P. coturnix, or common quail, is not above half the size of the partridge. The feathers of the head are black, edged with rusty brown; the breast is of a pale yellowish red, spotted with black; the feathers on the back are marked with lines of pale yellow, and the legs are of a pale hue. Except in the colors thus described, and the size, it every way resembles a partridge in shape, and, except that it is a bird of passage, it is like all others of the poultry kind in its habits and nature. The quail seems to be an inhabitant of every climate. It is observed to shift quarters according to the season, coming north in spring, and departing in autumn, and in vast flocks. On the west coast of Naples, within four or five miles, 100,000 have been taken in a day. In England they are not numerous at any time. They feed like the partridge, and make no nest, except a few dry leaves or stalks scraped together; and sometimes a hollow on the bare ground suffices. In this the female lays six or seven eggs, of a whitish color, marked with irregular rust-colored spots: the young follow the mother as soon as hatched, like young partridges. They have but one brood in a year. Quailfighting was a favorite amusement among the Athenians. They abstained from the flesh of this bird, deeming it unwholesome, as supposing that it fed upon the white hellebore: but they reared great numbers of them for the pleasure of seeing them fight, and staked sums of money, as we do with regard to cocks, upon the success of the combat. With us its flesh is considered as a very great delicacy. Quails are easily caught by a call.

PERDUE', adv. From the French perdue or forlorn hope: as perdue or advanced sentinel. Close; in ambush.

Confess me knit to thy deserving with cables of perdurable toughness. Shakspeare. Othello.

O perdurable shame! let's stab ourselves.

Shakspeare. Why should he, for the momentary trick, Be perdurably fined. Id. Measure for Measure. The vig'rous sweat

Doth lend the lively springs their perdurable heat. Drayton.

PERECOP, an ancient fortress in the south of the isthmus which joins the peninsula of the Crimea to the continent. It is the ancient Taphræ. In the neighbourhood are lakes, on the surface of which a great quantity of salt crystallises naturally, in May, June, and July. This salt is collected and sold to the average amount of 20,000 waggon loads yearly.

PEREMPTORY, adj. PER EMPTORILY, adv. PER EMPTORINESS, n. s.

Id.

Fr. peremptoire ; barb. Lat. perempStorius, from peremp

tus, killed. Dogmatical; absolute; such as destroys expostulation: the adverb and nounsubstantive corresponding.

He may have fifty-six exceptions peremptorily against the jurors, of which he shall show no cause. Spenser.

As touching the apostle, wherein he was so resolute and peremptory, our Lord Jesus Christ made manifest unto him, even by intuitive revelation, wherein there was no possibility of error. Hooker.

Not death himself
In mortal fury is half so peremptory,

As we to keep this city. Shakspeare. King John. Not to speak peremptorily or conclusively, touching the point of possibility, till they have heard me de

duce the means of the execution.

If I entertaine

Bacon.

As peremptorie a desire, to levell with the plaine
A citie, where they loved to live; stand not betwixt
my ire
And what it aims at.

Norfolk denies them peremptorily.

Chapman. Daniel.

PERENNIAL, adj. › Lat. perennis. LastPEREN'NITY, n. s. Sing through the year: quality of lasting through all seasons.

The matter wherewith these perennial clouds are raised, is the sea that surrounds them. Harvey. If the quantity were precisely the same in these perennial fountains the difficulty would be greater.

Cheyne. That springs have their origin from the sea, and not from rains and vapours, I conclude from the perennity of divers springs.

Derham's Physico-Theology. PERENNIALS, or PERENNIAL FLOWERS, in botany, a term applied to those plants whose roots will abide many years, whether they retain their leaves in winter or not. Those which retain their leaves are called evergreens; but such as cast their leaves are named deciduous, or perdifols.

PERFECT, adj. & v. a.
PERFECTER, n. s.

PERFECTION,

Fr. parfait; Latin, perfectus. Complete; full; PERFECTIONATE, v. a. -consummate; cerPERFECTIVE, adj. tain; due; not PERFECTIVELY, adv. defective or rePERFECTNESS, n. s. dundant; blameless; pure to perfect is to finish; make complete; conclude; make skilful, or fully to instruct a perfecter is he who makes perfect: perfection and perfectness mean completeness; goodness; virtue; supreme excellence: to perfectionate, a word only used by Dryden for to advance to perfection: perfective is having the tendency to make perfect: perfectively, in such manner as brings to perfection.

If perfeccioun was bi the preesthood of leuy, for undir hym the peple took the lawe, what ghit was it nedeful another preest to rise bi the ordre of Melchisedech ? Wiclif. Ebrewis vii. Put on charity, which is the bond of perfectness. Col. iii. 14. Thou shalt be perfect with the Lord thy God.

Deut. xviii.

I'll perfect him withal, and he shall bring you Id. Measure for Measure. I do not take myself to be so perfect in the privileges of Bohemia as to handle that part; and will

not offer at that I cannot master.

Bacon.

We know bodies and their properties most perfectly. Id. Eternal life shall not consist in endless love; the other faculties shall be employed in actions suitable to, and perfective of their nature.

Prior.

Ray on the Creation. What toil did honest Curio take To get one medal wanting yet, And perfect all his Roman set? As virtue is seated fundamentally in the intellect, so perfectively in the fancy; so that virtue is the force of reason in the conduct of our actions and passions to a good end. Grew.

Too few, or of an improper figure and dimension, to do their duty in perfection. Blackmore.

If God be infinitely holy, just, and good, he must take delight in those creatures that resemble him most in these perfections. Atterbury.

Whoever thinks a perfect work to see, Thinks what ne'er was, nor is, nor e'er shall be.

you.

Pope.

This practice was altered; they offered not to Mercury, but to Jupiter the perfecter. Broome. The question is, not whether gospel perfection can be fully attained, but whether you come as near it as a sincere intention and careful diligence can carry Law. PERFECTIBILITY, a word which we owe to the new philosophy, which made so great a noise in the first stages of the French revolution. As far as we understand, the word perfectibility is pretended, in the writings of that disastrous period, to mean the ultimate and absolute perfection to which man and society have a natural and necessary tendency; and which, we were told, neither the tyranny of kings nor the bigotry of priests could eventually restrain.

PERFECTION is divided, according to some writers, into physical, moral, and metaphysical. 1. PERFECTION, METAPHYSICAL, TRANSCENDENTAL, OF ESSENTIAL, is the possession of all the essential attributes, or of all the parts necessary to the integrity of a substance: or it is that whereby a thing has or is provided of every thing belonging to its nature. This is either absolute, where all imperfection is excluded, such as the perfection of God; or secundum quid,

and in its kind.

2. PERFECTION, MORAL, is an eminent degree of virtue or moral goodness, to which men arrive by repeated acts of piety, beneficence, &c. This is usually subdivided into absolute or inherent, which is actually in him to whom we attribute it; and imputative, which exists in some other, and not in him it is attributed to.

3. PERFECTION, PHYSICAL, or NATURAL, is that whereby a thing has all its powers and faculties, and those too in full vigor; and all its parts both principal and secondary, and those in their due proportion, constitution, &c., in which sense man is said to be perfect when he has a sound mind in a sound body. This perfection is by the schools frequently termed EvεpуNTIKη, because a thing is enabled thereby to perform all its operations.

Fr. perfidie; Lat. perfidia. Treachery; want of faith; breach of faith: perfidious

PE'RFIDY, n. s. PERFIDIOUS, adj. PERFIDIOUSLY, adv. PERFIDIOUSNESS, n. s. is treacherous; false to trust.

The aperture was limited by an opaque circle placed between the eye-glass and the eye, and perforated in the middle with a little round hole for the rays to pass through to the eye.

Newton.

The laboured chyle pervades the pores, In all the arterial perforated shores. Blackmore. Worms perforate the guts. Arbuthnot.

the trocar in oil, stab it suddenly through the teguThe patient, placed in a convenient chair, dipping ments, and, withdrawing the perforator, leave the waters to empty by the canula. Sharp.

And such in ancient halls and mansions drear
May still be seen; but perforated sore,
And drilled in holes, the solid oak is found,
By worms voracious eaten through and through.

Cowper. PERFORCE', adv. Per and force. By violence; violently.

Guyon to him leaping, staid

His hand, that trembled as one terrified;
And though himself were at the sight dismayed,
Yet him perforce restrained.

Jealous Oberon would have the child,
But she perforce withholds the loved boy.

Spenser.

Shakspeare.

She amaz'd, her cheeks All trembling and arising, full of spots, And pale with death at hand, perforce she breaks Into the inmost rooms. Peacham on Poetry.

achieve; accomplish; discharge: to succeed: performable is practicable: performance, accom

Perform the doing of it; that as there was a readiness to will, so there may be a performance.

2 Cor. viii. 11. Let all things be performed after the law of God diligently. 1 Esdras viii. 21.

All three set among the foremost ranks of fame for great minds to attempt, and great force to perform what they did attempt. Sidney. Hast thou, spirit, Performed to point the tempest that I bad thee? Shakspeare. Promising is the very air o' th' time; it opens the eyes of expectation: performance is ever the duller for his act, and, but in the plainer kind of people, the deed is quite out of use.

Id.

In this slumbery agitation, besides her walking and other actual performances, what have you heard her say?

ld.

The merit of service is seldom attributed to the true and exact performer.

Id.

Men forget the relations of history, affirming that elephants have no joints, whereas their actions are not performable without them. Browne.

Thou, my love,

nose in no part of the room where a perfume is burned but we smell it. Digby.

Even the rough rocks with tender myrtle bloom, And trodden weeds send out a rich perfume.

Pinks and roses bloom, And every bramble sheds perfume.

Addison.

The pains she takes are vainly meant To hide her amorous heart,

'Tis like perfuming an ill scent, The smell's too strong for art.

Gay.

Granville.

No rich perfumes refresh the fruitful field, Nor fragrant herbs their native incense yield.

See spicy clouds from lowly Sharon rise, And Carmel's flowery top perfumes the skies. First issued from perfumers shops A crowd of fashionable fops.

Pope.

Id.

Swift.

PERFUME, denotes either the volatile effluvia from any body affecting the organ of smelling, or the substance emitting those effluvia; in which last sense the word is most commonly used. The generality of perfumes are made up of musk, ambergris, civet, rose and cedar woods, orange flowers, jessamines, jonquils, tuberoses, and other odoriferous flowers. Those drugs commonly called aromatics, such as storax, frankincense, benzoin, cloves, mace, &c., enter the composition of a perfume; some are also composed of aromatic herbs, or leaves, as lavender, marjoram, sage, thyme, hyssop, &c. The use of perfumes was frequent among the Hebrews, and among the orientals in general, before it was known to the Greeks and Romans. They came to be very common among the Greeks and Romans, especially those composed of musk, ambergris, and civet. The nardus and malobathrum were held in much estimation, and were imported from Syria. The unguentum nardinum was variously prepared, and contained many ingredients. Malobathrum was an Indian plant. Perfumes were also used at sacrifices to regale the gods; at feasts, to increase the pleasures of sensation; at funerals, to overpower cadaverous smells, and please the manes of the dead ; and in the theatres, to prevent the offensive effluvia proceeding from a crowd from being perceived.

PERFUNCTORILY, adv. Lat. perfunctorie. Carelessly; negligently; so as merely to satisfy

external form.

His majesty casting his eye perfunctorily upon it, and believing it had been drawn by mature advice, no sooner received it, than he delivered it to the lordkeeper. Clarendon.

Lay seriously to heart the clearness and evidence of these proofs, and not perfunctorily pass over all the passages of the gospel, which are written on purpose that we may believe, without weighing them.

Lucas.

A transient and perfunctory examination of things leads men into considerable mistakes, which a more correct and rigorous serutiny would have detected. Woodward.

Whereas all logic is reducible to the four principal operations of the mind, the two first of these have been handled by Aristotle very perfunctorily; of the fourth he has said nothing at all. Baker.

PERFUSE', v. a. Lat. perfusus. To tincture; overspread. Not used.

These dregs immediately perfuse the blood with melancholy, and cause obstructions. Harvey.

PERGAMA, the citadel of Troy; which, because of its extraordinary height, gave name to all high buildings (Servius, Virg.) Others say the walls of Troy were called Pergama. PERGAMEA, PERGAMIA, names given by Virgil and Plutarch to Pergamum.

PERGAMO, or PERGAMOS, the modern name of Pergamum, and Pergamus.

PERGAMUM, PERGAMEA, or PERGAMIA, a town of Crete, built by Agamemnon in memory of his victory (Plut. Virg. Velleius). Here was the burying-place of Lycurgus (Aristoxenus). It was situated near Cydonia (Servius); but Scylax helps him out, who places the Dactynnean temple of Diana, which stood near Cydonia (Strabo), to the north of the territory of Pergamia.

PERGAMUM, a town of Mysia, situated on the Caicus, which runs by it (Plin. Strabo). It was the royal residence of Eumenes, and of the kings of the race of the Attali (Livy). It had an ancient temple of Esculapius (Tacitus). The ornament of Pergamum was the royal library, vying with that of Alexandria in Egypt; the kings of Pergamum and Egypt rivalling each other in this respect (Pliny). Strabo ascribes this rivalry to Eumenes. Plutarch mentions 200,000 volumes in the library at Pergamum. Here the membranæ Pergamene, whence the name parchment, were invented for the use of books (Varro, Pliny). It was the country of Galen, and of Oribasius, physician to Julian (Eunapius). Here P. Scipio died (Cicero). Attalus, son of Eumenes, dying without issue, bequeathed his kingdom to the Roman people, who reduced it to a province (Strabo). Here was one of the nine conventus juridici, or assemblies of the Asia Romana, called Pergamenus, and the ninth in order, which Pliny also calls jurisdictio Per

gamena.

PERGAMUS, an ancient kingdom of Asia, formed out of the ruins of the empire of Alexander the Great. It commenced about the year 283. The first sovereign was one Philetarus a eunuch, by birth a Paphlagonian, of a mean descent, and in his youth a menial servant to Antigonus, one of Alexander's captains. Philetarus left the city of Pergamus to his brother, or, according to some, to his brother's son Eumenes I., who obtained possession of the greater part of the province of Asia. Eumenes was succeeded by Attalus I., nephew of Philetarus, who, during a reign of forty-three years, was engaged in many successful wars with the Gauls, Philip of Macedon, and others. He was a man of great generosity, and such an enthusiast in favor of genius that he caused a grammarian named Daphidas to be thrown into the sea from the top of a high rock, because he spoke disrespectfully of Homer. Attalus was succeeded by his eldest son Eumenes II. He was exceedingly attached to the Romans, and assisted them in conquering Antiochus the Great, for which they rewarded him by adding to his dominions all the countries on this side of Mount Taurus, which belonged to that monarch. He continued long a faithful ally of that powerful people, but, having entered into a secret treaty with Perseus king of Macedon, he excited their resentment;

and, although he sought to deprecate their vengeance, it would have fallen on him, but for his death, which happened in the thirty-ninth year of his reign. He left one son, but, as he was an infant, he nominated his brother to succeed him. Attalus II., in the beginning of his reign, was routed in a pitched battle by Prussias king of Bithynia; but the intervention of the Romans procured him complete redress. The latter part of his life he devoted to ease and luxury. He died in his eighty-second year, about 138 B. C. He was succeeded by Attalus III. the son of Eumenes, whose reign was one continued horrid scene of madness and tyranny. On his death a will was found, by which he left the Roman people heirs of all his goods; upon which they seized on the kingdom, and reduced it to a province of their empire by the name of Asia Proper. Aristonicus, a son of Eumenes by an Ephesian courtesan, endeavoured to wrest it from them, but although he gained several battles he could not attain his object, but died in prison. The country remained subject to the Romans while their empire lasted, but is now in the hands of the Turks. The city is half ruined, and is still known by the name of Pergamo.

PERGUNNAH, in the language of Hindostan, means the largest subdivision of a province, whereof the revenues are brought to one particular head cutchery, whence the accounts and cash are transmitted to the general cutchery of the province.

PERHAPS, adv. Per and hap. Peradventure; it may be; mayhap.

Perhaps the good old man that kissed his son,
And left a blessing on his head,
His arms about him spread,
Hopes yet to see him ere his glass be run.

It is not his intent to live in such ways as, for ought we know, God may perhaps pardon, but to be diligent in such ways, as we know that God will infallibly reward.

Law.

A dejection of mind, which perhaps may be removed by to-morrow, rather disqualifies me for writing. Cowper's Private Correspondence.

PERIAGOGUE, in rhetoric, is used where many things are accumulated into one period which might have been divided into several.

PERIAGUA, a sort of large canoe made use of in the Leeward Islands, South America, and the Gulf of Mexico. It is composed of the trunks of two trees hollowed and united together; and thus differs from the canoe, which is formed of one tree.

PERIANDER, tyrant of Corinth and Corcyra, was reckoned among the seven wise men of Greece; though he might rather have been reckoned among the most wicked men, since he changed the government of his country, deprived