Pharaoh

3698

Pheasant

ly in the rites and ceremonies. Phallic wor-
ship is not yet extinct in Japan, and in India,
under the name of Linga Puja, this worship
is still practised by the followers of Siva and
Vishnu.

Pharaoh, title of the kings of Egypt, first
used under the fourth dynasty, and common
at a considerably later time. Its actual mean-
ing is 'great house.' See EGYPT.

Pharisees, a religious party in Judaism,
whose general aim was to separate the Jews
from all neighboring nations. ^Historically
they represent the reaction againsf the world-
ly aspirations of the Hasmonaean dynasty,
and first became prominent under John Hyr-
canus (135-105 B.C.). The special means by
which they strove to effect their object was
insistence on the eternal validity of the law
and of its traditional interpretation. They
became a separate party within the nation,
insolent with the sense of superior piety as be-
ing the only men who kept the law. Yet they
preserved the Jewish religion at a critical
time.

Pharmacopoeia, an official catalogue of
drugs and medical remedies, giving their
doses, their characteristics, and the tests for
determining their purity. The first pharma-
copoeia was probably that of Nuremberg,
published by Valerius Cordus in 1542. The
first volume of this sort published in the U.
S. appeared in Philadelphia in 1778, and was
compiled for the army. The New York Coun-
ty and the New York Medical Societies in-
itiated the method of holding a convention of
delegates from medical societies and colleges,
the first being convened at Washington, in
1820. A similar convention is held once in ten
years.

Pharmacy, the art of preparing drugs for
use. The pharmaceutical chemist must study
the preparation and compounding of drugs.
Within his province also comes the dispensing
of medicines according to physicians' pre-
scriptions.

Pharnaces, a son of Mithridates, king of
Pontus. In 47 he attempted to regain his
father's kingdom of Pontus, but in the same
year was defeated by Julius Caesar in the
battle of Zela, which occasioned the famous
dispatch, Veni, vidi, mti.

Pharos, a small island off the n. coast of
Egypt, which Alexander, when he founded
Alexandria, caused to be joined to the coast
by a mole nearly a mile long. On this island
Ptolemy n. built a lofty tower, through the
upper windows of which the light of torches
or fires was shown to guide vessels into har-

bor; this was the first lighthouse erected.

Pharsalus, tn., Thessuly, ancient Greece,
w. of riv. Enipeus. In its neighborhood Gtsar
defeated Pompey in 4# R.C., and thus became
master of the Roman empire. The battle is
commonly called the battle of Pharsalia, the
name of the territory of Pharsalus.

Pharynx, the funnel-shaped pouch lying
above the gullet or oesophagus, is of similar
anatomical structure to the gullet, but has
seven openings into it. These are the two
posterior nostrils, the two Eustachian tubes,
the large opening into the mouth, the laryn-
geal slit, and inferiorly the opening into the
oesophagus, which is continuous with it be-
low.

The Pharynx opened Posteriorly.
A, CEsophagus; u, posterior
portion of nostrils; c, Eusta-
chian tube; D, opening to mouth
(base of tongue); K, superior
opening of larynx; F, uvula; c,
tonsil; n, epiglottis; r, thyroid
cartilage; j, posterior surface of
larynx.

Phascologale, a genus of Australian and
New Guincan marsupials, whose members are
arboreal and insectivorous, and never exceed
the size of a rat.

Phases, the varying effects of illumination
shown by the moon and some of the planets
consequent upon their changes of position
relative to the sun and earth. Galileo's dis-
covery of the phases of Venus in 1610 virtu-
ally demonstrated the heliocentric theory.

Ph.D., Doctor of Philosophy,

Pheasant. The original pheasant of west-
ern Europe, familiar in accounts of shooting
on English and Irish estates, was Pha$ianu$