26 
P E Z 
took an aftive part with thofe Saxon divines who were 
for renouncing the doftrine of Luther on the fubjeft of 
the eucbarift, and for fubftituting in the room of it that 
of the reformer of Geneva; on which account they were 
called crypto-Calvinifts , or “hidden and difguifed Calvin- 
ilfs.” At their requeft he compofed a Catechifm, favour¬ 
able to their defign, which they introduced into the 
fchools. For the zeal which they difcovered in this bu- 
finefs, in 1574, Pezelius, and feveral of his colleagues, 
were deprived of their employments, committed to prifon, 
and fet at liberty only to be banifhed from Saxony, after 
having been compelled to promife that they would not 
write againft the elector, or againft the univerfities and 
churches in his territories. At firft Pezelius retired to 
Egra in Bohemia ; whence he removed in a fhort time to 
Siegen, upon receiving an invitation from count John of 
Naflau, brother to the prince of Orange, to become prin¬ 
cipal of the academical feminary at that place. Some 
time afterwards he was chofen paftor of Herborn. How 
long he retained that fituation we are not informed ; but 
we find that he was profefl'orof divinity at Bremen in the 
year 1388, and was alfo fuperintendant of the churches 
in that diffridf. Thefe poffs he held till his death in 
1604, when he was about 65 years of age. He was the 
author of, 1. Commentarium in Genefin, 1599, 8vo. 2. 
Enarratio priorum capitum Evangelii Johannis, 1586, 8vo. 
3. Compendium Theologias. 4. Epitomen Philofophite 
Moralis. 5. Mellincium Hiftoricum, forming a large 
commentary on Sleidan’s treatife de Quatuor Munarcliiis, 
1610, 4to. in two parts, to which a third was afterwards 
added by Lampadius. 5. Confilia et Judicia Theol. 
Philippi Melanffhonis, confifting of extradfs from Me- 
landf lion’s works, with objedtions and anfwers on fubjedts 
ofa theological nature, the wholeintermixed with Scholia, 
and extending to feven or eight odtavo volumes ; befides 
a multitude of controverlial pieces. Gen. Biog\ 
PEZE'NAS, a town of France, in the department of the 
Kerault, on the Herault. It is a handfome commercial 
town, and contains about 8000 inhabitants: 2^ pofts 
north-eaft of Beziers, and about twenty-four miles from 
Montpelier. The foil about is fandy; the rock is lime- 
ffone. The fields are open, and produce corn, wine, and 
oil. There are to be feen at this place the extenlive 
ruins of a caftle, which formerly belonged to the Mont¬ 
morency family. This flrong fortrefs was hewn out of 
the rock on which it ftands, and appears to have been 
complicated and ftdl of art. The walls are lofty', and 
above eight feet in thicknefs. The rock, which is per¬ 
pendicular, is a mafs of (hells, fuch as turbinites, oylters, 
cockles, with a calcareous cement. From hence the cir¬ 
cumjacent plain,decked with luxuriant verdure, and fhut 
in by rugged mountains, affords a molt delightful pro- 
fpedt. Lat. 43. 18. N. Ion. 3. 35. E. 
PEZE'NAS (l’Efprit),a French Jefuitand mathematical 
writer, was born at Avignon, in the year 1692. Fora 
long time he occupied the chair of profeftor of natural 
phiiofophy and hydrography at Marfeilles,and contributed 
to the exrenlion of ufeful lcience among his countrymen, 
by fome original works, and French verfions from the 
Englifh of feveral publications of eftablifhed merit. His 
a fly le is commended for neatnefs and perfpicuity. He died 
at Avignon, fome time after the year 1770, equally be¬ 
loved for his agreeable manners and amiable temper, as he 
was refpected for his various knowledge. He gave to the 
public, 1. The Elements of Pilotage, 1734, i2mo. 2. A 
Treatife on Fluxions, trail 11 a ted from the Englifh of 
Maclaurin, 2 vols. 1749, 4 t0< 3 - The Praftice of Pilot¬ 
age, 1749, 8vo. 4. The Theory and Practice of Gauging, 
1749, 8vo. 5. Elements of Algebra, tranflated from the 
Engl ifh of Maclaurin, 1750, 8vo. 6. A Courfe of Expe¬ 
rimental Philolophy, tranflated from the Englifh of De- 
faguliers, 1751, 2 vols. 4to. 7. A Treatife on the Mi- 
crolcope, tranflated from the Englifh of Baker, 1734, 
3 2mo. 8. A Di&ionary of Arts and Sciences, tranflated 
from the Englifh of Dyche, 2 vols. 4to. 9. The Young 
P E Z 
Mathematician’s Guide, tranflated from the Englifh of 
Ward, 1757, 8vo. 10. A complete Courfe of Optics, 
tranflated from the Englifh of Smith, 1767, in 2 vols. 4to. 
Gen. Biog\ 
PEZIL'LA,a town of France, in the department of the 
Eaft Pyrenees: fix miles weft of Perpignan. 
PEZI'ZA, f. [fomewhat altered from the Greek irEQy.n, 
which is derived from vre^ct, the foie of the foot. Pliny 
fpeaks of Pezikce as the Greek appellation of fuch fungi 
as grow without any ftalk, or apparent root. Linnaeus 
has adopted the above word for a genus to which that 
chara&er is, for the moft part, applicable.] Cup Mush¬ 
room ; in botany, a genus of the clafs cryptogamia,iorder 
fungi. Eflential generic characters—Receptacle hemif- 
pherical, concave, flightly tumid, lined with a fmooth 
coloured hymenium; cafes imbedded, inconfpicuous to 
the naked eye, each containing eight volatile feeds. 
This volatility of the feeds is a moft important feature 
in the defcription of the Pezizae. The refemblance be¬ 
tween their fructification and the fhields of a lichen is 
too ftriking to be overlooked; there is indeed fcarcely a 
difference between them ; for the number of the minute 
feeds is too obfcure, and indeed too uncertain, a charac¬ 
ter, to be reforted to. Hedwig fays they are invariably 
eight in the genus before us; but they appear to be often 
double, and their number is fo different in different !i- 
chenesjthat nothing is to be depended upon concerning it 
in that tribe. With regard to habit, the diftinCtion is 
more abfolute. A lichen has a vegetating Item, herb, or 
cruft, moftly of perennial duration, extending itfelf with¬ 
out end ; a peziza has but a fhort exiftence, periftting 
as foon as it has perfected the one folitary fructification, 
which is the end of its creation. Moreover, a fibrous 
texture, highly bibulous in its nature, is interwoven with 
the feed-cafes of a lichen ; while thofe of a peziza are 
feparated, if at all, only by unconnected vertical fibres. 
In a word, the one plant has the flefhy evanefcent nature 
of a fungus-, the other the permanent, revivefcent, and 
vegetative, conftitution of an alga. 
Of this genus of fungus, Linnaeus has eleven fpecies in 
the 14th edition of Syftema Vegetabilium ; Dr. Withering 
has given forty Britifh fpecies in the third edition of his 
Arrangement; but the celebrated Perfoon, fo deep in 
this natural order of plants, has defcribed no fewer than 
151 fpecies, which he has difpofed in feven feftions, from 
each of which we fhall feleCt a few examples. Albertini 
and Schweiniz, in their learned ConfpeCfus Fun go rum. 
Agri Nifkienfis, have figured and defcribed feveral fpecies 
not in Perfoon, and have furnifhed valuable remarks on 
fome of his minute or obfcure ones; of that work alfo 
we have availed ourfelves, and particularly tor thefigures 
which elucidate the feveral divisions of the genus. 
I. Tremelloideze. Tremella-like; more or lefs of a 
gelatinous fubftance. 
1. Peziza inquinans : gregarious, vifcid, ftaining black; 
at length convex and obconiral ; externally rugged, 
downy, and of a lighter brown. On the trunks of de¬ 
cayed oak or beech trees, in autumn and winter, or in 
a wet fummer, always growing, as Perfoon remarks, in 
longitudinal rows. Its fubftance is leathery, but inter¬ 
nally pulpy; hard when dry; its diameter about an 
inch, but extremely variable. When touched, its difk 
ftains the fingers with a black flimy moifture. In a dry 
llate, the fine velvet-like downinefs of the outfideis moft 
confpicuous, and aliumes a much lighter hue. 
2. Peziza gelatinofa: colour varying from tawny to 
deep black; found on dead trees during the fame feafons 
as the former fpecies. 
3. Peziza farcoides: cluftered, juicy; deep flefh-co- 
loured externally, with elevated veins; difk purple, lobed 
at the margin. Frequent on rotten wood towards the 
end of the autumn : fhape regular, obconical, with a di¬ 
lated lobed margin, and a deep hollow difk ofa purple or 
vinous hue ; the outfule, or ftalk, pale, with branching 
elevated 
3 
