nearly as much to its legs as to its wings, and thus incurred the obloquy of old-fashioned sportsmen, whose dogs it vexatiously kept at a running point; but, when it was also accused of driving away the grey partridge, the charge only showed the ignorance of those who brought it, for as a matter of fact the French partridge rather prefers ground which the common species avoids—such as the heaviest clay-soils or the most infertile heaths. The French partridge has several congeners, all with red legs and plumage of similar character. In Africa north of the Atlas there is the Barbary partridge, C. petrosa; in southern Europe another, C. saxatilis, which extends eastward till it is replaced by C. chukar, which reaches India, where it is a well-known bird. Two very interesting desert-forms, supposed to be allied to Caccabis, are the Ammoperdix heyi of North Africa and Palestine and the A. bonhami of Persia; but the absence of the metatarsal knob, or incipient spur, suggests (in our ignorance of their other osteological characters) an alliance rather to the genus Perdix. On the other hand the groups of birds known as Francolins and Snow-Partridges are generally furnished with strong but blunt spurs, and therefore probably belong to the Caccabine group. Of the former, containing many species, there is only room here to mention the francolin, which used to be found in many parts of the south of Europe, Francolinus vulgaris, which also extends to India, where it is known as the black partridge. This seems to have been the Attagas or Attagen of classical authors,[1] a bird so celebrated for its exquisite flavour, the strange disappearance of which from all or nearly all its European haunts still remains inexplicable. It is possible that this bird has been gradually vanishing for several centuries, and if so to this cause may be attributed the great uncertainty attending the determination of the Attagen—it being a common practice among men in all countries to apply the name of a species that is growing rare to some other that is still abundant. Of the snow-partridges, Tetraogallus, it is only to be said here that they are the giants of their kin, and that nearly every considerable range of mountains in Asia seems to possess its specific form.
By English colonists the name Partridge has been very loosely applied, and especially so in North America. Where a qualifying word is prefixed no confusion is caused, but without it there is sometimes a difficulty to know whether the Ruffed Grouse (Bonasa umbellus) or the Virginia Quail (Ortyx virginianus) is intended. In South America the name is given to various Tinamous (q.v.).
PARTY WALL, a building term which, in England, apart from special statutory definitions, may be used in four different legal senses (Watson v. Gray, 1880, 14 Ch. D. 192). It may mean (1) a wall of which the adjoining owners are tenants in common; (2) a wall divided longitudinaDy into two strips, one belonging to each of the neighbouring owners; (3) a wall which belongs entirely to one of the adjoining owners, but is subject to an easement or right in the other to have it maintained as a dividing wall between the two tenements; (4) a wall divided longitudinally into two moieties, each moiety being subject to a cross easement, in favour of the owner of the other moiety. Outside London the rights and liabilities of adjoining owners of party walls are subject to the rules of common law. In London they are governed by the London Building Act 1894. A tenant in common of a party wall is entitled to have a partition vertically and longitudinally, so as to hold separately (Mayfair Property Co. v. Johnston, 1894, 1 Ch. 508); each owner can then use only his own part of the wall. By the London Building Act 1894, § 5 (16) the expression “party wall” means—(a) a wall forming part of a building and used or constructed to be used for separation of adjoining buildings belonging to different owners, or occupied or constructed or adapted to be occupied by different persons; or (b) a wall forming part of a building, and standing to a greater extent than the projection of the footings on lands of different owners. Section 87 regulates the rights of owners of adjoining lands to erect party walls on the line of junction. Sections 88-90 determine the rights of building owners to deal with party walls by underpinning, repairing or rebuilding. The act also contains provisions for settling disputes (§§ 91-92), and for bearing and recovering expenses (§§ 95-102). Part VI. of the act regulates the structure and thickness, height, &c., of party walls.
See A. R. Rudall, Party Walls (1907).
PARUTA, PAOLO (1540-1598), Venetian historian. After studying at Padua he served the Venetian republic in various political capacities, including that of secretary to one of the Venetian delegates at the Council of Trent. In 1579 he published a work entitled Della Perfezione della vita politica, and the same year he was appointed official historian to the republic, in succession to Luigi Contarini. He took up the narrative from where Cardinal Bembo had left it, in 1513, and brought it down to 1551. He was made provveditore to the Chamber of Loans in 1580, savio del gran consiglio in 1590, and governor of Brescia in the following year. In 1596 he was appointed provveditore of St Mark, and in 1597 superintendent of fortifications. He died a year later. His history, which was at first written in Latin and subsequently in Italian, was not published until after his death—in 1599. Among his other works may be mentioned a history of the War of Cyprus (1570-72), and a number of political orations.
See Apostolo Zeno's edition of Paruta's history (in the series Degli Istorici delle cose veneziane, Venice, 1718), and C. Monzani's edition of Paruta's political works (Florence, 1852).
PARVIS, Parvise, or Parvyse, an open space surrounded by an enceinte or stone parapet in front of buildings, particularly cathedrals or large churches; probably first used to keep the people from pressing on and confusing the marshalling of processions. The word “parvis” is French and is a corruption of Lat. paradisus, and enclosed garden or paradise (q.v.), which is sometimes also used instead of “parvis.” The Lat. paradisus is defined by Du Cange (Glossarium, s.v.) as atrium porticibus circumdatum ante aedes sacras. At St Paul's in London the “parvis” was a place where lawyers met for consultation.
PARYSATIS, daughter of Artaxerses I., married to her brother Ochus (Ctesias, Pers. 44), who in 424 B.C. became king of Persia under the name of Darius II. (q.v.). She had great influence over her husband, whom she helped by perfidy in the suppression of his brothers Secydianus, who was king before him, and Arsites, who rebelled against him (Ctes. Pers. 48–51). Her favourite son was Cyrus the Younger, whom she assisted as far as possible in his attempt to gain the throne. But when he was slain at Cunaxa (401) she nevertheless gained absolute dominion over the victorious Artaxerxes II. She was the evil genius of his reign. By a series of intrigues she was able to inflict the most atrocious punishment on all those who had taken part in the death of Cyrus.
PASADENA, a city in the San Gabriel valley of Los Angeles county, in southern California, U.S.A., about 9 m. N.E. of Los Angeles and about 20 m. from the Pacific Ocean. Pop. (1880) 391; (1890) 4882; (1900) 9117, of whom 1278 were foreign-born; (1910 census) 30,291. Area about 11 sq. m. It is served by the Southern Pacific, the Santa Fe, and the San Pedro, Los Angeles & Salt Lake railway systems, and by interurban electric lines. The city lies at an altitude of 750–1000 ft., about 5 m. from the base of the Sierra Madre range. Some half-dozen mountain peaks in the immediate environs rise to heights of 3200 to more than 6000 ft., notably Mt Wilson (6666 ft.), whose base is about 5 m. north-east of Pasadena, Echo mountain (4016 ft.), and Mt Lowe (6100 ft). From Rubio canyon, near Pasadena, to the summit of Echo mountain, runs a steep cable railway, 1000 yds. long. On Echo mountain is the Lowe Observatory (3500 ft.), with a 16-in. equatorial telescope, and on Mt Wilson is the Solar Observatory (58S6 ft.) of the Carnegie Institution of Washington, equipped with a 60-in. reflecting telescope and other instruments for stellar photography, a horizontal telescope for solar photography.
- ↑ Many naturalists have held a different opinion, some making it a woodcock, a godwit, or even the hazel-hen or grouse; see the discussion by Lord Lilford in Ibis (1862), pp. 352–356.
