PH^ 
5nto three, each of these divisions sustaining 
three narrow leaflets, which, when bruised, 
emit a strong scent like sulphur ; foot-stalks 
channelled ; stems nearly two feet in height, 
channelled, and dividing into two or three 
branches, each terminated by a large, re- 
gular umbel of yellow flowers, composed of 
several small umbels. It is a native of the 
southern parts of Europe, in moist mea- 
dows. 
PEWTER, a factitious metal, used in 
making domestic utensils, as plates, dishes, 
&c. The basis of this metal is tin, which is 
converted into pewter, by mixing at the 
rate of an hundred weight of tin, with fif- 
teen pounds of lead, and six pounds of 
brass. Besides this composition, which 
makes the common pewter, there are other 
kinds compounded of tin, regulus of anti- 
mony, bismuth and copper, in several pro- 
portions. 
PEZIZA, in botany, a genus of the C17P- 
togamia Fungi class and order. Generic 
character: fungus bell-shaped, sessile, 
concealing lens-shaped seed-bearing bo- 
dies ; plant concave ; seeds on the upper 
surface only ; discharged by jerks. Of this 
genus of fungus, Linnaeus has eleven spe- 
cies, and Dr. Withering no less than forty 
British species in his arrangement. 
PHACA, in botany, bastard vetch, a ge- 
nus of the Diade.lphia Decandria class and 
order. Natural order of Papilionacea;, or 
Leguminosae. Essential character : legume 
half, two celled. There are eleven spe- 
cies. 
PHjETHUSA, in botany, a genus of the 
.Syngenesia Polygamia Superflua class and 
order. Essential character : calyx sub-cy- 
lindric, many-leaved, with unequal, recurv- 
ed scales ; florets hermaphrodite, several in 
the disk ; females one or two in the ray ; 
receptacle chaffy ; seeds hispid, without 
any proper down. There is but one spe- 
cies, fiz. P. Americana, a native of Virginia. 
PHAITON, the Tropic bird,, ia natural 
history, a genus of birds of the order An- 
seres. Generic character: bill sharp-edg- 
ed and pointed; compressed, and slightly 
sloping down ; nostrils pervious and oblong ; 
four toes all webbed together ; tail wedge- 
formed, the two middle feathers extending 
far beyond others. There are three spe- 
cies : Pi mtliereus, the common tropjc bird, 
is of the size of a wigeon, and the two mid- 
dle feathers of the tail measure a foot and a 
half at least. These birds are always found 
rVithin, or at least very near the tropics. 
They frequently soar to a prodigious height. 
PttA 
but generally are near the surface of the 
water, watching the movements of the fly- 
ing fish, whose escape from the pursuit of 
the shark, porpoise, and other enemies be- 
neath, is attended with destruction from 
the frigate, or man of war bird, the pelican, 
and tropic bird above. They occasionally 
repose upon the backs of the drowsy tor- 
toises, as the latter float upon the water, 
and in these circumstance.s, are taken with 
the greatest ease. They build in the woods, 
and will perch on trees. They shed their 
long feathers every year, and the natives of 
the Sandwich islands where the tropic birds 
abound, pick them up in great abundance 
in various parts, and consider them as an 
elegant material in their curious and elabo- 
rate dresses, particularly in their mourning 
suits. These birds are not admired for 
food. 
PHALANGIUM, in natural history, a 
genus of insects of the order Aptera. Mouth 
with horny mandibles, the second joint 
with a sharp, moveable, cheliferous tooth ; 
feelers filiform ; no antenn® ; two eyes on 
the crown, and two at the sides; eight 
legs ; abdomen generally rounded. Of all 
the insects in this order, few are more re- 
pulsive than those of the Phalangium ge- 
nus, of which there are about twenty spe- 
cies. Some of them are armed with wea- 
pons resembling those of the spider genus, 
but operating with greater malignity. They 
differ in size, some being very minute, 
while ethers arc equal in magnitude to the 
larger kind of spiders. This genus is di- 
vided into two sections. A. Mouth with a 
conic, tubular sucker. B. Mouth without 
a sucker. The former is sub-divided into 
sub-sections, viz. a. Four-feelers, the upper 
ones chelate, h. Two feelers. In the latter,^ 
there are two sub sections, viz. a. Feelers 
projecting, incurved, b. Feelers thick, spi- 
nous, and furnished with a claw at the tip. 
P. reniforme, feelers serrate ; fore- legs very 
long and filiform; thorax kidney-shaped: 
this is one of the largest of the genus : it is 
a native of the hotter regions of the globe, 
being found in Africa and South America, 
This insect is of a deep chesnut-brown co- 
lour, with a yellowish cast on the abdomen. 
All the insects of this genus, in their va- 
rious stages of transformation, prey bn the 
smaller insects and worms ; the larva and 
pupa are active, eight-footed, and resemble 
the perfect insect. To this genus belong 
the well-known insects, called long-legged, 
shepherd, or harvest spiders, which, not- 
witlistanding their conunon name, differ 
N 2 
