282 
PAL 
of France, about the year 1524. He was brought Up to 
the trade of a potter, which he carried on at Saintes ; and 
he was aifo employed as a furveyor and draughtfman of 
plans. A thirft for inftru&ion led him to travel; and, 
having by accident got poflefiion of a cup of enamelled 
pottery, his whole attention was turned upon endeavour¬ 
ing to imitate it. For this purpofe he commenced a 
feries of experiments that abfolutely impoverilhed him; 
he even broke-up his furniture to fupply his furnaces 
with fuel, and fold his clothes to furnifh his affiftant 
operator with wages. At length his labours were crowned 
with fuccefs; and he fo perfected himfelf in the manufac¬ 
ture, that lie was immediately railed to the head of his 
profeffion. He now purfued the fcience of chemiftry, 
and applied his knowledge to the improvement of agri¬ 
culture. He was the fir It perfon who formed a collection 
of natural hiltory at Paris, upon which he gave leftures 
at the rate of haff-a-crown each, perfon. a large fum for 
that period ; but he entered into an obligation to return 
the money four-fold, provided it were found that he 
taught any thing that proved falle. In 1563 he printed 
at Rochelle “ Recepte veritable par laquelle tons les 
Homines de la France pourront apprendre a augmenter 
leur Trefors,” &c. which, after his death, was reprinted 
under the title of “ Moyen de devenir riche,” in two 
vols. 8vo. In 1580, he publifhed “ Difcours admirable 
de la Nature des Eaux et Fontaines, des Metaux, des 
Sols, des Salines, des Pierres, des Terres,” &c. This work 
was exceedingly valuable in the then-exiliing Hate of 
knowledge; and in it lie firft taught the true theory 
of fprings, and afferted that foflil fhells were real fea- 
Ihells depofited by the waters of the ocean. He alfo 
pointed out the u!e of mari and of lime in agriculture. 
This excellent man was fincerely and ardently attached, 
with regard to religion, to the principles of Calvinifm, 
on account of which he was, in the reign of Henry HI. 
in 1584, apprehended and committed to the Baftille. The 
monarch, who, it appears, had a true regard for him, 
plainly laid, that, if he did not comply with the prevail¬ 
ing religion, he fhould be conftrnined to leave him in the 
hands of his enemies; to which Pali fly replied, with energy, 
“Your majefty has often faid that you pity me; for my 
part, I pity you for pronouncing the words Ijhall be cun- 
/trained. This is not fpeaking like a king; but, let me 
inform you, in royal language, that neither the Guifarts, 
your whole people, nor yourfelf, {hall conftrain a potter 
to bend his knee before images.” He ufed commonly to 
fay, in allufion to his religion and his trade as a potter, 
“ I have no other property than heaven and earth.” 
Such are the only fa£fs known of this eftimable citizen : 
the time of his death is not afeertained. A new and com¬ 
plete edition of bis works was publifhed at Paris in 1777, 
with notes, by Faujas de Saint-Fonds. Gen. Bing'. 
PALIU'RI. See Cape Paxiuri, vol. iii. 
PALIU'RO AFFI'NIS. See Piscnia and Volka- 
MERIA. 
PALIU'RUS. See Rhamnus. 
PALIU'RUS, in ancient geography, now NrJtil, a river 
of Africa, with a town of the fame name at its mouth, 
at the weft of Egypt, on the Mediterranean. 
PA'LIUS, or Paxio'rum La'cus, a fmall but very re¬ 
markable lake of Sicily,* in the Val di Noto, two miles 
weft from the town of Palagonia, and only one from 
Minc-o, whence it is fometimes called the Lake ofMineo. 
It is furrounded by volcanic mountains, and lies in a 
imall plain fomewliat hollow towards the middle. This 
plain is half lurrounded by fteep rocks, which give it the 
appearance of a monftrous crater that has funk down by 
fome convulfion. The lake is placed in its centre, and, 
as it were, in the middle of a funnel. Its depth often 
varies, and confequently its circumference. In the winter¬ 
time it may he about fixty or feventy fathoms in diameter, 
and about ten in depth ; hut in funtmer, when great 
drought prevails, it is often entirely dry. Monf. Dolo- 
mieu vifited it in the month of May, 1798, at which 
4 
PAL 
period it formed an oval about thirty fathoms in length 
and twenty in breadth: its depth was about five or fix. 
It had a ftrong fmell of Jew’s pitch, or afphaltes, even at 
a confiderable diftance. The water in its colour inclined 
a little to green, and had an exceedingly naufeous and 
difagreeable tafte. “ I was told that the water was often 
tepid ; but it had, at the timeWhen I examined it, the 
temperature of the atmofphere. In feveral parts of it 
I obferved a violent bubbling, and particularly in four 
places near the middle. This bubbling was ftronger at 
certain intervals, and the water was thrown up fome¬ 
times to the height of two or three feet, riling in this 
manner every five or fix minutes. 
“When the lake is dry, one may without danger ex¬ 
amine its centre, where there are feveral deep holes. 
From thefe holes currents of air, fomewliat warm, con¬ 
tinually arife, and throw back fand and other bodies, if 
put into them. It is this aeriform vapour which, when 
the bafin is full, forces up the water, and makes it to he 
covered with foam. The mud at the bottom ar.d on the 
hank, which has a black colour, is tenacious, and fms^ls 
like pitch. A little petroleum has alfo been fometimes 
found at thefurface of the water. The whole foil of tire 
fmall plain confifts of black, tough, refinous, inflammable, 
earth. A few years ago, fome ftraw huts in this neigh¬ 
bourhood having been let on fire, the fire was communi¬ 
cated to the ground, which burnt with a vvhiti’lh dull 
flame, like that of the inflammable fprings in Dauphiny, 
during feveral months, and was extinguiftied with the 
greateft difficulty, as the fire, when quelled in one place, 
broke out in another. Since that period great care is 
taken not to kindle fire in the neighbourhood. From 
this phenomenon I am induced to think, that the air 
which riles through the water of the lake, and which 
probably finds a paflage through the ground, may be of 
an inflammable nature alfo; as the air of marfhes, which 
burns without any noife. 
“The fertility of this fmall plain is fo great, that if 
produces a moft abundant crop every year, without re¬ 
quiring much agricultural care. In walking over the 
ground, a hollow nolle is heard ; which feems a proof of 
there being beneath the furface fubterranean cavities, 
like thofe of Solfatara near Puzzuolo; and there is reafon 
to think that this place has been formed from the re¬ 
mains of a fallen crater, a part of which is (till feen in the 
furrounding mountains; and between this lake and that 
of Agnano near Naples, there is no other difference than 
the greater quantity of water in the one, and the more 
violent efflux of vapour in the other. The vapour which 
riles from the ground is confidered as of a fuffocati.ng 
nature; fo that people who lie down on the earth, or 
only bend their bodies towards it, are expofed to the 
greateft danger; though one may walk over it without the- 
leafc fear. All thefe phenomena have a great fimilaricy 
to thofe of the Grotto del Cane, near the lake Agnano. 
“ On the banks of the lake Palius are found a great 
many fmall chillers of -allies and flag, exactly like thofe 
adhering to the Tides of the craters of iEtna and Veftivius. 
The mountains and lava round this lake exhibit the moft 
evident marks of their great antiquity,, as in many places 
they are covered with calcareous (tones, from which it 
may with certainty be inferred, that they muft have ori¬ 
ginated at a time when the prefent continent was not in¬ 
habited. I11 the time of Diodorus Siculus, however, the 
crater, which forms the prefent bafin of the lake, fliowed 
traces of its internal inflammation : as we are informed by 
this hiftorian, that flames burft forth from this fpot; that 
the water pofiefied a confiderable degree of warmth ; and 
that a horrid thundering noife was heard. The phe¬ 
nomena of this lake have at all times been attended with 
fo many fingularities as to give rife to fables without 
number : at prefent it is faid to he inhabited by a fairy. 
In ancient times, thefe phenomena were aferibed to the * 
fupernatural power and influence of fome deity. On this 
account, a very celebrated temple, the remains of which 
I could 
