adequate one, for the per centage which he was to have received in case his plan succeeded. He died in 1818.

.

PALMERSTON ISLAND, an island of the South Pacific Ocean, discovered by captain Cook, and visited by captain Wilson in the missionary ship Duff, who states it to consist of a group of small islets, eight or nine in number, connected together by a reef of coral rocks, and lying in a direction nearly circular. The islet we landed upon,' he says, is not a mile in circuit, and at high water is not more than four or five feet above the level of the sea. The soil is coral sand, with an upper stratum of blackish mould produced from rotten vegetables. All the inner area of the islet is covered with cocoa-nut trees, which, decaying and falling successively, form a thick underwood: without these, near to the beach, are the wharra-tree, and others of various sorts. We saw a vast number of men of war birds, tropic birds, and boobies. Among the trees there was plenty of red crabs, dragging after them a shell in form of a perriwinkle, but longer, being in diameter about two or three inches. We also saw the beautiful submarine grotto described in Cook's third voyage. At one part of the reef which bounds the lake within, almost even with the surface, there is a large bed of coral, which affords a most enchanting prospect; its base, which is fixed to the shore, extends so far that it cannot be seen, so that it appears to be suspended in the water. The sea was then unruffled, and the refulgence of the sun exposed the various sorts of coral in the most beautiful order; some parts luxuriantly branching into the water, others appearing in a vast variety of figures, and the whole heightened by spangles of the richest colors, glowing from a number of large clams interspersed in every part. Even this delightful scene was greatly improved by the multitude of fishes that gently glided along, seemingly with the most perfect security; their colors were the most beautiful that can be imagined, blue, yellow, black, red, &c., far excelling any thing that can be produced by art. There are no inhabitants on the island; but plenty of rats, which the missionaries suppose must have been drifted here on some hollow tree or root. Long. 163° 10' W., lat. 18° 4′ S.

PALMETTO, in botany. See CHAMEROPS. PALMIPEDES, in ornithology, the third order in Mr. Latham's system; comprehending webfooted birds; which that ingenious ornithologist found it necessary to introduce between Linnaus's orders of picæ and gralla, answering to the anseres of Linnæus. Latham subdivided this order into two divisions; viz. semipalmati and palmati, in which he is followed by Kerr. The former have long legs, and their fect only half-webbed; the body is conical and somewhat flattened; the thighs are naked on their lower halves; the legs are very long; the feet are fitted for wading; and the toes are only connected together at their posterior parts by a membrane. They mostly pair in breeding time, and build their nests on the ground. They feed on fish and insects. This division contains three genera. The latter have short legs, a smooth bill, covered with a nembranous skin, and increasing

in size towards the point. The feet are fitted for swimming, having short legs, thin, or compressed laterally; and the toes are all compressed to their ends by an interposed membrane. They are mostly polygamous; they build their nests on the ground; they live much in the water, and the young are soon able to provide for themselves.

PALMUS, a long measure used both by the Greeks and Romans. The Grecian palmus, called also yopov, was of two sorts; the greater, which contained nine finger-breadths, and the less which contained four. The Roman palmus was also of two kinds; the greater, which contained twelve finger-breadths, or eight and a half inches English; and the less, which contained four finger-breadths, or nearly three inches English. The great palmus was taken from the length of the hand or span; the less from the breadth of it.

PALMYRA, a noble city of ancient Syria, now in ruins, supposed to have been the Tadmor in the wilderness' built by Solomon (1 Kings, ix. 18, 2 Chron. viii. 4, and Josephus, Ant. Jud. lib. 1), though this is much controverted by many learned men. For the world has been long and justly astonished to find in the Desert of Syria, at a distance from the sea, with only a very precarious and scanty supply of water, and without a particular connexion with any great monarchy, ruins of a city more extensive and splendid than Rome itself, the deposit of all the arts which Greece in its most flourishing periods could afford.

Tadmor was situated where two hills converged, and beyond the point where they approached. These hills afforded water, and the aqueducts through which it was brought from them were discovered and described by Mr. Wood. Though the other towns now in ruins afford some remains of luxury and opulence, yet in these respects they are much inferior to Palmyra. The two springs of fresh water it possesses,' says Volney, were a powerful inducement in a desert every where else so parched and barren. These, doubtless, were the principal motives which drew the attention of Solomon, and induced that commercial prince to carry his arms so remote from the limits of Judea.' He built strong walls there,' says the historian Josephus, to secure himself in the possession, and named it Tadmor, which signifies the place of palm trees. Hence it has been inferred that Solomon was its first founder; but we should, from this passage, rather conclude that it was already a place of known importance. The invasion of Tadmor by that prince throws a great light on the history of this city. The king of Jerusalem would never have carried his attention to so distant and detached a spot without some powerful motive of interest; and this interest could be no other than that of an extensive commerce, of which this place was already the emporium. This commierce extended itself to India, and the Persian Gulf was the principal point of union. From the nature of the commodities, from the requisite assistance of the Tyrians, and other forcible arguments, M. Volney infers that the Persian Gulf was the centre

of the most ancient commerce of the eastern world; and that it was with a view of obtaining a shorter route, by the Euphrates, that Solomon turned his attention to Tadmor, distant but three days' journey from it.

An ancient historian,' says Volney, 'who has informed us that Nabuchodonosor, before he laid siege to Jerusalem, took possession of Tadmor, clearly indicates that the latter city acted in concert with the two neighbouring capitals, Tyre and Jerusalem. Their gradual decline became, under the Persian empire and the successors of Alexander, the efficient cause of the sudden greatness of Palmyra in the time of the Parthians and Romans; she had then enjoyed a long peace for many centuries, which allowed her inhabitants to erect those monuments of opulence whose ruins we still admire.' The verdant part of the ground was, perhaps, in remote times far more extensive than it is at present, the sands having without doubt encroached in a considerable degree on the tract calculated for bearing the fruits of the earth. A place possessed of the advantages we have mentioned was soon made a point of resort for the caravans by which the various rich commodities of India were transported to European countries. Palmyra thus grew to be an independent and wealthy city; and appears to have been permitted by the Romans, during their Parthian wars, to maintain a strict neutrality. Trajan, however, incorporated it with the imperial Roman state, and it should seem that during the period in which it held the subordinate rank of a Roman colony (namely, for a century and a half subsequently), those temples and palaces of Grecian architecture, whose widely extended ruins have occasioned so much speculation, were erected.

In old times Palmyra was doubtless encompassed by palms and fig trees, and it might probably have been reduced to its present forlorn and miserable appearance by the oceans of sand drifted over it by whirlwinds. The walls of the city are flanked with square towers; and are of the extent of three miles in circumference. But there is no authentic history of Palmyra till after the captivity of the emperor Valerian by the Persians. It is first mentioned by the Roman historians, as a place which Marc Antony attempted to plunder, upon pretence that it had not observed a just neutrality between the Romans and Parthians. Pliny takes notice of it, as situated in a rich soil, among pleasant streams, and separated from the rest of the world by a vast sandy desert, which had preserved its independence between Parthia and Rome. After the captivity of Valerian, it was become an opulent city, to which its situation in the vicinity of the Roman and Parthian empires greatly contributed; as the caravans, going to or returning from the east, frequented the place, and thus rendered it a considerable seat of merchandise. But, when the defeat and captivity of Valerian had so much weakened the empire that the Persians seemed to be in a fair way of becoming masters of all the eastern provinces, the Palmyrenians began to attempt recovering their liberty. Odenatus, prince of Palmyra, sent a polite letter to Sapor on his return, accompanied with con

siderable presents; but by that haughty conqueror his letter and embassy were treated with the most provoking contempt. The presents were thrown into the Euphrates; and to his letter Sapor replied, That his insolence in presuming to write to his lord was inexcusable; but, if he could atone for it in any way, it would be by presenting himself before the throne bound hand and foot. Upon this Odenatus was so provoked that he swore either to bring down the pride of the haughty conqueror, or die in the attempt. Accordingly, having assembled what forces he could, he fell upon the Persians, destroyed a great number of them, took a great part of their baggage, with Sapor's queen, and some of his concubines. But though the Persians were often vanquished, and the independency of Palmyra often established, Valerian was never released from his captivity, though Odenatus earnestly endeavoured to rescue him from his enemies. Odenatus enjoyed his sovereignty but a short time; being murdered by his nephew, who was soon after put to death by Zenobia, the widow of Odenatus.

Zenobia was possessed of very extraordinary endowments both of body and mind. Immediately on the murder of her husband, she assumed the government, avenged his death, and soon strengthened herself so much that she resolved to submit neither to the Roman nor Persian power. Arabia, Armenia, and Persia, dreaded her enmity and solicited her alliance. To the dominions of Odenatus, which extended from the Euphrates to the frontiers of Bithynia, she added the inheritance of her ancestors, the populous and fertile kingdom of Egypt. The emperor Claudius II. acknowledged her merit, and was content that, while he pursued the Gothic war, she should enjoy the dignity of the empire in the east. The conduct, however, of Zenobia, was attended with some ambiguity. She blended with the popular manners of Roman princes the stately pomp of the courts of Asia, and exacted from her subjects the same adoration that was paid to the successors of Cyrus. She bestowed on her three sons a Roman education, and often showed them to the troops adorned with the imperial purple. For herself she reserved the diadem and title of queen of the east. When Aurelian passed over into Asia, his presence restored obedience to Bithynia, already shaken by the arms of Zenobia. Advancing at the head of his regions, Ancyra submitted, and he was admitted into Tyana, after an obstinate siege, by the treachery of a perfidious citizen. The generous though fierce Aurelian abandoned the traitor to the rage of the soldiers: a superstitious reverence induced him to treat with lenity the countrymen of Apollonius the philosopher. Antioch was deserted on his approach; till he recalled the fugitives, and granted a general pardon to all who, from necessity, had fought for the Palmyrenian queen. The unexpected mildness of such conduct reconciled the Syrians, and, as far as the gates of Emesa, the people submitted to his arms. Zenobia, however, opposed the emperor's approach. The fate of the east was decided in two great battles; the first fought near Antioch, the second near

Emesa. In both, the queen of Palmyra animated the armies by her presence, and devolved the execution of her orders on Zabdas, who had already signalised his military talents by the conquest of Egypt. The numerous forces of Zenobia consisted for the most part of light archers, and of heavy cavalry clothed in complete steel. The Moorish and Illyrian horse of Aurelian were unable to sustain the ponderous charge of their antagonists. They fled in real or affected disorder, engaged the Palmyrenians in a laborious pursuit, harassed them by a desultory combat, and at length discomfited this impenetrable body of cavalry. The infantry, when they had exhausted their quivers, remained exposed to the swords of the legions. After the defeat of Emesa, Zenobia found it impossible to collect a third army. As far as the frontier of Egypt, the nations subject to her empire had joined the standard of the conqueror. Palmyra was her last resource. She retired within its walls; made every preparation for a vigorous resistance; and declared, with the intrepidity of a heroine, that the last moment of her reign and of her life should be the same. In his march over the sandy desert, between Emesa and Palmyra, Aurelian was perpetually harassed by the Arabs; nor could he always defend his army, and especially his baggage, from those flying troops of daring robbers. The siege of Palmyra was an object far more difficult and important; and the emperor, who, with incessant vigor pressed the attacks in person, was himself wounded with a dart. The Roman people,' says Aurelian, in an original letter, speak with contempt of the war which I am waging against a woman. They are ignorant both of the character and of the power of Zenobia. It is impossible to enumerate her warlike preparations, of stones, of arrows, and of every species of missile weapons. Every part of the walls provided with two or three balista, and artificial fires are thrown from her military engines,' &c. Aurelian at last judged it prudent to offer terms of an advantageous capitulation to the queen, a splendid retreat; to the citizens, their ancient privileges. His proposals were obstinately rejected. Zenobia hoped, that in a short time famine would compel the Roman army to repass the desert; and that the kings of the east, particularly the Persian mo narch, would arm in the defence of their natural ally. But the death of Sapor distracted the councils of Persia; and the inconsiderable succors that attempted to relieve Palmyra were easily intercepted. The Roman camp was increased by the return of Probus with his victorious troops from the conquest of Egypt. It was then that Zenobia resolved to fly. She mounted the fleetest of her dromedaries; and had reached the banks of the Euphrates, about sixty miles from Palmyra, when she was overtaken by Aurelian's light horse, seized, and brought back a captive. Her capital soon after surrendered, and was treated with unexpected lenity. When the Syrian queen was brought into the presence of Aurelian, he sternly asked her, How she had presumed to rise in arms against the emperors of Rome? The answer of Zenobia was a prudent mixture of respect and

firmness: Because I disdained to consider as Roman emperors an Aureolus or a Gallienus. You alone I acknowledge as my conqueror and my sovereign.' But the courage of Zenobia deserted her in the hour of trial; she trembled at the clamors of the soldiers, who called aloud for her immediate execution; forgot the bold despair of Cleopatra, which she had proposed as her model, and ignominiously purchased life by the sacrifice of her fame and her friends. It was to their councils, which governed the weakness of her sex that she imputed the guilt of her obstinate resistance; it was on their heads that she directed the vengeance of the cruel Aurelian. The fame of Longinus, who was included among the numerous and perhaps innocent victims of her fear, will survive that of the queen who betrayed, or the tyrant who condemned him. Genius and learning were incapable of moving a fierce unlettered soldier, but they had served to elevate and harmonise the soul of Longinus. Without uttering a complaint, he calmly followed the executioner, pitying his unhappy mistress, and comforting his afflicted friends.

Returning from the conquest of the east, Aurelian had already crossed the straits which divide Europe from Asia, when he was provoked by the intelligence that the Palmyrenians had massacred the governor and garrison which he had left among them, and erected the standard of revolt. Without delay, he once more turned towards Syria. Antioch was alarmed by his rapid approach, and the helpless city of Palmy ra felt the irresistible weight of his resentment. We have a letter of Aurelian himself, in which he acknowledges, that old men, women, children, and peasants, had been involved in that dreadful execution which should have been confined to armed rebellion: and, although his principal concern seems directed to the re-establishment of a temple of the sun, he discovers some pity for the remnant of the Palmyrenians, to whom he grants the permission of rebuilding and inhabiting their city. But it is easier to destroy than to restore. The seat of commerce, of arts, and of Zenobia, gradually sunk into an obscure town, a trifling fortress, and at length a miserable village. Little is known concerning the fortunes of Palmyra since the time of Mahomet, except that it was considered as a place of strength; and that in the twelfth century there were 2000 Jews in it.

The company with whom Mr. Wood, the publisher of The Ruins of Palmyra, travelled, arrived at the end of the plain, where a ridge of barren bills, by which it was divided on the right and left, seemed to meet; between them there was a vale, through which an aqueduct formerly conveyed water to Palmyra. On each side of this vale they remarked several sepulchres of the ancient Palmyrenes, which they had scarcely passed, when the hills opening on a sudden, they discovered such piles of ruins as they had never seen. They were all of white marble; and, beyond them, towards the Euphrates, was a wide level, stretching farther than the eye could reach, totally desolate, and without bounds. After having gazed some time upon this prospect, which rather exceeded than fell short of their expecta

tions, they were conducted to one of the huts of the Arabs, of which there were about thirty in the court of the great temple. The inhabitants of both sexes were well shaped, and the women, though very swarthy, had good features. They were veiled, but did not so scrupulously conceal their faces as the eastern women generally do. They painted the ends of their fingers red, their lips blue, and their eye-brows and eye-lashes black. They had large rings of gold or brass in their ears and nostrils.

These celebrated ruins consist of temples, palaces, and porticoes of Grecian architecture; and lie scattered over an extent of several miles. They were accidentally discovered by some English travellers from Aleppo above a century ago. The most remarkable of them is the temple of the Sun, of which the ruins are spread over a square of 220 yards. It was encompassed with a stately wall, built of large square stones, and adorned with pilasters within and without, to the number of sixty-two on a side. Within the court are the remains of two rows of noble marble pillars thirty-seven feet high, with their capitals of most exquisite workmanship. Of these only fifty-eight remain entire, but they appear to have gone round the whole court, and to have supported a double piazza. The walks opposite the castle appear to have been spacious. At each end of this line are two niches for statues, with their pedestals, borders, supporters, and canopies, carved with the utmost propriety and elegance. The space within this enclosure seems to have been an open court, in the middle of which stood the temple encompassed with another row of pillars of a different order, and much taller, being fifty feet high; but of these sixteen only remain. The whole space contained within these pillars is fifty-nine yards in length, and nearly twenty-eight in breadth. The temple is thirtythree yards long, and thirteen or fourteen broad. It points north and south; and exactly in the middle of the building, on the west side, is a most magnificent entry, on the remains of which are some vines and clusters of grapes, carved in the most masterly imitation of nature that can be conceived. Just over the door are discerned a pair of wings, which extend its whole breadth; but the body, whether of an eagle, or an angel, is destroyed. The north end of this temple is adorned with the most curious fret-work and bas-relief; and in the middle there is a dome or cupola about ten feet diameter. North of this place is an obelisk, consisting of seven large stones, besides its capital. It is about fifty feet high; and, just above the pedestal, is twelve feet in circumference. About a quarter of a mile from this pillar, to the east and west, are two others, besides the fragment of a third. About 100 paces from the middle obelisk is a magnificent entry to a piazza, which is forty feet broad, and more than half a mile long, enclosed with two rows of marble pillars twenty-six feet high, and eight or nine in compass. Of these there still remain 129, but there must originally have been no less than 560. The upper end of the piazza was closed by a row of pillars. To the left are the ruins of a stately banquetting-house, built of better marble, and finished with yet

greater elegance, than the piazza. The pillars which supported it were of one entire stone. It measures twenty-two feet in length, and in compass eight feet nine inches. In the west side of the piazza are several apertures for gates into the court of the palace. Each of these was adorned with four porphyry pillars, placed by couples in the front of the gate facing the palace, two on each side. Two of these only remain entire. They are thirty feet long, and nine in circumference. On the east side of the piazza stand a great number of marble pillars, some perfect, but the greater part mutilated. At a little distance are the remains of a small temple, without a roof. Before the entry, which looks to the south, is a piazza supported by six pillars, two on each side of the door, and one at each end. The pedestals of those in front have been filled with inscriptions, both in the Greek and Palmyrene languages, which are become totally illegible. Among these ruins are many sepulchres. They are all square towers, four or five stories high. There is a walk across the whole building, the space on each hand is subdivided into six partitions by thick walls. The space between the partitions is wide enough to receive the largest corpse; and in these niches there are six or seven piled upon one another. Many inscriptions have been found at Palmyra, which have occupied much of the attention of the learned. See Barthelemy's Reflections on the Palmyrene Alphabet, published at Paris in 1754; An Explication of the Inscriptions at Palmyra hitherto published by John Swinton, of Christ Church, Oxford; Philosophical Transactions, No. 217 and 218; Ancient Universal History, Vol. 1; and, above all, the Ruins of Palmyra, or Tadmor in the Desert, published by Mr. R. Wood, who, with M. Bouverie and Mr. Dawkins, travelled thither in 1751. The result of their observations was published in 1753, in the form of an atlas. The ruins of this once mighty and celebrated city are represented in fifty-seven copper plates, sixteen by twelve inches, printed on imperial paper. They are admirably executed; Palmyra was visited by Mr. Bruce, before his journey into Abyssinia. Before he came in sight of the ruins, he ascended a hill of white gritty stone, in a very narrow winding road; but, on getting up to the top, he was struck with the most stupendous sight which, he believes, ever mortal saw. The whole plain below, which is very extensive, was so covered with magnificent buildings that they seemed to touch one another. All of them are finely proportioned, and composed of white stones, which at that distance appeared like marble.

In the neighbourhood of Palmyra are some salt-marshes; and to the adjacent country a trade is carried on in kelp from Tripoli in Syria. Respecting the latitude and longitude there are various opinions. Before Mr. Bruce left Palmyra, he observed its latitude with a reflecting quadrant of Hadley, but, as the instrument was out of order, he could not determine it exactly. In his opinion, however, 33° 58′ is the latitude. From such observations as he could make on the longitude, he concluded it to be 37° 9′ E. of Greenwich. Mr. R. Wood makes the lat. 34°

He must not think to shelter himself from so pri pable au absurdity, by this impertinent distinction. Tillotson.

N. That which appears to be nearest the truth is long. 38° 50′ E, lat. 33° 20′ N. It stands about fifty leagues south-east of Aleppo, as much from Damascus, and twenty leagues west of the Euphrates.

PALMYRAS POINT, the south point of Balasore Bay, Bengal, is a low point, covered with palm-trees, and on each side of it a river, that on the south being navigable for small vessels. The bay of Balasore has but little depth, and the great danger here is of mistaking Cape False for the Point. No ship should enter Balasore roads between Lady-day and Midsummer, and at all seasons a pilot should be taken on board. The East India Company have lately erected a light-house here. Long. 87° 5' E., lat. 20° 44′ N.

PALNAUD, a district of the Carnatic, Hindostan, situated principally between 16 and 17° of N. lat., and on the south side of the Kistnah. This district was ceded by the nabob of the Carnatic to the British, in 1801, and is now comprehended in the collectorship of Guntoor. The chief towns are Macheria, Timerycotta, and Currumconda.

PALO, a town of Diarbekir, Asiatic Turkey, is situated on the edge of a mountain, upon the banks of the Euphrates. The top of the mountain is covered with ruins, supposed to be those of Balisbiga; and quantities of old coins and medals are continually dug up here. The present population of Palo is about 8000 Turks, Armenians, and Koords; but the town is ill built, and subject to earthquakes. The Euphrates is here extremely rapid. Sixty miles north of Diarbekir.

PALPABLE, adj. PALPABILITY, n. s. PALPABLENESS, PALPABLY, adv.

Fr. palpable; Latin palpor. Perceptible to the touch; hence easily detected; gross; coarse; PALPA'TION, n. s. plain: palpability and palpableness are synonymous, expressing the state or quality of being perceived by the touch; plainness; obviousness: palpably is the corre sponding adverb: palpation (of which we find no instance) the act of feeling.

That grosser kind of heathenish idolatry, whereby they worshipped the very works of their own hands, was an absurdity to reason so pulpable, that the prophet David, comparing idols and idolaters together, maketh almost no odds between them.

It was so palpable, I could have touched them.
I turned from one face to another, in
The hope to find at last one which I knew
Ere I saw theirs: but no-all turned upon me.
Byron.

PALPAH, a mountainous and barren district of Northern Hindostan, situated between 28° and 29° of N. lat. It forms one of the principalities subject to the rajah of Nepaul, called the territories of the twenty-four rajahs. It is intersected by the Gunduck.

PALPAI, the capital of the above-mentioned district, the residence of a Hindoo chief named Mehadut Sein, who is tributary to Nepaul. It is situated among the mountains on the banks of the Gunduck River. Long. 82° 55′ E., lat. 28° 11' N. PALPITATE, v. a. Į French pulpiter; Lat. PALPITATION, n. s. $ palpito (à Gr. #αλλw). To pant; throb; beat as the heart; flutter: the substantive corresponding.

The heart strikes five hundred sort of pulses in an hour; and hunted into such continual palpitations, through anxiety and distraction, that fain would it break. Harvey.

I knew the good company too well to feel any palpitations at their approach. Tatler. Anxiety and pulpitations of the heart are a sign of weak fibres.

Arbuthnot on Aliments.

Her bosom heaves With palpitations wild.

While, as beautiful as May,

Thomson's Spring.

But