PER 
spiration ; that is, the effect prdduced by 
the pulmonary transpiration is more than 
the third of the total effect. 
PERUKE. It appears that this term 
was originally applied to describe a fine na- 
tural head of long hair ; but whatever may 
have been the ancient use or meaning of 
the word, it has now almost become obso- 
lete, though it was for more than a century 
in constant application to those artificial 
heads of hair, made probably at first to 
conceal natural or accidental baldness, but 
which afterwards became so ridiculously 
fashionable, as to be worn in preference 
to the most beautiful locks, absurdly 
shaved off the head to make room for 
them. 
Ancient authors might be quoted to prove 
that the great and luxurious of that time 
had recourse to this mode of concealing de- 
fects, and of decorating the head ; nay, it 
might perhaps be proved, that the peruke 
of the Emperor Commodus was more ab- 
surdly composed than any modern peruke 
has ever been ; and indeed it must be ad- 
mitted, that a wig powdered with scrapings 
of gold, in addition to oils and glutinous 
perfumes, must have made a more wonder- 
ful appearance than our immediate ancestors 
ever witnessed. It was in the reign of our 
Charles the First that perukes were intro- 
duced throughout Europe, when the mo- 
ralists attacked them without mercy, as 
they perceived that the folly of youth even 
extended to the cutting off nature’s locks, 
to be replaced by the hair of the dead, and 
of horses, woven into a filthy piece of can- 
vas. Admonition and ridicule was, how- 
ever, of little avail, and the clergy began 
to be affected by the general mania. Those 
on the Continent being almost universally 
Roman Catholics, were so completely sub- 
ject to their superiors, that the peruke was 
soon routed from their body; but as the 
dignified clergy of England conceive that 
their consequence is increased by the enor- 
mous bushes of hair upon their heads, and 
the judges have adopted their sentiments 
in this particular, it is probable many years 
will elapse before the. shape and absurdity 
of two particular species of perukes are 
forgotten. 
About the close of the seventeenth cen- 
tury the peruke was made to represent the 
natural curl of the hair, but in such profu- 
sion, that ten heads would not have furnished 
an equal quantity, as it flowed down the 
back, ami hung over the shoulders, half 
ilvay down the arms. By 17sil, it had be- 
come fashionable to tie one half of it on 
PET 
the left side into a club. Between 17 SO 
and 1740, the bag-wig came into fashion, 
and the peruke was docked considerably, 
and sometimes plaited behind into a queue, 
though even till 1752 the long flowing locks 
maintained their influence. After 1770 
those were rarely seen; and since that time 
persons wearing perukes have generally had 
substantial reasons for so doing from bald- 
ness and complaints in the head. At one 
time, indeed, when the stern virtues of 
Brutus were much in vogue ; the young 
men of Europe wore perukes of black or 
dark hair, dressed from his statues. Many 
particulars on this subject have been pre- 
served by Mr. Malcolm, in his “ Anecdotes 
of the Manners and Customs of London,” 
from which we learn, that a young country- 
woman obtained 601. for her head of hair 
in the year 1700, when human hair sold at 
31. per ounce ; and in 1720, the grey locks 
of an aged woman sold for 501. after her 
decease, as did wigs at 401. each, of pecu- 
liar excellence. 
A petition from the master peruke.mak- 
ers of London and Westminster, presented 
to the King in 1763, points out the final 
decline of their use to have taken place at 
that time. In this they complain of the 
public wearing their own hair; and say, 
“ That this mode, pernicious enough in itself 
to their trade, is rendered excessively more 
so by Swarms of French hair-dressers already 
in those cities, and daily increasing.” 
FERULA, in botany, a genus of the 
Dioecia Polyandria class and order. Ge- 
neric character : male, calyx ; perianthum 
two-leaved, very small corolla ; petal one, 
semi-globular, concave, hanging down ; sta- 
mens, filaments very many ; pistil, germs 
four, barren, very small : female on a dis- 
tinct tree ; calyx, perianthum as in the 
male, deciduous; corolla as in tlie male; 
pistil, germs four, fertile ; pericarpiura 
capsule, obovate, subtrigonal; seeds soli- 
tary, small. The number of species not 
known. P. arborea is a native of New 
Granada, about Mariquita, where it was 
found by Mutis. 
PETALOMA, in botany, a gemis of the 
Decandria Monogynia class and order. Es- 
sential character : calyx goblet-shaped, 
five-toothed ; petals five, inserted between 
the ' teeth of the calyx ; stamina on the 
margin of the calyx ; berry one-celled ; 
seeds one or four. There are two species, 
viz. P. myrtilloides and P. mouriri. ^ 
PETESIA, in botany, a genus of the 
Tetrandria Monogynia class and order. 
Natural order of Rubiacese. Jussieu, Es- 
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