PAR 
points of the Mount of Olives, (fee Meru,) the higheft 
of which was fet apart for the worfhip of Aftaroth,” &c. 
(voh ii. p. 578.) denoting ftrongly the Hindoo fuperftition 
having been anciently prevalent there. The pyramids of 
Egypt, Stonehenge in England, and many other anti¬ 
quities now remote from its fcenes, are referred, and with 
plaufible arguments, to the fame polytheiftic fource. 
It is curious to fee, in Dr. Clarke’s plate delineating 
“ the facred pictures in ufe among the Kalmuck tribes,” 
exaCt reprefentations of Hindoo deities. In the figure 
that he properly ftyles, “Diva Triformis, Luna, Diana, 
and Hecate,” we recognize, unequivocally, the Hindoo 
Parvati, in one of thofe many forms in which fhe is ge¬ 
nerally termed Devi, or the Goddefs. Devi Tri Sakti, 
or “ with three forms,” or powers, is one of her names. 
In Dr. Clarke’s plate, fhe has her own myftical hiero¬ 
glyphic, a type of the Yoni, on the forehead ; collars, of 
fkulls perhaps, round and pendent on her neck and 
belly; aglory, or nimbus, round her head; fix-handed, 
holding a bow and arrow, the trifula or trident of Siva ; 
a cone, or linga; the chakra, or difcus of Vifhnu; his 
club; the lotos, the cord, or pafha, of Devi, before re¬ 
ferred to; and the Kalmuck divinity fits in one of De¬ 
vi’s commoneft pofitions, on a lotos-throne. Such a fub- 
je£l we Ihould have expedited to find in the Hindoo Pan¬ 
theon, rather than in Ruffian travels. A reprefentation 
is likewife given of “Ofiris or Bacchus of the Kalmucks.” 
This is alfo a Hindoo fubjeCt; but, being only two- 
handed, there is not much fcope for attributes; it has 
the diftinguiffiing forehead-mark, attitude, countenance, 
and character, of the Hindoo fchool. The next, “Hy¬ 
perion or Phoebus of the Kalmucks,” is a barbarous re¬ 
prefentation of Krifhna, with the ferpent Kaliya, and 
other Hindoo attributes. The “ Terpfichore of the Kal¬ 
mucks playing on the Balalaikas,” is Sarafwati with her 
Vina; (fee the article Music, vol. xvi. p. 381.) Dr. 
Clarke does not fay where he obtained thefe fubjeCts, nor 
in what degree they are honoured; but we fee no reafon 
to doubt their genuinenefs. They have found their way 
into Afiatic Tartary, through China probably; and would 
lead us to infer that the Kalmucks have, or have had, 
fome Hindoo fuperftitions among them. Their name is 
eafily traceable to the fame fource. KaT-mu-ki is pure 
Sanfcrit, and means “ black-faced,” or “ with the coun¬ 
tenance of Kal;” a name that is applicable to Parvati in 
fome of hercharadters ; although we do not recoiled! any 
fpecific authority for giving her that appellation. 
In her character of Parvati, fhe is ufually feen in pic¬ 
tures in company with her fpoufe ; and is reprefented as 
of perfeCt beauty, fplendidly dreffed and decorated; 
fometimes fitting on his knee, or on a carpet befide him, 
or on a tiger’s or elephant’s fkin, prefenting him amrita 
(ambrolia) in a golden goblet. Sometimes fhe is mounted 
with him on a white bull, with theirreputed fons Karti- 
kya and Pollear. 
Under her various forms and charadfers fhe is varioufly 
armed and arrayed. Sometimes fhe has four, eight, 
twelve, fixteen, and as far as thirty-two, arms. In the 
plates of the Hindoo Pantheon, fhe is reprefented upwards 
of fourfcore times, in varied form and character; and 
legends are faid to be found in the theogonical and my¬ 
thological writings of the Hindoos, detailing her origin 
and achievements in each. In fome plates of the work 
juft alluded to, fhe is reprefented, from original fubjeCts, 
pre-eminently placed as the fupreme objeCt of adoration; 
the chief of the gods, even the three perfons of the 
Hindoo triad being among her votaries. Such pictures 
and fculptures may be afcribed to thefeCts who adore her 
exclufively as Nature. 
The feCtaries of this goddefs, who, under different 
names, and adoring her under different forms, are nu¬ 
merous, have various fymbolical marks by which they 
are diftinguifhed. Generally fpeaking,perpendicularlines 
on the forehead diftinguifh the Saivas from the Vaifhnavas, 
the latter having them horizontal. See the Engraving at p, 
Voz. XVIII. No. 1277. 
PAR 721 
tit of the article Hindoostan, vol. x. and farther par¬ 
ticulars under the fame article, p. 115-130. 
PARVE'TI MON'S, in ancient geography, a chain of 
mountains defcribed by Ptolemy, correfponding to the 
heights of Suhmandroog, lying louth-eaft of Candahar, 
and being the fouthern boundary of the province of 
Paropamifus. 
PAR'VICII, a fmall ifland in the Adriatic, near the 
coaft of Dalmatia; fertile in grapes, olives, and mul¬ 
berries. 
PAR'VIS,/. [French. Menage derives the word from 
the Lat. paradijiis, changing d into v; and fhows abun¬ 
dantly that paradijiis was ufed fora place or portico be¬ 
fore a church.] A church-porch : applied to the moot¬ 
ings or law difputes among young ftudentsin the inns of 
courts, and alfo to that difputation at Oxford called 
dij'putatio in parvifiis. A fquare kind of court before ca¬ 
thedrals, furrounded with piazzas. The parvis, or place 
of difputation in London, is fuppofed by Dugdale to have 
been called the pervyfe of Paivles. —In the year 1300, 
children were taught to fing and read in the parvis of St. 
Martin’s church at Norwich. Warton's Hijl. E. P. 
A fergeant of the lawe, ware and wife, 
That often hadde yben at the parvife. Chaucer. 
PAR'VITUDE, f. [from parvus, Lat.] Littlenefs ; 
Minutenefs. Not ufed. —The little ones of parvitude can¬ 
not reach to the fame floor with them. Glanville. 
PAR'VITY,/. [from parvus, Lat.] Littlenefs ; minute- 
nefs. Not ufed. —What are thefe for finenefs and parvity 
to thofe minute animalcula difeovered in pepper-water. 
It ay. 
PA'RULIS, f. [from the Gr. and x\ov, the 
gums.] An inflammation, orabfeefs, of the gums; a gum¬ 
boil. 
PARU'R, a town of Hindooftan, in Cochin .• ten 
miles eaft-fouth-eaft of Cranganore. 
PA'RUS,/. the Titmouse, or Tom-tit; in orni¬ 
thology, a genus of the order pafferes. Generic charac¬ 
ters—Bill entire, narrow, fomewhat compreffed, ftout, 
hard, ffiarpened, and befet at the bafe with bridles ; nof- 
trils in raoft of the fpecies bare; tongue truncate, but 
fplit at the end into four diftinCt filaments; the toes are 
divided quite to their origin, the hind one large and 
ftrong. 
Thefe birds are found in almoft every part of the old 
world, from the north of Europe to the fouth of India; 
and, of courfe, were known to the ancients. In Greek 
the titmoufe is named aiyiOaAo?; in old Latin, parra ; in 
modern Latin, pants, parix, mefanga. In Italy it is 
called parula ; and in fome diftriCts parizola, patafeio, See. 
in France, mefdnge; in Savoy, mayenclie; in Germany', 
mayjs, meyfslin; the Englifh, titmoufe, has the fame de¬ 
rivation, and probably, as Ray conjectures, alludes to 
the birds neftling in holes of trees, or walls, like mice. 
The birds of this genus appear feeble, becaufe they are 
fmall: but they are lively, aCtive, and bold ; they are 
perpetually in motion; they flutter from tree to tree; 
they hop from branch to branch ; they creep along the 
bark ; they climb the fides of walls ; (this Vaillant ab- 
folutely contradicts;) they fufpend themfelves in all 
fituations, often with their head downwards, in order to 
fearch every little cranny, and pick out the worms, the 
infeCts, or their , eggs. They alfo feed on feeds; but, 
inftead of breaking thefe in their bill, like the linnets 
and the goldfinches, almoft all the titmice hold them under 
their little claws and peck them ; they alfo pierce nuts, 
walnuts, See. If a nut be fufpended at the end ofa thread, 
they will cling to it, follow the ofcillations, and without 
quitting their hold they will continue to peck it. It has 
been obferved that the mufcles of their neck are very 
ftrong, and thofe of the head thick, which accounts in 
part for their manoeuvres: their other motions imply 
great force in the mufcles of the legs and toes. 
Molt of the European titmice occur in our climate; 
8 X but 
