PHE 
and gracefulness of his movements, com- 
bine strongly to heighten the effect. The 
female is remarkahle for great fecundity, 
and for the most exquisite parental fond- 
ness and sensibilities ; the poets of almost 
every age and nation having introduced it 
as the roost expressive image of maternal 
duty and tenderness. It is finely observed, 
by the great French naturalist, that “ dull 
and tasteless as the business of incubation 
may be thought by us, nature may have 
made it a state of extraordinary joy, con- 
necting, probably, sensations of delight with 
whatever relates to the continuance of her 
offspring.” In some countries, and particu- 
larly in Egypt, chickens are produced from 
eggs without the assistance of the parent 
bird. The eggs are enclosed in ovens heat- 
ed with extreme care and precision, and 
turned at certain intervals, and thus hun- 
dreds, and even thousands, are annually 
produced in one establishment ; but chick- 
ens, thus produced, are stated to be rarely 
so vigorous as those hatched in the natural 
mode. See Aves, Plate XII. fig, 1. 
P. colchicus, or the common pheasant. 
These birds are found in almost every ter- 
ritory of the old continent; but are not to 
be met with in America. Their wings, 
from their shortness, are ill calculated to 
sustain a long flight. They resemble the 
partridge in breeding on the ground, and 
lay from twelve to fifteen eggs. In many 
parts of this kingdom they have been intro- 
duced with great success, exhibiting an in- 
teresting and beautiful object to the ad- 
mirer of nature, and fprnishing variety to 
the pursuits of tlve sportsman, as well as 
to the luxuries of the table. Pheasants 
prefer low woods bordering upon valleys, 
are extremely shy, and neyer associate but 
in the spring. The hen pheasant has been 
occasionally discovered with the feathers 
almost universally peculiar to the male; 
and, indeed, this circumstance takes place 
in several other genera of birds. The crow- 
ing of the pheasant is very similar fo that 
of the former species, but not so loud or so 
distinct. There are many varieties of the 
pheasant tribe kept in the aviaries of the 
curious in this kingdom, exhibiting the most 
admirable plumage, but not sufficiently 
hardy to endure the rigours of winter in 
this climate, where the P. colchicus alone 
has become nationalized. See Aves, Plate 
XII. fig. 2. ' 
PHEASANT. See Phasianus. 
PHELLANDEIUM, in botany, water 
liemlock, a genus of the Pentandria Digynja 
PHI 
class and order. Natural order of Umbeb 
latm, or UmbelliferEe. Essential character ; 
florets of the disk smaller; fruit ovate, 
even, crowned with the perianth and pistil. 
There are two species, dr. P. aquaticnm, 
common w-ater hemlock, and P. mutellina ; 
the former is a native of most parts of Eu- 
rope : Linnmus informs us, that the horses 
in Sweden, by eating this plant, are seized 
with a kind of palsy ; this effect is not to 
be ascribed to the plant, but to a coleopte- 
rous insect breeding in the stalks : in the 
winter, the roots and stem, dissected by 
the influence of the weather, afford a cu- 
rious skeleton or net-work. 
PHILADELPHUS, in botany, syringa, 
a genus of the Icosandria Monogynia class 
and order. Natural order of Hesperideae. 
Myrti, Jussieu. Essential character ; ca- 
lyx four or five-parted, superior; petals 
four or five; capsule four or five-celled, 
many-seeded. There are four species, of 
which P. coronarius, common or white sy- 
ringa, is a shrub that sends up a great num- 
ber of slender stalks from the root, seven or 
eight feet in height, putting forth several 
short branches from their side ; leaves 
ovate, lanceolate, three inches long, and 
two broad in the middle, terminating in 
acute points, with several indentures on 
their edges; they have both the taste and 
scent of fresh cucumbers ; the primary 
flower is five-cleft in the calyx, corolla, pis- 
til, and capsule ; the rest are four-cleft. It 
is a native of the South of Europe. 
PHILLYREA, in botany, a genus of 
the Diandria Monogynia class and order. 
Natural order of Sepiarias, Jasmine®, Jus- 
sieu. Essential cliaracter : calyx four-tooth- 
ed ; corolla four-cleft ; berry two-celled ; 
seeds solitary. There are three species, 
which are distinguished by the form and in- 
dentations of their leaves ; they are shrubs, 
and natives of the southern countries of Eu- 
rope ; they are evergreens, and sufficiently 
hardy to thrive in the open air, being rarely 
injured, except in very severe winters, 
wdiieh causes their leaves to fall, and kills 
some of the weaker branches ; these are re- 
paired by new shoots the following sum- 
mer ; there are few evergreens which are 
hardier than the phillyrea, or that deserve 
more to be cultivated for pleasure. 
PHILOLOGY, a science, or rather as- 
semblage of several sciences, consisting of 
grammar, rhetoric, poetry, antiquities, his- 
tory, and criticism. Philology is a kind of 
universal literature, conversant about all 
the sciences, their rise, progress, authpraj 
