Parrott
ROBERT PARKER, an American inventor; born in Lee, N. H., Oct. 5, 1804; was graduated at the United States Military Academy in 1824; was Professor of Natural and Experimental Philosophy at the Academy in 1824-1826, and of Mathematics in 1826-1828. Commissioned a lieutenant, he served through the Greek war, and was afterward assigned to the Ordnance Bureau at Washington. He invented the well-known Parrott gun. He died in Cold Spring, N. Y., Dec. 24, 1877.
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Parry Islands
an archipelago of the Arctic Ocean, lying for the most part N. of the seventy-fifth parallel of latitude. The islands extend toward the W. from Baffin Bay. The most important are North Devon, Cornwallis, Bathhurst, Milville and Prince Patrick. The islands are not inhabited. They were first explored by Parry in 1819.
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Parry, William Edward
William Edward (1790-1855), an English Arctic explorer. He was the son of a physician of Bath and was educated in the grammar school of that place. He went to sea as a midshipman when a mere youth. He was a member of the John Ross expedition in search of a northwest passage to the Pacific. On his return he was made commander of two ships and set out on the same mission. He made three trips to the region westward of Greenland. On one of these trips he reached Melville Islands and crossed the 110th meridian of west longitude. He received a standing reward of $25,000 which had been offered to any navigator who should accomplish this feat. Parry also attempted to reach the north pole by way of Spitzbergen. He expected to find a solid body of ice on which to travel with sledges, but was disappointed. The most northerly point reached by him was 82 deg. 45' north latitude. On retiring from the sea, he was knighted and received a comfortable position in the government service in connection with the making of sea charts. He wrote several books descriptive of his voyages. His name has been given to the Parry Islands, an archipelago in which Melville and neighboring islands are included. See Arctic Regions
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Parsifal
parse-fal, an opera by Richard Wagner. The drama is founded on a story of Perceval or Parsifal of the Arthurian cycle. Wolfram von Eschenbach told the legend in an epic poem entitled Parzival, written in the early part of the thirteenth century. It was based probably on a French epic by Christian de Troyes of the twelfth century, although the story had appeared in several prose forms. From the French it passed into the literature of nearly every European nation. The story runs that Parzival's father fell in battle, and, to avoid a like fate for her child, his mother brought him up in the forest in ignorance of knightly customs. After many adventures, he reached Arthur's court and became a knight of the Round Table. He then renounced his allegiance to God and wandered away, but at last, learning the true nature of God and of the Grail, he was purified and restored to his place as a knight of the Round Table. Wagner's drama, somewhat changed from this old story, was written in German in 1877. The music was composed in 1879.
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Parthenogenesis
in biology, a term introduced by Professor Owen, who calls it also metagenesis. It signifies generation by means of an unimpregnated insect, which, moreover, is immature, not having yet passed beyond the larval state. Example, the genus Aphis. The winged aphides deposit eggs which produce imperfect wingless offspring, apparently mere larvæ. These larvæ, however, in some abnormal way, reproduce their species. By the time the process has gone on for 9 or 10 generations, the season is about closing, and the last brood of the larval aphides produce fully formed and winged specimens of the species, depositing eggs which are hatched in the following spring.
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Parthians
Persius Flaccus, Aulus. A Latin poet of Volaterrae. He was of a good family, and soon became intimate with the most illustrious Romans of his day. The early part of his life was spent in his native town, but at the age of sixteen he was removed to Rome, where he studied philosophy. He died in his thirtieth year, A. D. 62. The satires of Persius were read with pleasure and avidity by his contemporaries. Pertinax, Publius Helvius. A Roman emperor after the death of Commodus. He was descended from an obscure family, and for some time was employed in drying wood and making charcoal He entered on a military life, and by his valor rose to offices of the highest trust, and was made consul. At the death of Commodus he was selected to succeed to the throne. His patriotism gained him the affection of the worthiest of his subjects, but there were some who plotted against him. He was killed by his soldiers, A. D. 193.
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Participle
a part of speech, so called because it partakes of the nature both of a verb and an adjective. A participle iple differs from an adjective in that it implies the relation of time, and therefore is applied to a specific act, while only an attribute the adjective denotes without as a quality or characteristic regard to time.
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Parting
The joint or point of separation in moulds composed of two or more sections. A suitably prepared surface at some portion of a mould that will permit one part to be separated from another without fracturing the sand structure. For a separation of plain moulds contained in a cope and nowel, the sand-joint is made smooth and sprinkled all over with dry parting-sand, which prevents any portion of the sand rammed over it in the cope from adhering thereto. But should any portion of such joint assume a vertical or other form than the horizontal, the parting-sand must be moistened before it will adhere to the joint surface; especially is this the case with drawbacks, which separate in a vertical position. In either of the latter-mentioned cases paper may be substituted for the moistened parting-sand. See DRAWBACKS; PAPER-PARTING; PARTING-SAND. Parting-sand is sand specially adapted to the prevention of joint, or separating surfaces amalgamating when they have been rammed against each other. Beach and river sands are eminently adapted for this purpose, as all clayey compounds have, by the action of the water, been washed out. New fine free sand, well burnt to eliminate every trace of clay, is adapted for use as a parting-sand; and it may be said that the beach and river sands have their parting qualities enhanced by burning, the burnt cores from the castings being always preferred to the new sands. See PARTING; JOINT; etc.
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