self. It is said to have been described in a work called Periodus or Periplus. The motives for his undertaking such long voyages are entirely unknown, but it is generally supposed that the Massilians, a flourishing commercial republic, wishing to extend their mercantile connections, sent him out to explore the unknown regions of the north. In this case however the epithet poor, which Polybius gives to Pytheas, would be ill applied, as his personal poverty would have been no obstacle to his entering upon such bold enterprises. Pytheas also distinguished himself as a mathematician and an astronomer, and among other discoveries ascribed to him, he is said to have been the first who determined the meridian altitude of the sun at the summer solstice at Massilia, by means of a gnomon. (Hipparchus ap. Strab., ii. 5, p. 182, ed. Tauchnitz.) His merits have been differently judged of by the antients, for while Eratosthenes and others adopted his statements in preference to those of others, Polybius (Reliq., lib. xxxiv., 10), and especially Strabo (in many passages of lib. i. and ii.), treat him with the utmost contempt, though the latter does not despise his accounts of the manners and productions of the countries which he visited. Modern geographers however have discovered reasons for judging more favourably of Pytheas, and have ascertained that he is right in several points for which he is censured by Strabo. The few fragments of his works were collected and edited in 1824, by Andr. Arw. Arwedson, Upsala. Compare Brückner, Historia Reipublicæ Massiliensium,' Göttingen, 1826, p. 64, &c.; 'Pytheas de Marseille et la Géographie de son Temps; ouvrage publié par Jos. Straszewicz, orné de trois Cartes géographiques, Paris, 1836 (this work has been translated into German by S. F. W. Hoffmann, Leipzig, 1838). See also Ukert, Bemerkungen über Pytheas, Geographie der Griechen und Römer. PYTHIA. [DELPHI. ] PYTHIAN GAMES (Pythia, or Pythici Ludi), one of the four great national festivals of the Greeks, were celebrated near Delphi, in honour of Apollo, originally 'every ninth year, and afterwards every fifth year, in the autumn of the third year of each Olympiad, in the second or third month of the year, according to Clinton. Corsini and others, followed by Boeckh, place them in the spring, in the month Munychion, the tenth of the year. Their origin is assigned by some to Amphictyon, the son of Deucalion, or to the Amphictyonic council: by others to Agamemnon; by Pausanias to Diomed; by Strabo to the Delphians, after the Crissæan war; but most commonly to Apollo, after he had vanquished the serpent Python. (Ovid, Met., i. 445.) There is an account that the gods and heroes contended in the first celebration of these games, when Castor conquered in the horse-race, Pollux in boxing, Calais in the foot-race, Zetes in fighting in armour, Peleus in throwing the quoit, Telamon in wrestling, and Hercules in the pancratium. But the fact seems to be, as stated by Pausanias (x. 7, 2) and Strabo (ix., p. 421), that the contest was originally in music: the songs (voukol vópot) were in honour of Apollo, celebrating his victory over the Python; and the instrument used was the lyre. In the third year of the 48th Olympiad (B.C. 586), at the close of the Cirrhæan war, the Amphictyons added a contest on the flute, which was afterwards discontinued, as the music of the flute was considered too mournful for a joyous festival. In the same year the Amphictyons also introduced athletic contests and races (but not with four-horsed chariots), the foot-race being confined to boys; and the games, according to Strabo, were then for the first time called Pythia; at all events the subsequent Pythia are computed from this year by Pausanias and the Parian marble, though the scholiast on Pindar, and Eusebius, date them from the second celebration, in Ol. 49, 3: Boeckh and Clinton prefer the former date. Chariot-races were added in the time of Cleisthenes, the tyrant of Sicyon. The prize in the Pythian games was originally of silver or gold, or something else of intrinsic value; but afterwards a crown of laurel, or (according to Ovid, Met., i. 449-50) at first, of the bay-oak or beech-tree (@sculus), for which the laurel was afterwards substituted. The ceremonies observed at these games, in common with the three other great festivals, are described urder OLYMPIAN GAMES. (Pausanias, x. 7; Strabo, ix., p. 421; Potter's Archæologia Græca, vol. i., c. 23; achsmuth, Hellenische Alterthumsk., i. 110; ii. 379; rton, Fasti Hellen., i., p. 228; , p. 195; iii., p. 296, 612) PYTHON, M. Daudin's name for the great constricting serpents of the Old World. In the article Boa will be found much relating to Python: the organization of both is so similar, that a repetition becomes needless. Like the Boa, the Pythons have processes or hooks near the anus, and narrow ventral plates, and indeed the latter can hardly be said to differ from the former except in the double plates beneath the tail. Their head has plates on the end of the muzzle, and there are fossets on their lips. The powerful dental machinery by which a firm hold is gained as a fulcrum for the constriction; and the adaptation of the bones of the head to the dilatation necessary for swallowing the disproportioned prey, are shown in the following cuts. of the vertebræ by shallow ginglymoid joints, which admit of their being moved forwards and backwards on an axis passing through the joints. The ligaments, independent of the articular capsule, are so disposed as to limit the motions of the ribs to these directions: they are two in number, one situated below the joint, which passes from the head of the rib to the transverse process, and thence is continued to the capsule of the intervertebral articulation; the other strengthens the upper part of the joint, and connects the neck of the rib to the transverse process. (Cat. Mus. Coll. Chir.) This illustrates the structure for creeping noticed in the article BOA. No. 508 A of the same series is the stomach, with part of the esophagus and intestine injected and inverted, of a large African Snake (Python). The esophagus, as in all the Ophidian reptiles, is very capacious, smooth internally, and thin in its coats. The commencement of the stomach may be detected by the more vascular and rugous character of its lining membrane. The larger wrinkles are longitudinal, the interspaces reticulate. The stomach gradually diminishes in size, and there is a constriction, like a pylorus, about one inch and a half from the intestine. A narrow canal of uniform diameter, analogous to that in the shark, conducts to the intestine, which suddenly becomes wider, and is beset internally with small flattened scale-like processes. (Mus. Cat. Coll. Chir.) With reference to the observations in the article BOA, relating to the mode of its taking its prey, the gradual deglutition of the victim, and the breathing of the serpent during the operation, No. 1093 A of the same series becomes a very interesting preparation. This exhibits the lungs of a Python Tigris. They have been minutely injected, and are laid open to show the extent of the vascular respiratory portion, which is nearly the same in both, but the right lung is principally prolonged to form the reservoir. A part of the trachea, the two pulmonary arteries, and single pulmonary vein, are also preserved in this beautiful preparation by Mr. Owen. (Cat. Mus. Coll. Chir.) The size to which the Pythons grow is fully equal to that attained by the Boa, if it does not exceed it Thus the Ular-Sawa, or Great Python of the Sunda Isles, is said to increase till it is more than thirty feet in length, and stout in proportion. The powers of such a gigantic reptile must be enormous, and it is said that the serpent is able to manage a buffalo. Nor are there wanting horrible instances of man himself having fallen a prey to these monsters, in modern times. The story goes that a Malay prow was anchored for the night under the island of Celebes. One of the crew had gone on shore to search for betel-nut, and is supposed to have fallen asleep upon the beach from weariness on his return. In the dead of the night his companions on board were roused by dreadful screams: they immediately went ashore, but they came too late, the cries had ceased, and the wretched man had breathed his last in the folds of an enormous serpent, which they killed. They cut off the head of the snake and carried it, together with the lifeless body of their comrade, to the vessel. The right wrist of the corpse bore the marks of the serpent's teeth, and the disfigured body showed that the man had been crushed by the constriction of the reptile round the head, neck, breast, and thigh. The picture by Daniell, representing a man seized by one of these monsters, will be familiar to many of our readers. Dr. Andrew Smith, in his valuable Illustrations of South Africa, now in course of publication under the autnority of the Lords Commissioners of the Treasury, gives a very beau Python Natalensis. (Smith) tiful figure of Python Natalensis; and he states that this snake, or at least one resembling it in size, was formerly an inhabitant of the districts now within the Cape colony, and that the traditions of the older Hottentots abound with instances of its miraculous powers. At present, he says, it is not to be found within hundreds of miles of the boundaries of the colony, and few specimens have been obtained nearer than Port Natal. He informs us that it occasionally attains a very large size, and, according to the natives, individuals have been seen whose circumference was equal to that of the body of a stout man: Dr. Smith himself saw a skin which measured twenty-five feet, though a portion of the tail part was deficient. It feeds,' continues the Dr., ' upon quadrupeds, and for some days after swallowing food, it remains in a torpid state, and may then be easily destroyed. The South Africans however seldom avail themselves of ridding themselves of a reptile they view with horror, as they believe that it has a certain influence over their destinies; and affirm that no person has ever been known to maltreat it without, sooner or later, paying for his audacity.' The following remarks by the same author are well worthy the attention of those who are interested in the natural history of serpents and their geographical distribution. Owing to the difficulty of discriminating between certain species of Python, we are not prepared to maintain this reptile to be distinct from the Indian species (Python bivittatus, Schlegel). The characters which have been assumed as indicative of specific differences do not appear to us to have been of sufficient value; the modifications to which they are liable in different specimens, of whose specific identity no doubt can exist, show that some other characters must be discovered before certainty can be attained. The Indian species is doubtless an inhabitant of Africa, and there are several specimens of it both from India and Western Africa, in the museum at Fort Pitt, Chatham, which are precisely similar. Between these however and Python Natalensis there are several well-marked differences. The scales of Python Natalensis are proportionally smaller than in the individuals above mentioned; their form is also different. The labial fosse are more numerous in young specimens from Western Africa and India, than in those of a similar age from South Africa; in the latter they are two upon each side, in the others, four or five; the plates on the head, also, are differently shaped and differently disposed. The pattern of the markings, when viewed in detail, INDEX TO THE LETTER P. Padollus, 124 Pádova, province, 124 Padovanino [Varotari] Pachy'meres [Byzantine His- Paan, 126 torians, p. 82] Pachymy'a, 116 Pachy ptila [Laridæ, vol. xiii., Pacuvius, 123 Padang [Sumatra] Padilla, Doña M. P. de, 124 Padilla, L. de, 124 P. C., No. 1189. VOLUME XVII. Pæcilópoda [Poecilopoda] Pagan, B. F. Comte de, 129 Painting, 137 Painting, House, 145 Palace, 148 Pala'ades [Trilobites] Palæmonians [Shrimps] Palæography, 149 Palatine Counties, 156 Paléncia, Alonso de, 157 Palestrína, 163 Paley, William, 164 Palibothra [Hindustan, p. 223] Pal-Air [Hindustan, vol. xii., Palimpsest Manuscripts, 165 P 2081 Palinurus, 166 Paliúrus Aculeátus, 168 Pallacopas [Tigris] Palladium, 169 Palladius, father, 170 Palladius, physician, 170 Pallanza [Novara, Valli di] Pallas, P. S., 171 Pállium (Malacology) [Pailial Palm [Weights and Measures] Palm-Sunday, 173 Palma, Giacopo, the Younger Palma [Canaries] Palma Mallorca] VOL. XIX.-2 A VOL. XVIl. Palmína, 174 Palmípora [Madreporea] Palmulária [Polypiaria] Palmyra (Zoology), 176 Palsy [Paralysis] Pampelúna, or Pamplóna Pámphilus, painter, 176 Pan [Piper Betle] Pananus, 178 Pandect [Justinian's Legisla- Pandion [Bald Buzzard] Pandóra (Malacology) [Pylo- Pandus [Mahabharatam] Panegyric, 185 Panel, 186 Pangolins, 186 Panicle, 189 Pánicum, 189 Panini, 190 Paníni, Paolo, 190 Paradise, 224 Paradísea [Bird of Paradise] Paraffin [Hydrogen (Carbu- Paraguay Tea [Tea, Paraguay] Parallactic Instrument, 227 Parallax of the Fixed Stars, 229 Parallax (Optics), 231 | Parr, Samuel, 286 Parson [Benefice, p. 219] Parallel Roads of Glen Roy, 231 Parthénius, 288 Parthenon, 288 Parthenope [Parthenopians} Parallelogram, 235 Parallelopiped, 235 Parallels, 235 Particle, 292 Parameter, 240 Partition [Parceners] Paramicippa [Maiidæ, vol. xiv., Partition Treaties, 292 Partnership, 293 Partridge [Perdicidæ] Paramithrax [Maiidæ, vol. xiv., Partridge Wood, 297 Pangutaran [Sulo Archipelago] Paramórphia, 240 Paniónium [Ionia] Panjab [Hindustan, p. 220] Pannah [Hindustan, p. 215] Panópticon [Bentham; Prison] Panormus [Palermo] Panoráma, 191 Pansa Antonius] Pansy, 191 Pantelaría [Sicily] Panthéon, 192 Paramount [Title] Parana, River [Plata, La Parapet, 241 Paraphernália, 241 Paraphrase, 241 Paraplégia [Paralysis] Parasang, 241 Pártula, 297 Parus [Titmouse] Pasárgadæ, 300 Paschal I., II., III., 301 Parceners, or Coparceners, 242 Pasíthea, 302 Parchment, 243 Pardalótus [Piprinæ] Pardon, 243 Paré, Ambrose, 244 Parhélion, 248 Paria, Gulf of, 248 Paris, Basin of [Seine, De- Pasitígris [Tigris] Páspalum, 302 Pasque Flower, 302 Passamaquoddy Bay Passau, 303 Passeríta, 303 Passeróni, G. C., 303 Passiflóra, 303 Passionéi, D., 304 Patron [Benefice; Parish] Patrónymic, 319 Patuxent [Maryland] Patzcuaro Mexican States) Paul, St., 320 Paul, St.,Cathedral of [London] Paul the Deacon, 322 Paul I. (of Russia), 323 Paul Veronese [Cagliari] Paulo, S. [Paolo, S.] Paun-Air [Hindustan, p. 208] Pause [Oratory; Punctuation] Pauw, Cornelius, 332 Pauxi [Cracidæ, vol. viii., 129] New Pavía, province. 332 Passive Voice [Middle Voice] Pastes [Glass, p. 256] Pastor (Ornithology) [Stur- | Pastoral, 305 Pasture Land, 305 Patan [Hindustan, vol. xii., p. Patapsco [Maryland] Patella [Skeleton] Patella Cervicobranchiata] Patent [Patterns] Peat, 352 Péccary [Suida] Pécchio, Giuseppe, 353 Peck, Francis, 354 Pécora, 354 Pectic Acid, Pectin, 354 Pectinibranchiáta, 355 Pectúnculus [Polyodonta] Peculiar [Will] Pedal, 365 Pedal-Base, 365 Pedaliáceæ, 365 Pedee, River [Carolina, South] Pedétes [Muridæ, vol. xv., p. Pedicel [Peduncle] Pediment [Civil Architecture] Pedlar, 367 Pedum [Pectinidæ] Peduncle, 368 Pegásia [Pulmograda] Peine forte et dure, 372 Peking, 374 Pelagia [Pulmograda] Pelagius I., II., 377 Pélagus, 377 Pélamys. 377 Pelargonium, 377 Pelasgi, 377 Pellórneum [Merulidæ] Peloponnesian War, 389 INDEX. Pelvis [Man: Skeleton] Penæus [Shrimps] Penang, Pulo, 399 Pencil, 402 Pencil, in Optics, 402 Pendennis Castle [Falmouth] Penélope (Ornithology) [Cra Penn, Sir William, 415 Penzance, 427 Peony [Pæonia] Pepper [Piper: Pimento] Percival, Thomas, 433 Perdiccas [Macedonia] Perdicín [Perdicida] Perdix [Entomostomata, vol. Pérgamos, or Pergamum, 444 Penn-air [Hindustan, vol. xii., Perge [Pamphylia] p. 208] Pennant, Thomas, 416 Pennyroyal Mentha Pulegium] Pelasgian Architecture [Pe- Penryn, 423 Pelecanóides [Petrels] Pensa, 423 Pensacola [Florida] Pension, 423 Pensionary, Grand, 425 VOL. XVII. Periodic Functions, 447 Periosteum [Bone] Perióstracum, 452 Peripatétics, 452 Periphery, 453 Peripneumony [Lungs, Dis- Iple] Peripteral, or Peripteros [Tem- Períscii, 453 Peristera [Columbidæ, vol. vii., [Columbidæ, vol vii., p. 374] Peritonitis, 458 Periwinkle, 459 Perizónius, J. V., 459 Perjury, 459 Perm, 460 Permutations [Combinations] Perna [Malleacea, vol. xiv., Pernau [Livonia} [385] Pernis [Falconidæ, vol. x., P Perodicticus, 461 Perónia [Cyclobranchiata, vol. Peronne [Somme] Perouse, J. F. G. de la, 462 Perpendicular, 462 Perpetual Motion [Motion] Perpetuation of Testimony, 462 Perpetuity, 463 Perpetuity (Law) [Settlement] Perpignan, 463 Perrault, Claude, 463 Perrault, Charles, 463 Perrault d'Armacourt, 463 Persepolitan Architecture, 464 Perseus (constellation), 466 Pershore [Worcestershire] Persian Gulf, 486 Pérsica [Peach] Pérsius, A. F., 487 Personal Actions [Actions} perty [Chattels] Perspective, 488 Perspiration, Cutaneous [Skin] Perthshire, 503 Pertussis [Hooping-Cough] |