convey some spiritual instruction.

PARABOLA, a conic section formed by the intersection of a cone by a
plane parallel to one of its sides.

PARACELSUS, a Swiss physician, alchemist, and mystic, whose real
name was Theophrastus Bombastus, born at Einsiedeln, in Schwyz; was a
violent revolutionary in the medical art, and provoked much hostility, so
that he was driven to lead a wandering and unsettled life;
notwithstanding, he contributed not a little, by his knowledge and
practice, to inaugurate a more scientific study of nature than till his
time prevailed (1493-1541).

PARAFFIN, name given by Baron Reichenbach to a transparent
crystalline substance obtained by distillation from wood, bituminous
coal, shale, &c., and so called because it resists the action of the
strongest acids and alkalies.

PARAGUAY (400), except Uruguay the smallest State in South America,
is an inland Republic whose territories lie in the fork between the
Pilcomayo and Paraguay and the Parana Rivers, with Argentina on the W.
and S., Bolivia on the N., and Brazil on the N. and E.; it is less than
half the size of Spain, consists of rich undulating plains, and, in the
S., of some of the most fertile land on the continent; the climate is
temperate for the latitude; the population, Spanish, Indian, and
half-caste, is Roman Catholic; education is free and compulsory; the
country is rich in natural products, but without minerals; timber,
dye-woods, rubber, Paraguay tea (a kind of holly), gums, fruits, wax,
honey, cochineal, and many medicinal herbs are gathered for export;
maize, rice, cotton, and tobacco are cultivated; the industries include
some tanning, brick-works, and lace-making; founded by Spain in 1535,
Paraguay was the scene of an interesting experiment in the 17th century,
when the country was governed wholly by the Jesuits, who, excluding all
European settlers, built up a fabric of Christian civilisation; they were
expelled in 1768; in 1810 the country joined the revolt against Spain,
and was the first to establish its independence; for 26 years it was
under the government of Dr. Francia; from 1865 to 1870 it maintained a
heroic but disastrous war against the Argentine, Brazil, and Uruguay, as
a consequence of which the population fell from a million and a half to a
quarter of a million; it is again prosperous and progressing. The capital
is Asuncion (18), at the confluence of the Pilcomayo and Paraguay.

PARAGUAY RIVER, a Sou