Page:Collier's New Encyclopedia v. 07.djvu/300

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PHRAGMITES 234 PHYLACTERY the red ray, which is the extreme visible heat calorific ray. The violet rays and ultra-violet rays are known to be bactericidal, since culture of bacteria which have been ex- posed to their action are killed. These rays produce an inflammation (sunburn) and have the power of penetrating the skin. Dr. Niles R. Fensen, of Copenhagen, Denmark, who introduced this work to the medical profession in 1892, is acknowledged to be the pioneer in the use of light rays for curative purposes. Since it is necessary to use some sort of filtering lens in order that the heat rays do not act upon the part to be treated, Dr. Fensen used an apparatus consisting of double quartz lenses, be- tween which was placed an ammoniacal solution of sulphate of copper. This solution is opaque to the ultro-red, red, orange, and yellow heat rays, but trans- parent to the blue, violet and ultra-violet light rays. White light must first be broken up into its component colors, and the heat rays removed by filtering, after which they are focused on the surface to be treated. In spite of the filter, artificial cooling of the surface undergoing treat- ment is sometimes necessary. The electric bath cabinet was invented by Kellog in 1894. In this case the patient is placed in a cabinet with his head projecting through an opening in the top, and his body subjected to a baking process, the heat being furnished by various lights inside the cabinet which are controlled by an attendant. This treatment is used for rheumatism, obesity, and for internal congestion. In responsible hands there is no doubt that much benefit is derived by the practice of these methods, and there are many reputable sanitariums and prac- titioners of phototherapy, but it has also given rise to many drugless health re- sorts and other questionable institutions whose object is to prey upon the helpless and infirm. PHRAGMITES, in botany, reed; a genus of grasses, tribe Arundineaae. Spikelets panicled, four or six flowered, those above perfect, the lower one with stamens only; all enveloped in silky hairs; palea short, two nerved. Known species five. The hard seeds of P. arun- dinacea and P. calamagrostis. In Cash- mere the first species is given to cattle, and sandals are made from its stems. In palaeontology, a form of reed occur- ring in the Miocene. PHRENOLOGY, the science or doc- trine which teaches that a relation ex- ists between the several faculties of the human mind and particular portions of the brain, the latter being the organs through which the former act. That the brain, taken as a whole, is the part of the human body through which the mind operates, had been from ancient times the general belief; but the localization of the several faculties was first at- tempted by Dr. Franz Joseph Gall, who gained, in 1804, a valuable coadjutor in Dr. Spurzheim. When Spurzheim vis- ited Edinburgh, he met Mr. George Combe, who adopted his views, and in 1819 published "Essays on Phrenology," ultimately developed into his "System of Phrenology," which became very popu- lar. Gall enumerated nearly 30, Spurz- heim 35, mental faculties which he con- sidered as primitive. These Spurzheim divides into moral, or affective, and in- tellectual. PHRYGIA, in ancient geography, an inland province of Asia Minor, bounded N. by Bithynia and Galatia, E. by Cap- padocia, S. by Lycia, Pisidia, and Isau- ria, and W. by Mysia, Lydia, and Caria. It was called Phrygia Pacatiana, and also Phrygia Major, in distinction from Phrygia Minor, which was a small dis- trict of Mysia near the Hellespont, oc- cupied by some Phrygians after the Tro- jan War. The part of Phrygia Major was also called Lycaonia. PHRYNE (fri-ne), a famous courte- san of Greece, and mistress of Praxiteles, who employed her as a model for his statues of Venus. She acquired im- mense wealth and offered to rebuild Thebes, provided this inscription should be placed on the walls: "Alexander de- stroyed this city, and the courtesan Phryne restored it"; but her offer was rejected. PHTHALIC ANHYDRIDE, CeH* (CD) a O. A white, crystalline sub- stance, specific gravity 1.527, melting point 128° C. Sublimes below boiling point. Soluble in alcohol, slightly solu- ble in ether and hot water. An impor- tant intermediate in the dye industry, be- ing used in the manufacture of eosia and other dyestuffs. PHTHISIS. See Consumption. PHYLACTERY, a charm, spell, or amulet worn as a preservative against disease or danger. In Judaism, small square boxes, made either of parchment or black calfskin, in which are inclosed slips of vellum inscribed with passages from the Pentateuch and which are worn to this day on the head and on the left arm by every orthodox Jew on week days during the daily morning prayer. The box of which the phylactery worn on the arm is made consists of one cell wherein