till it has procured a competent stock. The female feeds her young with fish that have been macerated for some time in her pouch. The pelican is not only susceptible of domestication, but may even be trained to fish for its master. When a number of pelicans and corvorants (cormorants) get together, they are said to practise a singular inethod of taking fish; for they spread into a large circle, at some distance from land, the pelicans flapping on the surface of the water with their extensive wings, and the corvorants diving beneath, till the fish contained within the circle are driven before them towards the land; and, as the circle contracts by the birds drawing closer together, the fish are at length reduced within a narrow compass, when their pursuers find no difficulty in securing them. In this exercise, they are often attended by various species of gulls, which participate in the spoil. The pelican generally breeds in marshy and uncultivated places, particularly about islands and lakes, making its nest, which is deep, and a foot and a half in diameter, of sedges and aquatic plants, and lining it with grass of a softer texture; but it frequently dispenses with any such formal construction. It lays two or more white eggs, of equal roundness at the two ends, and which, when persecuted, it sometimes hides in the water. When it nestles in dry and desert places, it brings water to its young in its bag, which is capable of containing nearly twenty pints of liquid; but that it feeds them with its own blood, must be ranked among the fabulous assertions of antiquity. Its flesh is very generally disliked.

PELIDES; son of Peleus. (q. v.) (See Achilles.)

PELIOM. (See Iolite.)

PELION (now Sagari); a high mountain in Thessaly, producing various medicinal herbs. On one of its summits stood a temple of Jupiter. In the neighborhood we find the grotto of the centaur Chiron. In the war of the Titans with the gods, the former, say the poets, piled Ossa upon Pelion, to aid them in climbing to the dwellings of the latter.

PELLAGRA. The pellagra of the Lombardo-Venetian plains, a horrible malady, or complication of maladies, has only been observed during the last sixty or eighty years, and is rapidly increasing. A sixth or seventh of the population are affected in those parts of the country where it is inost prevalent. It begins by an erysipelatous eruption on the skin, which breaks out in the spring, continues till the au

tumn, and disappears in the winter, chiefly affecting those parts of the surface which are habitually exposed to the sun or air, is accompanied or preceded by remarkable lassitude, melancholy, moroseness, hypochondriasis, and not seldom a strong propensity to suicide. With each year, the disorder becomes more aggravated, with shorter and shorter intervals in the winter. At length the surface ceases to clear itself, and becomes permanently enveloped in a thick, livid, leprous crust, somewhat resembling the dried and black skin of a fish. By this time, the vital powers are reduced to a very low ebb, and not seldom the intellectual functions. The miserable victim loses the use of his limbs, more particularly of the inferior extremities; is tormented with violent colic, head-ache, nausea, flatulence and heartburn, the appetite being sometimes null, at others voracious. The countenance becomes sombre and melancholy, and totally void of expression. But the most distressing phenomenon of all is a sense of burning heat in the head and along the spine, from whence it radiates to various other parts of the body, but more especially to the palmis of the hands and soles of the feet, tormenting the wretched victim day and night, and depriving him completely of sleep. He frequently feels as if an electric spark darted from the brain and flew to the eye-balls, the ears, and the nostrils, burning and consuming those parts. To these severe afflictions of the body are often added strange hallucinations of the mind. The victim of pellagra fancies that he hears the incessant noise of millstones grinding near him, of hammers resounding on anvils, of bells ringing, or the discordant cries of various animals. The disease, when advanced, takes the form of many other maladies, as tetanus, convulsions, epilepsy, dropsy, mania and marasmus, the patient ceasing, at last, to exist and to suffer, when reduced to the state and appearance of a mummy. It is by no means uncommon that the wretched being anticipates the hand of death, in a paroxysm of suicidal mania, very often by drowning. It is almost confined to those who reside in the country, leading an agricultural life, and to the lowest orders of society. It is not bounded by any age, being frequently seen in the youngest children. The whole of the flat country on both sides of the river Po, but more especially the fertile and level plains between that river and the Alps, are the theatre and head-quarters of pellagra.— The cause of this frightful endemic has

engaged the pens of many learned doctors; but it is just as inscrutable as the causes of hepatitis on the coast of Coromandel, elephantiasis in Malabar, berriberi in Ceylon, Barbadoes Ly in Antibes, goitre among the Alps, the plica in Poland, cretinism in the Valais, or malaria in the Campagna di Roma. The general opinion among the medical men of the Milanese is, that the pellagra results from the extreme poverty, and low, unwholesome diet, of the peasantry. (See doctor Johnson's Autumnal Excursion through France, Switzerland and Italy.)

PELOPIDAS; Son of Hippocles, a Theban general, friend and contemporary of Epaminondas, who lived till B. C. 364. To him belongs the honor of having freed his country from a tyrannical faction and from the Lacedæmonian yoke. Having been banished from Thebes with several other patriots, he retired to Athens. Animated with an ardent love of liberty, he disguised himself, and went to Thebes with a few conspirators, put to death the tyrants at a banquet where they were all assembled, and gave the signal for the expulsion of the Lacedæmonians, who had taken possession of the citadel in a time of peace. Pelopidas then served under Epaminondas with distinguished courage, and contributed much to the victory over the Lacedæmonians at Leuctra. He was afterwards commander-in-chief in three campaigns against Alexander, tyrant of Pheræ, in Thessaly, who had once imprisoned him without any just cause; but, having pursued the prince too far, he was surrounded by the enemy, and fell.

PELOPONNESUS; a celebrated peninsula, which comprehends the most southern part of Greece. It received this name from Pelops, who settled there, as the name, the island (uncos) of Pelops, indicates. It had been called before Egialea, Apia, Pelasgia, and Argos. Its present name is Morea. (q.v.) Peloponnesus was divided into six provinces, Messenia, Laconia, Elis, Arcadia, Achaia and Argolis, to which some add Sicyon. The Peloponnesus was conquered some time after the Trojan war, by the Heraclidæ (q. v.), or descendants of Hercules, who had been forcibly expelled from it.

Peloponnesian War; a war carried on for twenty-seven years by Sparta and most of the Peloponnesian cities against Athens, who had long provoked the vengeance of the Greeks by the oppression of her allies. Athens herself hastened the commencement of hostilities, by aiding Corcyra in a contest with Cor

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inth, and, on a new opportunity, engaged in new acts of violence against the latter. Corinth therefore invited Sparta, already jealous of the power of Athens, to take part in the war. The Spartans prepared for the contest; but, to save appearances, they made proposals of peace humiliating o Athens, which produced no result. A destructive war now broke out, B. C. 431. All the people of Peloponnesus, except the Argives and Achæans, took the side of the Spartans; but the Grecian cities on the coasts of Asia, those in Thrace, and on the Hellespont, favored the cause of the Athenians, who had the advantage in point of strength; for, although the Spartans could bring into the field a more numerous land force than their enemies, they were deficient in fortifications, money and ships. Led by their king Archidamus, 60,000 Spartans marched into Attica, and laid waste the country with fire and sword. Pericles (q. v.), at the head of the Athenians, sailed to the Spartan shores, and ravaged them in the same manner. Thus the war was carried on for several years, with mutual devastations, till the Athenians were overcome. A pestilence now broke out, which carried off Pericles among others; and, after ten years of constant warfare, the parties were permitted to enjoy a peace, which, however, was but temporary. By the advice of Alcibiades, the Athenians undertook a campaign against Syracuse, which was unsuccessful. Alcibiades, who was in the mean time banished from Athens, and had fled to Sparta, advised the Spartans to send troops to the assistance of the people of Syracuse, which gave rise to a renewal of the war. The greater part of the islands, the cities on the Hellespont and in Ionia, sided with the Spartans. They even concluded an alliance with the Persians against Athens, which, however, was saved by Alcibiades. He had escaped from Sparta in disguise, persuaded the Persian satrap Tissaphernes to break his alliance with that city, and gained so many friends in Athens, that he was recalled, and appointed general. He gained some splendid victories over the Peloponnesians, reconquered the cities on the borders of the Hellespont, and the Athenians, animated by such success, again rejected the proposals of peace. At length Ly sander, one of the ablest Spartan commanders, signally defeated the Athenian fleet at Egospotamos, B. C. 405, and laid siege to Athens, which was compelled by famine to surrender, B. C. 404. The long walls and the fortifications of the Piræus

were demolished. The Athenians were compelled to deliver up all their ships but twelve, to renounce their former possessions, and to submit to an oligarchy, established by Lysander. In this war, many noble families became extinct, many cities and territories were laid waste, and the whole Grecian nation was so debilitated, that universul dependence soon ensued. The history of this war is best related by Thucydides and Xenophon.

PELOPS; Son of Tantalus, king of Lydia. A fable, which Pindar considers blasphemous, relates, that Tantalus once entertained the gods in his capital, Sipylus, and, to prove their omniscience, served up to them the body of his son Pelops. Jupiter discovered the trick, and ordered the limbs to be thrown again into the kettle, from which Clotho drew out the boy alive, and supplied, with ivory, the shoulder, which had been eaten by Ceres. According to Pindar, Neptune carried the beautiful Pelops to the abode of Jupiter. When Tantalus had made himself unworthy of the society of the gods, Pelops was also sent back to the dwellings of men. He went from Lydia to Greece, became a suitor of the beautiful Hippodamia (q. v.), and obtained the bride, with a kingdom. Peloponnesus received its name from him. Of his sons, Atreus and Thyestes are most celebrated. After death, Pelops received divine honors, and a temple was built to him in the grove at Olympia.

In

PELVIS; the lower part of the cavity of the abdomen in men and animals. the infant it consists of many pieces, but, in the adult, it is composed of four bones, so united as not to admit of motion on

each other, and is open above and below, wide at its upper part and contracted at its inferior aperture. The outside is roundish, the upper part broader, the low er narrower. The whole pelvis is movable upon the thighs; the hip bone is therefore raised, in walking, on that side which is supported by the thigh: on the contrary, it sinks immediately with the trunk on that side on which the foot is raised and advanced. The walls of the cavity of the pelvis are even, smooth, and covered with flesh. A line drawn through the middle of the pelvis, divides it into two parts, one of which is called the upper or larger, the other the lower or smaller one. In well-formed persons of a middle size, the diameter of the great pelvis, or the distance from one hip bone to the other, is, in the male sex, about nine, in the female about eleven inches. The superior size of the female pelvis is intended to assist gestation and parturition. It is evident, that the pelvis of men must have, on account of their erect figure, a different direction from that of animals. The pelvis contains a part of the small intestines, the rectum, the bladder, the internal organs of generation, the large nerves and blood-vessels of the lower limbs, and many absorbent vessels, with their glands. Its office is to give steadiness to the trunk, to connect it with the lower extremities by a safe and firm junction, to form the centre of all the great motions of the body, and to give support to the gravid uterus.

PEN; a Celtic word signifying head, summit; hence Pennine Alps, Apen nines, &c.

NAPHTHALINE; a grayish-white substance, found during the rectification of the petroleum of the coal-gas works, incrusting the pipes. It may be obtained in thin, white scales, of a pearly brightness, by slow re-sublimation in glass vessels. Specific gravity, 1.048. It has a strong odor of naphtha; is soluble in ether, moderately so in alcohol and oils, and insoluble in water. According to doctor Ure, it is a bi-carburet of hydrogen. It appears to have been found native also in a layer of lignite in the coal formation of Uznach, having the appearance of talc, but brittle and transparent. Its structure is crystalline, and apparently belongs to an irregular octahedron as its primitive form. Colors white, green and yellow; fuses at a low temperature, and crystallizes on cooling.

NAPOLEON. (Circumstances beyond our control oblige us, though with much regret, to refer the reader for the article Napoleon to the Appendix of the next volume.)

NEW YORK; One of the thirteen original states of the American confederacy.Boundaries, &c. This state is bounded north by Upper and Lower Canada, east by Vermont, Massachusetts and Connecticut, south by New Jersey and Pennsylvania, and west by Pennsylvania,lake Erie and the Niagara river. The territory of this state is situated between lat. 40° 30′ and 45° N., and between lon. 5° 5 E. and 2° 55′ W. from the city of Washington. Its extreme length from east to west, including Long Island, is about 408 miles; exclusive of it, 340 miles. Its greatest breadth from north to south is about 310 miles; its area 45,658 miles.

The estimate includes the whole surface, except the waters of the great lakes. The territory now constituting the state of Vermont was included within the

limits of the colony of New York, and was claimed as a part of this state until 1790, when New York gave her assent to the erection of the present state of Vermont.-Civil Divisions. It is divided into fifty-six counties, namely, New York, King's, Queen's, Richmond, Suffolk, Westchester, Dutchess, Putnam, Orange, Rockland, Ulster, Sullivan, Delaware, Greene, Columbia, Albany, Rensselaer, Schenectady, Schoharie, Montgomery, Hamilton,* Saratoga, Washington, Warren, Essex, Clinton, Franklin, St. Lawrence, Jefferson, Lewis, Herkimer, Oneida, Madison, Oswego, Otsego, Chenango Broome, Cortlandt, Tompkins, Tioga, Steuben, Onondaga, Cayuga, Seneca, Ontario, Yates, Wayne, Livingston, Mon roe, Orleans, Genesee, Alleghany, Niagara, Erie, Cattaraugus and Chautauque. In this enumeration, we have commenced with the most south-eastern counties, and proceeded north and west. These counties are subdivided into five cities, namely, New York, Albany (the seat of government), Troy, Hudson and Schenectady and 764 towns. There are 101 incorporated villages, many of which have names differing from the towns in which they are situated: thus the flourishing village of Rochester is in the towns of Yates and Brighton, Geneva in the town of Seneca, &c. Besides the cities and towns already enumerated, the following may be mentioned as among the most flourishing and populous: Utica, Buffalo, Brooklyn, Canandaigua Poughkeepsie, Auburn, Ithaca, Catskill, Newburg, &c.

Face of the Country, &c. The state may be most correctly described as an

*This county, ut being separately organized, acts in conjunction with Montgomery county, and, for all political purposes, is considered a parı thereof.

elevated tract, wita indentations in various places below its general level. The most important depressions are the great basins in which are situated lakes Erie and Ontario, and the long, narrow valley which contains the Hudson river and lake Champlain. The two last are connected with each other by a valley occupied by the Mohawk river and the Oneida lake. The mountains, or elevated ground, is thus also separated into three principal divisions. The first of these occupies the space south of the Mohawk river and the Ontario valley, and between the Hudson river and lake Erie; the second is the mountain district north of the Mohawk, and between lake Champlain and the east end of lake Ontario; and the third comprises that part of the mountain range east of the Hudson which is within the boundaries of this state. The western part of the first division, or that which lies between Seneca lake and lake Erie, forms a high table-land, about 2000 feet in mean elevation, and the highest part of it is occupied by the counties of Steuben, Alleghany, Cattaraugus and Chautauqua. From this elevation flow the Alleghany, the Susquehannah and the Genesee rivers, respectively terminating in the gulf of Mexico, the Atlantic ocean and the gulf of St. Lawrence. Chautauqua lake, the most western of the larger lakes in this state, is 1291 feet above the level of the ocean, and 723 feet higher than lake Erie. It empties into the Alleghany. The eastern part of the first division, or the space between Seneca lake and the Hudson, south of the Mohawk, is occupied by several parallel ridges of mountains, which may be considered as continuations of the Alleghany ridge, passing out from Pennsylvania. These ridges are in a north and south direction, and their indentations give rise to several fertile valleys, particularly those of the Susquehannah, the Delaware and their branches. The highest is the Catskill mountains, which bound the valley of the Hudson on the west. The Round Top,which is considered the highest summit of these mountains, is, according to captain Partridge, 3804 feet above the level of the tide water of the Hudson. There is also a narrow table-land on this subdivision, which merits attention from its explaining the course of rivers and lakes within it. It is situated a little south of the line of the Erie canal, and continues almost uninterruptedly from the Catskill mountains to the head of Seneca lake. On this are found Otsego and Schuyler's akes, going to the south. and giving rise to

the sources of the Susquehannah. Both of these are at an elevation of about 1200 feet. Skaneateles, Owasco and Cazenovia lakes discharge their rivers to the north, but their elevation is several hundred feet less than that of the former. Cayuga and Seneca lakes are not highly elevated, the one being only 387 feet, and the latter only 447, above the level of tidewater. They thus occupy two long, narrow ravines, in a north and south direction, and are separated by a ridge 800 feet above Cayuga lake.

The second division of the mountain district is traversed by at least five or six parallel ridges passing in a north-eastern direction, and which may be considered as continuations of the Appalachian chain. Portions of them are called Kayaderossas, Sacandaga, Mayfield mountains. The highest elevation that has been ascertained with accuracy is 2686 feet, being that of a peak belonging to the ridge that passes through Herkimer and Hamilton counties and the northern part of Essex, near the sources of the Hudson.-The third division, or that part which lies on the east side of the Hudson, crosses the Hudson in the vicinity of West Point, and forms the highlands of that river. It also constitutes the dividing ridge between the Hudson and the Connecticut.

The depressions or basins in the state of New York are equally deserving of notice. Those of lakes Erie and Ontario are parts of the great St. Lawrence basin which embraces the whole of the five western lakes. Lake Erie has an elevation of 565 feet above the level of the ocean, lake Ontario of 231 feet. The river Niagara discharges the waters of the former into the latter, and on it is found that great natural curiosity which alone deserves a visit across the Atlantic. The river narrows at 20 miles below lake Erie, and the rapids then commence. A mile beyond, we come to the falls-151 feet on the Canada side, and 164 on the American. It is needless to attempt a description of their grandeur and magnificence. They must be seen by day and by moonlight, in every position, and under various conditions of the atmosphere, in order to realize even a portion of their splendor. (See Cataract.) The river at this place is nearly half a mile wide, and on the very brink of the precipice is situated Goat island, which contains about eighty acres of land, and, extending up the stream, divides the water. The whole length of the Niagara is 35 miles, and the descent from lake Erie to lake Ontario is 336 feet.