729 
PER 
ceif, which no perfon of tafte could relifii. In faff, how- 
ever, the cafe is very different. No fuel) ridiculous eft'edt 
is produced by perfonification when properly employed; 
on the contrary, it is found to be natural and agreeable, 
nor is any very uncommon degree of paflion required in 
order to make us relifh if. All poetry, even in its molt 
gentle and humble forms, abounds with it. From profe 
it is far from being excluded ; nay, even in common con- 
verfation, very frequent approaches are made to it. 
When we fay, the ground tldrjls for rain, or the earth 
J’miles with plenty; when we fpeak of ambition’s being 
reji/efs, or a difeal'e being deceitful; fuch expreflions fhow 
the facility with which the mind can accommodate the 
properties of living creatures to things that are inanimate, 
or to abftradl conceptions of its own forming. 
“ So ftrong is that impreflion of life which is made upon 
us by the more magnificent and ftriking objects of nature 
especially, that I doubt not in the lead of this having 
been one caufe of the multiplication of divinities in the 
heathen world. The belief of Dryads and Naiads, of the 
Genius of the Wood and the God of the River, among 
men of lively imaginations, in the early ages of the world, 
eafily arofe from this turn of mind. When theirfavour- 
ite rural objects had often been animated in their fancy, 
it was an eafy tranfition to attribute to them fome real 
divinity, fome unfeen pou’er or genius which inhabited 
them, or in fome peculiar manner belonged to them. 
Imagination was highly gratified, by thus gaining fome- 
what to reft upon with more liability; and, when belief 
coincided fo nfuch with imagination, very flight caufes 
would be fuffici'ent to eftablifli it. From this deduction 
may be eafily feen how it comes to pafs that perfonifica¬ 
tion makes fo great a figure in all compofitions where 
imagination or paflion have any concern.” 
To PERSON'IFY, v. a. To change from a thing to a 
perfon.—The poets take the liberty of pet jollifying inani¬ 
mate things. Ld. Chcjlerfeld. —The poets have perfonifted 
all the pafiions; and even made divinities of them, which 
were worfliipped by the heathens; as the goddefs Perfua- 
fion, the god Sleep, the Furies, Envy, and Difcord, and 
Fame, Fortune, Victory, &c. Chambers. 
To PER'SONIZE, v. a. To perfonify.—Milton has per - 
fonized them, and put them into the Court of Chaos. 
Richard fun's Notes on Milton. 
PERSOO'NIA, f. [fo named by fir J. E. Smith, M. D. 
prefident of the Linnean Society, in honour of his friend 
and correfpondent, Chriftian Henry Perfoon, author of 
many valuable - works on Fungi. He has alfo edited 
a Synopfis of the vegetable kingdom, on the plan of 
the Linnsean Syftema Vegetabilium.] In botany, a ge¬ 
nus ofthe clafs tetrandria,order monogynia, natural order 
proteaceae. Generic characters—Calyx : none, except a 
flight border. Corolla : petals four, equal, linear-oblong, 
recurved, deciduous; neCtary of four diftindl glands, at 
the bafe ofthe germen. Stamina: filaments fcarcely any; 
antberae four, inferted about the middle of each petal, 
linear, ereCt, prominent, at length reflexed. Piftillum : 
germen fuperior, ftalked, ovate; ftyle thread-fliaped, on a 
level with the antherse, permanent; ftigtna obtule. Peri- 
carpium: drupe ovate, pulpy. Seed: nut of one or two 
cells.— EJfential Chara&er. Petals four, recurved, bear¬ 
ing the ltamens about their middle; ne&ary of four 
glands; germen fuperior, ftalked; ftigma obtufe ; drupe 
with a nut of one or two cells. 
This genus vyas inftituted by Dr. Smith in the Linn. 
Tranf. vol. iv. p. 215. anno 1798. and it may now be con- 
fidered as firmly eftabliftied. Mr. Brown, in a very long 
paper on the Proteacese of Juflieu, Linn. Tranf. vol.. x. 
1807. has enumerated twenty-twofpecies; and Mr. Rudge, 
in the fame volume, has more fully deferibed and figured 
two of them, which are copied on the annexed Engra¬ 
ving. Thefe plants are for the moft part flirubby or ar- 
borefeent, with yellow flowers. 
1. Perfoonia teretifolia : leaves thread-fliaped, without 
P E R 
furrows; ftalks folitary, fingle-fiowered ; antherse pointed; 
ftyle fhorter than the germen. Gathered by Mr. Brown, 
on ftony hills, at Lewin’s Land, on the fouth coall of 
New Holland. 
а. Perfoonia microcarpa: leaves thread-fliaped, chan¬ 
nelled ; ftalks folitary, in pairs, or ternate; antheroe 
pointlefs ; ftyle longer than the germen; ftigma droop¬ 
ing. Native of marftiy heaths, in the fame country. 
3. Perfoonia pinifolia : leaves thread-fliaped, lax ; fpike 
pyramidical, elongated, leafy; floral leaves fhorter than 
the reft, flowers yellow. Found by Mr. Brown on heaths, 
and about the banks of rivulets, at Port Jackfon, New 
South Wales. This fpecies is fhown of the natural fize 
at fig. 1. and, underneath, a exhibits the flower aud its 
brafte magnified ; b, the petal ; c, back and front view 
of the anther; d, the piftillum. 
4.. Perfoonia juniperina: leaves awl-fhaped, ftraight, 
pungent, flowers axillary, folitary; germen fmooth, with 
two kernels. Found on dry heaths and about the fides 
of hills, in Van Diemen’s Land, as well as oil the fouth 
coall of New Holland. The Item, according to Labillar- 
diere, is a yard or more in height, determinately branched, 
round, and leafy; leaves rigid, above an inch long, ra¬ 
ther hairy, as are the fliort axillary flower-llalks; petals 
clothed externally with rigid hairs, yellowilh. Fruit red, 
eatable; its nut ufually with two kernels. 
5. Perfoonia hirfuta: leaves linear, revolute, hairy and 
rough ; flower-ftalks axillary; germen filky, Angle feeded. 
Native of moift heaths about Port Jackfon, New South 
Wales. The flowers are yellow, very hairy externally, 
and full as long as the leaves. See fig. 2, which repre- 
fents this plant of the natural fize 5 e, the flowermagni- 
fied; f, the petal; g - , anther, front and back view; h, 
piftillum. 
б. Perfoonia mollis: leaves lanceolate, elongated, vil¬ 
lous, very foft beneath ; corolla bearded ; germen fmooth, 
with two kernels. Gathered by Mr. Brown near Port 
Jackfon, about the fandy banks of rivers. 
7. Perfoonia linearis: leaves linear, elongated, fmooth; 
flower-ftalks ftraight; corolla downy; ftalkof the germen 
without a joint; (lem arboreous; bark fmooth. On hills 
and in open fields about Port Jackfon, from whence fpe- 
cimens and feeds were firft fent by Dr. White in 1792. 
The plant was raifed by the late Mr. Robinfon of Stock- 
well, in 1794.. It proved a hardy greenhoufe-fhrub, flow¬ 
ering copioully in the latter part of fummer. The young 
branches, as well as the flower-ftalks, and backs of the 
petals, are downy. Leaves copious, fpreading, two in¬ 
ches or more in length, and not a line wide. Fruit glo- 
bofe, fmooth. 
8. Perfoonia lucida: leaves linear, fomevvhat lanceolate, 
elongated, fmooth; flower-llalks downy; ftraight; co¬ 
rolla downy; ftaik of the germen without a joint; 
ftera arboreous, bark flaky. Found near Port Jackfon, 
by the fides of mountain-rivers, by Mr. Ferdinand Bauer. 
It feems nearly related to the preceding. 
9. Perfoonia virgata: leaves linear, or fomewhat ob¬ 
long, fcattered, vertical, very fmooth in every part; 
flower-ftalks fmooth, ftraight; corolla fmooth ; Item ar¬ 
boreous; bark even. Gathered by Mr. Brown on the fea- 
fliore near Sandy Cape, on the eaft coall of New Holland. 
10. Perfoonia flexifolia: leaves nearly linear, pointed, 
crowded, twilled at the bafe, fmooth on both fides, be- 
fprinkled with fliining dots; their edges rough; corolla 
fmooth ; Item flirubby. Native ofthe ftony fides of hills, 
on the fouth coall of New Holland. 
11. Perfoonia fcabra: leaves linear-lanceolate, pointed, 
rough on both fides, befprinkled with (billing as well as 
minute opaque dots; corolla downy. In the lame 
country and fituations as the preceding. 
12. Perfoonia fpatulata: leaves lanceolate-fpatulate, 
pointed, rather concave, very rough on both fides with 
cryftalline points. Gathered by Mr. Brown in the fame 
places as the two preceding fpecies. 
13. Perfoonia 
