PAMPAS n.
at (Zoöl.), a South American wild cat (Felis pajeros). It has oblique transverse bands of yellow or brown. It is about three and a half feet long. Called also straw cat. -- Pampas deer (Zoöl.), a small, reddish-brown, South American deer (Cervus, or Blastocerus, campestris). -- Pampas grass (Bot.), a very tall orname…
PARADISE n.
ornamental species, as the twelve-wired paradise bird (Seleucides alba), which is black, yellow, and white, with six long breast feathers on each side, ending in long, slender filaments. See Bird of paradise in the Vocabulary. -- Paradise fish (Zoöl.), a beautiful fresh-water Asiatic fish (Macropodus viridiauratus) h…
PARTRIDGE n.
artridge dove (Zoöl.) Same as Mountain witch, under Mountain. -- Partridge pea (Bot.), a yellow-flowered leguminous herb (Cassia Chamæcrista), common in sandy fields in the Eastern United States. -- Partridge shell (Zoöl.), a large marine univalve shell (Dolium perdix), having colors variegated like those of the part…
PERSIAN a.
ge. Persian berry, the fruit of Rhamnus infectorius, a kind of buckthorn, used for dyeing yellow, and imported chiefly from Trebizond. -- Persian cat. (Zoöl.) Same as Angora cat, under Angora. -- Persian columns (Arch.), columns of which the shaft represents a Persian slave; -- called also Persians. See Atlantes. --…
PHENOLPHTHALEIN; PHENOL PHTHALEIN n.
A white or yellowish white crystalline substance, C20H14O4, formed by condensation of the anhydride of phthalic acid and phenol. Its solution in alkalies is brilliant red, but is decolorized by acids. This reaction, being very delicate, is used as an indicator.
PHOSPHORUS n.
A poisonous nonmetallic element of the nitrogen group, obtained as a white, or yellowish, translucent waxy substance, having a characteristic disagreeable smell. It is very active chemically, must be preserved under water, and unites with oxygen even at ordinary temperatures, giving a faint glow, -- whence its name. It…