. 
P. chavaria is as large as a dunghill cock, 
with legs extremely long and strong, and 
toes so lengthened as to entangle in each 
other in its walking, on which account its 
usual movement on the ground is slow, and 
without the assistance of its wings it is 
incapable of running. Its flight, however, 
is rapid, imd it is able to swim with ease. 
Its principal residence is about Carthagena 
in South America, where it is usual for the 
breeders of poultry to keep one of these 
birds tame, which attend their flocks as 
centinel, and effectually secures them from 
birds of prey. Its immense spurs are dreaded 
and avoided, even by the vulture. It is 
said to feed on vegetables. 
PARROT. See Psittacus. 
PARSON, signifies the rector of a 
church. He is in himself a body corporate, 
in order to protect and defend the rights of 
the church by a perpetual succession. AYhen 
a parson is instituted and inducted into a 
rectory', he is then, and not before, in full 
and complete possession. A parson has 
regularly during life the freehold in himself 
of the parsonage-house, the glebe or land 
anaexed to the parsonage, and the tythes 
and other dues ; but these are sometimes in 
the hands of an appropriator, and then there 
is a vicar, who is endowed with a portion of 
the glebe and of the tythes. 
PARTS of speech, in grammar, are all 
the sorts of words which enter the compo - 
sition of discourse. 
The grammarians generally admit of eight 
parts of speech, viz. noun, pronoun, verb, 
participle, adverb, preposition, inteijec- 
tion, and conjunction. See Grammar. 
PARTHENIUM, in botany, a genus of 
the Monoecia Pentandria class and order. 
Natural order of N ucamentaceae. Corym- 
bifei'je, Jussieu. Essential character : male, 
calyx common five-leaved ; corolla of the 
disk one-petalled : female, corolla of the 
ray five ; on each side two males, with one 
female between, superior. There are two 
specie.*, viz. P. hysterophorns, cut-leaved 
partheuium, or bastard feverfew, and P. 
iutegrifolium, entire-leaved partheuium ; 
i 
