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 blan ket. It was much worn by the Greeks, 'direct from the ground; others are sar mentose, twining about the stems and branches of neighboring trees, by means of books or prickles, or trailing on the ground with stems of almost incredible length and extreme slenderness, as in the case of many of the Calami. The interior of the stem is generally soft and pithy, intermingled with bundles of fiber longitudinally. The leaves vary much in form superficially, but all the variations belong to two types—the fan veined and the pinnate-veined. In the former the general outline is that of a fan. In the other type the leaves are more or less elongated. Leaves of this type are sometimes entire, but more generally pinnate, and impart much ele gance and grace to the figure of the par ticular species to which they belong.
corresponding to the toga of the Ro mans. In ecclesiology, a pall, an orna mental 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 appoint ment. In zoology, the mantle of a bi valve mollusk.
PALM (PaInzx or Palraacem), a nat ural order of endogenous plants, the products of which are of extreme im portance and utility to man. They are arborescent, with erect stems, usually slender as compared with the extreme height to which some of the species at tain; and simple or rarely branching; some are stemless, their leaves springing The size of palm leaves varies extremely, some being only a few inches in length, as in some species of Malortia, while in Manicaria sacci f e r a they attain the enormous proportions of 35 feet in length by 5 or 6 feet in breadth. The flowers are small individually, but nu merous, usually of a yellow tint, and in some species powerfully odorous. They
are unisexual, bisexual, or polygamous., the male and female flowers being borne in some species on different plants. The fruit when ripe is berry-like, drupaceous, plum-like, or, as in the cocoanut, nut like.
Palms are native chiefly of the tropi cal regions of the earth. Their stems when young and tender are delicious and nutritious food; when old and ma ture those of certain species yield valu able farinaceous substances; some are valuable as timber trees, and the termi Nal bud of several consists of a mass of tender mucilaginous leaves, which are esteemed a delicate and delicious vege table. Many yield by incision or other wise an abundance of sweet sap, from which sugar, refreshing drinks, wines, spirits, and vinegar are obtained. Their leaves are used for thatch, and for the making of mats, baskets, hats, umbrel las, thread, cord, and clothing. They yield excellent and inexhaustible mate rials and they are in some cases a natural substitute for writing paper, the records and writings of many Eastern peoples being inscribed upon them.
The order comprises between 130 and 140 genera, and the number of species known is variously estimated by differ ent authorities as from 600 to 1,000.
The genus Chamxdorea, composed of about 60 species, are used in South America for making bridges. The flow ers of several of the species are highly esteemed as a culinary vegetable in some of the countries of Central America. The fruit of Leopoldina major, called by the natives of Brazil Jara,-assit, is col lected by them and burned, and the ash, after being washed, is used as a substi tute for salt. Euterpe edulis—also a native of Brazil—produces fruit like the sloe from which a beverage is made and Oncosperma filamentosa furnish ed ible cabbage. From the fruit of the Enocarpus batava a wholesome bever age called Patawa-yukisse is made on the Rio Negro. The fruit of Oreodoxa regia, an extremely handsome palm, a native of Cuba, is too acrid for human food, but is used there for fattening hogs.