800 
PET 
PET 
Oft have I feafon’d favoury periods 
With fugar’d words, to delude Guftus’ tafte: 
And oft perfum’d my petitory ft yle 
With civet-fpeech, to entrap Olfafilus’ nofe ! Brewer. 
PET'ITOT (John), an artift at the fummit of excel¬ 
lence in his particular branch, that of painting in enamel, 
was born at Geneva in 1607. His father, a fculptor and 
architect, placed him with a jeweller. In this employ¬ 
ment, having frequent occafion to make life of enamel, 
he found means to give it fo fine a tone of colour, that 
his friend Bordier, a painter, (who was afterwards his 
brother-in-law,) thought that, if he would apply to por¬ 
trait, he might carry the art farther than had hitherto 
been done. Petitot took his advice, and was fuccefsful: 
he executed the heads and hands, whilft Bordier painted 
the hair, drapery, and grounds. The two friends tra¬ 
velled together for improvement, vifiting not only the 
vorkfhops of painters, but the laboratories of cheinifts, 
for the purpofe of difcovering new colours. It was in 
England that Petitot acquired the greateft addition to 
Ids knowledge in this point, froln his fellow-countryman, 
fir Theodore Mayerne, then phyfician to Charles I. 
Mayerne introduced him to the king, who took pleafure 
in feeing him work, and honoured him with knighthood, 
and an apartment in Whitehall. Vandyke gave him in- 
llrufiiions in portrait-painting ; and fome of Petitot’s bell 
works are copies from that mailer. The whole-length of 
Rachel de Rouvigny, countefs of Southampton, from 
Vandyke, is aflerted to be the moll capital piece in enamel 
any where extant; its execution is bold, and its colour¬ 
ing the richeft and molt beautiful conceivable. There 
are feveral other fine works of his in England, confining 
of the king and royal family, feveral of the nobility, &c. 
After the death of Charles, Petitot accompanied the 
exiled family to Paris, and (howed great attachment to 
them. His aflociate, Bordier, however, ftaid fome time 
longer, for it appears that he executed an enamel of the 
battle of Nafeby, as a prefent from the parliament to Gen. 
Fairfax. Charles II. during his refidencein France, took 
great notice of Petitot, and introduced him to Louis XIV. 
who retained him in his fervice, and gave him a penfion 
and apartments in the Louvre. He married in 1651 ; and, 
being much employed by the king and court, obtained 
great emoluments. He continued to work in conjunc¬ 
tion with Bordier, who was become his relation by mar¬ 
riage. They lived together till their families grew too 
numerous for one houfe; and, during their long connex¬ 
ion (fifty years), they never had the fmalleft difference. 
Petitot w'as a drift proteffant; and, at the revocation of 
the edift of Nantes in 1685, he requefted permiffion to 
retire to Geneva. The king, however, who had now a 
paffion for profelyting, refolved to try the effedi of a little 
coercion, and confined the refpedlable old man in Fort- 
l’Eveque, giving him Boffuet for an inftquftor. The elo¬ 
quence and arguments of this celebrated prelate were, 
however, loft upon him, and his uneafinefs at being con¬ 
fined threw him into a fever. He was thereupon liberated, 
and immediately withdrew with his wife from the land of 
perfecution to Geneva. His children threw themfelves 
at the feet of the monarch, deprecating his refentment 
for this exercife of natural liberty ; and he gracioufiy 
pardoned “ an old man who had the fancy of being bu¬ 
ried with his anceftors.” Petitot continued to exercife 
his art, notwithstanding his advanced years; and the re¬ 
fort to fee him was fo great, that he retired for quiet and 
privacy to Vevay. There, as he was employed on the 
portrait of his wife, he was taken ill, and died on the 
fame day, in 1691, at the age of 84, univerfally refpedfed, 
as well for his moral worth as his profeftiona! talents. 
He had a numerous family, of whom one fon followed 
the fame branch of art, and fettled in London. Though 
he was not by any means equal to his father, yet he ob¬ 
tained very confiderable employment and repute. His 
age and the period of his death are alike unknown, Wal- 
pole's Anecdotes. 
PETIVA'RS, a tribe, inhabitingtowardsthe north-eaft 
of Brafil, who are faid to be benevolent and hofpitable. 
They bore their lips, and adorn them with a green ftone, 
of which they are fo vain as to defpife all othe'r nations. 
When the wife has brought forth a child, the hufband 
confines himfelf to his bed fora month, and receives vifits 
of congratulation. Eftalla obferves, that this cuftom is 
not only common in many parts of America, but was 
alfo known to the ancient Spaniards, as mentioned by 
Strabo. The reafon of this foolilh cuftom is, that if any 
accident were to befal the father, the new-born babemuft 
fuffer. 
PET'IVER (James), an induftrious naturalift, efpe- 
cially in the botanical branch, was probably a native of 
London, as Dr. Pulteney has afcertained that he ferved 
an apprenticefhip to Mr. Feltham, apothecary of St. 
Bartholomew’s Hofpital. Fie entered into bulinefs for 
himfelf in Alderfgate-ftreet, became apothecary to the 
Charter-houfe, and obtained a confiderable (hare of prac¬ 
tice. He manifefted an early propenfity to thecolleftion 
of natural curiofities, for which purpofe he engaged the 
fervices of captains and furgeons of (hips in bringing him 
from diftant parts dried plants, feeds, (luffed fpecitnens of 
animals, infeils, &c. He thus became proprietor of a 
mufeum which made him well known to naturalifts both 
at home and abroad ; and fuch was its extent, that a 
(liort time before his death fir Hans Sloane offered him 
4000I. for it. He was eleded a fellow of the Royal Soci¬ 
ety, to which he was a very ufeful member, on account 
of his frequent communications of curious intelligence. 
He was an early correfpondent of the excellent Ray, to 
whom he gave fome valuable affiftance in the composition 
of his Hiftory of Plants. Petiver in 169a made a botani¬ 
cal tour through the midland counties of England, and 
foon after began the publication of his firft work. This 
was entitled “ Mufaei Petiveriani centuriae decern,” 1692- 
1703, 8vo. containing the names and fynonymes of vari¬ 
ous rare animals, foliils, and plants: among thefe were 
feveral new plants of the cryptogamous clafs, in the in- 
veftigation of which he was very fuccefsful. His next 
publication was “ Gazophylacii Naturae et Artis decades' 
decern,” 1702-17x1, tab. 100. fol. This was a work of 
great value at that time, containingengravings with fhort 
defcriptions of animals, vegetables, and foflils, among 
which were many American ferns and plants from the 
Alps and Cape of Good Hope, ail very rare or non-de- 
fcript. He communicated in 1695 a Catalogue of the 
Middlefex Plants for Gibfon’s edition of Camden’s Bri¬ 
tannia ; and he furnilhed the third volume of Ray’s 
Hiftory of Plants with a Catalogue of rare Plants of 
China, Madrafpatan, and Africa; another, of the Plants 
in his Hortus Siccus; and a third, of Indian and Ameri¬ 
can plants of uncertain origin. In 1712 he publilhed 
“ Pterigraphia Americana,” being figures of more than 
400 fpecies of the fern tribe, with fome fu'omarine pro- 
duftions. He performed a valuable fervice to Englifh 
botany by the publication of “ A Catalogue of Ray’s 
Englifh Herbal, illuftrated with figures,” 1713-1715, fol. 
the figures are arranged in the order of Ray’s Synopfis; 
they are little more than outlines, and fmall, but neat. 
A new impreffion of them was given by Sloane in 1732. 
Petiver was alfo the author of a great number of fmaller 
publications, confiding chiefly of fmall catalogues and 
(ingle prints of rare plants, by which he extended an ac¬ 
quaintance with the vegetable creation, and kept up an 
intereft in botanical refearches. He wrote more than 
twenty papers for the Royal Society, printed in its Tranf- 
aftions from 1697 to 1717. In one of thefe he purfues 
the idea that the virtues of plants may in general be de¬ 
termined by their botanical affinities. This occurs in 
vol. xxi. N° 255,'under the denomination of “ Some at¬ 
tempts made to prove, that herbs of the fame make, or 
clafs, for the generality, have the like vertue, and ten¬ 
dency to w'ork the fame effefts.” The idea had indeed 
been fuggefted by Csefalpinus, but it was firft exemplified 
