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semicircles of that meridian, or in opposite points of the parallel.These have the same' common seasons throughout the year, andthe same nhtenomena of the heavenly bodies; but when it is noon-day with the one, it is midnight witluthe other, there being twelvehours in an east and west direction. See Geography.
PERIOSTEUM, or PERLOSTIUM, [«». and or»»,] in ana-tomy, a nervous vasculous membrane, endued with a very quicksense, immediately surrounding in every part both the internaland external surfaces of all tiie bones in the body, excepting onlyso much of the teeth as stand above the gums, and the peculiarplaces on the bones in which the muscles are inserted. See Ana-tomy.
PERIPATETICS, philosophers,, followers of Aristotle , andmain'.ainers of the paripatelic. philosophy ; called also Aristote-lians. They were called Peripatetics, from wijimsltui, l walk ; be-cause they disputed walking in the Lyceum. (See Aristotle ,Metaphysics, Plastic Nature , &c.) A reformed system ofthe Peripatetic philosophy was first introduced into the schools inthe university of Paris, from whence it soon spread throughout Eu-rope : and lias subsisted in some universities even to this day, un-der the name of school-philosophy. The foundation thereof isAristotle ’s doctrine, often misunderstood, blit ottener misapplied :whence the retainers thereto may he denominated Reformed Peri-patetics. Out of these have sprung, at various times, severalbranches. The Peripatetic system, after having prevailed withgreat and extensive dominion for many centuries, began rapidly todecline towards the close of the 17th, when the disciples ot Ramusattacked it on the one hand, and it had still more formidable ad-versaries to encounter in Descartes, Gassendi , and Newton. SeePhilosophy.
Peripatetic Philosophy, that system taught and establishedby Aristotle , and maintained by his followers, the Peripatetics,called also Aristotelians. The philosophy of Aristotle may be di-vided into three distinct branches; instrumental, theoretical, andpractical. Under the first head are included his doctrines con-cerning logic ; under the second, his principles of physics, pneu-matology, ontology, and mathematics; and under the third, hissystem of ethics and policy.
PER IP A l’ON, in antiquity, the name of that walk in the Ly-ceum where Aristotle taught, and whence the name of Peripateticsgiven to his followers.
PERIPETIA, [mjiirihire,] in the drama, that part of a tragedywherein the action is turned, the plot unravelled, aiul the wholeconcludes. See Catastrophe.
PERIPHERY, [sr»i and the same with circumference.Sec Geometry.
PERIPHRASIS, is when many words are used
to express the sense of one : as, for death, we may say, the lossof life. See Oratory.
PERIPLOCA, Virginian Silk; in botany, a genus of thedigynia order, and pentandria class of plants; natural order, Con-torts. Nectary surrounds the genitals, and sends out five fila-ments. There are thirteen species. The periploca is a fine climb-ing plant, that will wind itself with its ligneous branches aboutwhatever tree, hedge, pale, or pole, is near it; and will arise, bythe assistance of such support, to the height of about thirty feet;and where no tree or support is at hand to wind about, it will knitor entangle itself together in a most complicated manner. Theirflowers have a star-like appearance ; for though they are composedof one petal only, yet the rim is divided into segments, which ex-pand in such a manner as to form that figure.
PERIPTERE, in the ancient architecture, a building encom-passed on the outside with a series of.insulated columns, forminga kind of portico all around ; such were the portico of Pompey ,the septizon of Severus, and the basilica of Antoninus .
PERIPNEUMONIA, or PERIPNEUMONY, [™ s , andnui/ij. wv,1 in medicine, an inflammation of the lungs attended witha weight in the lungs, a difficulty of breathing, and an oppressionof the breast, with a purulent spitting, and a fever accompaniedwith a cough. When the inflammation affects both the. lobes,and the whole body'of the lungs, the case is desperate. SeeMedicine.
PER1RRHANTERIUM, a vessel of stone or brass, whichwas filled with holy water, and with which all those were sprinkledwho were admitted by the ancients to their sacrifices. Beyond this
VOL. iv.— no. 173.
vessel no profane person was allowed to pass. Jt was used both byGreeks and Romans, and has been evidently borrowed by theChurch of Rome .
PERISCH, [from moi and <rxi», shadow,] in geography, thoseinhabitants of the earth whose shadows do in one and the same daysuccessively turn to all the points of the horizon. Such are theinhabitants of the frozen zones, or those who live within the com-pass of the arctic and antarctic circles; tor, as the sun, at a certaintime of the year, never sets to them, after he is once up, hut al-ways moves round about, so do their shadows.
PERISTALTIC, [ir ^icAxa,] is applied to that vermicularmotion of the guts, which is made by the contraction of the spiralfibres, whereby the excrements are pressed downwards audvoided.
PERISTERION, Vervain. See Verbena.
PERISTYLE , [from irqq round, and m*®', a column,] in ar-chitecture, a place encompassed with a row of columns on the in-side : but this word also denotes a range of columns, either withinor without a building.
PERISYSTOLE, [irt;wvro* , i,] the pause or interval betwixtthe two motions of the heart or pulse ; namely, that of the sys-tole or contraction of the heart, and that of the diastole or dilata-tion.
PERITAS, a cluster of islands of South America , in the SouthSea, 9 miles W. of Cumana hay.
PERITO, a town of Naples, in Abruzzo Ultra, 16 miles W. S.VV. of Celatio.
PERITONEUM , [irsgiTowov,] in anatomy, is a thin, smooth,and lubricous membrane , investing the whole internal surface ofthe abdomen, and containing most of the viscera of that part, as itwere, in a hag. See Anatomy.
PERITONIUM, a town of Egypt , on the W. bank of theNile , reckoned one of the keys of the country.
PERITROCIllUM, in mechanics, denotes a wheel, or circle,concentric with the base of a cylinder, and moveable togetherwith it about its axis. See Mechanics.
PERJURY, in law, is defined by Sir Edward Coke to be acrime committed when a lawful oath is administered, in some ju-dicial proceeding, to a person who swears wilfully, absolutely,and falsely, in a matter material to the issue or point in ques-tion.
PERIWINKLE, a species of lnicciuum. Sec Buccinum.
PER 1ZZI1ES, ancient inhabitants of Palestine, mingled withthe Canaanites .
PERKIN ISM, in medicine, a method by which lately preten-sions were made of curing head-achs, megrams, iheuniatisms,quinsies, gouts, lumbagos, cramps, contusions, sprains, tumors,burns, scalds, erysipelas, palsies, and various other diseases andpains in all parts of the body, by drawing metallic tractors overthe parts affected ; invented by Dr. Perkins of North America .These tractors were made of silver, brass, copper, iron, lead, orzinc; and even of ivory and ebony; and were supposed to actas mechanical stimuli, or as Galvanic conductors of electricity.Professors Herholdt and Rath, of Copenhagen, , published atreatise on Perkinism, and first made use of the term. Though itwas asserted by many that numerous cures were effected by thissimple instrument, yet a short time evinced the whole to he merejugglery and imposture.
PERM, a government of Russia, formerly a province of Ka-san. it is divided into two provinces, viz. Perm and Catharinen-burg.
Perm, a province in the above government, seated on thebanks of the Kama:
Perm, the capital of the above government and province, seat-ed at the conflux of. the Kama and the Zegochekha, 808 milesE. of Petersburg!!, and 620. E. of Moscow . Lon. 56. 25. E. Lat.57. 40. N.
PERMACOIL, a town of Hindoostan, in the Carnatic, 17miles N. N. W. of Pondicherry , and 45 S. S. E. of Arcot.
PERMANENT, that continues the same, whether in nature orsituation, and other circumstances: thus, air generated by fer-mentation, is- said to be permanent, because it continues to shewall the natural properties of common air. Thus al°o those cups of(lowers are called permanent, which remain after the flower-leavesare fallen.
3 X PERMEABLE,