Paraboloid
Paraboloid, In Geometry, A Non Centric Open Surface Of The Second Degree. Its Vertical Axial Equation Is Either The First Form, The Elliptic Paraboloid, Meets The X-z And Y-z Planes In The Parabolas = 4az And = 4bz Respectively, And Is Traced By An Ellipse Moving Parallel To X Y, ...
Parachute
Parachute, An Instrument More Or Less Resembling A Large Umbrella, Which By The Resistance It Offers To The Air Enables A Person Or An Object Attached To It To Descend Safely From A Balloon Or Flying Machine In The Air. In 1783 Sebastien Lenormand Practically Demonstrated The Efficiency Of A ...
Paradise
Paradise. A Persian Word, Meaning A Royal Park Or En Closed Pleasure Garden, Found In Three Late Passages Of The He Brew Old Testament, Neh. Ii. 8, Cant. Iv. 13, Eccles. Ii. 5, In Much The Same Sense. The Greek Old Testament Uses It Much More Freely, Especially As A ...
Paraffin
Paraffin, The Term Given To A Mineral Wax And Also Used As A Generic Name For A Particular Series Of Hydrocarbons. Refined Commercial Paraffin Is A White, Translucent, Waxy Solid Devoid Of Taste And Smell And Characterized By Chemical Indifference. The Industry Owes Its Origin To Dr. James Young, Who ...
Paraffin Oil
Paraffin Oil, A Term Widely Used In The United King Dom To Connote Burning Oil Or Illuminating Oil For Use In Lamps. The Corresponding American Expression Is Kerosene And This Also Is Commonly Used In The Industry. Kerosene Is The Distillate From Any Crude Mineral Oil (including Shale Oil) That ...
Paraguay
Paraguay, An Inland Republic Of South America, Bounded On The North-west By Bolivia, North And East By Brazil, South-east, South And West By Argentina. Pop. (1932 Estimate) 802,697; The Area Of Paraguay Proper Is About 61,647 Square Miles. Sovereignty Over The Chaco Territory West Of The Paraguay River And North ...
Parallax
Parallax (7rap6,xxats) Is The Difference In Direction Of A Body Caused By A Change In The Position Of The Observer. For Members Of The Solar System The Word Is More Specifically Used To Mean The Difference In Direction As Seen From The Observer And From The Earth's Centre. It Is ...
Paralysis Or Palsy
Paralysis Or Palsy, A Medical Term Usually Implying The Loss Or Impairment Of Voluntary Muscular Power. Paralysis Is Rather A Symptom Than A Disease Per Se; It May Arise (i) From Injury Or Disease Of Nervous And Muscular Structures (organic Paralysis), Or (2) From Purely Dynamic Disturbances In The Nervous ...
Paramecium
Paramecium (often Misspelt Paramaecium, Paramoe Cium), The Slipper Animalcule, A Genus Of Aspirotrochous Ciliate Infusoria (q.v.), Characterized By Its Slipper-like Shape, Common In Infusions, Especially When They Contain A Little Animal Matter. It Has Two Dorsal Contractile Vacuoles, Each Receiving The Mouths Of Five Radiating Canals From The Inner Layer ...
Paranoia
Paranoia, A Chronic Mental Disease, Of Which Systematized Delusions With Or Without Hallucinations Of The Senses Are The Prominent Characteristics. The Delusions May Take The Form Of Ideas Of Persecution Or Of Grandeur And Ambition. The Disease May Begin During Adolescence, But The Great Majority Of The Sub Jects Manifest ...
Parasitic Adaptation
Parasitic Adaptation Morphology.—an Organism Adapted To The Parasitic Mode Of Life Often Undergoes Such A Great Modification That It Becomes Difficult To Recognize The Group To Which It Belongs. A Number Of Forms Such As Sacculina, Peltogaster, Portunion Or Xenocoeloma (in Their Parasitic Stages Of Development) Could Hardly Be Recog ...
Parasitic Diseases
Parasitic Diseases. It Has Long Been Recognized That Various Specific Pathological Conditions Are Due To The Presence And Action Of Parasites (see Parasitism) In The Human Body, And During The Last 5o Years The Part Played In The Causation Of The So-called Infective Diseases By Various Members Of The Schizo ...
Parasitic Metazoa
Parasitic Metazoa If We Omit The Insects Which As Occasional Raiders For Food Act Unwittingly As Vectors Of Animal Parasites (see Entomology, Medical) And Other Arthropods, Which Are More Permanent Para Sites Of The Skin, Inducing Irritation Diseases Such As Pediculosis And Scabies, The Chief Metazoan Parasites Are Those Commonly ...
Parasitic Protozoa
Parasitic Protozoa The Protozoa (q.v.) Are Classified In Four Main Groups Based On The Method Of Locomotion Adopted By The Organism. The First Group, Sarcodina, Move By Means Of Pseudopodia, Or Extrusions Of The Body-wall, Towards And Into Which The Remainder Of The Body Flows, E.g., Amoeba. The Second Group, ...
Parasitism
Parasitism, A One-sided Nutritive Relation Between Two Organisms Of Different Kinds, A Relation Which Is More Or Less In Jurious, Yet Not Usually Fatal, To The Host, A Relation, Moreover, That Relieves The Parasite From Most Of The Activity Or Struggle Which Is Usually Associated With Procuring Food, And Thus ...
Parasitology
Parasitology. The Object Of Parasitology Is The Study Of Those Organisms (parasites) Which During The Whole Or A Part Of Their Life Live Upon Other Organisms (hosts). The Parasite Does Not Destroy Its Host Immediately Or Rapidly Even When Both Are Of The Same Size. On The Contrary, A Perfect ...
Paratyphoid Fever
Paratyphoid Fever Is The Name Given To A Set Of Intestinal Diseases Clinically Very Like Typhoid Fever And Caused By Specific Organisms Akin To The Bacillus Typhosus. Three Distinct Organisms Have Been Identified As Causing These Diseases And They Have Been Designated As Bacillus Paratyphosus "a," "b" And "c," And ...
Parchment
Parchment. Skins Of Certain Animals, Prepared After Particular Methods, Have Supplied Writing Material On Which Has Been Inscribed The Literature Of Centuries. The Preparation Of Such Skins, In A Manner Which Gave The Material The Name It Pos Sesses To-day (irepyagnvi, Lat. Charta Pergamena, Fr. Parchemin) Was Traditionally Attributed To ...
Pardon
Pardon, The Remission, By The Power Entrusted With The Execution Of The Laws, Of The Penalty Attached To A Crime. The Right Of Pardoning Is Coextensive With The Right Of Punishing. In Practice The Prerogative Is Extremely Valuable, When Used With Discretion, As A Means Of Adjusting The Different Degrees ...
Parental Education
Parental Education, An Organized Effort To Pro Vide Systematic Parental Training Which Will Insure Harmonious And Efficient Functioning Of Parent And Child In The Rapidly Chang Ing Civilization. (for England See School And The Home.) The Movement Has Grown In The U.s. From Scattered Groups In The '9os To Definite ...
Paris
Paris, Capital Of France And Of The Department Of Seine, Situated On The Ile De La Cite, The Ile St. Louis And The Ile Louviers, In The Seine, As Well As On Both Banks Of The Seine, 233 M. From Its Mouth And 285 M. S.s.e. Of London (by Rail ...
Paris Metropolitain
Paris Metropolitain. The Main Line Of The Metro Politain Underground Railway, Crossing Paris Practically From The East To The West (porte De Vincennes To The Porte Maillot) Was Opened During The Exhibition Of 1900, On July 19. The Line Has Since Been In Constant Operation, And To-day The System Comprises ...
Paris Since The Revolution
Paris Since The Revolution The Revolution Brought About The Unification Of Paris, In Which Traces Of The Old Feudal Domains Had Survived Until That Time. It Set The Seal On The Age-long Tendency Towards Centralization In France, And Thus Increased The Importance Of The Capital. The Days Of Oct. 5 ...
Paris University
Paris University. This University Is Also Known As The Sorbonne, The Name Originally Given To The College Founded By Robert De Sorbon In Paris ; Hence Applied Afterwards Popularly To The Theological Faculty, And So To The Institution Which Is Now The Seat Of The Academie Of That City. For ...
Parish
Parish. In The Early Christian Church Each District Was Administered By A Bishop And His Attendant Presbyters And Dea Cons, And The Word Parochia Was Frequently Applied To Such A District. Scattered Congregations Or Churches Within The Parochia Were Served By Itinerant Presbyters. Towards The Close Of The 4th Century ...
Parlement
Parlement, In O.fr. The Name Given To Any Meeting For Discussion Or Debate (parler, To Speak), A Sense In Which It Was Still Used By Joinville, But From The Latter Half Of The 13th Century Employed In France In A Special Sense To Designate The Sessions Of The Royal Court ...
Parliament
Parliament, The Name Given To The Supreme Legislature Of The United Kingdom Of Great Britain And Ireland. (for The Old French Parlement, See Parlement ; And For Analogous Foreign Assemblies See The Articles On The Respective Countries.) The Word Is Found In English From The 13th Century, First For A ...
Parliament Since 1910
Parliament Since 1910 The General Election Of 1910 Was Fought On The Issue, Already Placed Before The Commons In A Series Of Resolutions Which Were Moved By The Prime Minister During The Summer Of That Year, Of The Legislative Supremacy Of The Commons Over The Lords. The Success Of The ...
Parliamentary Law
Parliamentary Law, As The Term Is Ordinarily Used In The United States, Embodies The Generally Accepted Rules, Prece Dents And Practices Commonly Employed In The Government Of Deliberative Assemblies. Its Function Is To Maintain Decorum, Ascertain The Will Of The Majority, Preserve The Rights Of The Minority And Facilitate The ...
Parliamentary Procedure
Parliamentary Procedure. In Great Britain The Procedure Of The Imperial Parliament—by Which Phrase Is Signified So Much Of The Conduct Of Its Business As Is Controlled By Each House And Is Not Regulated By Statute—does Not For The Most Part Depend Upon Any Established Code, But Is Customary And, Like ...
Parma
Parma, A Town And Episcopal See Of Emilia, Italy, Capital Of The Province Of Parma, Situated On The Parma, A Tributary Of The Po, 55 M. N.w. Of Bologna By Rail. Pop. (1921) 58,469 (town), 62,603 (commune). Parma Lies In A Fertile Tract Of The Lombard Plain, Within View Of ...
Parmenides Of Elea
Parmenides Of Elea (velia) In Italy, Greek Philos Opher. According To Diogenes Laertius He Was "in His Prime" 504 500 B.c., And Would Thus Seem To Have Been Born C. 539. Plato Indeed (parmenides, 127 B) Makes Socrates Hear Parmenides When The Latter Was About Sixty-five Years Of Age, In ...
Parmigiano 1504 1540
Parmigiano (1504-1540), Italian Painter. Francesco Maria Mazzola, Commonly Called Parmigiano, And Sometimes Parmigianino, From His Birthplace, Parma, Was Born On Jan. I 1, 1504. Losing His Father, Who Was A Painter, In Early Childhood, He Was Brought Up By Two Uncles, Also Painters, Michele And Pier-ilario Mazzola. His Faculty For ...
Parnassians
Parnassians, A Name Given To A Group Of French Poets Writing Between 1866 And 1876 Led By Two Poets In Their Early Twenties, Catulle Mendes And Xavier De Ricart, Who With The Help Of The Young Publisher, Lemerre, Launched The Parnasse Contemporain On March 2, 1866. The Title Was A ...
Parnassus Plays
Parnassus Plays, A Series Of Three Scholastic Entertain Ments Performed At St. John's College, Cambridge, Between 1597 And 1603. They Are Satirical In Character And Aim At Setting Forth The Wretched State Of Scholars And The Small Respect Paid To Learning By The World At Large, As Exemplified In The ...
Parochial Schools
Parochial Schools. In The United States A Parochial School Is A Private Elementary School Maintained By A Roman Catholic Parish. Elementary Schools Conducted By The Roman Catholic Church Are Generally Known In The United States By This Name To Distinguish Them From Public Schools Supported By Taxa Tion. Parochial Schools ...
Parody
Parody, In The Strict Meaning Of The Word, Implies A Comic Imitation Of A Serious Poem (rapcoota Is "a Song Sung Beside"). To Ridicule The Grandiose Is A Primary Impulse, Not Confined To Any One Form Of Art, Or Indeed To Art At All. It Is Of This Stuff That ...
Paros Or Paro
Paros Or Paro, An Island In The Aegean Sea, 37° N. Lat. And 25° 1o' E. Long., One Of The Largest Of The Cyclades, With A Population Of 7,725. It Lies To The West Of Naxos, From Which It Is Separated By A Channel About 6 M. Broad. Its Greatest ...
Parrot
Parrot, The Name Of A Large Group Of Birds, Which For Centuries Have Attracted Attention By Their Gaudy Plumage And By The Readiness With Which Many Of Them Learn To Repeat All Kinds Of Sounds, Including Words And Phrases Of Human Speech. It Must Not Be Thought That This Implies ...
Parthenogenesis
Parthenogenesis, The Development Of An Egg-cell That Has Not Been Fertilized By A Male Element Or Sperm-cell. Thus, As Bonnet Discovered In 1762, The Summer Generations Of Green-flies Or Aphids Are All Parthenogenetic, No Males Occurring For Months. A Drone-bee Develops From An Unfertilized Egg, Thus Having A Mother, The ...
Parthenon
Parthenon, The Name Generally Given, Since The 4th Century B.c., To The Chief Temple Of Athena On The Acropolis At Athens (e.g.,. Demosthenes, C. Androt. 13, 76). The Name Is Applied In The Official Inventories Of The 5th And Early 4th Centuries To One Compartment Of The Temple, And This ...
Parthia 5
Parthia). 5. The Arians ('apel.oc, Pers. Haraiva), In The Vicinity Of The River Arius (heri-rud), Which Derived Its Name From Them. This Name, Which Survives In The Modern Herat, Has Of Course No Con Nection With That Of The Aryans. 6. The Drangians (zaranka In Darius, Sarangians In Herod. Ii. ...