PEL 
512 
PE'LIAS, in fabulous hiftory, twin-brother of Neleus, 
was fon of Neptune by Tyro, daughter of Salmoneus. 
His birth was concealed by his mother, who wilhed her 
father to be ignorant of her incontinence. He was ex- 
pofed in the woods, but his life was preferved by (hep- 
herds ; and he received the name of Pelias, from a fpot 
of the colour of lead in his face. Some time after, Tyro 
married Cretheus, fon of Aiolus king of Iolchos, 
and became mother of three children, of whom Aifon 
was the eldeft. Pelias vifited his mother, and was re¬ 
ceived in her family ; and, after the death of Cretheus, he 
unjuftly feized the kingdom, which belonged not to him, 
but to the children of Tyro by the deceafed king. To 
ftrengthen himfelfin his ufurpation, Pelias confulted the 
oracle 5 and, when he was told to beware of one of the 
defendants of Aiolus, who (hould come to his court 
with one foot (hod and the other bare, he privately re¬ 
moved the fon of Aifon, after he had openly declared 
that he was dead. Thefe precautions proved vain. Ja- 
fon, the fon of AIfon, who had been educated by Chiron, 
returned to Iolchos, when come to years of maturity} 
and, having loft one of his (hoes in crofting the river 
Anaurus or the Evenus, Pelias immediately perceived 
that this was the perfon whom he had fo much dreaded. 
But his aftoniftiment was greatly excited, when he faw 
Jafon arrive at his palace, with his friends and his rela¬ 
tions, and boldly demand the kingdom. Pelias, con- 
fcious that his complaints were well founded, endeavoured 
to divert his attention, and told him, that he would vo¬ 
luntarily refign the crown to him, if he went to Colchis to 
avenge the death of Phryxus, the fon of Athamas, whom 
Aseres had cruelly murdered. This, fo warmly recommen- 
ded,waswith equal warmth accepted by the young hero, and 
his intended expedition was made known all over Greece. 
While Jafon was abfent in the Argonautic expedition, 
Pelias murdered AJfon and all his family; but, accord¬ 
ing to the more received opinion of Ovid, Asfon was (till 
living when the Argonauts returned, and he was reftored 
to the flower of youth by the magic of Medea. This 
change in the vigour and the conftitution of Aifon afto- 
ni(hed all the inhabitants of Iolchos; and the daughters 
of Pelias, who have received the patronymic of Peliades, 
exprefled their defire to fee their father’s infirmities vanilh 
by the fame powerful magic. Medea, who wiflied to 
avenge the injuries which her hulband Jafon had re¬ 
ceived from Pelias, raifed the defires of the Peliades, 
by cutting an old ram to pieces, and boiling the flefti 
in a cauldron, and then turning it into a fine young 
lamb. After they had feen this fuccefsful experiment, 
the Peliades cut their father’s body to pieces, after they 
had drawn all the blood from his veins, on theafl'urance 
that Medea would repleniftt them by her wonderful 
power. The limbs were immediately put into a caul¬ 
dron of boiling water ; but Medea fuffered the flefti to 
be totally conlumed, and refufed to give the promifed 
afliftance; and the bones of Pelias did not even receive a 
burial. 
PEL'ICAN,/. [vreXsxav, Gr. pelicanus, low Lat. peli¬ 
can, Fr.] A large bird. See PelecaNus.— There are 
two forts of pelicans ; one lives upon the water and feeds 
upon fifli; the other keeps in deferts, and feeds upon fer- 
pents and other reptiles: the pelican has a peculiar ten- 
dernefs for its young; it generally places its neftupon a 
craggy rock 3 the pelican is fuppofed to admit its young 
to fuck blood from its bread. Calmet. —The pelican hath 
a beak broad and flat, like the (lice of apothecaries. 
Hahewill on Providence. 
Should difcarded fathers 
Have this little mercy on their flefti; 
’Twas this flefti begot t\\ok pelican daughters. Shakefp 
A glafs veflel ufed by chemifts: written alfo pellicane, 
and pelecan. 
Retorts, receivers, pellicanes, bolt-heads, 
All (truck in (hivers! B. Jonfon's Alchemijl. 
PEL 
An ancient piece of artillery which carried a fix-pound 
weight of ball, and weighed two thoufand four hundred 
pounds. 
PEL'ICAN I'SLAND, a finall ifland near the north- 
eaft coaft of Antigua. Lat. 17. 14. N. Ion. 61. 24. W.— 
A fmall ifland near the fouth-weft coaft of Antigua. 
Lat. 17. 10. N. Ion. 61. 35. W. 
PEL'ICAN I'SLAND, a fmall ifland near the fouth 
coaft of New Florida. Lat. 30. 14.. N. Ion. 88. 6. W. 
PEL'ICAN I'SLANDS, a clufterof fmall iftands, near 
the coaft of Weft Florida. Lat. 29. 48. N. Ion. 88. 
55- W. 
PEL'ICAN KEY (Great and Little), fmall iftands 
near the fouth coaft of Jamaica. Lat. 17. 49. N. Ion. 76. 
48. W. 
PEL'ICAN ROC'KS, rocks on the north-weft coaft of 
Antigua. 
PEL'ICAN SHO'ALS, fmall fand-banks on the fouth- 
weft coaft of Barbadoes. 
PELICA'RE, a town of Cochin : fifty miles eaft of 
Cochin. 
PELICA'RO, a town of Naples, in the Bafilicata, at 
the mouth of a river, which runs into the Adriatic : ten 
miles eaft-north-eaft of Turfi. 
PELICOI'DES, /. [from the Gr. vceXiyv;, a hatchet r 
and HiSo;, a fhape.] A geometrical figure fo called on ac¬ 
count of its refemblance to a hatchet. 
PELICON'DA, a town of Hindooftan, in thecircar of 
Cicacole : twenty-five miles north-weft of Cicacole. 
PELI'DES, a patronymic of Achilles and of Pyrrhus, 
as being defcended from Peleus. 
PEL'IGNI, a people of Italy, who dwelt near the Sa¬ 
bines and Marfi, and had Corfinium and Sulmofor their 
chief towns. The mod expert magicians were among the 
Peligni, according to Horace. 
PELIJAR'VI, a town of Sweden, in the government 
of Kuopio: joo miles fouth-eaft of Kuopio. 
PELIKA'NI, a town of Lithuania, in the palatinate 
of Wilna: fixteen miles fouth-fouth-weft of Braflaw. 
PE'LIM, a town of Ruflia, in the government of To- 
bolfk, on a lake of the fame name : feventy-two miles 
north of Turinlk. 
PE'LIM, a lake of Ruflia, in the government of To- 
bollk, about fifty-fix miles in circumference. Lat. 59.20. 
N. Ion. 63. 50. E. 
PE'LIM, a river of Ruflia, In the government of To- 
bol(k, which runs into a lake of the fame name. 
PE'LING, an ifland near the coaft of Corea, in the 
Hoang-Hai, or Yellow Sea : ten miles long, and four 
broad. Lat. 38. 24. N. Ion. 124. 28. E. 
PE'LING, a fmall ifland in the Eaftern Indian Sea, 
near the eaft coaft of Celebes ; fifty miles long, and four¬ 
teen broad. Lat. 1.45. S. Ion. 123. 20. E. 
PE'LION (Mount), in ancient geography, a portion of 
that long chain of mountains which lay on the eaftern 
coaft of Theflaly, and which extended from the pe- 
ninfula, inclofing towards the fouth the greateft part 
of the country called Magnefia, as far as the moun¬ 
tains that feparated it from Macedonia. The portion 
which bore the name of Pelion commenced at the fum- 
mit of Rhifus, and reached almoft from the fea in advan¬ 
cing towards the north-weft. In a kind of angle which 
this mountain formed in its return towards the eaft at the 
bottom of the mountain flowed the fmall river Amyrus. 
The coaft, in the direction of the mountain, formed in 
this place a fmall gulf, in which was Melibcea. From 
Meliboea, to the right bank of the mouth of the Peneus, 
the chain of mountains, which approached very near to 
the fea, was called Ofla. On the other fide of the Pe¬ 
neus, in afcending towards the north, it formed two 
chains of mountains, one of which took the courfe of 
the fea very exaflly, and the other inclined a little from 
the fouth-eaft to the north-weft. Thefe two mountains 
were connedted with the mountains which feparated 
Theflaly from Macedonia. They were thofe two chains 
