Psaltery

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Psychiatry

them all. The titles giving the writers' name? j
are certainly ancient, but in most ca*es Con-
siderably later than the compositions to j
which they are prefixed. Another interesting •
question is whether any particular writer in '
the psalms speaks for himself or in the name ;
of the 'church-nation.' It is plain that while
the 'church-consciousness' is present in some ;
psalms, it is going too far to assert that it;
dominates in all; and while some, perhaps \
most, are transcripts from personal experi-
ence, yet the usual interpretations of the past
went to extremes of individualism. Consult j
Davison's Praises of Israel, King's Psalms in
Three Collections, Brigg's Commentary.

Psaltery, a musical instrument used by the
ancient Hebrews, with whom it was a fav-
orite. It was shaped somewhat like a harp
and was played by plucking the strings with
or without a plectrum. Later a keyboard me-
chanism was attached to it and it thus be-
came the parent of the spinet, harpsichord
and eventually the piano.

Pseudomorph, a mineral that occurs in the
form which is characteristic of another min-
eral. In the clayey sandstones accompanying
the salt measures of Cheshire the surfaces of
the beds are often covered with small per-
fect cubes of sand. These are pseudomorphs
after crystals of salt, and show that the bed
of sediment was laid down in saline lakes
which were subject to desiccation.

Pseudonyms, fictitious names adopted by
writers to conceal their identity. They take
the form either of a signature wholly differ-
ent (pseudonym), transposing the letters} or
portions of their real name (anagram), a
special phrase having direct reference to the
subject-matter treated (phraseonym), aspir-
ing to a title or a supposed aristocratic name
(titlenym or aristonym), or simply employing
one or more initials of the author (initial-
ism).

Psidium, a genus of tropical shrubs and
trees belonging to the order Myrtacese. The
fruit, a globose or ovoid berry, known as
'guava,' is a favorite for preserves, jellies, and
the like. That of P. Quo-Java and pyriferum
is yellow and aromatic, is pleasantly acid,
and is made into the exported 'guava-jefly.'
The *strawberry-guavaj has a small spherical
fruit; acidulous, strawberry-like in taste and
fragrance. It is deep red in color, fading to
white in the center of the pulp. Both species
are cultivated in Southern California, and
are common in the West Indies and tropical
America.

Pskov, government. Northwest Russia; ly-
ins s. of the government of Leningrad. The
northern part is a low-lying plain; the south-
ern pan rolling plateau country, often rising
into hills. The climate is severe but variable.
Purest? cover a third of the area, and yield
pitch and tar. Cereals and flax are raised for
export, and hunting and fishing are import-
ant. Manufacturing industries consist chiefly
of distilleries, tanneries, brick works, flour
mills, and flax works.

Pskov, Pleskov, or Pleskau, tn., North-
west Russia, capital of the government of the
same name; 171 m. by rail s.w. of Leningrad.
The city is the seat of an archbishop and has
a cathedral of Russo-Byzantine style (1689-
98), and other interesting old churches. Tan-
neries, distilleries, sawmills, flour mills, man-
ufactories of tobacco, cordage, flax materials,
and sailcloth represent the chief industries;
p. about 44,000.

Psoralea, a genus of shrubby and herbace-
ous plants belonging to the order Legumi-
nosae. P. csculenta, a native of the Western
States, yields an edible tuberous root, known
as pom me de prairie, the introduction of
which into Europe was unsuccessfully at-
tempted at the time of the potato rot. It was
an important foodplant of the Indians and
early settlers, who boiled it and found it
palatable.

Psoriasis, a cutaneous disease character-
ized by slight elevations of the surface of the
skin, covered with whitish scales. The erup-
tion begins in small rounded spots, which
may remain small, or may enlarge indefinite-
ly, the center becoming more normal, while
the inflamed margin continues to extend.
Itching is often absent altogether, and very
seldom severe. If left to itself, the disease gen-
erally tends to persist indefinitely. But in the
great majority of cases it is very amenable
to treatment, both local and constitutional.

Psyche, in Greek mythology, a maiden so
beautiful that Venus herself was jealous of
her and ordered Cupid to go and inspire her
with love for the meanest of men; but in-
stead he fell in love with her himself. He
charged her never to inquire who he was;
but she disregarded the injunction, and the
god left her. In her abandonment Psyche
wandered from place to place to seek him;
until at least she was made immortal, and
was united to Cupid for all eternity.

Psychiatry, that branch of medicine which
relates to mental diseases, and studies their
pathology, clinical conditions, cause, and
treatment. Physicians who specialize in this