P E B 
445 
Pebbles are diftinguiflied from the flints and homo- 
chroa, by their having a variety of colours. They are 
defined to be ftones, compofed of a cryftalline matter, de- 
bafed by earths of various kinds in the fame fpecies, and 
then fubjeft to veins, clouds, and other variegations 5 
ufually formed by incruftations round a central nucleus, 
but fometimes the effeft of a Ample concretion, and veined 
like the agates, by the difpofition which the motion of 
the fluid they were formed in gave their differently-co¬ 
loured fubllances. 
The variety of pebbles, of England alone, is fo great, 
that a hafty defcriber would be apt to make almoft as 
many fpecies as he faw fpecimens. A careful examination 
will teach us, however, to diftingulfh them into a certain 
number of efl'entially different fpecies, to which all the 
reft may be referred, as accidental variations. When we 
find the fame fubftances and the fame colours, or thofe 
refulting from a mixture of the fame, fuch as nature fre¬ 
quently makes in a number of ftones, we dial! eafily be 
able to determine that thefe are all of the fame fpecies, 
though in different appearances 5 and that, whether the 
matter be difpofed in one or two, or in twenty, crufts laid 
regularly round a central nucleus, or thrown without a 
nucleus into irregular lines, or finally blended into a fort 
of uniform mafs. Thefe are the three ftates in which we 
are liable to find every fpecies of pebble ; for, if it hath 
been moft naturally and regularly formed by incruftation 
round a central nucleus, we find that ever the fame in 
the fame fpecies, and the crufts not lefs regular and cer¬ 
tain. If the whole has been more haftily formed, and has 
been the refult only of one fimple concretion, if that has 
happened while its different fubftances were all moift and 
thin, they have blended together and made a mixed mafs 
of the joint colour of them all; but if they have been 
fomething harder when this has happened, and too far 
concreted to diffufe wholly among one another, they are 
found thrown together into irregular veins. Thefe are 
the natural differences of all the pebbles. Hilts Hijl. 
Faff. p. 512. 
The term pebble-Jlone is applicable to a numerous clafs 
of rocks, &c. confiding of pebbles of various fixes and 
colours 5 which are irregularly connected together, either 
with or without an intermediate fubftance: and it is pre¬ 
fumed that the cemented particles are pebbles, or have 
acquired their rounded form by attrition, from their uni¬ 
form fmoothnefs. 
One of the moft drifting varieties of pebble-ftone very 
commonly occurs fcattered in large maffes over the coun¬ 
ty of Hereford. The whole appearance of the mafs has 
given rife to the term plum-pudding jlone in this coun¬ 
try 5 and the refemblance that gave rife to the term is fo 
remarkable, that it cannot fail to ftrike the mind upon 
the firft view. The term has been very generally adopted 
by foreign mineralogifts; who, however, commonly call 
it Amply pudding-Jlone, or Engli/k pudding-Jlone ; (pou- 
dinge, of Brochant; poudding Anglais, of Haiiy.) See 
Breccia filicena, under the article Mineralogy, vol. xv. 
P- 47 °> . 
The ufe of thefe ftones, and their difpofition in the 
earth, is a fubjeft of great admiration; and may ferve as 
one of the numerous proofs of an over-ruling Providence 
in the difpofition of all natural bodies. The furface of 
the earth is compofed of vegetable mould, made up of 
different earth mixed with the putrid remains of animal 
and vegetable bodies; and is of the proper texture and 
compages for conducting the moifture to the roots of 
trees and plants s and under this are laid the fands and 
pebbles which ferve as a fort of drain to carry off the re¬ 
dundant moifture deeper into the earth, where it may be 
ready to fupply the place of what is conftantly rifing in 
exhalations ; and left the ftrata of fand Ihould be too 
thick, it is, common to find thin ones of clay between, 
which ferve to put a flop to the defcent of the moifture, 
and keep it from palling off too foon ; and left thefe thin 
ftrata of clay Ihould yield and give way, and by their foft- 
nefs, when wetted, give leave to the particles of fand to 
PEC 
blend themfelves with, and even force their way through, 
them, there are found in many places thin coats of a poor 
iron-ore, placed regularly above and below the clay; and 
by that means not only ftrengthening and fupporting the 
clay, but effectually keeping the fand from making its 
way into it. Phil. Tranf. No. 483. 
PEB'BLE-CRYSTAL, f The cryftal, in form of no¬ 
dules, is found lodged in the earthy ftrata left in a train 
by the water departing at the conclufion of the deluge : 
this fort, called by the lapidaries pebble-cryjlal, is in dupe 
irregular. Woodward. 
PEB'BLED, adj. Sprinkled or abounding with pebbles 
-—This bank fair fpreading in a pebbled (hore, T/iomfon. 
PEB'BLY, adj. Full of pebbles.—We palled many 
rivers and rivulets, which commonly ran with a clear 
(hallow ftream over a hard pebbly bottom. Dr. Johnfon's 
Journ Weft. Ijlands. 
Strow’d bibulous above I fee the fands, 
The pebbly gravel next. T/iomfon. 
PEC (La), a town of France, in the department of 
Paris : ten miles weft of Paris. 
PECA'QUE (St.), a town of Mexico, in the province 
of Xalifca: forty-five miles north of Compoftella. 
Lat. 23. N. Ion. 101. 30 W. 
PECCABIL'ITY, f. [from peccable .] State of being 
fubjeft to fin.—Where the common peccability of man¬ 
kind is urged to induce commiferation towards the of¬ 
fenders; if this be of force in fin, where the concurrence 
of the will renders the perfon more inexcufable, it will 
furely hold much more in bare error, which is purely in¬ 
voluntary. Decay of Chr. Piety. 
PEC'CABLE, adj. [from pecco, Lat. to fin.] Liable to 
fin.—As creatures they are peccable. Waterhoufe on For- 
tefcue. —Both he and they were originally created pure 
and innocent, though fallible and peccable at the fame 
time. Berrow's LapJ’e of Hum. Souls. 
PECCADIL'LO, f. [Spanilh ; peccadille, French. 
This word had been introduced into our language long 
before the time of Dryden, from whofe writings Dr. 
John Ton’s earlieft example is cited. Todd.] A petty fault; 
a flight crime ; a venial offence..—We pay no Peter-pence; 
we run not to Rome-market to buy trafh. I hope his 
Holinefs difpenfeth with us for thefe peccadillos. Bp. 
Hall’s Hon. of the Mar. Clergy, 1620.— He means thofe 
little vices, which we call follies and the defeats of the 
human underftanding, or at moft the peccadillos of life, 
rather than the tragical vices to which men are hurried 
by their unruly paffions. Dryden. — ’Tis low ebb with his 
accufers, when fuch peccadilos as thefe are put in to fwell 
the charge. Atterbury. 
PECCATS, a town of France, in the department of 
the Gard, built for the defence of the falt-works in the 
neighbourhood : three miles fouth-eaft of Aigues Mortes. 
PECCAM'INOUS, adj. [ peccamen , Lat.] Full of fin. 
Cole. 
PEC'CANCY, f [from peccant.] Bad quality.—Apply 
refrigerants without any preceding evacuation, becaufe 
the difeafe took its original merely from the difaffe&ion 
of the part, and not from the peccancy of the humours. 
Wifeman. — Offence.—This diftorting of equivocal words, 
which pafleth commonly fora trivial peccancy, if it be well 
examined, will be found a very dangerous admiflion. W. 
Montague's Dev. EJf. 1648. 
PEC'CANT, adj. [Fr. from peccans, Lat.] Guilty ; 
criminal.—That fuch a peccant creature (liould difapprove 
and repent of every violation of the rules of juft and 
honeft, this right reafon could not but infer. South. 
From them I will not hide 
My judgements, how with mankind I proceed; 
As how with peccant angels late they faw. Milton. 
Ill difpofed ; corrupt ; bad ; offenfive to the body ; inju¬ 
rious to health. It is chiefly ufed in medical writers.— 
Such as have the bile peccant or deficient are relieved by 
hitters, which are a fort of fubfidiary gall. Arbuthnot. 
With 
