by the unfruitfulness of their soil, they early betook themselves to the sea as pirates, and they gradually extended their voyages to the remotest countries. They bartered the productions of one country for those of another. They discovered the manufacture of glass, wool and purple, and executed all kinds of mechanical works. Their situation would lead the Phoenicians to trade particularly in the Mediterranean. Cyprus was their nearest landing-place; thence they extended their voyages to Greece and the Grecian islands. In Rhodes and Crete they established colonies. But when the Greeks themselves became a powerful and commercial people, the Phoenicians turned to the northern coasts of Africa. Here, as in Sicily and Sardinia, they founded colonies, by means of which they traded to the interior of Africa, and with which they always continued on good terms. But their trade to Spain was the most important. Here they found gold, iron, silver, tin and lead. The preserved fruits of the south were an important article of commerce. Gades (Cadiz), the most celebrated of their colonies, was the limit of the voyages in the Mediterranean, and the beginning of the more distant voyages in the Atlantic. They sailed northerly to the Cassiterides, Tin islands (the Scilly isles and Britain), and into the North sea, as far as the mouth of the Rhine. On the western coast of Lybia they must have visited and peopled the island of Madeira and the Fortunate islands (Canaries). Their trade to Ophir, on the Arabian gulf, and on the Persian gulf, perhaps as far as Ceylon, was less important and of shorter duration. Their circumnavigation of Africa is uncertain. They traded also in goods brought to them in caravans from the interior of Asia and Africa. For a long time their trade was entirely by barter; for the Numidians, not the Phonicians, are considered to have stamped the first coins. They invented, or at least improved, ship-building. They used rudders and sails, and followed, by night, the course of the stars. The invention of letters and arithmetic has been attributed to them, and they probably had considerable astronomical and mechanical knowledge. On the other hand, poetry and the higher branches of mental cultivation were not pursued by them. Of their writings nothing is preserved to us. Their language belongs to the Canaanite branch of the Semitic family, and is little understood. Their religion was polytheism, with the worship of images, and human

sacrifices. Their chief god was called by the Greeks Cronos (Saturn), by the Hebrews Baal or Bel, also Adonis (Lord), whose worship spread into Greece and Egypt (Osiris). Their principal goddess was Baaltis (Isis), or Astarte, or Astaroth, called by the Greeks Aphrodite (Venus). In Tyre, Melcarth (Hercules) was worshipped as a local deity, and his worship extended thence to other countries. The Phoenicians likewise worshipped the Cabiri. The character of this commercial people was not very high among the ancients.-For further information respecting Phoenicia, see Heeren's works (eleventh volume, 1824).

PHENIX; a Greek coin, lately introduced, and equal to the sixth part of a dollar.

PHENIX; a wonderful Egyptian bird, about the size of an eagle, with plumage partly red, and partly golden. This bird is said to come from Arabia to Egypt, every 500 years, at the death of his parent, bringing the body with him, embalmed in myrrh, to the temple of the sun, where he buries it. According to others, when he finds himself near his end, he prepares a nest of myrrh, and precious herbs, in which he burns himself: but from his ashes he revives in the freshness of youth. From late mythological researches, it is conjectured that the phoenix is a symbol of a period of 500 years, of which the conclusion was celelated by a solemn sacrifice, in which the figure of a bird was burnt. His restoring his youth signifies that the new springs from the old. Every thing which more than sixty authors have related of this bird-Strabo, Lucian, Pliny, Plutarch, Herodotus, and others, and all the researches of the French and Italians

may be found in Ant. Métral's work Le Phénix, ou l'Oiseau du Soleil (Paris, 1824).

PHONETIC (from wrtw, I speak); a term applied to written characters which represent sounds, as a, b, in contradistinction to ideographic characters, which express ideas; e. g. the Chinese signs of a hand and a skin, to signify tanner.-(For further information on this subject, see the articles Hieroglyphics, Chinese Language, and Writing; see also Philology, and Palenque.)

PHONOLOGY. (See Philology.)

PHORCUS, OF PHORCYS; Son of Pontus and Terra, or, according to others, of Neptune and the nymph Thesea, was the father of many sea-monsters; for instance, the Gorgons, and the Hesperian dragon; according to some, also of Scylla and

Thoosa, whom his sister Ceto bore to him.

PHOSPHORESCENCE is the property which certain bodies possess of becoming luminous without undergoing combustion, as when we rub or heat them, or in consequence of the action of the living principle or of decomposition. Two pieces of quartz emit light on being rubbed together. Light is seen in breaking lumps of sugar. A variety of blende (sulphuret of zinc), on being scratched with a knife, emits a fine yellow light. In the year 1663, Mr. Boyle observed, that the diamond, when slightly heated, rubbed, or compressed, emitted a light almost equal to that of the glow-worm. The most complete account we possess of the phosphorescence of minerals is that furnished by doctor Brewster. He obtained his results by placing fragments of the bodies examined upon a thick mass of iron heated a little below redness, or introducing them into a pistol barrel similarly heated. The following table presents some of his results :

Topaz,

Rubellite,

Petalite,

dark brown,

white sparks. yellowish. yellow. reddish yellow. do.

bluish.

scarlet.

white & bluish, reddish, reddish white, bright blue. Anatase, reddish yellow. The phosphorescence of anatase is entirely different from that of the other minerals. It appears suddenly like a flame, and is soon over. Certain varieties of fluor require no more heat than that of the hand to occasion the emission of light. The phosphoric light of minerals has the same properties as the direct light of the sun. The foregoing are instances in which it was not necessary to expose the bodies to the light previous to their exhibiting phosphorescence. Certain artificial compounds emit light in consequence of the action of extraneous light. The most powerful of these is the compound called Canton's phosphorus. It is formed by mixing three parts of calcined oyster-shells in powder, with one of flowers of sulphur, and ramming the mixture into a crucible, and igniting it for half an hour. The bright parts will, on exposure to the sun-beam, or to the common day-light, or to an electrical explosion, acquire the property of shining in the dark, so as to illuminate the

dial of a watch, and make its figures legible. It will, indeed, after a while, cease to shine; but if we keep the powder in a well corked phial, a new exposure to the sun's light will restore the phosphorescent quality. When the electric discharge is transmitted along the surfaces of certain bodies, or a little above them, a somewhat durable phosphorescence is produced. Sulphate of barytes gives a bright green light, acetate of potash a brilliant green light, and rock crystal, a red and then white light. Temperature has a marked effect on the emission of light by these bodies. When they are shining, the luminous appearance ceases if they are exposed to the cold of a freezing mixture. It becomes more vivid by applying heat; and if it has ceased, it may be renewed by applying a stronger heat, so that a piece of any solar phosphorus, which has apparently lost its power, may by heat be again made to shine. Some of the phosphorescent bodies, just mentioned, after their luminousness is over, upon partially heated iron, yield on fusion a very vivid light. Lime is the substance possessing this property in the most remarkable degree. If a piece of calcareous spar is placed on charcoal before the compound blow-pipe, it emits a light so vivid and white that it can scarcely be looked upon. The following fluids have been found by doctor Brewster to be phosphorescent when poured into a cup of heated iron: Albumen (white of an egg) diluted in water, isinglass in solution, saliva, soap and water, solution of rhubarb, do. of common salt, do. of nitre, tallow (the phosphorescence of which may be observed when a candle is extinguished in a dark room), alcohol, oil of dill-seeds and oil of olives. Several cryptogamous plants have been observed to be luminous in the dark. The Rhizomorpha phosphoreus found in the mines of Hesse exhibits light when the extremities of the plant are broken. Other species of Rhizomorpha have also appeared phosphorescent to the miners. But marine animals are the most remarkable for this property; and to them is now fairly attributed the once mysterious phosphorescence of the ocean. This phenomenon is occasionally observable every where at sea; but it is in warmer regions and more southern latitudes, that it attains its greatest degree of brilliancy and beauty. In these parts it has been thus described by a scientific observer:-"At one time, the evening serene and delightful, a pleasant breeze just filling the sails, and the bow of the vessel throwing the water to each side, as it

gracefully parts the yielding waves, all round the ship, far as the eye can reach, may be seen innumerable bright spots of light rising to the surface, and again disappearing, like a host of small stars dancing and sparkling on the bosom of the sea. At another time, the night dark and lowering, a fresh breeze urging the ship rapidly onwards through her pathless track, upon looking over the stern, in addition to the smaller specks just now mentioned, large globes of living fire may be seen wheeling and dancing in the smooth water in the wake of the rudder; now, at a great depth shining through the water, then rising rapidly to the surface, they may be seen, as they reach the top of the wave, flashing a bright spark of light, sufficient almost to dazzle the eyes of the beholder; and now, again, they may be traced floating majestically along, till they gradually disappear in the darkness of the water in the distance. At other times, again, when light rain is falling, or perhaps previously to the rain coming on, when a light nimbose cloud is overspreading the sky, upon the water being agitated by the ship passing through it, or curled up by a rope towing overboard in a bight, a beautiful, general luminousness is diffused all around, bright enough to illuminate the whole ship's side, and the lower large sails which may be set at the time; and it is no unusual occurrence to have this appearance so bright, that a person with little difficulty, and near the surface of the water, might be enabled to read." That all this light is afforded by little animalcules there cannot be the smallest room for doubt; for they have been caught in the very act of giving out the luminous appearance, and in vast numbers; and in every instance where the water has been properly examined when luminous, they have been seen in great quantities; while, on the other hand, when the water has not been luminous, they have not been visible. They have been described and figured by naturalists, who have studied them by the aid of powerful microscopes; and they are found to belong to the mollusca, the vermes, the crustacea and the zoophytes. Light is also emitted from certain land insects, as from the lightning-bug and the glow-worm. A kind of phosphorescence, still different, is that observed in decomposing animal and vegetable matter. It appears during the putrefaction of fishes, especially, but has been observed also from the flesh of quadrupeds. Our woods during autumn frequently exhibit a high degree of luminousness in light rotten wood. 10

VOL. X.

PHOSPHORUS was discovered by Brandt in 1669, though there are some reasons for believing that the alchemists of an earlier period were also acquainted with this substance. Brandt kept his process secret for some time. Kunckel, another German chemist, knowing only that Brandt had procured it from urine, entered on the investigation, and succeeded in discovering the process. Mr. Boyle, in England, also discovered it, and Godfrey Hankwitz, a man who was taught the process by Boyle, sold it for many years, at a high price, in London. In 1769, Ghau, a pupil of Scheele of Sweden, having discovered that phosphate of lime is the basis of bones, invented the process now generally followed. It is as follows:-100 parts of burnt bones in powder are to be mixed with 40 parts of sulphuric acid, and they are to be suffered to remain in contact for two days, the mixture being frequently stirred. The whole is then to be poured upon a filtre of cloth, and the liquor that passes through is to be added to a nitrous solution of lead; a white powder will be formed; this must be mixed with about one fifth of its weight of charcoal powder, and exposed to a strong red heat in a porcelain retort, the beak of which is plunged in water; much gaseous matter will come over, some of which will inflame spontaneously, and at length a substance will drop out of the neck of the retort, and congeal under the water, which is phosphorus. It may be purified by melting it in water, and passing it under water through chamois leather. It is semitransparent, and of a white, or yellowish-white color; it is as soft as wax; insoluble in water; specific gravity, 1.77. It melts at the temperature of 90° Fahr., and boils at 550°. When phosphorus is exposed to air at common temperatures, it emits a white smoke, which appears luminous in the dark. This depends upon its combining with oxygen, and forming an acid which unites with the aqueous vapor in the atmosphere, and they fall down in the fluid form. When phosphorus is heated to about 148°, it takes fire, and burns with intense brilliancy, throwing off dense white smoke, which is a strong acid, that soon becomes liquid by taking moisture from the air. It forms three acids by combining with oxygen. When it is inflamed in oxygen gas over mercury, and the white substance produced strongly heated, the oxygen being in excess, for every grain of phosphorus burnt, four and a half cubic inches of oxygen are absorbed.

The substance so procured is phosphoric acid. It becomes fluid at a red heat, and is not volatile, even at a white heat. Its taste is intensely acid. It acts upon and corrodes glass, and unites with alkalies and oxides. When phosphorus is heated in highly rarefied air, three products result; one is phosphoric acid, another is an easily volatile substance, appearing as a white powder, and the third is a red solid, requiring a heat above that of boiling water for its fusion. The second substance is soluble in water, and the solution is possessed of acid properties. It contains less oxygen than the phosphoric acid; for it burns and becomes fixed when heated in the air. It is phosphorous acid. The third substance requires less oxygen than phosphorus to convert it into phosphoric acid, and is regarded as an oxide of phosphorus. Phosphorus burns in chlorine gas, and unites with it in two proportions, the one of which contains twice as much chlorine as the other. When these are thrown into water, the chloride is resolved into muriatic and phosphorous acids, the bi-chloride into muriatic and phosphoric acids. Iodine also acts upon phosphorus at common temperatures. It forms with sulphur compounds more inflammable than pure phosphorus. It is soluble in alcohol, ether, and the expressed or volatile oils, especially by the aid of a little heat. The solutions in oils are luminous when exposed to the air. The compounds formed by phosphoric acid with the alkalies, earths and metallic oxides, are called the phosphates. Phosphates of alkalies are partially decomposed by heating with charcoal phosphate of ammonia is decomposed by heat alone. The phosphates of the alkaline earths are not decomposed when heated with charcoal. Before the blow-pipe both alkaline and earthy phosphates melt into a vitreous, transparent globule. They are soluble in nitric acid without effervescence, and precipitate from that solution by limewater or ammonia. Sulphuric acid decomposes them, and separates the phosphoric acid. The alkaline phosphates are soluble and crystallizable; the earthy ones are insoluble. The phosphites are distinguished from the phosphates by appearing luminous when heated before the blow-pipe, and by affording, on distillation, a small quantity of phosphorus. They become phosphates on exposure to the air for a little time. Phosphureted hydrogen. This interesting compound of phosphorus and hydrogen exists in the elastic form, and is obtained

The

by combining phosphorus with any substance which, by a resulting affinity, shall enable it to decompose water. Thus, if one part of phosphorus is heated with ten or twelve of a solution of potash, the alkali exerts this operation, the water present is decomposed, its oxygen combines with one proportion of the phosphorus, forming phosphoric acid, which unites with the potash; the hydrogen of the decomposed water combines with another portion of the phosphorus, producing phosphureted hydrogen. Or lime may be substituted for potash. The distinguishing peculiarity of this gas is its high inflammability, in consequence of which it takes fire whenever it is presented to the atmosphere. It cannot with safety be mixed with air in any quantity, from the violent detonation that would ensue, and it is therefore allowed to burn as it escapes from the water, in which the beak of the retort containing the materials producing it is immersed. products of its combustion, as it escapes from the retort into the air, are phosphorous acid and watery vapor, which present at their formation a very singular appearance: the bubble of gas, as it escapes and inflames, expands into a horizontal ring of light white vapor, which enlarges in diameter as it rises until it breaks; this is phosphorous acid, wafted by the aqueous vapor, and it owes this corona form to the eccentric impulse of the explosion. It is supposed that many of those lights which are said to have been seen at night around burying-grounds, and other places, when animal and vegetable substances are undergoing decomposition, arise, in part at least, from phosphureted hydrogen. Bihydruret of phosphorus is a second compound of hydrogen with phosphorus, obtained when solid phosphorous acid is heated out of contact with the air: the oxygen of the water of crystallization present converts part of the phosphorous acid into the phosphoric, while the hydrogen, uniting with a small proportion of phosphorus, forms this gas. It is not spontaneously inflammable, but detonates when mixed with atmospheric air and heated to 212°. Phosphorus is employed in the arts for the construction of fire-matches, and for the preparation of phosphoric acid. Its use in medicine has been attempted, but its violence is too great to be employed with safety. The phosphates are employed as fluxes, and in the composition of pastes for the imitation of gems.

PHOTIUS; a patriarch of Constantinople, celebrated, about the middle of the

ninth century, for the brilliancy of his talents and the depth of his crudition. He was a native of Constantinople, and originally distinguished himself by his learning and ability as a layman; but, on the expulsion of the patriarch Ignatius, by Bardas, was consecrated to the vacant see, 858. During the succeeding ten years, a controversy was carried on with much acrimony between him and the bishop of Rome, each party excommunicating and anathematizing the other; the consequence of which was the complete separation of the eastern and western churches. Bardas, his patron, being at length taken off by his nephew and associate in the empire, Michael the Third, that prince was in his turn assassinated by Basilius, the Macedonian, who then ascended the throne in 866. But Photius, denouncing him for the murder, was in the following year removed, to make way for the restoration of his old enemy Ignatius, and was forced to retire into banishment. On the death of that patriarch in 878, Photius, by a flattering exposition of a forged document respecting the genealogy of the emperor, acquired his favor, and, being restored, maintained himself in the patriarchal chair during the remainder of that reign; but was at length accused, on insufficient grounds, of conspiring against the new sovereign, Leo the Philosopher, who sent him, in 886, into confinement in an Armenian monastery, where he died in 891. This learned and intriguing prelate was the author of a Bibliotheca, containing an examination of 280 writers; the best edition is that of Bekker, a French translation from which was announced in 1831, in six volumes, octavo; of the Nomocanon, a digest of the ecclesiastical laws, acts of councils, &c., under fourteen heads; a Lexicon of the Greek Language; and numerous epistles. Of the Bibliotheca there are two other editions, that of Vienna, 1601, and that of Rouen, folio, 1653. Of the Lexicon, printed at Leipsic in 1808 (edited by Hermann), there is a more accurate copy in manuscript at Cambridge. The Letters appeared in one folio volume, in 1651.

PHOTOMETER; an instrument intended to indicate the different quantities of light, as in a cloudy or bright day, or between bodies illuminated in different degrees. In Leslie's photometer, the essential part is a glass tube, like a reversed siphon, whose two branches should be equal in height, and terminated by balls of equal diameter: one of the balls is of black enainel, and the other of common glass,

into which is put some liquid. The motion of the liquor, which is sulphuric acid, tinged red with carmine, is measured by means of a graduation; the zero is situated towards the top of the branch that is terminated by the enamelled ball. The use of this instrument is founded upon the principle that, when the light is absorbed by a body, it produces a heat proportional to the quantity of absorption. When the instrument is exposed to the solar rays, those rays that are absorbed by the dark color heat the interior air, which causes the liquor to descend, at first with rapidity, in the corresponding branch. But, as a part of the heat which had introduced itself by means of the absorption is dissipated by the radiation, and as the difference between the quantity of heat lost and that of the heat acquired goes on diminishing, there will be a point where, these two quantities having become equal, the instrument will be stationary, and the intensity of the incident light is then estimated. by the number of degrees which the liquor has run over.

PHRAT. (See Euphrates.)

PHRENOLOGY (from ponv, mind, and oyos, science); also called craniology; the doctrine first systematically exhibited by doctor Gall, of the formation and functions of the nervous system, and particularly of that portion of it which is enclosed in the skull, and composes what is called the brain: hence the name craniology, from pavior, the skull, and Xoyos, science. To give another definition, "phrenology treats of the faculties of the human mind, and of the organs by means of which they manifest themselves; but it does not enable us to predict actions." The origin of this branch of physiology has been touched upon in the account of its author. (See Gall.) He published his observations in a work entitled Anatomie et Physiologie du Système nerveux en général et du Cerveau en particulier (Paris, 1801 et seq., 4to.), and illustrated them by numerous engravings in folio. The chief points of his doctrine are the following: The brain is that organ of the body by which the mind of man exerts its activity. It is, however, not active in all its parts in every act of thinking; but, as every sense, every organ of motion, and, in general, every function of the body, has a particular nerve, or set of nerves, as its instrument, so every operation of the mind essentially different from the others has a separate part of the brain for its organ, which is indispensable to it. The strength and size of the nerve are in proportion to the power of action