Part 345

PALANKEEN, Ind. a vehicle carried on the shoulders of four men, by means of a bamboo pole extending from each end: it carries one person in a reclining posture: it has a canopy which is supported by a pole raised along the centre, from whence it is pendent on either side. The palankeens are of various kinds; some are shaped like a chair, in which the person carried sits: in others they recline or sleep, and frequently journies of 2000 miles are thus performed.

PALEAGAS, Ind. See POLYGARS.

PALANQUE, Fr. a kind of fortification, so called in Hungary. It is made of stakes driven into the ground, interlaced with twigs, and covered with earth, and serves to stop the progress of an advancing enemy.

PALÆSTRA, in Grecian antiquity, a public building, where the youth exercised themselves in the military art, wrestling, running, playing at quoits, &c.

PALEE, Fr. The row of piles upon which a wooden bridge is constructed, is so called.

PALESTRE, Fr. a wrestling place, or exercising ground. It comes from the Latin, and was originally derived from the Greek.

PALIS, Fr. the rows of small pointed stakes, which serve for any species of inclosure, are so called. The term palissade is derived from it.

PALISADES, or PALISADOES, in fortification, stakes made of strong split wood, about nine feet long, six or seven inches square, three feet deep in the ground, in rows about 2¹⁄₂ or three inches asunder, placed in the covert-way, at three feet from and parallel to the parapet or side of the glacis, to secure it from surprise.

They are also used to fortify the avenues of open forts, gorges, half moons, the bottoms of ditches, and, in general, all posts liable to surprise. They are usually fixed perpendicularly, though some make an angle inclining towards the ground next the enemy, that the ropes cast over them, to tear them up, may slip off.

Turning PALISADES, are an invention of Mr. Cohorn, in order to preserve the palisades of the parapet of the covert-way from the besiegers shot. They are so ordered, that as many of them as stand in the length of a rod, or about ten feet, turn up and down like traps, so as not to be in the sight of the enemy, till they just bring on their attack; and yet are always ready to do the proper service of palisades.

PALISSADES, Fr. See PALISADES.

PALISSADES de camp, Fr. several pieces of wood so arranged and tied together, that they may with great dispatch be fixed in the ground, which is marked out for the encampment of an army.

PALISSADES ferrèes, palisades that are shod with iron. They are used in shallow streams and marshes to prevent small craft from plying, or persons from crossing them on foot.

PALKEE, Ind. See Palankeen.

PALL, a covering thrown over the dead. It is always used in military burials.

PALLAS, a name in the Heathen mythology, which is given to Minerva, who was looked upon as the goddess of war.

PALUDAMENTUM, (Chlamys) among the ancients, a garment worn in time of war by the principal men of Rome, especially the generals, who were called for that reason paludati. The soldiers, having only short coats, called a sagum, were denominated sagati.

The paludamentum was open on the sides, coming down no lower than the navel, and had short sleeves. It was either of a white, purple, or red color, and sometimes black. Kennett, in his Roman Antiquities, page 313, says, the old paludamentum of the generals was all scarlet, only bordered with purple; and the chlamydes of the emperors were all purple, commonly beautified with a golden or embroidered border.

PAN, the side of a rectangle or irregular figure.

PAN, likewise means the distance which is comprized between the angle of the epaule and the flanked angle in fortification. See FACE OF A BASTION.

PAN, a name well known among the shepherds of antiquity, and frequently used by modern writers in their rural fictions. In military history it signifies a man who was lieutenant general to Bacchus in his Indian expedition. He is recorded to have been the first author of a general shout, which the Grecians practised in the beginning of their onset in battle. See PANIC.

PAN, that part of the lock of a musquet, pistol, &c. which holds the priming powder.

PANACHE, PANNACHE, Fr. a plume, a bunch of feathers.

PANACHES flottans, Fr. nodding plumes.

PANNACHES likewise signifies in architecture, the triangular part of an arch that contributes towards the support of a turret or elevation which is raised above the dome of any particular edifice.

PANCARTE, Fr. an ancient exercise or tournament, which was performed in the Roman amphitheatre, when strong athletic men were opposed to all sorts of enraged animals.

PANDOURS, are Hungarian infantry. They wear a loose garment fixed tight to their bodies by a girdle, with great sleeves, and large breeches reaching down to their ankles. They use firearms, and are excellent marksmen: they also wear a kind of sabre, near four feet long, which they use with great dexterity.

PANIC, PANIC fear, sudden consternation which seizes upon men’s fancies without any visible cause; a needless or ill grounded fright. The reason why these terrors are attributed to Pan, was, as some say, because when Osiris was bound by Typho, Pan and the satyrs appearing, cast him into a fright; or because he frightened all the giants that waged war against Jupiter: or as others say, that when Pan was Bacchus’s lieutenant general in his Indian expedition, being encompassed in a valley, with an army of enemies, far superior to them in number, he advised the god to order his men to give a general shout, which so surprised the opposite army, that they immediately fled from their camp. And hence it came to pass, that all sudden fears impressed upon men’s spirits, without any just reason, were, by the Greeks and Romans, called panic terrors. (See Polyænus Stratag. book I.) The custom of shouting seems to have been used by almost all nations, barbarous as well as civil; and is mentioned by all writers who treat of martial affairs. Homer has several elegant descriptions of it, particularly one in the fourth Iliad, where he resembles the military noise to torrents rolling with impetuous force from the mountains into the adjacent vallies. We have likewise had our war-hoops.