440 
PAH 
Phari is very extenfive, being not lefs than ten miles long 
and four broad, furrounded on all fides with rocky hills. 
At the foot of the rocks, on the weft border of the plain, 
is a large brook, flowing towards thefouth, called Mahat- 
chieu, which is faid to have a pafl'age, through the hills of 
Nepaul into Bengal. This is the Ration of Phari Lama, 
a dependant of Tefnoo Loomboo, who is here a little po¬ 
tentate, beingfuperintendant of a goombah, or monaltery, 
and governor of a moft extenflve range of recks and de¬ 
fects, which yield verdure only in the mildeft feafon of the 
year, when his neighbourhood is frequented by large herds 
of the long-haired bufliy-tailed cattle. From his character 
and ftation, he has great influence among the herdfmen. 
The rnufk-deer, which produces a valuable article of re¬ 
venue, abounds in the vicinity of thefe mountains : it 
is deemed the property of the ftate, and hunted only by the 
permiflion of government; of courfe a great part of the 
r.nufk, which is a fecretion formed in a little bag, or tu¬ 
mour, refembling a wen, lituated at the navel, and found 
only in the male, pafies through the hands of its agents. 
It is liable to much adulteration ; but that which bears 
the regent’s feal may be regarded as genuine. The mufk- 
deer, in the language of Thibet, is called la; and the 
vafcular covering of the mufk, la-tcha. Turner's Tibet. 
PARIF.SOVAT'Z, a town of Croatia: fifteen miles 
fouth of Bihacs. 
PARIE'TAL, f. [from paries, Lat. a wall.] One of 
the two thin bones in front of the fkull. 
PARIE'TAL, adj. Belonging to one of the thin bones 
in the fore part of the fkull.—The lower part of the pa¬ 
rietal and upper part of the temporal bones were fraftured. 
Sharp's Surgery. 
PARIET A'RIA, f. [fo named from paries, a wall, in 
ailufion to the place of growth of the moft common fpe- 
cies, which is uniformly on old ruins, or mouldering, 
flint walls.] In botany, a genus of the clafs polygamia, 
order monoecia, natural order of fcabridse, (urticas, Juff.) 
Generic charafters—I. Hermaphrodite flowers two, con¬ 
tained in a flat fix-leaved involucre : the two oppolite 
and outer leaflets larger. Calyx : perianth one-leafed, 
four-cleft, flat, blunt, the fize of the involucre halved. 
Corolla: none, unlefs the calyx be called fo. Stamina: 
filaments four, awl-lhaped, longer than the flowering 
perianth and expanding it, permanent; antheroe twin. 
Piftillum : germ ovate; lfyle filiform, coloured; ftigma 
ponciliform, capitate. Pericarpium : none ; perianth 
elongated, larger, bell-fhaped, the mouth doled by con¬ 
verging fegments. Seed one, ovate. II. Female flower 
one, between the two hermaphrodites, within the invo¬ 
lucre. Calyx : as in the hermaphrodites. Corolla : none. 
Piftillum: as in the hermaphrodites. Pericarpium: none; 
perianth thin, involving the fruit. Seed as in the her¬ 
maphrodites.— Ejfential CharaBer. Two hermaphrodite 
flowers and one female flower in a fiat fix-leaved invo¬ 
lucre. Calyx four-cleft; corolla none ; feed one, fuperior 
elongated. Hermaphrodite: Stamina four. Female: Sta¬ 
mina none. There are ten fpecies. 
1. Parietaria Indica, or Indian pellitory ; leaves lanceo¬ 
late, ftetn ered. This refembles our common pellitory, 
but is more naked. Leaves lanceolate, drawn out to a 
much longer point, three-nerved, naked. The balls of 
flowers are finaller, except the braftes, which are awl- 
ihaped, not ovate; ftyles longer; fruits feflile, grooved. 
Native of the Eaft Indies. 
2. Parietaria officinalis, or common pellitory of the 
wall : leaves lanceolate-ovate, peduncles dichotomous, 
calyxes two leaved. Root perennial, fomewhat woody, 
red, fibrous ; according to Lightfoot, creeping. Stems 
feveral, nearly upright, from nine inches to a foot ormore 
in height, very much branched, round, ftriated, folid, 
reddifli, pubefcent; according to Lightfoot, rough to the 
touch and adhefive. Leaves alternate, ovate, pointed, 
tapering towards each extremity, entire at the edge, 
fpreading, pubefcent along the edge and on the veins of 
the under fide, on the upper fide deep green, fliining, 
PAR 
fomewhat wrinkled, and having fmall prominent points 
fcattered over it. Petioles nearly as long as the leaf is 
broad, pubefcent, channelled above. Flowers fmall, 
greenifli, rough, feflile, glowing in balls or clufters in the 
axils of the leaves; two hermaphrodites and one female 
in an involucre of feven leaves (fix only, according to 
Linnteus), permanent; the leaves ovate, pointed, flat, 
hirfute, the hairs glandular at the extremities. The her¬ 
maphrodite flowers may be diltinguilhed by the four 
ftamens, which on the fhedding of the pollen fly back 
with elaftic force; the filaments are white and wrinkled 
tranfverfely; the antherce ovate, obtufe, double ; with a 
white pollen. Germ green, fliining, naked ; ftigma form¬ 
ing a bright fcarlet tuft. The female is known by its 
fituation between the two others, and by its want of 
ftamens : the ftigma is fomewhat larger, and bent a little 
down. Bur, to obtain a perfect idea of the manner in 
which the fruftification is carried-on in this plant, the 
flowers ftiould be examined at a very early period of their 
expanlion ; we fliall then find in each involucre three red 
ftigmas, the two outermoft of which belong to herma¬ 
phrodite flowers, whole ftamens are not yet vifible ; the 
middle one, which is largeft and moft confpicuous, to the 
female. If a view be taken of the fame flowers at the 
time that the elaftic filaments by their fudden expanfion 
are fcattering the pollen, the ftyles and ftigmas of the her¬ 
maphrodite flowers, vifible before, will often be found 
wanting, and the germ left naked in the centre of the 
flower : at this period, the fegments of the calyx in the 
fame flowers are nearly of the fame length as the fila¬ 
ments, the ftyle and ftigma of the female flower remain 
perfect, and the germ is clofely furrounded by a green 
hairy calyx, which never expands. The period of flower¬ 
ing being now over, a conflderable alteration takes place 
in the calyx of the hermaphrodite flowers ; each is con- 
fiderably elongated, becomes more tubular, afl'umes a 
redder colour, has its tip prefled down, and foon drops 
out of the involucre, in which it leaves no appearance of 
a feed; but, On opening them, a feed will be found at the 
bottom of each, perfectly fimilar to that produced by, and 
inclofed in, the calyx of the female flower, which does not 
enlarge as the other does, but, partaking more the nature 
of a capfule, on preflu re, divides at top into four parts, and 
contains a blackifli fliining leed. The manner in which 
the flowers filed their polien is curious : the filaments, 
on their firft appearance, all bend inwards; as foon as the 
pollen is arrived at a proper ftate to be difeharged, the 
warmth of the fun, or the leaft touch from the point of a 
pin, will make them inftantly fly back, and dilcharge a 
little cloud of duft. This procels is belt feen in a morn¬ 
ing, when the fun ftiines on the plant, in July or Auguft : 
if the plant be large, numbers will be feen exploding at 
the fame inftant. 
Mr. Miller is Angular in aflerting that the Parietaria 
officinalis of Linnaeus grows naturally in Germany and 
Holland, but was notin England till the year 1727, when 
he introduced it. He makes our plant to be the P. judaica 
of Linnaeus, and the P. minor of Cafpar Bauhin. In this 
opinion, lays Curtis, there is the greateft reafon to fuppole 
that Mr. Miller is deceived. It frequently happens that 
the plant which is common in one country is fuppofed to 
be the common plant of other countries, without ex¬ 
amination. The figures of Dodonaeus and Matthiolus, 
from which thofe of Ger. etnac. and Parkinlbn are copied, 
are much fuller of leaves than our plant, and the Item 
is reprefented with fliff hairs Handing out. The deferip- 
tion of Poilich agrees very well with our plant. 
Parietary, corrupted into pellitory, is now commonly 
called pellitory of the wall, being found on walls or among 
rubbifli. It is a native of moft parts of Europe, except 
the moft northerly ; in Sweden it is not found, but it is 
in Denmark. Curtis remarks, that the fame degree of 
cold (about 31 0 of Fahrenheit’s thermometer) which 
ftripped the mulberry of moft of its leaves, deftroyed the 
greateft part of the herbage of this plant. 
Parietary 
