Page:Collier's New Encyclopedia v. 07.djvu/301

PHYLLITE 235 PHYSICAL EDUCATION is deposited a parchment strip, with the fofiowing four sections written on it in four columns, each column having^ seven lines : These are the passages which are inter- preted as enjoining the use of phylac- teries. The box of which the phylactery for the head is made consists of four cells in which are deposited four sep- arate slips of parchment, on which are written the same four passages of Scrip- ture. On the outside of this phylactery to the right is impressed the regular three-pronged Hebrew letter shi7i, and on the left side is the same letter con- sisting of four prongs, which are an abbreviation for the Hebrew word Sha- dai, the Almighty. The phylacteries are generally made an inch and a half square, and have long leather straps at- tached to them, with which they are fastened to the head and arm. They are worn during prayer and sacred medita- tion. Also a case in which the early Christians inclosed the relics of their dead. PHYLLITE, in mineralogy, a mineral found in small shining scales or plates in a clay-slate. Essentially a hydrated silicate of alumina, sesquioxide and pro- toxide of iron, protoxide of manganese, and potash. Found in Massachusetts and Rhode Island. Also a name given to some slaty rocks of cryptocrystalline to microcrystalline texture, apparently intermediate between mica-schist and or- dinary clay slate. PHYLLOCABIDA, in zoology and palaeontology; an order of Crustacea, represented by Nebalia and a number of fossil forms. The group is intermediate between the Phyllopoda and shrimps (Decapoda). The body is compressed, with usually a large shield, a pair of stalked eyes; the hind body ending in two or three spines. There are eight pairs of broad, short, leaf-like feet. The fossil forms flourished from the Silu- rian to the Carboniferous period. The living type is Nebalia bipes; it ranges from Maine to Greenland and Norway, and it is only about half an inch long. PHYLLOPODA, in zoology, an order of Crustacea, division Branchiopoda. The feet are never less than eight pairs, and are leafy in appearance. The first pair oar-like, the other branchial, and adapted for swimming. Carapace not always present. They undergo a meta- morphosis when young, being called Nauplii. They are of small size, some- what akin to the ancient Trilobites. PHYLLOSTOMID^, in zoology, the vampires, a family of insectivorous bats. See Vampire Bat. PHYLLOXERA, in entomology, a genus of insects of the order Hemiptera, sub-order Homoptera, the type of a fam- ily Phylloxendis, allied to the Aphis and Coccus families. The Phylloxeridae attach themselves to various plants, on the juice of which they feed, and which they often injure or destroy. P. vasta- trix is the name given to an insect of this family, which, since 1865, has com- mitted great devastation in the vine- yards of France. They produce galls on the roots of the vines which, robbed of nutriment, soon die. PHYSALIA, in zoology, a genus of marine animals of the class Hydrozoa, of the sub-class Siphonophora. The P. atlantica is known as Portuguese man of war. They possess one or more large air sacs, by which they float on the sur- face of the ocean. Numerous tentacles depend from the under side, one class short and the other long. The shorter are the nutritive individuals of the col- ony, the longer, which in a Physalia five or six inches long are capable of being extended to 12 or 18 feet, possess a re- markable stinging power, and are prob- ably used to stun their prey. PHYSALIS, in botany, a genus of herbs belonging to the Solanacese or nightshade family. The species most commonly cultivated in the United States is known as strawberry tomato, ground cherry or winter cherry. The berries have a sweetish subacid taste. PHYSICAL EDUCATION, by physical education or physical training is meant that part of education which deals with the physical activities of mankind. It includes in its scope gymnastics, drill, athletic games and outdoor sports as these are used to develop the sound body. Nowadays we are returning to the Greek conception of physical train- ing; in Greece education in music and in gymnastics was compulsory as the best knoviTi training for the body and the will. Among the Romans military training and life in the camp supplied whatever physical education was neces- sarj'^, for the Romans were essentially a practical people. In the Middle Ages emphasis on the ascetic life prevented any great interest in the perfecting of the body, always excepting the impetus given by chivalry to the need of train- ing for the knight at arms. The Ren- aissance renewed interest in the body: