PHI 
and infallible guide ; though in persons well 
educated they are decidedly favourable to 
virtue. Hence to cultivate and enlighten 
the moral sense in ourselves and in others, 
is a duty of the highest obligation ; the most 
disastrous consequences have ensued, both 
to individuals and to society, from obedi- 
ence to the dictafes oV misguided con- 
science. 
107. Character, to use (noth some vari- 
ations) the words of Mr. Belsham, from 
whose Elements we have taken the last 
paragraph, is tlie sum total of moral habits 
and affections. That character is perfectly 
virtuous, all whose affections and habits 
tend to produce the gi-eatest ultimate hap- 
piness of the agent, that is, in which all 
are perfectly consistent With pious bene- 
volence, and in which every moral habit 
and affection is advanced to its most disin- 
terested state. That character is perfectly 
vicious, all whose affections and habits tend 
to produce the greatest ultimate misery of 
the agent, and in which every vicious affec- 
tion and Iiabit exists in its ultimate state. 
The former character, though possible, is 
rarely to be found; but the tendency of 
moral discipline is to produce a continual 
approximation towards it; and it will pro- 
bably be the ultimate state of all the ra- 
tional creatures of God. The character 
of perfect vice is impossible ; it never can 
actually exist; for no being can pursue 
misery for its own sake. Tlmt agent is 
said to be virtuous, though imperfectly so, 
all whose affections and habits tend to his 
own ultimate felicity, but not having at- 
tained their most perfect state, are subject 
to occasional deviations from the rules of 
piety and benevolence. That agent is de- 
nominated vicious, but imperfectly so, in 
whom there is one moral habit which tends 
to produce misery, or to diminish happi- 
ness : for example ; intemperance, avarice, 
dishonesty, impiety. The reason is obvious. 
The existence of a single habit of this de- 
scription is inconsistent with the perfect 
happiness of the agent, and necessarily in-, 
volves him in proportional misery, So the 
prevalence of a single disorder is inconsist- 
ent with perfect health ; and if a remedy 
be not applied in time, may be productive 
of the most fatal consequences. 
PHILYDRUM, in botany, a gehus of 
the Monandria Monogynia class and order. 
Essential character: spa the one-tlowered ; 
perianthium none ; corolla four-petalled, ir- 
regular ; capsule three-celled, many-seeded. 
I'here is but one species, viz, P, lanugino- 
PHL 
sum, a native of China and Cochin-Cliina, 
in moist places. 
PHLEBOTOMY, in surgery, the open- 
ing a vein with a proper sharp-edged and 
pointed instrument of steel, in order to let 
out a proper quantity of blood, either for 
the preservation, or recovery, of a person’s 
health. 
PHLEUM, in botany, cat’s-tail grass, a. 
genus of the Triandria Digynia class and 
order. Natural order of Gramina, Grami- 
neae, or Grasses. Essential character : ca- 
lyx two valved, sessile, linear, truncated, 
with a two-cusped tip ; corolla inclosed. 
There are four species. 
PHLOAS, in natural history, a genus of 
the Vermes Testacea class and order. Ge- 
neric character : animal an ascidia ; shell 
bivalve, divaricate, with several lesser dif- 
ferently shaped accessory ones at the hinge ; 
hinges recurved, united by a cartilage ; in 
the inside beneath the hinge is an incurved 
tooth. There arc twelve species ; they all 
perforate clay, spongy stones, and wood, 
while in the younger state, and as they in- 
crease in size, enlarge their habitation 
within, and thus become imprisoned. They 
contain a phosphoreous liquor, which illu- 
minates whatever it touches. • 
PHLOGISTON, in chemistry, a term 
that seems to be almost wholly banished 
from our language. It wns invented, by 
Stahl, according to wdiom there is only one 
substance in nature capable of combustion, 
this he called phlogiston, and all those 
bodies which can be inflamed, contain more 
or less of it. Combustion, by his theoi-y, 
is merely the separation of this substance. 
Those bodies which contain none of it are 
incombustibles. All combustibles are com- 
posed of an incombustible body and phlo- 
giston united ; and during the combustion 
the phlogiston flies off, and the incombus- 
tible body is left behind. Thus when sul- 
phur is burnt, the substance that remains 
is sulphuric acid, an incombustible body. 
Sulphur therefore is said to be composed of 
sulphuric acid and phlogiston. This theory 
has long since given place to that esta- 
blished by Lavoisier. See Combustion. 
It must, however, be observed that Pro- 
fessor Davy, in his late discoveries, seems 
inclined to admit of an inflammable princi- 
ple, which pervades the whole of nature. 
How far his future experiments may lead to 
the establishment of the Lavoisierian the- 
ory, or that of Stahl, time only can show. 
See Potassium, &c, 
PHLOMIS, in botany, a genus of tli« 
