PAR 
Parietary promifes little from its fenfible qualities: it 
lias no fmell, and its tafte is Amply herbaceous. Formerly 
it was accounted emollient; but, not being mucilaginous, 
this eft'eCf ought rather to be afcribed to the warm water. 
Its character as a diuretic is better known. Matthiolus 
•tells us, that the exprefled juice, fweetened with fugar, 
had a very powerful effeft in this way: and Barbeirac in¬ 
forms us, that a decodion of this plant, and Uva urfi, 
was found of great ufe in clearing the urinary paflages of 
vifcid mucus, and fabulous concretions. Mr. Sole, of 
Bath, has obferved remarkably good eft'e&s from the juice 
of this herb in dropfical cafes, in which other diuretics 
had failed ; he converts the juice into a thin fyrup, and 
gives two table fpoonfuls thrice a-day. Tournefort, alfo, 
in his hiftory of plants about Paris, fays that the fyrup 
gives great relief in hydropic cafes. Dr. Stokes fays, he 
has been informed, that this herb, as well as Nitraria, con¬ 
tains a conliderable quantity of nitre; and that, in making 
an extract from it, the mafs has taken.fire. It is recom¬ 
mended by Bradley to be laid on corn in granaries, for 
the purpofe of driving away the weevil. 
3. Parietaria judaica, or bafil-leaf pellitory: leaves 
ovate, ftems ereCt, calyxes three-flowered, corollas male 
elongated-cylindrical. This differs from the former in 
having fhorter ftalks, and fmaller oval leaves. The flowers 
are alfo lefs, and in fmaller clufters. In other refpefts 
they are the fame. The little balls of flowers are on the 
branches, fcarcely any on the ftem. There are two male 
flowers, which are tubular, cylindrical, with the teeth of 
the mouth converging. The female flower between them 
is ovate. According to Gasrtner, there are two herma¬ 
phrodite flowers and one female flower within a fix-leaved 
mvolucre. The calyx when ripe is clofed, loofely em¬ 
bracing and concealing the feed. Receptacle none, except 
a very fmall tubercle at the bafe of the feed, by which it 
is connected with the bottom of the calyx, as by a pedicel. 
Seed ovate, narrowing upwards, comprefled like a lens, 
fmooth, fliining, dark, having a little white umbilical 
papilla at the bafe. Native of Switzerland, the South of 
France, Sicily, Germany about Gottingen, and of Pa- 
leftine. 
4. Parietaria Lufitanica, or chickweed-leaved pellitory : 
leaves ovate, obtufe; ftems filiform, ftriated, even, pro¬ 
cumbent. Boccone fays, that this differs from that of 
Tragus, and from the common fort of Matthiolus, only 
in the leaves, which are much fmaller, the form and fize 
ofchickweed : but Tournefort fays it is an annual plant, 
and the fame with his P. lufitanica, which he found in 
Portugal, near Lamego upon the Douro. Ray informs 
us, that in a fpecimen of the Portuguefe plant fliowm him 
by Sherard, the leaves were fhorter in proportion to their 
fize, and rounder than in the common fort. He found the 
Sicilian plants in feveral parts of Sicily ; but does not 
feem to have been aware that they were the fame. Boc¬ 
cone fays it is very common in that ifland. In the Kew 
Catalogue it is faid to be a native of Spain and Portugal, 
without any mention of Sicily ; to have been introduced 
in 1771, by Monf. Richard ; and to flower in July. 
5. Parietaria urtictefolia, or nettle-leaved pellitory: 
leaves ovate, oppofite, petioled, ferrate, veined, pubefcent; 
flowers axillary. This is a very branching plant, with 
fmall leaves, much refembling thofe of the nettle. Found 
by Monf. Thouin in the Ifle of Bourbon. 
6 . Parietaria Cretica, or Cretan pellitory: leaves 
fubovate ; fruiting involucres five-cleft, comprefled ; 
lateral fegments larger. Found originally by Tournefort, 
and afterwards by Dr. Sibthorp, on the rocks of Crete 
and Cimoli. Root fibrous, Ample at the upper part, 
round. Stems numerous, Very difFufe, a fpan long, 
branched, round, hairy, reddifh, leafy. Branches fhort, 
alternate. Leaves alternate, ftalked, ovate or roundifh, 
obtufe, entire, veiny, hairy, dark-green ; dotted with mi¬ 
nute tubercles on the upper fide. Flowers axillary, feflile, 
three together, the middle one female, 
Vol. XVIII. No. 1255. 
PAR 441 
7. Parietaria Capenfis, or Cape pellitory : leaves oppo¬ 
fite, ovate, ferrate 5 branches dift’ufed; flowers feflile. 
Found at the Cape of Good Hope by Thunberg. 
8. Parietaria debilis, or flender pellitory : leaves alter¬ 
nate, ovate, petioled, quite entire, fomewhat hairy; pe¬ 
duncles axillary, fubtriflorous ; ftem almoft upright. 
Native of New Zealand : difcovered by Forfter. 
9. Parietaria Cochinchinenfis, or Cochinchina pelli¬ 
tory : leaves ovate, three-nerved, hairy ; ftem cefpitofe, 
dift'ufed; flowers monoecous. Stem herbaceous, peren¬ 
nial, a foot and a half high, manifold, flender. Leaves 
acute, quite entire, fmall, oppofite, having fmaller ones 
mixed with them. Flowers axillary in whorls, in fmall 
clufters or balls, male and female together without any 
hermaphrodites. Seed roundifh, inclofed within the con¬ 
verging calyx. Native of China and Cochinchina. It 
attracts the worms that infeft falted fifti or fleffi; the na¬ 
tives hang the plant at the mouth of their calks, and the 
infeCts get into it of their own accord. It is alfo efteemed 
by them to be emollient, refrigerant, and diuretic. 
10. Parietaria arborea, or tree-pellitory : leaves elliptic, 
acuminate ; fomewhat triple-nerved ; ftem arboreous. 
This is an upright foft flirub, the height of a man. Root 
woody, branched, fibrous, rufefcent. Stem woody, up¬ 
right, round, the bark full of chinks, afh-coloured. 
Branches and branchlets alternate, fpreading, villofe, 
pithy. Shoots red, very villofe with hoary hairs. Leaves 
alternate, fpreading, entire, nerved; three-nerved above 
the bafe, veined : underneath villofe foft, above bright- 
green, from four to fix inches long, and from two to four 
inches wide. Flowers commonly three, cluttered, from 
the axil of each braCte, feflile; in the male yellow, in the 
female red, herbaceous. According to l’Heritier, the 
male and female flowers are on different plants. What 
he calls males are imperfeCt hermaphrodites. In thefe, 
he fays, the perianth is fix-parted; in the female, fix or 
feven leaved, or one-leafed cloven into fo many parts; 
the germ between two neCtaries, which are two roundifh- 
four-cornered bodies, very ftiortly acuminate, oppofite by 
the fide of the germ, and without obferving accurately 
might be taken for germs; and probably are fo, if we 
may conjecture from analogy. Native of the Canary 
Iflands, where it was found by Mafi'on. Introduced in 
1779. It flowers from February to May ; l’Heritier fays, 
in autumn or early in fpring ; that the male flowered at 
Kew, and the female at Paris. He firft made it an Urtica, 
but afterwards removed it into this genus. 
Propagation and Culture. The common European pel- 
litories may be propagated in plenty from the feeds. If 
thefe be permitted to fcatter, they will fill the ground 
with young plants. They are difficult to colleCt, being 
thrown out of their covers as foon as ripe. Having little 
beauty, thefe plants are feldom cultivated. The tree- 
pellitory may be increafed by cuttings, and muff: have the 
protection of the greenhoufe: as muft alfo the feventh. 
The firft, fifth, eight, and ninth, muft be kept in the ftove. 
See Dorstenia, Melampyrum, and Urtica. 
PARIETA'RIZE AFFI'NIS. See Thelygonium. 
PARIE'TES, J'. [from paries, Lat. a wall.] A term 
ufed in anatomy for the enclofures or membranes that 
flop up or clofe the hollow parts of the body ; efpecially 
thofe of the heart, thorax, abdomen, See. —The parietes 
of the two ventricles of the heart are of unequal ftrength 
and thicknefs ; the left exceeding the right, becaufe of its 
office, which is to force the blood through all parts of the 
body ; whereas the right only drives it through the lungs. 
Chambers. 
PARI'ETINE, f. A piece of a wall; a fragment.— 
We have many ruins of fuch baths found in this ifland, 
amongft thofe parietines and rubbifli of old Roman towns. 
Burton's Anat. of Mel. 
PARIGNE' L’EVE'QUE, a town of France, in the 
department of the Sarte: nine miles fouth-eaft of Le 
Mans. 
5 U PAR ILIUM* 
