Single-source entries: P (5)

Pallet Stones

The stones mounted in the pallet and on which the escape wheel strike and through which the impulse is transmitted.

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Pallium

a square woolen cloak, much resembling the chlamys, from which it can only be distinguished by its greater length and amplitude. It was capable of enveloping the entire person, which it could cover at night as a blanket. It was much worn by the Greeks, INNOLLI 2 1 PALMS 1. Betel nut palm. 2. Palmyra palm. corresponding to the toga of the Romans. In ecclesiology, a pall, an ornamental band of white wool three fingers broad, to be worn around the shoulders, with pendants a span in length before and behind, the ends ornamented with red crosses. In the time of Gregory VII. (1073-1085) archbishops went for it to Rome; afterward the Popes sent it to them when they received their appointment. In zoölogy, the mantle of a bivalve mollusk.

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Palm Oil

palm butter; a fat obtained from the fruit of certain kinds of palm, and imported from the coast of Guinea. It has the consistence of butter, an orange color, a smell resembling violets, and consists mainly of tripalmi- , with a little olein. Palm oil is extin tensively used in the manufacture of soap and candles, and is a common constituent of railway-carriage grease. It is frequently adulterated with wax, tallow, lard, resin, etc.

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Palm Sunday

the Sunday immediately preceding Easter. It commemorates the triumphal entry of Jesus into Jerusalem, when the multitude strewed palm "branches," or rather leaves, for the typical palms, like those of Palestine, have no branches (John xii: 13).

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Palmas

CAPE habitants weave silks and woolens, make jewelry, and various articles of common use. The port is protected by a mole, and the town by a wall and batteries. Pop. about 70,000. (2) A town of Sicily, pop. 12,000. (3) The name of one of the larger of the Canary Islands.

CAPE, headland of western Africa, on the Guinea coast, lat. 4° 22' 6" N., lon. 7° 44′ 15" W. There is a lighthouse with a fixed light, and the adjacent harbor is the only one between Sierra Leone and Benin.

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Palmblad

VILHELM FREDRIK, East a Swedish Gothland historian, Dec.; 16 born, 1788 in. Liljested, ied at Upsala, and became Professor of Greek in the same university in 1835. Among his works are the " Biographical Dictionary " ( 23 vols. 1835-1859) and the historical novel "Aurora Königsmark" (1847). He died Sept. 2, 1852.

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Palmetto State

South Carolina. On its coat of arms is a delineation of one of these trees, for the growth of which the State is famous.

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Palni Hills

a range of southern India, linking the S. extremities of the Eastern and Western Ghats; average height of the higher ridge, 7,000 feet.

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Palo Alto

the name of a plain in southern Texas, 8 miles from Brownsville, where the first battle of the Mexican War was fought, May 8, 1846. Gen. Zachary Taylor was in command of the United States troops of 2,300 men, while the Mexicans, under General Arista, had about 3,500. The battle was fought principally with artillery and the Mexicans were defeated.

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Palolo

an edible annelid, allied to the lug worm, extremely abundant at certain seasons in the sea above and near the coral reefs which surround many of the Polynesian Islands. The body is cylindrical, slightly tapering at both ends, divided into nearly equal joints, each joint with a small tuft of gills on each side. In thickness the palolo resembles a very fine straw; in length it varies from 9 to 18 inches. These annelids made their appearance in great multitudes, apparently rising out of the coral reefs. They are eagerly sought after by the islanders. They often occur in such numbers that they may be grasped by handfuls. After sunrise the creatures break into pieces and the shoals are not seen till the next period; the two stated periods being in October and again in November.

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Palpitation

a sensible abnormal beating of the heart, most frequent in females, and in advanced life, indicating want of power adolescents, particularly and laborious efforts rather than increased excitement and action. It is frequently associated with dyspepsia, and morbid states of the heart.

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Palsy

the loss of the power of motion. It is a symptom of disease, usually of apoplexy. The two causes on which it depends are an affection of a nerve or nerves, or a morbid state of the nervous centers, the brain or spinal cord. Under the former head poisoning of nervous matter or any morbid process impairing the nerves or solution of continuity, or pressure may cause it; under the latter, it is due to a morbid state of the centers of the nervous system. The commonest form is hemiplegia, a paralytic stroke on one side or half, which may be complete, profound, or incomplete. There are six forms: Cerebral, spinal, epileptic, choreic, hysterical, and peripheral, their frequency being in the order named. Palsy is uncommon but serious in the young, and most common in advanced life. There are four modes of termination: (1) Death; (2) complete recovery with wasting muscles; (3) partial recovery with rigid muscles; (4) complete recovery. In hysterical hemiplegia the lower limb, instead of being dragged by

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Paltsits

VICTOR HUGO, an American historian, born in New York in 1867. He was educated in public and private schools in New York and took a scientific course at Cooper Institute. He also studied European and other languages. For many years he was assistant of the New York Public Library. He was appointed State historian in 1907, serving until 1911. In 1914 he was appointed keeper of manuscripts in the New York Public Library and in 1916 became chief of the Division of American History in the same institution. He was a member of many historical societies and was a prolific writer on historical subjects, and edited a large number of historical works and contributed largely to encyclopædias on historical subjects.

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Pamir

pa-mer', an elevated region of central Asia. It is the loftiest known plateau. The Persians called it the Roof of the World. The possessions of Great Britain , China, Russia, and Afghanistan meet in this region. Its boundaries are indefinite. It has a general elevation of 13,000 feet. It contains several small lakes and carries mountain peaks rising to a height of over 25,000 feet. The great portion is barren. The native Kirghiz pasture their flocks in its fields. It is traversed by two caravan routes from east to west.

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