G24 PER 
namicus, who rivalled Erafmus in elegant Latinity: Ma- 
joragius of Milan; Sepulveda of Cordova; Peter ViClor 
of Florence; Zabaralla of Padua; Strozza of Florence; 
Ctefalpinus, an Italian; and Csefar Cremoninus of Mo¬ 
dena. 
Among the Proteftants, efpecinlly in Germany, we find 
in their public fchools many learned men who w'ere fol¬ 
lowers of Ariftotle. At the commencement of the re¬ 
formation, indeed, both the fcholaftic philofophy and 
the dogmas of Ariftotle were rejefted with great indig¬ 
nation, particularly by Martin Luther. But afterwards, 
when men of the founded judgment and beft erudition 
perceived the value of philofophy as a guard againft fa- 
naticifm, much labour was devoted to the promotion of 
learning, and to the encouragement of a love of fcience. 
The firft place in this clafs of reformers is unqueftionably 
due to Philip Melanchthon. At Leipfic, Simon Simon 
of Lucca was diftinguifhed ; in the academy at Tubingen 
flourifhed Jacobus Schegkius; and in that of Altdorf, 
Philip Scherbius, whofe contemporary, of the fame fchool, 
was Nicholas Taurullus. To thefe we may add Erneftus 
Sonerus, a native of Nuremberg, and Hermannus Con- 
ringius, one of the moll illuftrious ornaments of the 
Germanic fchools; and alfo Chriftianus Drierus, a native 
of Stettin in Pomerania; Melchior Zeidler of the fame 
place; and Jacobus Thomafius of Leipfic, chiefly memo¬ 
rable as the preceptor of the illuftrious Leibnitz. 
The general prepoiTeffion in favour of the Ariftotelian 
fyftem, which from a variety of caufes, fome of which 
have been enumerated, prevailed for feveral centuries 
after the revival of letters, was attended with much in¬ 
convenience and mifchief. Opinions were imbibed from 
the Peripatetic philofophy, wholly inconfiftent with the 
principles of true religion ; fuch as, for example “ that 
God, the firft mover, wholly intent upon the contempla¬ 
tion of his own intellefl, difregards the affairs of the 
world; that the Intelligence, which prefides over the 
lower fphere, is the univerfal foul of the world, of which 
all men partake; and confequently, that the foul of man 
has no diftinft exiftence, and will no longer fubfift as 
fuch than whilft the body continues to live.” In con- 
fequence of thefe and fimilar tenets, infidelity prevailed ; 
and the minds of the multitude, both ecclefiaftics and 
laity, were deeply tinftured with atheifm; and this fatal 
relaxation of principle produced an uncommon depravity 
of manners. In order to reftrain this evil, the fathers of 
the Lajeran council iflued a bull, in 1510, againft the 
Ariftotelian corruptions ; but the Peripatetics ridiculed 
this idle fulmination. The Stagirite having, for many 
centuries, poffeffed authority in the fchools little inferior 
to that of Jefus Chrift in the church, and his dogmas 
being intimately interwoven with thofe of religion, it 
was thought exceedingly hazardous to whifper any thing 
to the difcredit of his philofophy. This reverence for 
Ariftotle was fupported, in popifh univerfities, by fta- 
tutes which required the profeffors to promife upon 
oath, that in their public leffures on philofophy they 
would follow no other guide. Among Proteftants, the 
errors and corruption of the Peripatetic philofophy met 
with oppofition ; but it was attended with little fuccefs. 
Several eminent men ventured to inveigh againft Arifto¬ 
tle himfelf, as the author of many pernicious errors. 
But, Hill, his fyftem, for the moft part, retained its autho¬ 
rity ; and even thofe who forfook this mailer, thought it 
neceflary to make choice of fome other ancient guide ; 
fo that, after all, the queftion was, what Ariftotle, Plato, 
or Pythagoras, had taught, rather than what was truth. 
The Peripatetic fyftem, after having prevailed with 
very great and very extenfive dominion for many centuries, 
began rapidly to decline towards the clofe of the feven- 
teenth century, when the dicipies of Ramus attacked it 
on the one hand, and it had ftiil more formidable adver- 
faries to encounter in Des Cartes, Gaflendi, and Newton. 
Brucker's Hijl. Phil, by Enfield. Mtfiieitn's Eccl. Hijl. 
PERIPATETIC, or Peripatetical, adj. Belonging 
P E R 
to the Peripatetics; denoting the Peripatetics.—Peregri¬ 
nation may be not improperly called a moving academy, 
or the true peripatetic fchool. Howell's InfiruSl. for Trav. 
—With thofe of the peripatetic fchool, he allows that 
ideas are imprefled upon the mind from fenfible objefts. 
Norris's Reflect, on Locke. 
PERIPATETIC ISM, f . The notions of the Peripa¬ 
tetics.—No man will difpute whether that be genuine pe- 
ripateticifm, which is plainly read in the writings of Arif¬ 
totle. Barrow of the Creed. 
PERIPA'TGN, f . in antiquity, the name of that walk 
in the Lyceum where Ariftotle taught, and whence the 
name of Peripatetics given to his followers. 
PERIPE'TIA, f. [from the Gr. wsgiTrshs, fomething 
falling into a different (late; of vrspt, about, and mnlu, 
to fall.] That part of a tragedy in which the aClion is 
turned, the plot unravelled, and the whole concludes. 
PERIPH'ERY, /’. [from the Gr. wepi, about, and 
I bear, or carry.] The circumference or bounding-line of 
a circle, ellipfis, parabola, or other regular curvilinear 
figure. The periphery of every circle is fuppofed to be 
divided into three hundred and fixty degrees; which are 
again fubdivided, each into fixty minutes, the minutes 
into feconds, &c. The divifion of degrees, therefore, 
are fractions, whofe denominators proceed in a fexage- 
cuple ratio; as, the minute fecond third 
2 1 eoov But, thefe denominators being troublefome, in 
their Head are ufed the indices of their logarithms; lienee 
the degree, being the integer, or unit, is marked by °, 
the minute by ', fecond by ", &c.—Neither is this foie 
vital faculty fufficient to exterminate noxious humours 
to the periphery or outward parts. Harvey. 
The firft periferie of all 
Engendreth mift, and overtnore 
The dewes, and the froftes hore. Gower's Conf. Am. 
PER'IPHRASE, or Periph'rasis, f . [from the Gr. 
WEpi, about, and (ppasc-i?, a fpeech.] Circumlocution; ufe 
of many words to exprefs thefenfe of one : as, for death, 
we may fay, the lofs of life. —The periphrafes and circum¬ 
locutions, by which Homer exprefles the Angle a£l of 
dying, have fupplied fucceeding poets with all their man¬ 
ners of phrafing it. Pope. —They fliow their learning ufe- 
lefsly, and make a long periphrajis on every word of the 
book they explain. Watts. —They make the gates of 
Thebes and the mouths of this river a conftant peri- 
plirajis for this number feven. Brown. 
She contains all blifs, 
And makes the world but her periphrajis. Cleavelaiul. 
To PER'IPHRASE, v. a. To exprefs one word by 
many ; to exprefs by circumlocution. 
PERIPHRAS'TICAL, adj. Circumlocutory; expref- 
fing the fenfe of one word in many. 
PERIPHRAS'TICALLY, adv. With circumlocution. 
—Dr. Grainger, having become fenfible that introducing 
rats in a grave poem might be liable to banter, could nor, 
however, bring himfelf to relinquifh the idea ; for they 
are thus, in a ltill more ludicrous manner, periphrajlically 
exhibited in his poem [the Sugar-Cane] as it now (lands. 
Bofwell's Life of Joknfon. 
PERIP'LOCA, /. [an old name adopted by Tourne- 
fort and Linnaeus, derived from the Gr. wspt, about, and 
wAokjj, binding, or twining; alluding to the long trailing 
Items and branches, which twine about each other to a 
great extent.] In botany, a genus of the clafs pentan- 
dria, order digynia, natural order of contortae, (apocineas, 
Jujf.) Generic characters—Calyx : perianthium five- 
cleft, very final I, fegments ovate ; permanent. Corolla: 
one-petalled, wheel-fhaped, five-parted : fegments oblong, 
linear, truncated, e margin ate. Neftary very final!, five- 
cleft, furrounding the genitals, putting out five threads, 
curved inwards, fhorter than the corolla, and alternate 
with it. Stamina s filaments fhort, curved inwards, con¬ 
verging, villofe. Anthers: twin, acuminate, converging 
1 over 
