OXYGEN

thought to have flowed once into the Caspian sea, and to have twice changed its course since about 600 a. d.

Oxygen, the most abundant and the most widely distributed of all the elements, is a gas without color, odor or taste. In its free state (mixed, not combined, with nitrogen), it composes about one-fifth of the air, and combined with hydrogen, it makes about eight-ninths of all the water on the globe. It combines with all other elementary substances except fluorine. It is necessary to life and was called by early chemists "vital air." It was discovered at almost the same time in the year 1774 by Priestly and Scheele. Lavoisier made many ingenious experiments to prove that the combustion or burning of bodies in the air was only their combination with oxygen.

Oyster, a bivalve (two-parted shell) belonging to the mollusks, and well known for its use as food. The oyster feeds on microscopic animals, which are washed into the gaping shell. They live in beds in the ocean not far from the shore, fastened to the rocks, and though without eyes or ears can detect the shadow of an approaching boat, and have intelligence enough to close their shells when being carried on railroads. "When the slippery morsel glides along the palate," says Professor Huxley, "few people imagine that they are swallowing a piece of machinery greatly more complicated than that of a watch." The oyster is usually from three to four years reaching maturity. The eggs are produced in the summer, which is the reason oysters are not eaten at that season. One oyster will have from 200 to 800 eggs, so small that 2,000,000 of them could be packed in a cubic inch, yet they rise in such numbers from an oyster bed as to cloud the water. In the first stage, the oysters swim actively, their shells are transparent, and in many ways they differ from their parents. Enormous numbers die, either washed away or eaten by small animals, so that it is computed that out of 440,000,000 only 421 individuals reach maturity. As their shells grow heavier they sink to the bottom and settle on stones and shells, moored by the left shell. They measure about the twentieth of an inch when first attached, and about two inches at the end

OZONE

of two years. The oysters are collected from the beds by a sort of iron rake carried by a sailing boat, or by dredges. The cultivation of oysters is becoming quite common, both in Europe and America. The Virginian oyster and the northern oyster are the common varieties in the United States. The consumption of oysters is enormous and constantly increasing. The United States produces 22,000,000 bushels a year, and the British oyster banks and those of France and Holland are extensive. They were considered great delicacies by the Romans, who practiced artificial cultivation.

Oyster Catcher, a class of birds, resembling the plover, with a long straight bill, the shape of a wedge. There are nine species, only one of which is found in Europe. It is called sea-pie, and mussel picker, and is found in Greenland and Iceland, on the English and Irish coasts, and in many parts of Asia and Africa. It is 16 inches long, with black and white plumage. It feeds on mussels, limpets and small fish.

Ozark Mountains, a range of mountains in Missouri. They start from the Missouri river, and crossing a part of Missouri and Arkansas, enter the Indian Territory. The Black Hills and the Washita mountains of Arkansas are parts of the range. The highest peaks are from 1,500 to 2,000 feet high.

Ozone is a form of oxygen, as diamond is a form of coke, or charcoal. It was noticed by chemists that a peculiar odor was produced by the working of an electrical machine, and that when electric sparks were passed through a tube containing oxygen, the gas absorbed the odor, which was called the "smell of electricity." Other experiments, such as decomposing water, when the oxygen evolved gave out the same odor; and if kept in a close vessel would retain the odor for a long time, but lose it by heating or coming in contact with charcoal or other substances, seemed to point to the conclusion, now generally accepted, that ozone is only a form of oxygen. The quantity of ozone in the air is never great, and its office is not understood, though it is believed to be destructive to unwholesome substances and thus to make the air pure.

Pacific Ocean is the largest of the divisions of the ocean, including about one-half of the water surface of the globe, and covering more than onethird of the whole earth. It is 9,000 miles long, and its greatest breadth is 10,000 miles, with an area of 70,000,000 square miles. It is deeper than the Atlantic, averaging about 2,500 fathoms. There are two trade winds, blowing almost constantly, one from the northeast and the other from the southeast, on which the surface currents of the ocean depend. Along the equator is a region of calms, and also north and south of the trade winds there are belts of calms. A cold current from the Antarctic ocean flows along the coasts of South America, and a warm current from the equator flows west, dividing into two branches; one known as the Japan current flows north past Alaska, resembling in its effects the Gulf Stream in the Atlantic; the other turns south and flows along the shores of Australia and New Zealand.

The largest American river flowing into the Pacific is the Yukon, 2,000 miles long, emptying into Behring Sea; besides this are the Fraser, Columbia, Sacramento and Colorado rivers. The rivers of South America flowing into this ocean are only mountain streams, as the Andes mountains approach so closely to the coast. The rivers of Asia, however, that flow into the Pacific are among the largest in the world, including the Amur, Hoang-ho, Yang-tse-Kiang, Mekhong and Menam. The coasts of America and Australia bordering on the Pacific are generally mountainous, though the shores of Alaska are low and swampy, and the southern part of South America is broken with bays and islands. The gulfs of California, Panama and Guayaquil, are the most important on the American coast. The coasts of Asia are low and fertile, with many gulfs and bays and groups of islands. Behring Sea, Sea of Okhotsk, Sea of Japan, Yellow Sea and China

Sea are formed by the peninsulas and islands on the Asiatic coast.

The Pacific ocean is remarkable for its numerous small islands and groups of islands. On the American coast are Vancouver's,Queen Charlotte, Prince of Wales and others, in British America; Terra del Fuego, and islands on the coast of Chile, and the Aleutian islands; the islands of Japan, Formosa, Philippine islands, Borneo, Celebes, Sumatra and Java, New Guinea, Australia and New Zealand are Asiatic islands, while in mid-ocean are many groups of volcanic origin. The Sandwich islands, the Ladrone islands, Marshall islands, Gilbert islands, in the North Pacific, and the New Hebrides, Society islands, Fiji islands and the Friendly islands are the principal of these island groups.

The Pacific ocean was first seen by Europeans from a mountain in Panama, by Balboa, a Spaniard. Magellan, making his way through the Strait of Magellan, was the first European to sail on it, in 1520. He named it Pacific because of its quiet waters. The first English navigator that explored it for any distance was Sir Francis Drake. The northwest passage through the Arctic ocean into the Pacific was discovered by Maclure in 1850, and the northeast passage, in 1874, by Nordenskiold.

Packard, ALPHEUS SPRING, an American naturalist, was born in Brunswick, Maine, Feb. 19, 1839, graduated from Bowdoin in 1861 and became assistant to Agassiz at Cambridge. After taking part in several scientific expeditions, he became state entomologist of Massachusetts and professor of zoölogy and geology at Brown University. He is best known as an entomologist, being the author of the accepted classification of insects and of other works on insect life.

Paderewski (pad -e-roo'-ski), IGNACE JAN, a Polish pianist, was born in Podolia, a province of Russian Poland,

in 1860. He began his musical studies when six years old, but with very imperfect teachers, and at 12 went to the conservatory at Warsaw. He made his first musical tour through Russia at 16, and at 18 was made a professor of music in the conservatory. Married at 19 and a widower at 20, he gave himself still more devotedly to his art, studying at Berlin and Vienna, and being appointed a professor in the conservatory at Strasburg, in 1883. While here, visiting a summer resort, to amuse his friends he once extemporized upon a theme in the style of every great musical composer, sitting down to the piano in the evening, and playing until five in the morning. He made his first public appearance as a musician in Vienna in 1887, his wonderful reputation as a performer on the piano having been made since that time. He does not depend upon his genius, great as it is, but on practice and study, shutting himself up before a concert and practicing all night. His musical compositions were nearly all written before he was 25; Polish Dances, Song of the Voyager, Menuet and others are among those most valued.

Padilla (pä-deel'-yä), JUAN DE, a popular hero of Spanish history, was appointed military commandant of Saragossa by Charles V. Soon thereafter the great rebellion on account of burdensome taxation broke out and Padilla was called to the head of the movement by the people. He was fortunate in many movements, but on April 23, 1521, he was defeated at Villalas, taken prisoner and beheaded. His wife gathered the remaining army and held Toledo for a long time and upon its fall retired to Portugal.

Padua (pad'-u-a), one of the oldest cities of Italy, was in the 5th century ruled by the Huns, then exchanged between the Goths and the eastern empire and from 1318 to 1405 was ruled independently by a lord. In the latter year it was conquered by Venice, which held it until 1797, when it was given to Austria, which, except from 1805 to 1814, ruled it until incorporated into Italy in 1866. The old streets are dark and narrow and a wall still surrounds the town. The most notable building is the municipal palace (1172-1219), whose roof, 267% feet by 89, is the largest in Europe unsupported by pillars. It also has many old churches. The university has long been celebrated. There is no manufacturing industry. Pop., 47,334.

PAGET

Paducah, the county seat of McCracken county, Kentucky, stands on the Ohio river about 48 miles above its mouth and enjoys a large river and rail trade. It has flour, saw and planing mills, foundries and manufactories of soap, ice, furniture, vinegar and tobacco. Population, 13,076.

Paganini (pä-gä-nee'-nee), NICOLO, a famous violinist, was a porter's son, born at Genoa, Feb. 18, 1784. He early devoted himself to his instrument, practicing sometimes ten hours at a stretch, and in 1793 gave his first concert. His professional tours began in Italy in 1805, extended through Germany and Austria in 1828 and 1829 and Paris and London in 1831. He returned to Italy very wealthy and died, his violin in his hand, on May 27, 1840. See Grove's Dictionary of Music, Vol. II., and Engel's From Mozart to Mario.

Page, THOMAS NELSON, famous as a writer of stories and poems in the negro dialect, was born in Hanover county, Virginia. He studied a. Washington and Lee University, and is practicing law at Richmond. He wrote his first story, Marse Chan, in 1884, and a collection of his writings are published under the title, In Ole Virginny.

Page, WILLIAM, an American painter, was born in Albany, New York, Jan. 23, 1811. His genius for art showed itself at an early age, and overcame his efforts to study law and theology. He received a premium from the American institute in New York for a drawing in India ink, when 11 years old, and a silver medal from the national academy before he was 17. His first portraits were those of Governor Marcy for the New York city hall, and of John Quincy Adams for Faneuil hall at Boston. In 1849 he went to Italy, spending 11 years in Florence and in Rome. Besides executing while there such works as Moses and Aaron on Mount Horeb and the Flight into Egypt, he made copies of Titian's paintings, one of which was prevented from leaving Florence by the public officers, who insisted that it was the original picture. His full length portrait of Farragut at the battle of Mobile was presented by a committee in 1871 to the emperor of Russia. His portrait of Christ, and his bust of Shakespeare, and the portraits from the bust are among his later works. He died on Staten Island, New York, in 1885.

Paget, SIR JAMES, BARONET, was born in Yarmouth, England, in 1814.

He entered the Royal College of Surgeons in 1836, became an Honorable Fellow in 1843, member of the council in 1865, president in 1875 and Bradshawe lecturer in 1882. He was surgeon to the queen, the prince of Wales and consulting surgeon to St. Bartholomew's hospital. He was made a baronet in 1871, and also an LL.D. by the University of Edinburgh. His works are Lectures on Surgical Pathology and Clinical Lectures.

Paine, ROBERT TREAT, an American statesman, was born at Boston, March 11, 1731. He was a graduate of Harvard, and a student of theology and law. He was chaplain in 1755 of the provincial army on the northern border. He was prominent in the contests preceding the revolution, being a delegate of the convention called in 1768 in Boston, and in 1770 managed the prosecution of Captain Preston for firing on the people. He was a member of the general assembly of Massachusetts in 1773 and 1774, and of the continental congress from 1774 to 1778, and also a signer of the declaration of independence. He was judge of the supreme court of Massachusetts and attorneygeneral of that state for ten years. He died in Boston, May 11, 1814.

1779 and was

Paine, THOMAS, a writer, was born in Norfolk, England, Jan. 29, 1737, and became in turn a staymaker, marine, schoolmaster, exciseman and tobacconist. In 1774 he sailed for America. In 1776 his pamphlet Common Sense appeared, followed a year later by The Crisis. While he was serving as a private at Trenton, congress gave him the position of secretary of the committee of foreign affairs, but he lost the post in appointed clerk of the Pennsylvania legislature, and in 1785 was given $3,000 and the New Rochelle farm by congress. He returned to England in 1787 and in 1791-2 published his Rights of Man and the famous reply to Burke's Reflections Upon the French Revolution. This work caused much trouble and he fled to Paris, where he was elected to the national convention which tried Louis XVI. Favoring the king be offended Robespierre, and was imprisoned, where he remained eleven months. Before his arrest he had written part one of The Age of Reason, and

PALERMO

See Leslie

York on June 8, 1809. Stephen's History of English Thought in the Eighteenth Century.

Paisley stands on the White Cart, three miles above the Clyde and seven from Glasgow. It was first heard of in 1157, was burned by the English in 1307, and suffered in the reformation in 1561. It was made a free burgh in 1488. The principal buildings are the municipal buildings, court house, the county buildings and library and museum. The manufacture of "Paisley shawls" has become extinct, but the works of cotton thread, dyeing, bleaching, tartans, woolen shawls, chemicals, starch, corn flour, carpets and distilling and brewing flourish. Population, 64,379.

Palachy (pä-läts'-kee), FRANTISCK, a Bohemian historian, was born in Moravia, on June 14, 1798, and studied at Presburg and Vienna. He was appointed Bohemian historian in 1829, and directed to write the History of the Bohemian People to 1526, which is one of the greatest Bohemian literary works. He took part in the political agitation of 1848, wrote a work on the Hussite period and died at Prague, June 26, 1876.

Palatinate(pa-lat'-in-ate), the name of two German states united before 1623. They were called the Upper and Lower Palatinate, the Upper being what is now the kingdom of Bavaria, and the Lower lying on both sides of the Rhine, and bounded by Mainz, Treves, Lorraine, Alsace, Baden and Würtemberg. The capital was Heidelberg. The Rhenish Palatinate was established as an hereditary possession as early as the 11th century, and in 1216 it was granted to the duke of Bavaria, and this and the Bavarian territory were held by the Bavarian house. In 1559 the Rhenish territory and the electoral vote passed to Frederick III.; afterward it passed to Frederick V., and afterward to his son. In 1801 France took possession of the western part and gave the eastern to Bavaria, Nassau and Hesse-Darmstadt. The left bank was restored to Germany in 1815, the larger part going to Bavaria, the rest being divided among other provinces.

Palatine Hill. See ROME. Palermo (pa-ler'-mo), a seaport,

He returned

to America in 1802, be

came a drunkard and died in New

valley before Mount Pellegrino. The

city was first known as the Phoenician

Panormus. It was successively conquered by Pyrrhus (276 B. c.), the Romans (254 B. C.), the Vandals (440 A. D.), Belisarius, the Saracens, the Pisans and the Normans. In the earthquakes of 1693, 1726 and 1823 the city suffered much. It revolted against the kings of Naples in 1820 and 1848 and was freed by Garibaldi in 1860. The streets are lined with old and picturesque buildings of interesting architecture, the most conspicuous being the Cathedral of St. Rosalie, the royal palace, the churches of Martorano, St. John of the Hermits, and St. Cataldo, the archbishop's palace, town house, university and arsenal. The industries are insignificant, but the shipping of oranges, lemons, dried fruits, sumac, tartar, grain, oils, manna, sulphur, wine and lemon juice are very large. Population, 205,712. See Freeman's History of Sicily.

Palestine, the land of Canaan, the land of promise, the Holy Land and the land of Israel of the Bible, was at the time of the conquest inhabited by six nations: the Canaanites, Hivites, Hittites, Ammonites, Perizzites and Jebusites. The invaders settled in allotted lands and the fights for possession followed for some years, although no tribes were dispossessed. In early times the tribal distinctions were strongly preserved, but later, as spoken of in the book of Judges, the cities rose and fell and Jerusalem became the capital of David and Solomon; but on the founding of the northern kingdom Shechem, Tirzah and Samaria became the capital in succession. On the return of the Jews from captivity they inhabited the territory between Jerusalem and Beersheba and Jericho and Læchish, while the Philistines retained their lands undisturbed. Under Herod the Great, who governed the entire country, the kingdom included Galilee, unknown in the Old Testament, Samaria, Judæa, IduPeræa, Gaulonitis, Auranitis and Trachonitis. The most populous and fertile of these provinces was Galilee. The prosperity fostered by the Roman rulers disappeared on the conquest by Vespasian and the destruction of the temple by Titus. The second time the Jews rose in revolt, led by BarCochba, the pretended Messiah, it led to the bloodiest of all wars and the siege of Jerusalem, and the revolt was put down before the fortress of Bether.

mæa,

For the next hundred years the

PALESTRINA

progress of Christianity was rapid, and after the conversion of Constantine and the building of the Church of the Holy Sepulcher the history for three hundred years is the story of the church. In 614 A. D. King Chosroes, of Persia, entered Syria and was joined by the Jews, who looked to him for deliverance. They massacred 90,000 Christians in Jerusalem and burned all the buildings. Fifteen years later the country was retaken by Heraclius, only to have it fall into the hands of the Mohammedans, in whose control it remained for four hundred years. About 640 the Mosque of Omar, the most beautiful building in the world, was built by Byzantine architects. The crusades failed to relieve the oppression and the country went from bad to worse regarding progress and the ruins crumbled further.

Palestine covers an area of about 6,000 square miles, is bounded on the north by the River Kasimiyeh, on the east by the Jordan and the west by the sea. Ranges of hills run over the entire country from east to west and, as the Bible says, it consists of desert, hills, plains and valley. The principal elevations are Jebel Jermûk, 3,934 feet; Mounts Carmel, Ebal, Gerizim, Tell Asûr and Râs esh Sherifeh. The valley of the Jordan begins near the Mediterranean and runs from 5 to 13 miles wide to the plain of Jericho. The country has few rivers, the Mefshukh, Namien, El Mukatta and few others flowing into the Mediterranean, and the Yarmuk, Rukkad, Zerka and Mojib, flowing into the Sea of Galilee. The summers are extremely warm and the winters cold and wet. At present the modern spirit of improvement is at work in Palestine, roads are being built, railroads run from Jaffa to Jerusalem and new colonies with new buildings are scattered over the entire land. The ruins are disappearing and a modern country is springing from the ashes. See E. Hull, Physical Geology and Geography of Arabia Petræa, Palestine, etc.

Palestrina (pä-lès-tree' -nä), GIOVANNI PIERLUIGI DA, the greatest Italian composer, was born in 1524 at Palestrina, studied in Rome and in 1551 was made musical director of the Julian chapel of St. Peter's by Pope Julius III. In 1554 he published a collection of masses and became one of the singers of the Sistine chapel, which position he lost upon the accession of Paul IV.,