pnugues/EB7 huggingface dataset:
PENNY, in commerce, an ancient English coin, which had formerly considerable currency, but is now generally dwindled into an imaginary money or money of account. Camden derives the word from the Latin pecunia, money. The ancient English penny, penig, or pening, was the first silver coin struck in England; nay, the only one current [7:17:221] amongst our Saxon ancestors, as is agreed by Camden, Spelman, Hickes, and others. The penny was equal in weight to our threepence; five of them made one shilling, or seilling Saxon, and thirty a mark or mancuse, equal to 7s. 6d. Till the time of King Edward I. the penny was struck with a cross, so deeply indented in it that it might be easily broken and parted, on occasion, into two parts, which were thence called half-pennies ; or into four, which were called fourthings or farthings. But that prince coined it without indenture, instead of which, he first struck round halfpence and farthings. He also reduced the weight of the penny to a standard, ordering that it should weigh thirty-two grains of wheat, taken out of the middle of the ear. This penny was called the penny sterling ; and as twenty of these pence were to weigh an ounce, the penny thus became a weight as well as a coin. The penny sterling was long disused as a coin, and was scarcely known, except as a money of account, containing the twelfth part of a shilling; but latterly it has been introduced into the British current coin.
PENNYWEIGHT, a Troy weight, containing twenty-four grains, each grain weighing a grain of wheat, gathered out of the middle of the ear, and well dried. The name took its rise from the circumstance that this was anciently the weight of one of our silver pennies.
PENORCON, an old musical instrument of the guitar kind, with nine strings and a broad finger-board.
PENRITH, a market-town and parish in the ward of Leath, in the county of Cumberland, 284 miles from London, and seventeen from Carlisle. It is an ancient town, which in the wars between England and Scotland frequently changed masters; and near to the town, on the bank of the river Emont, are now shown two curious caverns, said to have been occupied by the peaceable inhabitants during the frontier excursions of the two nations. The parish church is a handsome structure, of old date, but modernized. There are markets, which are held on Tuesday and Saturday; and there are some manufactories for woollen and cotton goods. The population amounted in 1801 to 3801, in 1811 to 4328, in 1821 to 5385, and in 1831 to 6059; but in it is included that of the whole parish, comprehending the townships of Burrogate, Dockray, Middlegate, Sandgate, Carelton, Nether-end-bridge, and Plymton.
PENRYN, a borough-town of Cornwall, in the hundred of Kerrier and parish of St Gulvian, 266 miles from London and three from Falmouth, with the harbour of which it has a water communication. It has a corporation, with twelve aldermen, twelve common-council men, and a recorder; and it continues to return two members to the House of Commons. It has considerable trade in the pilchard and Newfoundland fisheries, and in Cornish granite, which is found in abundance around it. There are markets, which are held on Wednesdays, Fridays, and Saturdays. The population amounted in 1801 to 2324, in 1811 to 2713, in 1821 to 2933, and in 1831 to 3521.
PENSIONARY, or Pensioner, a person who has an appointment or yearly sum, payable during life, by way of acknowledgment, and charged on the estate of a prince, company, or particular person.

Grand Pensionary, an appellation formerly applied to the first minister of the states of Holland. The grand pensionary was chairman in the assemblies of the states of that province; he proposed the matters to be consulted on, collected the votes, formed and pronounced the resolutions of the states, opened letters, conferred with foreign [7:17:226]ministers, and performed various other functions. His business was also to inspect the finances, to maintain the authority of the states, and to see that the laws were observed; and he was perpetual deputy of the states-general of the United Provinces. His commission was, however, only given him for five years, after which it was deliberated whether or not it should be renewed; but there is no instance of its being revoked, and therefore death only put an end to the functions of this important minister.

Pensionary was also the first minister of the regency of each city in Holland. His office was to give his advice in affairs relating to the government, either of the state in general, or of the city in particular; and in assemblies of the states of the province hebfficiated as speaker in behalf of his city.
PENTACHORD, a musical scale consisting of five conjunct diatonic degrees. Also an instrument of five strings, according to Martianus Cappella, and other writers. Julius Pollux ascribes its invention to the Scythians.
PENTACROSTIC, in Poetry, a set of verses so disposed that there are always five acrostics of the same name, in five divisions of each verse.
PENTAMETER, in ancient poetry, a kind of verse, consisting of five feet or metres; and hence the name. The first and second feet may be either dactyls or spondees; the third is always a spondee; and the two last anapests. A pentameter line subjoined to an hexameter constitutes what is called elegiac verse.
PENTAPOLIS, a name given to the five cities, Sodom, Gomorrah, Adamah, Zeboim, and Zoar. They were all five condemned to utter destruction; but Lot interceded for the preservation of Zoar, otherwise called Bela. Sodom, Gomorrah, Adamah, and Zeboim, were consumed by fire from heaven; and in the place where they stood was formed the Lake Asphaltites, or the Dead Sea.
PENTATHLON, in Antiquity, was a general name for the five exercises performed at the Grecian games, viz. wrestling, boxing, leaping, running, and playing at the discus.
PENTECONTACHORDON, an old musical instrument of the harpsichord kind, invented by Colonna, a Neapolitan, in the beginning of the sixteenth century. In it, each tone was divided into four parts, and each of these had its own peculiar wire and corresponding finger-key. The distinct wires were 500. This instrument was evidently one of the same hopeless kind that we have mentioned in the article Organ.
PENTECOST, a solemn festival of the Jews, so called because it was celebrated on the fiftieth day after the 16th of Nisan, which was the second day of the passover. The Hebrews called it the “feast of weeks,” because it was kept seven weeks after the passover. They then offered the first fruits of the wheat harvest; besides which, they presented at the temple seven lambs of that year, one calf and two rams, for a burnt-offering, two lambs for a peaccoffering, and a goat for a sin-offering. The feast of Pentecost was instituted amongst the Israelites, first, to oblige them to repair to the temple of the Lord, in order to acknowledge his absolute dominion over the whole country, and to offer him the first-fruits of their harvest; and, secondly, that they might call to mind, and give thanks to God, for the law which he had given them from Mount Sinai, on the fiftieth day after their coming out of Egypt.
PENTECOSTE, or Whitsunday Island, a small island in the Southern Pacific Ocean, and one of the great archipelago of the New Hebrides, discovered by Bougainville in 1768.
PENTHESILEA, queen of the Amazons, succeeded Orythia, and gave conspicuous proofs of her courage at the [7:17:227]siege of Troy, where she was killed by Achilles. Pliny says that she invented the battle-axe.
PENTLAND or Pictland Frith is a narrow strait of six miles in breadth, between the mainland of Scotland and the Orkney Isles.
PENULA, amongst the ancient Romans, was a coarse garment or cloak worn in cold or in rainy weather. It was shorter than the lacerna, and therefore more proper for travellers. It was generally brown, and succeeded the toga after the state became monarchical. Augustus abolished the custom of wearing the penula over the toga, considering it as too effeminate for Romans; and the aediles had orders to suffer none to appear in the circus or forum with the lacerna or penula. Writers are not agreed as to the precise difference between these two articles of dress; but we are told that they were chiefly worn by the lower orders of the people.
PENULTIMA, or Penultimate Syllable, in Grammar, denotes the last syllable but one of a word; and hence the antepenultimate syllable is the last but two, or that immediately before the penultimate.
PENUMBRA, in Astronomy, a partial shade observed between the perfect shadow and the full light in an eclipse. It arises from the magnitude of the sun’s body. For were he only a luminous point, the shadow would be all perfect; but, by reason of the diameter of the sun, it happens that a place which is not illuminated by the whole of the sun does yet receive rays from a part of that body.
PENZANCE, a seaport and market-town of Cornwall, in the parish of Madron and hundred of Penwith, 289 miles from London, and a few from the Land’s End. It has a tolerable harbour, which, however, is dry at low water. It is in a district which abounds in minerals, chiefly lead, tin, and copper, with some silver·. Mining operations form the chief occupation of the inhabitants. It has a market on Saturday, which is well and cheaply supplied. In virtue of the municipal corporation reform law, passed in 1835, the town annually elects the corporation, consisting of a mayor, six aldermen, and eighteen councillors; and for this purpose it is divided into two wards. The population amounted in 1801 to 3382, in 1811 to 4022, in 1821 to 5224, and in 1831 to 6563.
PEOR, a famous mountain beyond Jordan, which Eusebius places between Heshbon and Livias. The mountains Nebo, Pisgah, and Peor, were near one another, and probably formed parts of the same chain or ridge. It is very likely that Peor took its name from some deity of the same name, which was worshipped there; for Peor, Phegor, or Baal-peor, was known in this country.
PEPLUS was a long robe worn by the women in ancient times. It had no sleeves, reached down to the feet, and was so very fine, that the shape of the body might be seen through it. The Athenians used much ceremony in making the peplus, and in dressing with it the statue of Minerva. Homer makes frequent mention of the peplus of that goddess.
PEPONG, two small islands in the Eastern Seas, near the coast of China. Long. 107. E. Lat. 23. 22. N.
PEPPER, Piper, in Natural History, an aromatic berry of a hot quality, and chiefly used in seasoning. We have three kinds of pepper which are at present used in the shops; the black, the white, and the long pepper. Black pepper is the fruit of the piper, and is brought from the Dutch settlements in the East Indies. The common white pepper is factitious, being prepared from the black in the following manner. The latter is steeped in sea-water, and then exposed to the heat of the sun for several days, till the rind or outer bark loosens; it is then taken out, and, when it is half dry, rubbed till the rind fall off; the white fruit is next dried, and, lastly, the remains of the rind are blown away like chaff. A great deal of the heat of the pepper is taken off by this process, so that the white kind is fitter for many purposes than the black. However, there is a sort of native white pepper produced upon a species of the same plant, which is much better than the factitious, and indeed little inferior to the black. The long pepper is a dried fruit, of an inch or an inch and a half in length, and about the thickness of a large goose-quill. It is of a brownish-gray colour, and cylindrical in figure, and is said to be produced on a plant of the same genus.
PEPPER Bay, on the west coast of the island of Java, is situated thirty miles south-south-west of Bantam. Long. 105.40. E. Lat. 6. 24. S.
PEPPERBERG, a town of the island of Java, on the southern coast, seventy-five miles south of Batavia.
PERA, or Pulo∙Pera, a small island in the Eastern Seas, situated at the entrance of the Straits of Malacca. Long. 98. 36. E. Lat. 5. 54. N.
PERAMBAUCAM, a town of the south of India, in the province of the Carnatic, memorable for the defeat and destruction of Colonel Baillie’s force, in September 1780, by Hyder Ali. It is fourteen miles north-east of Conjeveram.
PERAMBULATOR, in surveying, an instrument for measuring distances, and called also odometer, pedometer, way-wiser, and surveying-wheel.
PERCEPTION is a word so well understood that it is difficult for the lexicorapher to define it. It has been called the first and most simple act of the mind, by which it becomes conscious of its own ideas. This definition, however, is improper, as it confounds perception with consciousness; although the objects of the former faculty are things without us, and those of the latter the energies of our own minds. Perception is that power or faculty by which, through the medium of the senses, we become cognizant of objects distinct and separate from ourselves, and learn that we are but a small part in the system of nature. See Metaphysics.
PERCH, in land-measuring, a rod or pole of sixteen feet and a half in length. Of these rods, forty in length and four in breadth make an acre of ground. But, by the customs of several counties, there is a difference in this measure. In Staffordshire the perch is twenty-four feet; in the forest of Sherwood it is twenty-five feet, the foot being there eighteen inches long; and in Herefordshire the perch of ditching is twenty-one feet, the perch of walling sixteen and a half feet, and a pole of denshiered ground is twelve feet.
PERCH, a fish. See the article Ichthyology.·
PERCOLATION, a chemical operation, which is otherwise denominated filtration.
PERCUSSION, in Mechanics, is the impression a body makes in falling or striking upon another, or the shock of two bodies in motion. See Dynamics and Mechanics.
PERCY Isles, a chain of islands in the South Pacific Ocean, distant about thirty miles from the north-east coast of New Holland, and extending from about 21. 32. to 21.45. S. lat. The name of Percy Islands was given them in 1802 by Captain Flinders, who laid down their respective situations and bearings. The largest island is about thirteen miles in circumference. Turtle abound in these islands, which are visited by the Indians for the purpose of catching them. The large vampyre bat is frequently found here, hanging by the claws with its head downwards.
PEREASLAWL, a city of Russia, in the government of Poltawa, the capital of the circle of the same name. It is at the junction of the rivers Alta and Tracbesh, and was at one period the seat of the ancient Russian princes, and afterwards the see of a bishop, with an extensive diocese. It is still surrounded with earthen walls, and has a cathedral, nine other churches, 1000 houses, and 8000 inhabitants. It is 902 miles from St Petersburg. Long. 31. 27. E. Lat. 50. 4. N.
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PEREKOP, a Russian town and fortress at the entrance of the Crimea, to which it is the only practicable approach by land. The town consists of two rows of houses, which line the sides of the great road. Next to its importance as a defensive station, it is of consequence as being the residence of a commission charged with the administration of the salt lakes of the Crimea. It is a great thoroughfare during the summer, more than 20,000 loaded carts of salt passing through it for the supply of the south of Russia. The vast ditches, ramparts, and walls of this place have been recently put in good order. The population consists of Russians, Greeks, Armenians, and Tartars, and, many of the latter being migratory, is very fluctuating.
PERENNIALS, or Perennial Flowers, in Botany, a term applied to those plants the roots of which 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.
PERESLAW, a city of Russia, in the government of Vladimir, and the capital of a circle of its own name, is situated on the river Trubesch. It is an ancient place, the see of a bishop, whose diocese is very extensive. It contains 780 houses and seventy wooden booths, with 4380 inhabitants, who are manufacturers of cloth, of silk, and of linen, and have considerable trade with the Ukraine. It is 504 miles from St Petersburg. Long. 37. 32. 25. E. Lat. 55. 15. 30. N.
PERFECT, something to which nothing is wanting, or which has all the requisites of its nature and kind.
PERFECTION, the state or quality of a thing that is perfect. Perfection is divided,according to Chauvinus, into physical, moral, and metaphysical. Physical or natural perfection is that by which a thing has all its powers and faculties, and those too in full vigour; and all its parts, both principal and secondary, and those in their due proportion, constitution, and adjustment. In this sense man is commonly said to be perfect when he has a sound mind in a sound body. Physical perfection is by the schools frequently termed ενεξγητικη, because a thing is enabled thereby to perform all its operations. Moral perfection is an eminent degree of virtue or moral goodness, to which men arrive by repeated acts of piety, beneficence, and self-restraint. 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 to whom it is attributed. Metaphysical, transcendental, or essential perfection, is the possession of all the essential attributes, or of all the parts necessary to the integrity of a substance; or it. is that by which a thing has or is provided with every thing belonging to its nature. This is either absolute, where all imperfection is excluded, as in the Deity, or se- cundwn quid, that is, in its own kind, or relative.
PERFUME denotes either the volatile effluvia from any body affecting the organ of smell, or the substance emitting those effluvia; in which last sense the word is most commonly used. The use of perfumes was frequent amongst the Hebrews, and the orientals in general, before it was known to the Greeks and the Romans. In the time of Moses perfumes must have been known in Egypt, since he speaks of the art of the perfumer, and gives the composition of two kinds of perfumes, one of which was to be offered to the Lord upon the golden altar in the holy place, and the other was appointed for the anointing of the high priest and his sons, as also of the tabernacle, and all the vessels that were used in divine service. The Hebrews had likewise perfumes which they employed in the process of embalming their dead. The composition is not known, but it is certain that they generally made use of myrrh, aloes, and other strong astringent drugs, that served to prevent putrefaction (John, xix. 49). Besides the per fumes for these purposes, the Scripture mentions others which the Hebrews used on various occasions. The spouse in the Canticles commends the scent of the perfumes of her lover; and her lover in return says, that the scent of the perfumes of his spouse surpasses the most excellent odours. He names particularly the spikenard, the calamus, the cinnamon, the myrrh, and the aloes, as forming part of those perfumes. The voluptuous woman described by Solomon says that she had perfumed her bed with myrrh, aloes, and cinnamon. The epicures mentioned in the book of Wisdom encourage one another to the luxuriant use of odours and costly perfumes. Isaiah reproaches Judaea, which he describes as a spouse faithless to God, with being painted and perfumed to please strangers: “Thou wentest to the king with ointment, and didst increase thy perfumes.” Ezekiel seems to accuse the Jews of having profaned the odours and perfumes, the use of which was reserved to sacred things, by applying them to their own use. Perfumes came afterwards to be very common amongst the Greeks and the Romans, especially those composed of musk, ambergris, and civet. The nardus and malobathrum, which were held in much estimation, 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 or odour of a crowd from being perceived.
PERGAMO, a town of Asiatic Turkey, once a large capital, but now a place of very little importance. It is situated about fifteen miles from the mouth of the Gramalki. The inhabitants are chiefly Turks, though it has a church belonging to the Christians. Long. 27. E. Lat. 39. I LN.
PERGINE, a large but scattered market-town in the Austrian province of Tyrol, and the circle of Trent. It has some cloth manufactures; and near to it there are ironworks. The inhabitants amount to from 7000 to 8000.
PERIAGOGE, in Rhetoric, is used where many things are accumulated into one period, which might have been divided into several.
PERIANDER, one of those generally known as the seven wise men of Greece, was the son of Cypselus, tyrant of Corinth. He was born b. c. 665, and died at the age of eighty, b. c. 585. He succeeded his father in the government of Corinth, b. c. 625, and was distinguished at first for the mildness of his disposition; but yielding to the advice given him by Thrasybulus, prince of Miletus, he is said to have become a cruel tyrant. He married Lyside, whom he called Melissa, daughter of Procles, tyrant of Epidaurus, and of Eristheneia, daughter of Aristocrates, the celebrated king of the Arcadians. By her he had two sons, Cypselus and Locophron, the former of whom was an idiot. He struck his wife in a passion, and killed her, at the same time banishing Lycophron to the island of Corcyra, because he dared to bewail the fate of his mother (Herodot. v. 92, iii. 50). In the war between the Athenians and Mytilenaeans, b. c. 606, he is said, according to one statement (v. 94, 95), to have been a mediator between the contending parties; but Strabo represents him as having assisted Pittacus. When he began to feel old age advancing, he sent for his son Lycophron; but the inhabitants of Corcyra put him to death, and when Periander failed in inflicting punishment on the authors of this calamity to him, he died of grief. Periander was the author of maxims for the guidance of human life, extending to two thousand hexameter verses. Laertius quotes two letters under the name of Periander, but there seems no good reason for believing that they are genuine. The cruel conduct of Periander made many of the ancients doubt whether the tyrant of Corinth ought to be considered as one of the wise men. It is to be observed, however, that there was a Periander of Ambracia, to whom some give this title. (Diogenes Laertius, Life of Periander.)
PERIANTHIUM, from πεg∕, round, and αν6ος, a flower, the flo wer-cup properly so called, or the most common species of calyx, placed immediately under the flower, which is contained in it as in a cup.
PERIAPATAM, a town of the south of India, in the province of Mysore, and towards the borders of the Coorg country. It is the city and domain of an ancient Polygar chief, who was conquered nearly two centuries ago by one of the rajahs of Mysore. The town and fort, and the surrounding country, were laid waste by orders of Tippoo Sultan, when the British army was approaching to it in 1790. In 1799 a battle was fought near this place, between General Stuart’s forces and those of Tippoo, in which the latter were totally defeated, and the road to Seringapatam laid open to the victorious army. This district produces about 2000 weight annually of sandal wood, which is conveyed in great quantities to Tellicherry, and thence to China and Nubia. Under the mild government of its present rajah it is recovering from the desolation to which it was exposed. Long. 76. 25. E. Lat. 12. 20. N.
PERICARDIUM “in Anatomy, is a membranous bag filled with water, which contains the heart in man and in many other animals. (See Anatomy.)