There is also abundance of gums, well calculated to supply the place of gum arabic: and one species adapted for making sealing-wax. Several parts of Para abound with yellow ochre, frequently intermixed with a red ochre of bril liant color. The animals are similar to those in the other districts of Brasil. Formerly the sale of the flocks which grazed in the island of Marajo was one of the great resources of this colony; but at present the number of oxen is diminished. A large species of silk-worm, whose ball is three times the size of the common one, is found in great plenty in Para. It feeds on the leaves of the orange trees, but the silk obtained has not as yet proved a profitable article of commerce: but the numerous indigo plantations are in a very flourishing condition. The finest Brasil arnotto is brought from this district. The chief rivers are the Madera, the Topayos, the Zingu, the Araguay, and the Toccantins, which all come from the northern mountains of Brasil, and fall

into the Amazons.

PARA, GRAN, the capital of the province of this name, is a handsome city standing on the banks of the river Toccantins, the navigation of which is difficult, except for very small craft: the Confidence sloop of war with great care sailed up it, however, and anchored near the town, several days previous to the British expedition against Cayenne. The commerce is of little consequence: the exports consisting only of a little rice and cocoa, and a few drugs, &c., to Maranham, whence they are embarked for Europe. Some small brigs were sent hither from Barbadoes, after the taking of Cayenne; but the trade must be a bad one, as the inhabitants are in general too poor to purchase English manufactures, except those of necessity. The climate is hot, as may well be supposed; and thunder, with lightning and rain, occur generally every afternoon. It has a citadel and castle, at the entrance of the bar upon the river, and contains about 8000 inhabitants. It is sixty miles from the mouth of the river.

PARA, a river of the above province and kingdom, is, properly speaking, one of the mouths of the Amazons, formed by the island of Joannes. It is about forty miles wide at its mouth, and runs about 200 miles in a north-east direction. Lat. 20° S.

PAR'ABLE, n. s. > Fr. parabole; Gr. PARABOLICAL, adj. παραβολή. A comPARABOLICALLY, adv.) parison or similitude; a relation under which something else is figured; a mysterious speech or maxim: the adjective and adverb follow these senses. Parable, also, as an adjective, (from Lat. parabilis,) means easily procured.

And in manye suche parablis he pak to hem the Wiclif. Mark iv.

word.

Numbers.

Balaam took up his parable, and said. It is evident that some things are purposely couched in parabolical and mysterious expression; it is particularly the manner of prophetical instruction.

Barrow.

Such from the text decry the parabolical exposition of Cajetan. Id. Vulgar Errours. These words, notwithstanding parabolically inBrowne. tended, admit no literal inference.

What is thy fulsome parable to me?

My body is from all diseases free. Dryden. The pellucid coat of the eye doth not lie in the lock above its convexity, and is of an hyperbolical same superficies with the white, but riseth up a hilor parabolical figure. Ray.

In the parable of the talents, our Saviour plainly teacheth us, that men are rewarded according to the improvements they make.

Nelson.

The scheme of these words is figurative, as being a parabolical description of God's vouchsafing to the world the invaluable blessing of the gospel, by the South. similitude of a king.

The incident ray will describe, in the refracting medium, the parabolick curve. Cheyne.

A PARABLE is a fable or allegorical instruction, founded on something real or apparent in nature or history, from which a moral is drawn by comparing it with something in which the people are more immediately concerned; such are the parables of Dives and Lazarus, of the See ALProdigal Son, of the Ten Virgins, &c.

LEGORY.

Had the velocities of the several planets been greater or less than they are now, at the same distances from the sun, they would not have revolved in concentrick circles as they do, but have moved in hyperbolas or parabolas, or in ellipses, very eccentrick. Bentley.

PARABOLIC PYRAMIDOID, a solid figure, so named by Dr. Wallis from its formation. Thus let all the squares of the ordinates of a parabola be so placed that the axis shall pass perpendicularly through all their centres, then the aggregate of all these planes will form the aggregate of the parabolic pyramidoid. It is equal to half its circumscribed parallelopipedon. The solid content is found by multiplying the base by the altitude, and taking half the product.

PARABOLIC SPIRAL, a curve arising from the supposition that the parabola is bent till the axis come into the periphery of a circle, the ordinates still retaining their places with respect to the

circle.

PARABOLOID, n. s. Gr. παραβολή and dos, form or appearance. A paraboliform curve, in geometry, whose ordinates are supposed to be in subtriplicate, subquadruplicate, &c., ratio of their respective abscissæ. There is also ano ther species; for if you suppose the parameter, multiplied into the square of the abscissa, to be equal to the cube of the ordinate; then the curve is called a semi-cubical paraboloid.-Harris.

PARACELSUS (Aurelius Philip Theophrastus Bombastus, de Hohenheim), a famous physician, born at Einsilden, in the canton of Schweitz, He was educated with great care by his father, who was the natural son of a German prince, and made a rapid progress in the study of physic. He afterwards travelled into France, Spain, Italy, and Germany. In his return to Switzer

land, he stopped at Basle, where he read lectures on physic in the German tongue. He was one of the first who made use of chemical remedies with success, by which he acquired great reputation. See MEDICINE. He gloried in destroying the method established by Galen, and thus drew upon himself the hatred of the other physicians. It is said that he boasted of being able, by his remedies, to preserve the life of man for several generations; but he himself experienced the vanity of such boasting, by dying at Saltzburg, in 1504, at thirty-seven years of age according to some, or forty-eight according to others. The best edition of his works is that of Geneva in 1658, in 3 vols. folio.

PARACENTESIS, n. s. Fr. paracentese ; Greek παρακέντησις, οἱ παρακεντέω, to pierce. That operation whereby any of the venters are perforated to let out any matter; as tapping, &c. PARACENTESIS. See SURGERY. PARACENTRICAL, adj. Gr. Tapà, beside,and KEPTρov,

PARACENTRIC.

a centre. Deviating from circularity. Since the planets move in the elliptic orbits, in one of whose foci the sun is, and, by a radius from the sun describe equal areas in equal times, we must find out a law for the paracentrical motion, that may make the orbits elliptic. Cheyne.

PARACENTRIC MOTION, the motion or space by which a revolving planet approaches nearer to or recedes farther from the sun, or centre of attraction.

PARACHUTE, a large and strong kind of umbrella, invented by M. Blanchard, the French aeronaut, to break a person's fall from an air balloon, in case of any accident happening to it at a high elevation. See AERONAUTICS.

PARACLETE, the Comforter, a name given to the Holy Ghost.

PARADE', n. s. Fr. parade; Ital. parada; of Lat. paro, to contrive or go about a thing. Order; array; procession; show; pomp.

The cherubim stood armed

I hate its noise and stiff parade, its blank
And empty forms, and stately courtesy,
Where between bows and blows, a smile and stab,
There's scarce a moment. Soldiers always live
In idleness or peril: both are bad.

Proctor.

Be rich; but of your wealth make no parade, At least before your master's debts are paid. Swift. PARADE, in a military sense, is the place where troops assemble or draw together, to mount guard, &c.

PARADE, in fencing, implies the action of parrying or turning off any thrust. See FENCING. PARADIN (William), a French historian of he sixteenth century, born at Cuiseaux, near Chalons, was author of a great number of works; particularly the History of Aristaus respecting the version of the Pentateuch; and Memoralia insignium Franciæ familiarum.

The ancients express the situation of the parudisiacal earth in reference to the sea. Burnet.

Such a mediocrity of heat would be so far from exalting the earth to a more happy and paradisic.cal state, that it would turn it to a barren wilderness. Woodu ara's Natural History.

The summer is a kind of heaven when we wander in a paradisiacal scene, among groves and gardens; but, at this season, we are like our poor first parents, turned out of that agreeable, though solitary life, and forced to look about for more people to help to bear together in cities. our labours, to get into warmer houses, and hive

By Alla! I would answer nay;
Though on Al-Sirat's arch I stood,
Which totters o'er the fiery flood,
With paradise within my view,
And all his Houris beckoning through

Pope.

Byron.

PARADISEA, in ornithology, a genus of birds belonging to the order of pica. The beak is covered with a belt or collar of downy feathers at the base; and the feathers on the sides are

very long. Birds of this genus,' says Latham,

have the bill slightly bending; the base covered with velvet-like feathers. The nostrils are small, and concealed by the feathers. The tail consists of ten feathers; the two middle ones, and sometimes more in several of the species, are very long, and webbed only at the base and tips. The legs and feet are very large and strong: they have three toes forward, one backward, and the middle connected to the outer one as far as the first joint. The whole of this genus have, till lately, been very imperfectly known; few cabinets possessing more than one species, viz. tne greater, or what is called the common bird of Paradise; nor has any set of birds given rise to more fables, the various tales concerning which are to be found in every author; such as, their never touching the ground from their birth to death; living wholly on the dew; being produced without legs; and a hundred such stories, too ridiculous even to mention. This last error is hardly yet wholly eradicated. The Portuguese first found these birds on the island of Gilolo, the Papua Islands, and New Guinea; and they were known by the name of birds of the sun. The inhabitants of Ternate call them manuco duwata, the bird of God; whence the name manuco diata, used by some naturalists, is derived. The peculiar length and structure of their scapular feathers hinders them from settling

in high winds, on trees; and, when they are thrown on the ground by these winds, they cannot rise again. When taken by the natives, they are inmediately killed, and they defend themselves with great courage with their formidable bills. Latham enumerates eight species, but there are many more.

1. P. alba, the white bird of Paradise, is the most rare, and has two varieties; one quite white, and the other black and white. The former is very rare. The second has the fore part black, and the back part white; with twelve crooked wiry shafts, which are almost naked, though, in some places, covered with hairs.

2. P. makima, the largest bird of Paradise, is commonly two feet four inches long; the head is small; the bill hard and long, of a pale color. The head and back part of the neck is lemoncolored, a little black about the eyes; about the neck, of the brightest glossy emerald green, soft like velvet; as is also the breast, which is black; the wings are large, and chestnut colored; the back part of the body is covered with long, straight, narrow feathers, of a pale brown color, similar to the plumes of the ostrich. These feathers are spread when the bird is on the wing; for which reason he can keep very long in the air. On both sides of the belly are two tufts of stiff and shorter feathers of a golden yellow, and shining. From the rump proceed two long stiff shafts, which are feathered on their extremities. These birds are found at the Aroo islands, fifteen Dutch miles east of Key, during the west or dry monsoon; and they return to New Guinea as soon as the east or west monsoon sets in. They come always in a flock of thirty or forty, and are led by a bird which the inhabitants of Aroo call the king. This leader is black, with red spots; and constantly flies higher than the rest of the flock, which never forsake him, but settle as soon as he settles; a circumstance that frequently proves their ruin when the king lights on the ground, whence they are not able to rise on account of the singular structure and disposition of their plumage. They are likewise unable to fly with the wind, which would ruin their loose plumage; but take their flight constantly against it, cautious not to venture out in hard blowing weather, as a strong wind frequently obliges them to come to the ground. During their flight they cry like starlings. Their note, however, approaches more to the croaking of ravens; which is heard very plainly when they are in distress from a fresh gale blowing on the back of their plumage. In Aroo, they settle on the highest trees, especially on the ficus benjamina of the hortus malabaricus, commonly called the waringa tree. The natives catch them with bird-lime, or in nooses, or shoot them with blunt arrows; dry and fumigate the bodies with sulphur or smoke, and sell them at Banda for half a rixdollar each; but at Aroo they may be bought for a spike-nail or a piece of old iron. Flocks of these birds are often seen flying from one island to the other against the wind. During the east monsoon their tails are moulted, so that they have them only during four months of the west monsoon.

3. P. minor, the smaller bird of Paradise is

about twenty-nine inches long. His beak is lead-colored, and paler at the point. The eyes are small, and enclosed in black about the neck. The head and back of the neck are of a dirty yellow; the back of a grayish yellow; the breast and belly of a dusky color; the wings small, and chestnut-colored. The long plumage is about a foot in length, and paler than in the large species; as in general the colors of this species are less bright than the former; though in most other respects they are alike. They likewise follow a leader, who is blacker, with a purplish cast, and finer in color than the rest. The neck and bil are larger in the male than in the female. They roost on the tops of the highest trees, and do not migrate. The natives sear the birds with a hot iron, and put them in a tube of bamboo for preservation.

4. P. nigra Amboinensis, a species of the black bird of Paradise, seen in Amboyna in 1689. This was only one foot in length, with a fine purple hue, a small head, and a straight bill. On its back, near the wings, are feathers of a blue and purple color, as on the other birds of Paradise; but under the wings, and over all the belly, they are yellow-colored, as in the common sort: on the back of the neck they are mouse-colored, mixed with green. Before the wings are two roundish tufts of feathers, which are green edged, and may be moved at pleasure by the bird, like wings. Instead of a tail, it has twelve or thirteen black, naked, wire-like shafts, hanging promiscuously like feathers. Its legs are strong, and have sharp claws. The head and eyes are remarkably small; the latter are surrounded with black.

5. P. nigra major, the large black bird of Paradise, is brought without wings or legs for sale; so that no accurate description of it has yet been given. Its figure, when stuffed, is narrow and round, but stretched in length to the extent of four spans. The plumage on the neck, head, and belly, is black and velvet-like, with a strong hue of purple and gold. The bill is blackish, and one inch long. On both sides are two bunches of feathers, which appear like wings. The plumage is soft, broad, similar to peacocks' feathers, with a glorious gloss and greenish hue. The feathers of the tail are of unequal length; those next to the belly are narrow, like hair; the two uppermost are much longer, and pointed; those immediately under them are a span and a half longer than the upper ones; they are stiff, on both sides fringed with a plumage like hair, black above, but glossy below. Birds of this species are brought only from one particular place of New Guinea.

6. P. nigra minor, the small black bird of Paradise, has plumage equal in length, but thinner in body, black above, and without any remarkable gloss, not having those shining pearock feathers which are found on the greater species. It wants likewise the three long pointed feathers of the tail, which the larger black species has.

7. P. regalis, or regis, the king's bird, is about seven inches long, and somewhat larger than a titmouse. Its head and eyes are small; the bill straight; the eyes included in circles of

black plumage; the crown of the nead is flamecolored; the back of the neck blood-colored; the neck and breast of a chestnut-color, with a ring of the brightest emerald green. Its wings are in proportion strong; and the quill feathers dark, with red shining plumes, spots, and stripes. The tail is straight, short, and brown. Two long naked black shafts proceed from the rump, at least a hand-breadth beyond the tail; having at their extremities semilunar twisted plumage, of the most glaring green color above, and dusky below. The belly is white and green sprinkled; and on each side is a tuft of long plumage, feathered with a broad margin, being on one side green, and on the other dusky. The back is blood-red and brown, shining like silk. The legs are in size like those of a lark, three fore toes and one back toe. This bird associates not with any of the other birds of Paradise; but flits solitary from bush to bush, wherever he sees red berries, without ever mounting on tall trees.

in the same manner, a spiral may continually approach to a point, and yet not reach it in any number of revolutions, however great. See M'Laurin's Fluxions. See LOGARITHMS. PARADOXI, a sort of mimes or buffoons among the ancients, who entertained the people with extempore effusions of drollery. They were also called Paradoxologi, Ordenari, Neanicologi, and Aretalogi.

PARAGAUDE, among the ancient Romans, wreaths of gold, or silk and gold, interwoven in, not sewed to, their garments. The garment was sometimes of one color, with one paragauda; sometimes of two colors with two paragaude; or three colors, with three, &c. They were worn both by men and women.

PARAGÓANA, a peninsula of Venezuela, Colombia, which is united to the continent by a narrow isthmus, on which stands the city of Coro. The isthmus is about a league in width, and the peninsula stretches from south-west to north-west for twenty leagues. It is chiefly inhabited by people of color and Indians, who breed great quantities of cattle on it.

PARAGOANA, a craggy cape on the coast of Venezuela, thirteen leagues from the city of Coro. Lat. 11° 52′ N.

PARAGO’GE, n. s. Į PARAGOGIC.

Fr. paragogue; Gr. παραγωγή. Α figure in rhetoric, whereby a letter or syllable is added to the end of a word without being essential to the meaning

In Hebrew, the is frequently paragogic; as in 778, for 7738, I will praise. The paragogic letters are the five following, viz. 18, to which some add the . The use of paragogic letters is only either for the sake of the verse, or the smoothness of to give a more full and agreeable sound to words, the period. As in the Hebrew, letters are sometimes added euphoniæ gratia,' so likewise, the four fol lowing letters, viz. 11, which, according to the grammatical rules, ought to be present, are omitted. Dr. A. Rees. PARAGON, n. s. & v. a. French parangon; Ital. paragone; Gr. #apaywv. A pattern or model; to match; compare; parallel; be equal to (as in a pattern).

The picture of Pamela, in little form, he wore in a tablet, purposing to paragon the little one with Artesia's length, not doubting but even, in that little quantity, the excellency of that would shine through the weakness of the other.

Alone he rode without his paragon.
An angel! or, if not,

An earthly paragon.

I will give thee bloody teeth,
If thou with Cæsar paragon again
My man of men.

Sidney. Spenser.

Shakspeare.

Jd.

We will wear our mortal state with her, Catharine our queen before, the primest creature That's paragon'd i' th' world. Id. Henry VIII.

Proud seat

Of Lucifer, so by allusion called
Of that bright star to Satan paragon'd.

Milton.

PARAGONG, a town of the province of Bootan, North Hindostan, and capital of a district of the same name. It is famous for its manufacture of swords, daggers, arrows, and