five in the afternoon. This last is, however, soon succeeded by another exacerbation, which increases gradually until after midnight; but about two o'clock in the morning, a remission takes place, and this becomes more apparent as the morning advances. During the exacerbations, the patient is very sensible to any coolness of the air, and often complains of a sense of cold when his skin is, at the same time, preternaturally warm. Of these exacerbations, that of the evening is by far the most considerable. From the first appearance of the hectic symptoms, the urine is high colored, and deposits a copious branny red sediment. The appetite, however, is not greatly impaired; the tongue appears clean, the mouth is usually moist, and the thirst is inconsiderable. During the exacerbations, a florid, circumscribed redness appears on each cheek; but at other times the face is pale, and the countenance somewhat dejected. At the commencement of hectic fever, the belly is usually costive; but in the more advanced stages of it, a diarrhoea often comes on; and this continues to recur frequently during the remainder of the disease; colliquative sweats likewise break out, and these alternate with each other, and induce vast debility. In the last stage of the disease, the emaciation is so great, that the patient has the appearance of a walking skeleton; his countenance is altered, his cheeks are prominent, his eyes look hollow and languid, his hair falls off, his nails are of a livid color, and much incurvated, and his feet are affected with oedematous swellings. To the end of the disease, the senses remain entire, and the mind is confident and full of hope. Those who suffer under it are seldom apprehensive or aware of any danger; and persons laboring under its most advanced stage often flatter themselves with a speedy recovery, and form distant projects under that vain hope. Some days before death the extremities become cold. In some cases a delirium precedes that event, and continues until life is extinguished. The morbid appearance most frequently to be met with on the dissection of those who die of phthisis, is the existence of tubercles in the cellular substance of the lungs. These are small tumors, which have the appearance of indurated glands, are of different sizes, and are often found in clusters. Their firmness is usually in proportion to their size, and, when laid open in this state, they are of a white color, and of a consistence nearly approaching to cartilage. Although indolent at first, they at length become inflam

ed, and, lastly, form little abscesses of vomicæ, which, breaking and pouring their contents into the bronchia, give r to a purulent expectoration, and thus by the foundation of phthisis. Such tubercles or vomicæ are most usually situate at the upper and back part of the lungs : but, in some instances, they occupy the outer part, and then adhesions to the picura are often formed. When the disease is partial, only about a fourth of the upp: and posterior part of the lungs is usually found diseased; but, in some cases, li has been protracted till not one twentie part of them appeared, on dissection, f for performing their function. A singular observation, confirmed by the morte collections of anatomists, is, that the l lobe is much oftener affected than the right. The diet, in this disorder, shoul be of a nutritious kind, but not heating, or difficult of digestion. Milk, especialy that of the ass; farinaceous vegetables acescent fruits; the different kinds o shell-fish; the lichen islandicus, boile with milk, &c., are of this description. Some mode of gestation, regularly em ployed, particularly sailing, warm clothing. removal to a warm climate or to a pure and mild air, may materially concurr arresting the progress of the diseas in its incipient stage. With regard t urgent symptoms, requiring palliation the cough may be allayed by demulcens but especially mild opiates, swallowe slowly; colliquative sweats by acids, particularly the mineral; diarrhoea by chala and other astringents, but most effectually by small doses of opium.

PULO PINANG. (See Prince of Wales's Island.)

PULQUE, OF OCTLI; a favorite drink of the Mexicans, extracted from the maguey, or agave Mexicana. At the moment of efflorescence, the flower-stalk is extirpated, and the juice destined to form t fruit flows into the cavity thus formed. and is taken out two or three times a day for four or five months. The sap in this state is called aguamiel (honey-wate and, when allowed to ferment abou twelve or fifteen days, forms madre pul or mother of pulque. This is used as leaven. A small quantity, being places. in a vessel of the aguamiel, produces 1 fermentation, and renders it pulque, in t best state for drinking, in twenty-f hours. It is a cool, refreshing drink, ar its intoxicating qualities are slight.

PULSE (from the Latin pulsus, a besting, a blow); the motion of an artery consisting of its alternate expansion an.

contraction, which, in practice, is considered as a beating. This motion is the strongest in the heart, which is the centre of the arterial system, and from it is propagated through all the minutest branches of the arteries. In those which lie immediately under the skin, it can be felt with the finger, as is the case with the radial artery, the pulsation of which is very perceptible at the wrist. (See Blood, and Heart.) The state of the pulse is, therefore, an indication of the action of the heart and the whole arterial system, and of the condition of the blood, and the physical functions in general. The circumstances to be attended to in the pulse are either the number of pulsations which take place in a given time, and the regularity or irregularity of their occurrence, or the character of each pulsation. In the former case, the pulse is said to be quick or slow, according to the number of pulsations in a given interval; regular or irregular, as they occur at equal or unequal intervals. In the latter case, it is strong or weak, hard or soft, full or small, &c. It is affected by the age, sex and temperament of the individual, and by accidental circumstances, as sleep, food, exercise, heat, &c. The pulse is most rapid in childhood, making from 100 to 110 beats in a minute, and is regular, and rather soft and small. In youth, it is much less rapid, making not far from ninety beats a minute. At this period, it is regular, strong, rather soft than hard, moderately full. In mature age, the number of beats is about seventy-five per minute, and the pulse is regular, strong, or moderate, fluctuating between hard and soft, between full and small. In old age, the number of beats sinks to sixty. The pulse is sometimes irregular, strong, but slow, hard, rather full than small. In the female sex, it is more rapid, softer and smaller than in the male. In the sanguine temperament (so called), it is quicker, fuller, softer; in the choleric, slower, harder, stronger; in the phlegmatic, slower, weaker, softer, fuller; in the melancholy, slow, hard and strong. A vegetable diet makes it slow, weak, full, soft; a meat diet, spices, spirituous liquors, make it quick and hard. In a pure, clear air, it is quick; in damp, impure air, slow and languid. Sudden agitation and violent passions make it rapid and irregular; joy makes it quick and strong; long-continued grief languid and soft. The pulse is, therefore, a highly important indication of the state of the system. A deviation from the regular pulse of an individual indicates a

disordered state. When the irritability of the system is so heightened as to produce fever or inflammation, the pulse is accelerated. If the action of the nervous system is irregular, or unduly heightened, the pulse becomes frequent and irregular, as in the case of cramps and a diseased irritation in the abdomen, from worms, &c., and in hypochondriacal and hysterical persons. In case of mechanical obstructions to the circulation, as in dropsy of the pericardium, polypus in the heart, or in the great arteries, the pulse is irregular and interrupted. It is doubtful whether Hippocrates had any knowledge of the pulse. Soon after his time, however, physicians, especially those of the Alexandrian school, were attentive to it. Aretaus of Cappadocia explained the pulsation as a motion occasioned by a natural and involuntary extension of the warmth belonging to the heart and arteries, by which their own motion is occasioned; and Athenæus of Cilicia had given the same explanation before him. He describes the various kinds of pulse connected with different disorders. Galen wrote several works on the pulse. For several centuries after, the doctrine of pulsation remained much as he had left it, as was the case, indeed, with many branches of medical science. The demonstration of the circulation of the blood by Harvey, and of the irritability of the muscular fibre by Haller, threw new light on this subject. The feeling of the pulse is the principal examination which Chinese physicians make of the state of their patients, and they discriminate its different states with a subtilty approaching absurdity.

PULTAWA, or POLTAWA; a fortified town of Russia, on the river Worskla, capital of a government of the same name; lat. 49° 30′ N.; lon. 34° 14′E.; 450 miles south-west of Moscow; population 9000. June 27, 1709, Peter the Great (see Peter I) defeated Charles XII (q. v.) before Pultawa. In commemoration of this victory, the Russians have erected a column in the city, and an obelisk on the field of battle.

PULTENEY, William, earl of Bath, an English statesman, the political antagonist of sir Robert Walpole, was descended from an ancient family, and was born in 1682. He became a student of Christ-church, Oxford, and, after having travelled abroad, returned home to devote himself to politics. Being chosen a member of the house of commons, he joined the party of the whigs, in the latter years of the reign of Anne. Under George I, he was made

secretary at war; but a dispute with sir Robert Walpole caused his removal to the ranks of the opposition, when he joined lord Bolingbroke in conducting an antiministerial journal called the Craftsman. In 1731, a duel with lord Hervey gave offence to the king, who removed Mr. Pulteney from the office of privy-counsellor, which he had hitherto held, and also from the commission of the peace. These and other marks of the displeasure of the court only served to increase the popularity of Pulteney, who, at length, succeeded in procuring the resignation of his rival, Walpole, in 1741. The party with which he had acted then came into power, and he was raised to the peerage by the title of earl of Bath. From that period, however, his popularity and influence entirely ceased. He died June 8, 1764.

PUMA (felis concolor et discolor). This animal is also known under the names of cougar, panther, &c., and is the largest animal of the cat kind found in America. The puma is of a brownish-red color, with small patches of rather a deeper tint, which are only observable in certain lights, and disappear entirely as the animal advances in age. The belly is palereddish; the breast, inside of the thighs and legs, of a reddish-white, and the lower jaw and throat entirely white. The puma was formerly found in most parts of the American continent, and is still numerous in South America; in the U. States, the advance of population has rendered it scarce. It is a savage and destructive animal, though possessing all the timidity and caution of the cat kind. It can climb trees with great facility. In the day time, it is seldom seen, the night being the time it selects for committing its depredations. Although it generally confines its attacks to the smaller quadrupeds, it will sometimes assail those of large size and strength, and even man himself. The puma is said to be readily tamed, and may even be rendered docile and obedient. When domesticated, its manners closely resemble those of the common cat, having the same fondness of being caressed, and expressing its satisfaction by the same kind of gentle purring. Mr. Kean, the tragedian, possessed an individual of this species, which was so tame as to follow him about like a dog. It should, however, be noticed that docility and submission in the cat kind are only apparent; man has never been able to subject them as he has other animals. Even down to the domestic cat, there is no one of them that can bear to be thwarted; and they also

manifest their native ferocity on the slightest opposition to their desires or caprices, and, unlike the dog, never appear to entertain a personal attachment to their master. (See Cat.)

PUMICE. (See Pitchstone.)

PUMP; a contrivance for raising fluids by atmospheric pressure. (See Hydrau lics, and Air.) The operation and construction of the air-pump are explained in a separate article. The simplest and most common pump is the ordinary lift, or sucking, or household pump. It is of great antiquity, its invention being ascribed to Ctesebes of Alexandria, about 120 B. C. It consists of a hollow tube descending to a reservoir of water, and containing an air-tight piston (box), attached by its rod to a lever (the handle or brake of the pump Another stationary box is inserted in the tube below the movable one, and both are furnished with valves, or clappers, opening upward. When the pump is full of water, every stroke of the handle raises the movable box, together with the col umn of water above it. When the handle is lifted, the box is pushed further down into the water, while its valve opens to allow the water to pass through. The valve then shuts, and the second stroke of the pump raises another column of water to the spout. As the action of this pump depends upon the pressure of the atmosphere, water cannot be raised by it from a depth of more than thirty-four feet below the upper valve; and, in prac tice, a much shorter limit is commonly as signed.-Forcing pump. The forcing pump differs from the common sucking pump just described, in having a solid pis ton, without a valve, and the spout, or dis charging orifice, placed below the piston. When the piston is raised, the lower valve of the pump rises and admits the water from below, as in the common pump; but when the piston is depressed, the water is thrown out through a spout in the side, which has a valve opening outward. In a forcing pump, the water cannot be brought from a depth of more than thirtyfour feet below the piston; but it can af terwards be sent up to any height desired in a pipe, because the pressure communi cated by the downward stroke of the pis ton is not dependent on the pressure of the atmosphere, but on the direct force applied to the piston. These two contr vances are sometimes combined in th same machine, as in Delahire's pun which is a lift and force pump, raising at equal quantity of water by its up a down stroke. The fire-engine (q. v.) co