and infallible guide; though in persons well educated, they are decidedly favourable to virtue. Hence to cultivate and enlighten the moral sense in ourselves and in others, is a duty of the highest obligation; the most disastrous consequences have ensued, both to individuals and to society, from obedience to the dictates of misguided con science.

107. Character, to use (with some variations) the words of Mr. Belsham, from whose Elements we have taken the last paragraph, is the sum total of moral habits and affections. That character is perfectly virtuous, all whose affections and habits tend to produce the greatest ultimate hap. piness of the agent, that is, in which all are perfectly consistent with pious benevolence, and in which every moral habit and affection is advanced to its most disin terested state. That character is perfectly vicious, all whose affections and habits tend to produce the greatest ultimate misery of the agent, and in which every vicious affection and habit exists in its ultimate state. The former character, though possible, is rarely to be found; but the tendency of moral discipline is to produce a continual approximation towards it; and it will probably be the ultimate state of all the rational creatures of God. The character of perfect vice is impossible; it never can actually exist; for no being can pursue misery for its own sake. That agent is said to be virtuous, though imperfectly so, all whose affections and habits tend to his own ultimate felicity, but not having attained their most perfect state, are subject to occasional deviations from the rules of piety and benevolence. That agent is denominated vicious, but imperfectly so, in whom there is one moral habit which tends to produce misery, or to diminish happiness: for example; intemperance, avarice, dishonesty, impiety. The reason is obvious. The existence of a single habit of this description is inconsistent with the perfect happiness of the agent, and necessarily involves him in proportional misery. So the prevalence of a single disorder is inconsistent with perfect health; and if a remedy be not applied in time, may be productive of the most fatal consequences.

PHILYDRUM, in botany, a genus of the Monandria Monogynia class and order. Essential character: spathe one-flowered; perianthium none; corolla four-petalled, ir regular; capsule three-celled, many-seeded. There is but one species, viz. P. lanugino

sum, a native of China and Cochin-China, in moist places.

PHLEBOTOMY, in surgery, the opening a vein with a proper sharp-edged and pointed instrument of steel, in order to let out a proper quantity of blood, either for the preservation, or recovery, of a person's health.

PHLEUM, in botany, cat's tail grass, a genus of the Triandria Digynia class and order. Natural order of Gramina, Gramineæ, or Grasses. Essential character: calyx two valved, sessile, linear, truncated, with a two-cusped tip; corolla inclosed. There are four species.

PHLOAS, in natural history, a genus of the Vermes Testacea class and order. Generic character: animal an ascidia; shell bivalve, divaricate, with several lesser differently shaped accessory ones at the hinge; hinges recurved, united by a cartilage; in the inside beneath the hinge is an incurved tooth. There are twelve species; they all perforate clay, spongy stones, and wood, while in the younger state, and as they in crease in size, enlarge their habitation within, and thus become imprisoned. They contain a phosphoreous liquor, which illu minates whatever it touches.

PHLOGISTON, in chemistry, a term that seems to be almost wholly banished from our language. It was invented by Stahl, according to whom there is only one substance in nature capable of combustion, this he called phlogiston, and all those bodies which can be inflamed, contain more or less of it. Combustion, by his theory, is merely the separation of this substance. Those bodies which contain none of it are incombustibles. All combustibles are com. posed of an incombustible body and phlogiston united; and during the combustion the phlogiston flies off, and the incombus tible body is left behind. Thus when sul-' phur is burnt, the substance that remains is sulphuric acid, an incombustible body. Sulphur therefore is said to be composed of sulphuric acid and phlogiston. This theory has long since given place to that esta blished by Lavoisier. See COMBUSTION, It must, however, be observed that Professor Davy, in his late discoveries, seems inclined to admit of an inflammable princi ple, which pervades the whole of nature. How far his future experiments may lead to the establishment of the Lavoisierian theory, or that of Stall, time only can show. See POTASSIUM, &C.

PHLOMIS, in botany, a genus of the

Didynamia Gymnospermia class and order. Natural order of Verticillata or Labiatæ. Essential character: calyx angular; corolla upper lip incumbent, compressed, villose. There are twenty-two species.

PHLOX, in botany, a genus of the Pentandria Monogynia class and order. Natural order of Rotaceæ. Polemonia, Jussieu. Essential character: corolla salver-shaped; filaments unequal; stigma trifid; calyx prismatical; capsule three-celled, one-seeded. There are twelve species, natives of North America.

PHOCA, the seal, in natural history, a genus of Mammalia of the order Feræ. Generic character: fore teeth, in the upper jaw, six, sharp, parallel, and the exterior ones larger; in the lower jaw four, distinct, parallel, equal, and rather blunt; tusks one on each side in both jaws, large and pointed, the upper remote from the fore teeth, the lower from the grinders; grinders five on each side above, and six below, tricuspidated. There are nineteen species, of which we shall notice the following:

P. vitulina, or the common seal, or seacalf. These animals are found on the coasts of the polar regions, both to the north and south, often in extreme abundance, and are generally about five feet in length, closely covered with short hair. They swim with great vigour and rapidity, and subsist on various kinds of fish, which they are often observed to pursue within a short distance from the shore. They possess no inconsiderable sagacity, and may, without much difficulty, if taken young, be familiarized to their keepers, and instructed in various gesticulations. They are supposed to attain great longevity. The female is particularly attentive to her young, and scarcely ever produces more than two at a birth, which, after being suckled a fortnight on the shore, where they are always born, are conducted to the water, and taught by their dam the means of defence and subsistence; and when they are fatigned by their excursions, are relieved by being taken on her back. They distinguish her voice, and attend at her call. The flesh of seals is sometimes eaten, but they are almost always destroyed for their oil and skins. The latter are manufactured into very valuable leather, and the former is serviceable in a vast variety of manufac. tures. A young seal will supply about eight gallons of oil. The smell of these animals, in any great number upon the

shore, is highly disagreeable. In the month, of October they are generally considered as most valuable, and as they abound in extended caverns on the coast, which are washed by the tide, the hunters proceed to these retreats about midnight, advancing with their boat as far into the recess as they are able, armed with spears and bludgeons, and furnished with torches, to enable them to explore the cavern. They begin their operations by making the most violent noises, which soon rouse the seals from their slumbers, and awaken them to a sense of extreme danger, which they express by the most hideous yellings of terror. In their eagerness to escape they come down from all parts of the cavern, rushing in a promiscuous and turbulent mass along the avenue to the water. The men engaged in this perilous adventure oppose no impediment to this rushing crowd, but as this begins to diminish, apply their weapons with great activity and success, destroying vast numbers, and principally the young ones. The blow of the hunter is always levelled at the nose of the seal, where a slight stroke is almost instantly fatal.

P. ursina, or the ursine seal, grows to the length of eight feet, and to the weight of a hundred pounds. These are found in vast abundance in the islands between America and Kamtschatka, from June till September, when they return to the Asiatic or American shores. They are extremely strong, surviving wounds and lacerations which almost instantly destroy life in other animals, for days, and even weeks. They may be observed, not merely by hundreds, but by thousands on the shore, each male surrounded by his females, from eight to fifty, and his offspring, amounting frequently to more than that number. Each family is preserved separate from every other. The ursine seals are extremely fat and indolent, and remain with little exercise, or even motion, for months together upon the shore. But if jealousy, to which they are ever alive, once strongly operate, they are roused to animation by all the fierceness of resentment and vengeance, and conflicts arising from this cause between individuals, soon spread through families, till at length the whole shore becomes a scene of the most horrid hostility and havoc. When the conflict is finished, the survivors plunge into the water to wash off the blood, and recover from their exhaustion. Those which are old, and have lost the solace of connu

bial life, are reported to be extremely cap. tious, fierce, and malignant, and to live apart from all others, and so tenaciously to be attached to the station, which pre-occupancy may be supposed to give each a right to call his own, that any attempt at usurpation is resented as the foulest indignity, and the most furious contests frequently occur in consequence of the several claims for a favourite position. It is stated, that in these combats two never fall upon one. These seals are said, in grief, to shed tears very copiously. The male defends his young with the most intrepid courage and fondness, and will often beat the dam, notwithstanding her most supplicating tones and gestures, under the idea that she has been the cause of the destruction or injury which may have occurred to any of them. The flesh of the old male seal is intolerably strong; that of the female and the young is considered as delicate and nourishing, and compared in tenderness and flavour to the flesh of young pigs.

The bottle-nosed seal is found on the Falkland Islands, is twenty feet long, and will produce a butt of oil, and discharge, when struck to the heart, two hogsheads of blood.

PHONICOPTEROS, the flamingo, in natural history, a genus of birds of the order Grallæ. Generic character : bill naked, toothed, bending in the middle, as if broken; nostrils covered above with a thin plate, and linear; tongue cartilaginous and pointed; neck, legs, and thighs exceed ingly long; feet webbed, back toe very small. The P. rubra, or common flamingo, the only species noticed by Latham, is nearly of the size of a goose, and upwards of four feet long. When mature in plumage, these birds are all over of the most deep and beautiful scarlet; but this maturity they never acquire till their third year. They are found in France, Spain, and Italy, in Syria and in Persia, but more frequently than any where else, on the coast of Africa downwards to the Cape. They build their nest of mud, in the shape of a hillock, and in a cavity on the top of it the female deposits two white eggs, on which she sits, having her legs stretched out one on each side of the hillock. The young ones run with great swiftness, but are unable to fly till they have attained nearly their complete growth. They subsist chiefly on small fishes, ova, and water insects, and frequent, during the day, the borders of rivers and lakes, withdrawing at night to the

high grounds, and lodging amidst the long grass. They are extremely shy, and are stated, almost always, unless in the breeding season, to keep together in flocks, having a centinel ever vigilant at his post, by whom the slightest approaching danger is announced, by intimations which produce immediate flight. Their flesh is thought by some not inferior to that of the partridge, but their tongue was one of the most valued dainties of Roman epicurism. They have been sometimes reared tame, but are with difficulty preserved, and their susceptibility of cold is exquisite.

PHOENIX, in astronomy, one of the constellations of the southern hemisphere, unknown to the ancients, and invisible in our northern parts. This constellation is said to consist of thirteen stars.

PHOENIX, in botany, a genus of the Appendix Palma. Natural order of Palms. Essential character: calyx three-parted; corolla three-petalled: male, stamina three: female, pistil one; drupe ovate. There are two species, viz. P. dactylifera, date palm-tree, and P. farinifera, natives of the Levant and Coromandel.

PHONICS, the doctrine or science of sounds. See ACOUSTICS. This science has been considered as analogous to that of optics, and is divided into direct, refracted, and reflected; these have been called phonics, diaphonics, and cataphonics; but the terms are now well nigh obsolete. Phonics is a science that may be improved with regard to the object, the medium, and the organ. The object may be improved with respect to the production and propagation of sounds. With regard to the medium, phonics may be improved by its thinness and quiescency, and by the sonorous body being placed near a smooth wall, either plain or arched, more especially if it be formed after some peculiar curve, as from this arises the theory and practice of whispering places. Sound is much sweetened if it is propagated in the vicinity of water, and on a plain, it will be conveyed much further than on uneven ground.

PHORMIUM, in botany, a genus of the Hexandria Monogynia class and order. Natural order of Coronariæ. Asphodeli, Jussieu. Essential character: calyx none; corolla six-petalled, the three inner petals longer; capsule oblong, three-sided; seeds oblong, compressed. There is but one species, viz. P. tenax, New Zealand flaxplant. The inhabitants of New Zealand make a thread of the leaves, with which the

women weave a variety of fine matting for clothing, and several other purposes. It is also manufactured in Norfolk Island for canvass and coarse linen cloths.

PHOSPHATES, in chemistry, salts formed of the phosphoric acid, with earths, alkalies, &c. The alkaline phosphates are soluble and crystallizable; they are also fusible, forming a kind of glass, and facilitate the fusion of a number of other substances. They may be decomposed in the humid way, by sulphuric and some other acids; but in the dry way these decompositions do not often happen. The phosphate of soda is much used in medicine; it is purely saline, without any bitterness, which renders it a good substitute for Epsom and Glanber's salts. As it melts easily, and promotes the fusion of the earths and metallic oxides, it is used in chemical operations as a flux. Phosphate of ammonia exists in the urine of carnivorous animals, in considerable quantity, united with phosphate of soda, forming a triple salt, formerly denominated microcosmic, or fusible salt, in urine.

PHOSPHITES, are salts formed of the phosphorous acid, with alkalies, earths, &c. In several of their properties they resemble the phosphates; but may be distinguished from them, by appearing luminous when heated with the blow-pipe, and by affording, by distillation, a small quantity of phosphorus. They detonate, too, with oxymuriate of potash, and precipitate gold from its solution in a metallic state. By exposure to the air, they pass into phosphates.

PHOSPHORESCENCE, See LIGHT.
PHOSPHORI,

PHOSPHORIC acid. When phosphorus undergoes combustion in oxygen gas, a great quantity of white fumes are produced, which are deposited in white flakes. These are phosphoric acid; so that it is a compound of phosphorus and oxygen. The phosphoric acid was first shewn to be distinct from all other acids, in the year 1743, by Margraaff. He found that it existed in the salts which were taken from human urine, and that phosphorus could only be obtained from this acid; as well as that it could be converted into phosphoric acid. This acid was found to exist in some vegetable substances, although it was formerly supposed to be peculiar to animal matters. Phosphoric acid may be obtained not only by the method just mentioned, but also by transmitting a current of oxygen gas through phosphorus melted under water. The acid,

as it is formed, combines with the water, from which it may be obtained in a state of purity by evaporation. The specific gravity of this acid varies according to the different states in which it exists. In the liquid state it is 1.4; in the dry state it is 2.7; in the state of glass 2.85. It changes the colour of vegetable blues to red; has no smell, but a very acid taste. When it is exposed to the air it attracts moisture, and is converted into a thick viscid fluid like oil. It is very soluble in water. When in the form of dry flakes, it dissolves in a small quantity of this liquid, producing a hissing noise like that of a red-hot iron plunged into water, with the extrication of a great quantity of heat. The component parts of this acid have been accurately ascertained by Lavoisier, and it consists of,

It combines with the alkalies, earths, and metallic oxides, and forms salts which are denominated phosphates.

PHOSPHORITE, in mineralogy, is of a yellowish white, frequently spotted with grey: it occurs massive; internally it is glistening, sometimes dull; it is translucent on the edges, soft, brittle, and not very heavy. It forms a great bed in the province of Estremadura in Spain. In appearance it resembles curved, lamellar, heavy-spar; but it is harder and lighter than this kind of heavy-spar.

PHOSPHOROUS acid, is obtained by the slow combustion of phosphorus at the common temperature of the air. If phosphorus, in small pieces, be exposed to the air in a glass funnel placed in a bottle, it attracts the oxygen and moisture from the atmosphere, and runs down into the bottle. This is the phosphorous acid. By this process, about three times the weight of the phos phorus is obtained. It is then in the form of a white thick liquid, adhering to the sides of the vessel. It varies in consistence according to the state of the air. Its specific gravity is not known. It has an acid puugent taste, not different from phosphoric acid. It also reddens vegetable blue colours. The phosphorous acid is not altered by light. When exposed to heat in a retort, part of the water combined with it is first driven off, and when it is concentrated, bubbles of air suddenly rise to the surface, and collect in the form of white smoke, and