P A I ( 59i ) PAL

PAILLASSES, Fr. straw beds, com-monly called palasscs. These are fur-nished by the barrack department forthe accommodation of British soldiersin barracks.

PA1LLASSON, Fr. a layer of straw’quilted between two pieces of canvass,to keep off the sun, or noise from achamber; also a rug, or mat to wipethe feet on.

PAILLE, Fr. straw.

Paille de couchage, Fr. long strawsuch as is used in paillasses, and is givenout for the litter of horses, and the bed-ding of soldiers.

Les toldats vont a la Paille, Fr.the soldiers are going to tin? forage yardor depot. This term is likewise usedto signify the indulgence which is oc-casionally granted to soldiers for ex-ercise or necessary evacuations. Thuswhen a battalion has gone through itsmanual, Ike. the commanding officergives the -word A la paille ! We use theterm File arms !

Romp re la Paille avec quelquan, Fr.a figurative term, signifying to quarrelor fall out with any body, in an openand unreserved manner.

Paille, Fr. likewise signifies anyflaw in metals. Cette lame est fine, matsit y en a quelques pailles ; this blade isfinely tempered, but there are someflaws in it. La lame de son epee se cassad Pendroit oii il y avait une paille , theblade of his sword broke where therewas a flaw.

PAILLER, Fr. (Valearius ,) an an-cient body of French militia. The sol-diers belonging to it were probably socalled, either from the circumstance oftheir wearing straw in their helmets, inorder to know one another in action, orbecause they were accustomed to setfire to their enemy’s habitations, &c.with bundles of straw, which they al-ways carried with them for that purpose.The inquisitive may be more fully satis-fied on this subject by referring to Du-cunge's Glossary .

PAIN de munition , Fr. ammunitionbread. This means, literally, bread thatis furnished by government. Henceammunition bread, or bread given tothe soldiers, as gunpowder is, free of allexpense to the individual. In the folioedition of Marshal Saxe’s Reveries, page16, we find the following important ob-servations on the subject of ammunition

bread. He states that bread nevershould be given to soldiers on activeservice, but that they should be accusetomed to eat biscuits, for the followingreasons:—Biscuits will keep a consi-derable number of years, and everysoldier can conveniently carry with himin his haversack a sufficient quantityfor seven or eight days. Those officerswho have served among the Venetians,will readily prove the justness of thisremark. But there is a species of bis-cuit, or hard-baked bread, that nevercrumbles, (called soukari by the Rus­ sians, ) which is preferable to any thingof the kind. It is square, and aboutthe thickness of a nut, and takes upless room than either bread or biscuit.

Purveyors, who are interested in thebusiness, maintain a different opinion.They tell you that bread is best fortroops. Every man of experience knowsthe contrary; for it is notorious, thatcontract, or ammunition bread, is notonly made of unwholesome ingredients,but that it is seldom more than halfbaked; which, together with the water itcontains, increases the weight, and con-sequently enhances the value.

PAINTING in oil , (peinture enhuile , Fr.) The art of painting in oilwas not known to the ancients, and wasfirst discovered and put in practice, inthe beginning of the 14th century, by aFlemish painter named John Fan‘Eyck ,or John de Bniges. Painting, beforehis time, was all performed in/mco, orwater colours.

PAINTING of Timber. The mannerof colouring all sorts of timber-work,particularly of gun-carriages, wagons,&c. as well as wainscot, doors, windows,posts, rails, pales, gates, border boardsfor gardens, &c. which require eitherbeauty or preservation from the violenceof rain, or injury of seasons, is so wellknown, that we shall not enter into anyparticulars on that head. The curious,however, may be gratified by referringto the Builder’s Dictionary, publishedin 1733-4; a work which is still in goodtepute.

PAIR, Nombre Pair, Fr. equal. Anepithet which is given to any numberthat can be divided into two equal parts,as numbers 2, 4, 6, 8, &c.

PAIX, Fr. See Peace.

PAL, Fr. See Quin ; taIn£,

PALACE, (palais , Fr.) a royal house,