P E R 
empties itself into a trougli, which carries 
it to the land. 
PERSON, in dramatic poetry, the cha- 
racter assumed by an actor, or he who is 
represented by the player. Thus, at the 
head of dramatic pieces, is placed the dra- 
matis personas, or list of the persons that are 
to appear on the stage. Father Piossu ob- 
serves, that in the epic and dramatic poem, 
the same person most reign throughout ; 
that is, must sustain the chief part through 
the whole piece, and the characters of all 
the other persons must be subordinate to 
him. 
Peuson, in grammar, a term applied to 
such nouns or pronouns, as being either 
prefixed or understood, are tlie nominatives 
in all inflexions of a verb ; or it is the agent 
or patient in all finite and personal verbs. 
See Grammar. 
PERSONAL W/ies, tithes paid of such 
profits as come by the labour of a man’s 
person, as by buying and selling, gains of 
merchandise, and handicrafts, &c, 
PERSONALITY, an action is in the 
personality, where it is brought against the 
right person, or the person against whom in 
law it lies. 
PERSONATE, in law, is the represent- 
ing a person by a fictitious or assumed cha- 
racter, so as to pass for the person repre- 
sented. Personating bait, is by stat, 21 
Jac. I, c. 26, a capital felony. By various 
other statutes, personating seamen entitled 
to wages, prize-money, &c. is also a capital 
felony. 
PERSONAT.®, in botany, masked, the 
name of the fortieth order in Limimus's 
Fragments of a Natural Method, consisting 
of a number of plants whose flowers are fur- 
nished with an irregular gaping petal, which, 
in figure somewhat resembles the snout of 
an aininal. Most of the genera of this na- 
tural order arrange themselves under the 
class and order “ Didynamia Angiosper- 
mia.” The resf, althoiigli they cannot en- 
ter into the artificial class just mentioned, 
for want of the classic character, (the in- 
equality of the stamina), yet, in a natural 
method, which admits of greater latitude, 
may be arranged with the Personatm, which 
they resemble in their habit and general 
appeanmce, and particularly in the circum- 
stance expressed in the title. This order 
furnishes both herbace.oqs and woody vcge- 
tabhis of the shrub and tree kind. The 
roots are generally fibrous and branched; 
in gerardia and tozzia, they are tuberous. 
The roots of broom-rape are parasitical j 
PER 
that is, attach themselves to the roots of 
other plants, from which they derive their 
nourishment, 'I'lie. stems and branches are 
cylindrical when young, except in some 
species of fig-wort, in which they are square. 
The leaves are simple, generally placed op. 
posite in pairs at the bottom of the branches, 
but in many genera, stand alternate to- 
wards the top. Some species of trumpet, 
flower have the common foot-stalk of tlieir 
winged leaves terminated by a tendril, with 
three or five branches. In a species of cor- 
nutia is observed a stipula or scale, in form 
of a half-moon, of the same substance w ith 
the leaves between which it is placed. 
The flowers are universally hermaphrodite. 
They proceed either singly, or in clusters, 
from the wings of the leaves, as in Ameri- 
can viburnum, or terminate tlie branches in 
a spike, panicle, or head, as in cornutia, 
vervain, &c, In the latter they seem 
placed in whorls. The calyx, or flower- 
cup, is of one leaf) which is cut into two, 
three, four, or five divisions that are perma- 
nent. In the trumpet-flower, the calyx falls 
off egrly, and generally resolves itself into 
five distinct leaves. The corolla is com- 
posed of one irregular petal, vivith two lips, 
resembling the head or snout of an animal. 
In toad-flax, the petal is terminated behind 
by a nectarium in form of a spur. The 
stamina in plants of the first section, are 
two or four in number. In hedge-hyssop, 
and some species of vervain, the filaments 
are four in number, but two of these only 
are terminated by anthers ; so that the num- 
ber of perfect stamina in these plants is 
only two. The seed- bud is single, and 
placed above the receptacle of the flower. 
The style is single, thread-shaped, bent in 
the direction of the stamina, and crowmed 
with a stigma, which is generally blunt, and 
sometimes divided into two.- The seed-ves- 
sel is a capsule, generally divided internally 
into two cavities, and externally into the 
same number of valves. The seeds are 
numerous, and afliged to a receptacle in 
the middle of the capsule. 
PERSOONIA, in botany, so named in 
honour of C. H. Persoon ; a genus of the 
Tetrandria Monogynia class and order. Es- 
sential character; calyx none; petals four, 
staminiferous tow'ards the base ; glands four 
at the base of the germ; stigma blunt, 
drupe one-seeded. This genus consists of 
subvimineous shrubs; leaves commonly al- 
ternate, without stipules; corolla smooth 
within ; anthers linear, finally bent back ; 
style permanent, smooth ; drupe eatable ip 
