PSE
P S E
ihe paflage of Petronius, which is the only one that can be allcdged for their having done fo, may be underftood of the current coin or money, which Trimalcio, in the time of Nero, employed for calculi, notari rem omnium dclicntifeimam, pro calcul s albis out nigris, aureos argenteofque hahebdt denarios JT this is the true meaning of the author, the firft gold and fllver calculi mufthave been made in France, in the fourteenth century, under Charles VI Ith. who'fe name, together with th'e arms of France, is found irifcribed on the oldeft filver counters in that king's cabinet.
P3ETA, in ichthyology, a name given by Athenseus to the fifh we call the plaifee, the pajfer tavis and platejja of au- thors. See the articles Passer and Pleuronectes.
PSETITES, in natural hiftory, a name given by authors to a ftone, having in it the figure of a turbot. There are ftones found in fome parts of Germany having the impreflions of feveral kinds of fifh as perfect as if drawn by a pencil, and it is not to be doubted, but that they in reality owe them to the fifh themfclves ; which at fome time, perhaps while the earth was overflowed at the univerfal deluge, were received into beds of the matter of ftone, yet unbardened, which tak- ing its confidence while they were in it, muft crufh them, and retain the marks of their bodies. They are ufually found in a whitifh flaty ftone.
PSEUDO-ACACIA, bajlard acacia, in botany, the name of a ge- nus of trees, the characters of which are thefe : the flower is of the papilionaceous kind, and from its cup there arifes a piftil, furrounded by a fimbriated membrane. This finally becomes a flat pod, which burfts into two parts, and contains kidney- fhaped feeds. To this it is to be added, that the leaves are placed in feries over againft one another, on a middle rib, the end of which is terminated by a pod leaf. The fpecies of pfeeudo-acacia, enumerated by Mr. Tournefort, are thefe : I. The common prickly pfeeudo-acacia, called the common acacia, and by fome the lotus tree. 2. The broad- leaved American pfeeudo-acacia, with rofe-coloured flowers. And, 3. The afh-ieaved American pfeeudo-acacia, with violet- coloured flowers. Tourn. Inft. p. 649.
PtEUDO-APIOS, in botany, a name given by fome authors to the roots of the bulbocajlauum, or earth-nut. The peafants in Burgundy, and other parts of France, turn up thefe in great quantities with the plough, and eat them. They call them arnottas, and fome of the writers of the adjacent places, not diftinguifhing what they truly were, have avoided the common name, by giving them this of pfeeudo-apios, formed of the name of a root to which they have no alliance, and taking away a name by which they would have been much better known ; arnoita being only a corruption of the Dutch name ertnote, or earth-nut, a name by which they are called almoft every where.
PSEUDO-ARGYRON, in mineralogy, a word ufed by the antients in two very different fenfes; fome make it the name of what Virgil calls orichalcum album, white brafs ; and others of a mineral with which the common brafs was made. It is very evident, from the joint teftimony of the old Greeks and Romans both, that they had in ufe a kind of white me- tal made of copper, and they eftcemed it greatly above the yellow, or brafs.
Ariftotlc tells us of this white metal, and gives it great en- comiums; he fays, it was very white and very bright; and that it was made by melting copper together with a certain earth : but this he does not defcribe, fo that we are left in the dark as to what it was.
This Alining white metal might very naturally be called pfeudo-argyron, or baftard-filver ; but befide this, there is another native mineral fubftance, called by the fiime name by Strabo and others : and this is faid by Strabo to be ufed in making copper into brafs. Many authors have been much perplexed in endeavouring to make out what this latter kind of pfcudo-argynim was ; fome have fuppofed it the molybdama, others fome of the brighter lead-ores, and others the micae argentea=, or filvery talcs, and fome the filvery mundicks : all thefe might in fome degree anfwer to the name, as to their outward appearance, but they could none of them have the effeeb of turning copper into brafs.
We are to look for fomething that will do this firft, and then find the refemblance in the colour to filver. We, well know, that nothing will turn copper yellow but calamine, which is the ore of zink, or zink itfelf. Zink is a metal that comes neareft the appearance of filver of any other, and is fome- times found native, and in its proper form. If any of the mines wrought by the antients afforded this native metal, there is no doubt but it was the thing called pfeudo-argyros, its colour and qualities all anfwering to the name; but if not, it is probable that no more was meant by the name than the common calamine found in their filver mines. Many of the ores of filver are found to be very like the com- mon calamine, and in the fame mines one might be taken for the other at firft fight : this refemblance might very natu- rally lead people to call the calamine found there pfeudo-argyros, or baftard-filver ; and the properties of this being theYame with thofe of all other calamine, it cannot but anfwer in the fame manner in miking brafs.
PSEUDO-CARPASUM, in botany, a name given by fome au-
thors to the plant called by the generality of writers 11-
banotis.
This is a plant of a very ftrong fmell ; and the carpafum, or
carpafeum of the antients, being a poifonous gum, and the fmell
of the libanotis approaching to the fame odour, occafioned its
being called the bajlard-carpafeum.
PSEUDO-DICTAMNUS, bajlard-diltany, in botany, the name of a genus of plants, the charafters of which are thefe: the flower confifts of one leaf, and is of the lahiated kind. The Upper lip is of an arched form, and ufually is bifid ; and the lower is divided into three fegments. The cup is of the fiiape of a funnel, and from it there arifes a piftil, which is fixed in the manner of a nail to the hinder part of the flower. The four embryos which furround this afterwards become four ob- long feeds, which ripen in the funnel-fafhioned cafe, which was the cup of the flower.
The fpecies of pfeeudodiclamnus, enumerated by Mr. Tourne- fort, are thefe : 1. The pfeudodiclamnus, with cups like thofe of Molucca. 2. The pfeudodiclamnus, with curled and wrinkled leaves. 3. The Spanifh pfeeuddUlamnus, with very large, hoary, and whitifh leaves. 4. The Spanifh pfeudodiclamnus, with very large, hairy, and blackifh leaves. 5. The Spanifh tfeeudadiclamnus, with fig-wort-like leaves. 6. The fcentlefs, verticillated pfeudodiclamnus. 7. The fmaller, alpine, verti- cillated pfeeudodiclamnus. And, 8. The ground ivy-leaved Af- rican pfeudcdiclamnus. Tourn. Inft. p. 188.
PSEUDOGELSEMINUM, in botany, a name given by Rivi- nus to a genus of plants, the fame with the bign-nia of authors. Riv'w.i.i^i.
PsEvvo-ipecacuanba, in botany, the name by which fome au- thors have called a poifonous kind of American apocynum, the root of which fomething refembles the true ipecacuanha, and has fometimes been unfortunately colledled and ufed in its place. Dale, Pharm. p. 178.
PsEUTio-pulex arboreus, in natural hiftory, the name of a genus of infeSs defcribed by Mr. Reaumur, and fomewhat approach- ing in their form to the pu'ex abortus ; but having their winos covered with a fquammofe cafe, which thofe creatures have not, and having broader and flatter bodies.
Thefe principally live upon the fig-tree and the box ; they pafs through a fort of metamorphofis into a hopping fly, fup- pofed by fome of the nature of a grafs-hopper ; but crroneouf- ly, for that animal has a cafe for its wings, and the other not.
It has not yet been determined by obfervation, whether thefe creatures are oviparous, as moft other of the known winged infefls, or viviparous, as the' pulex arboreus. 1 hat fpecies which lives upon the box throws out a fort of glutinous mat- ter from the anus, with which it fattens the leal when curled up : this curled leaf, on being opened, always difcovers the animal, with a long train of connected globules draegin^ after it, and forming, as it were, a fort of tail ; but when examined more carefully, this is found only to be a train of excrements flicking together by means cf their glutinous quality, and of a fweet tafte, like that of manna. Thefe, like the others, are at length changed into a fort of fly, remaikable for its manner of hopping, like the flea. Reaumur'sHitt. Inft. T. 1.
PsEUDO-yiAW, in botany, a name by which fome authors call the phlomis.
FsEVDo-feantalum, bajlard-jdunders, a name given by fome bo- tanical writers to the lignum Brajiliamim, or Brafil wood. C. Bauhin. Pin. p. 393.
VsEVDO-feinna, bajlard-fena, in botany, a name ufed by fome authors for the common eolutea vefecarica. It is called alfo by fome Jena pauperum. Bocrhaave, p. 468.
Pseudo tbeca, in natural hiftory, the name of a fpecies of two- winged fly, approaching to the nature of the common wafp, but having no fling. It has a blackifh head, with two (hort antennae, or horns ; large, black, reticulated eyes ; a long forked mouth, and prominent fhoulders. The body is lon» and (lender, and confifls of many joints. The legs are rouo-h and hairy. It is found about dirty ditches, being bred of°a water-worm that loves muddy places.
This is, according to the later diftinflions in the hiftory of infeas, properly called a wafep-Jiy. There are bee-flies, as much refembling the bees as this does the wafp.
PsEUDO-fHwa, in natural hiftory, the name of a very remarkable fpecies of infea defcribed by Mr. Reamur, approaching to the nature of the tinea, or cloaths-moth, while in the worm-ftate; but not making themfelves coats of the fubftance of leaves) cloath, iSc. tho' they form a fort of cafes for their defence againft a very terrible enemy.
Thefe creatures are truly of the caterpillar kind, and have, in the manner of any of thefe infeas, fixteen legs. They feed on wax, and for food enter the bee hives; where they boldly engage the bees, and are not to be prevented by them from feeding, tho' at the expence of their habitations and the cells of their refervoirs of honey : fo that it is no uncommon thing for a fwarm of bees to be forced to change their place of habi- tation, and make new combs elfewhere ; leaving the old ones to this contemptible viaor, whom they know not how to drive out or difpoffefs.
Virgil and Ariftotle, and all the authors who have written on
bees, have complained of this deftruaive animal. It never
3 eats
