Part 185

Palm"er (?), n. 1. (Zoöl.) A palmerworm.

2. (Angling) Short for Palmer fly, an artificial fly made to imitate a hairy caterpillar; a hackle.

Pal*met"to flag. Any of several flags adopted by South California after its secession. That adopted in November, 1860, had a green cabbage palmetto in the center of a white field; the final one, January, 1861, had a white palmetto in the center of a blue field and a white crescent in the upper left-hand corner.

Palmetto State. South California; -- a nickname alluding to the State Arms, which contain a representation of a palmetto tree.

||Pa"lo (?), n. [Sp. See Pale a stake.] A pole or timber of any kind; -- in the names of trees. [Sp. Amer.]

||Pa"lo blan"co (?). [Sp. blanco white.] (a) A western American hackberry (Celtis reticulata), having light-colored bark. (b) A Mexican mimosaceous tree (Lysiloma candida), the bark of which is used in tanning.

{ Pa*lo"lo (?), n., or Palolo worm }. [From native name.] A polystome worm (Palolo viridis) that burrows in the coral reefs of certain of the Pacific Islands. A little before the last quarter of the moon in October and November, they swarm in vast numbers at the surface of the sea for breeding, and are gathered and highly esteemed as food by the natives. An allied species inhabits the tropical Atlantic and swarms in June or July.

Pan`a*ma"ni*an (?), a. Of or pert. to Panama. -- n. A native or citizen of Panama.

Pan-American Congress. Any of several meetings of delegates from various American states; esp.: (a) One held in 1889-90 in the United States, at which all the independent states except Santo Domingo were represented and of which the practical result was the establishment of the Bureau of American Republics for the promotion of trade relations. (b) One held in Mexico in 1901-1902. (c) One held at Rio de Janeiro in 1906.

Pan-A*mer"i*can*ism, n. The principle or advocacy of a political alliance or union of all the states of America.

||Pan*ath`e*næ"a (?), n. pl. [NL., fr. Gr. &?;; &?;, &?;, all + &?; Athena.] The most ancient and important festival of Athens, celebrated in honor of Athena, the tutelary goddess of the city.

Pan"el (?), n. (Aëronautics) A segment of an aëroplane wing. In a biplane the outer panel extends from the wing tip to the next row of posts, and is trussed by oblique stay wires.

Pan"han`dle (?), n. The handle of a pan; hence, fig., any arm or projection suggestive of the handle of a pan; as, the panhandle of West Virginia, Texas, or Idaho.

Panhandle State. West Virginia; -- a nickname.

||Panne (?), n. [F.] A fabric resembling velvet, but having the nap flat and less close.

Pan*psy"chism (?), n. [See Pan-; Psychic.] The theory that all nature is psychical or has a psychical aspect; the theory that every particle of matter has a psychical character or aspect. -- Pan*psy"chic (#), a. -- Pan*psy"chist (#), n. -- Pan`psy*chis"tic (#), a.

Fechner affords a conspicuous instance of the idealistic tendency to mysterize nature in his panpsychicism, or that form of noumenal idealism which holds that the universe is a vast communion of spirits, souls of men, of animals, of plants, of earth and other planets, of the sun, all embraced as different members in the soul of the world.

Encyc. Brit.

{ Pa"pri*ka (?), n. Also Pa"pri*ca }. [Hung. paprika Turkish pepper; prob. through G.] The dried ripened fruit of Capsicum annuum or various other species of pepper; also, the mildly pungent condiment prepared from it.

Par (?), n. 1. An amount which is taken as an average or mean. [Eng.]

2. (Golf) The number of strokes required for a hole or a round played without mistake, two strokes being allowed on each hole for putting. Par represents perfect play, whereas bogey makes allowance on some holes for human frailty. Thus if par for a course is 75, bogey is usually put down, arbitrarily, as 81 or 82.

Pa*rá" (?), n. 1. The southern arm of the Amazon in Brazil; also, a seaport on this arm.

2. Short for Pará rubber.

{ ||Par`a-an`æs*the"si*a, -an`es*the"si*a } (?), n. [NL.; para- + anæsthesia.] (Med.) Anæsthesia of both sides of the lower half of the body.

Pará cress. An annual asteraceous herb (Spilances oleracea) grown in tropical countries as a pungent salad, and also used medicinally.

||Par`a*gen"e*sis (?), n. [NL.; para- + genesis.] (Geol.) (a) The formation of minerals in contact, so as to affect one another's development. (b) The order in which minerals occurring together in rocks and veins have developed.

Pará grass. (a) A tall rather coarse grass (Panicum molle) grown in the tropics for pasturage, and introduced into the southern United States. (b) Piassaba fiber.

Par"a*kite` (?), n. [Para- + kite.] A train or series of kites on one string and flying tandem, used for attaining great heights and for sending up instruments for meteorological observations or a man for military reconnoissance; also, a kite of such a train.