PER 
PERIC'ULOUS, atlj. [periculofus, Lat.] Dangerous; 
jeopardous; hazardous. -A word not in ufe.—As the 
moon every feventh day arriveth unto a contrary fign, 
To Saturn, which remaineth about as many years in one 
fign, and holdeth the fame confideration in years as the 
moon in days, doth caufe thefe pericnlous periods. Brown. 
PERID'IUM, f. in botany, a term introduced by Per- 
foon, for the round membranous dry cafe of the feeds, 
in fome of his firlt fedtion of Fungi, the Angiocarpi, 
which bear their feeds internally, and not throughout the 
furface of an expanded membrane called hymenium. 
The various kinds of Lycoperdm, or puff-ball, and its al¬ 
lies, afford good examples of a peridium. 
PF.R'IDROME, f. [from the Gr. nepi, about, and i 5 po- 
poi, a courfe.] In architedlure, the gallery ; the alley or 
ipace between the columns and the wall. The fame word 
is ufed by the old Greek writers to exprefs the extreme 
edge of the hairs of the head, when hanging down in 
their natural form.- 
PERIEGE'TES, f [from the Gr. vspi, about, and 
yytopai, to lead.] One who condu&s another about any 
place in order to fhow it him. It is applied in antiquity 
to geographers ; efpecially to thofe who defcribed the fea- 
coafts: thus Dionyfius is ftyled Periegetes, for publifhing 
a geography in hexameter verfes, which Euftathius has 
commented on.—The name periegetes was alfo given to 
thofe who conduced Grangers about in cities, to fhow 
them the antiquities, monuments, curiofities, &c. thereof. 
Chambers. 
PER'IERGY, f. [from the Gr. wtpi, about, and ipydv, 
a work.] Needlcfs caution in an operation ; unnecelfary 
care and diligence. 
PER'IERS, a town of France, in the department of 
the Channel: eight miles north of Coutances. 
PER'IERS (Bonaventure des), a French w'riter, was 
born at Arnai-le-Duc, in Burgundy. In 1536 he be¬ 
came valet-de-charnbre to Margaret of Valois, filler of 
Francis I. He publilhed feveral tranflations, and other 
pieces, in verfe and profe; but is chiefly noted for his 
work entitled “Cymbalum Mundi,” written firlt in 
Latin, and tranflated by himfelf into French under a fic- 
titiousname; firlt printed at Paris, in 1537, by Morin, 
who was imprifoned on its account. This work, con¬ 
cerning which much has been written, confills of four 
dialogues in the Lucianic llyle, ridiculing the follies and 
falfe opinions of mankind. It has been charged with 
grofs impiety, upon the fuppolition that, under the ap¬ 
pearance of laughing at the heathen theology, it meant 
to nialk an attack upon the Chriltian mylleries, and reli¬ 
gion in general. Others, however, have found in it more 
folly and extravagance than impiety. It was cenfured 
by the. theologians of Paris, and ever after paffed as a 
prohibited or fcandalous book ; on which account it be¬ 
came very rare, and much fought after by the curious. 
New editions of it were publilhed in the laft century. It 
is affirmed that the author made an unhappy end, by fall¬ 
ing on his fword in a fit of defpair. Bayle. 
PERIGE'E, or Perige'um, f . [from the Gr. ittpi , 
about, and yn, the earth.] That point in the heavens, 
wherein a planet is faid to be in its nearelt diltance poffi- 
ble from the earth.—The fun in his apogee isdiftant from 
the centre of the earth 1550 fetnidiameters of the earth, 
but in his perigee 1446; the difference about 1,404,000 
miles. Move's Song of the Soul .— By the proportion of 
its motion, it was at the creation at the beginning of 
Aries, and the perigeum or nearelt point in Libra. 
Brown's Vulg. Err. 
PERIGNAC', a town of France, in the department 
of the Lower Charente: ten miles fouth-eaft of Saintes. 
PERIGO'NIUM, f. in botany, a more recent term than 
Periclicetium, invented by Linnasus for the fame part in 
modes, the fcaly leaves in veiling the flowers. It is de¬ 
rived from the Gr. trepi, about, and yovy, generation ; and, 
being common to the flowers of thole plants in general, 
whether male or female, united or feparated, the author 
iVoL.XIX. No. 1330. 
PER 619 
judged it more proper than a word which literally ap- 
plied only to the leaves that furround the fruit-llalk, 
There is however no end of thus changing terms, when 
once generally eltablilhed; and the inconveniences of 
fucli a meafure greatly counterbalance any poffibie ad¬ 
vantages. This improved denomination conveys no 
new idea, nor additional information, but rather lefs ; 
for it is, in its meaning, ambiguous, as applicable to 
both calyx and corolla; whereas thefe plants pofl'efs a 
diftinfl and peculiar corolla in their calyptra, which is 
equally a periganium, as encompaffing the flower during 
“impregnation,” but not a periclicetium, becaufe it is 
removed upwards, as foon as the fruit-llalk, or “ bridle,” 
is formed. Periclicetium therefore, as an appropriate ap¬ 
pellation for the calyx, and for the calyx only, is prefer¬ 
able, in our opinion, to Perigonium. 
PERIGO'RD, before the revolution, a province of 
France; now the department of the Dordogne. 
PERIGORD STO'NE. See Magnesium petracorius, 
vol. xiv. p. iog. 
PER'IGRAPHE, f . [from the Gr. wspi, about, and 
ypoityu, to write.] A word ufually underllood to exprefs 
a carelefs or inaccurate delineation of any thing. In 
Vefalius it is ufed to exprefs the white lines or impreffions 
that appear on the mufculus reflus of the abdomen. 
PERIGUEU'X, a city of France, and capital of the 
department of the Dordogne, on the Ille ; before the 
revolution, the capital of Perigord, the fee of a bilhop, 
and refidence of a governor. Here are fome remains of 
Roman antiquities, as an amphitheatre, a temple of Ve¬ 
nus, See. This town is famous for its partridge-pies, 
which are fent all over Europe. The number of inha¬ 
bitants is about 6000. It is 153 polls north-eall of Bour- 
deaux, and 58J fouth-fouth-well of Paris. Lat. 45.11. 
N. Ion. o. 47. E. 
PERIHE'LIUM, f. [from the Gr. ^rtpi, about, and 
riXioq, the fun.] That point of a planet’s orbit, wherein it 
is nearelt the fun.—Sir Ifaac Newton has made it probable, 
that the comet which appeared in 1680, by approaching 
to the fun in its perihelium, acquired fuch a degree of 
heat, as to be 50,000 years a-cooling. Cheyne's Philof. 
Principles. 
PERI'jA, a town of South America, in the govern¬ 
ment of Caraccas: eighty miles fouth-welt of Mara- 
caybo. 
PER'IL, f. [Fr. perihel, Dutch; periculum, Lat.] 
Danger; hazard ; jeopardy.—Strong, healthy,and young, 
people are more in peril by peftilential fevers, than the 
weak and old. Arbuthnot. 
How many perils do infold 
The righteous man, to make him daily fall! Spehfer. 
Denunciation ; danger denounced : 
I told her, 
On your difpleafure’s peril, 
She Ihould not vifit you. Shakefpeare's Wait. Tale. 
To PER'IL, v.n. [ periller, old Fr.] To be in danger. 
—From the mixture of any ungenerous and unbefeem- 
ing motion, or any foil, wherewith it may peril to llain 
itlelf. Milton of Ch. Gov. 
PERIL'LA, f. [derivation unknown.] In botany, a 
genus of the clafs didynamia, order gymnofpermia, na¬ 
tural order of verticillatas, (labiatse, Jujf.) Generic cha¬ 
racters—Calyx: perianthiuin one-leated, upright, half 
five-cleft: fegments equal, the uppermoll very ffiort; per¬ 
manent. Corolla : one-petalled, irregular, four-cleft: 
upper fegment emarginate, lateral ones fpreading, lowell 
longer, blunt. Stamina : filaments four, fimple, diftant, 
Ihorter than the corolla; antheras bifid. Piftillurn: ger- 
mens four. Styles two, filiform, connected, the length 
of the ftamens; ftigmas fimple. Pericafpium: calyx 
unchanged. Seeds four. — Ejfential Character. Calyx, 
uppermoll fegment very Ihort; (lamina diftant; ftyies 
two, connected. 
7 T 
Perilia 
