PARSONS 130 PABTHIA aside, on religious grounds, the natural heir to the throne; and advocates prin- ciples which afterward obtained for him the title of the first English Whig. Par- liament made it treason to possess a copy of the book, which was reprinted in the interests of Cromwell in 1648. It was again reprinted in 1681, and publicly burned at Oxford in 1683. An- other curious work by Parsons, was his "Memorial for the Reformation," in which he lays down rules for the guid- ance of the government, in the expected event of England's subjection to the Pope. His "Apology" for the govern- ment of the archpriest (1601) is his- torically interesting, while his "Manifes- tation of the Great Folly and Bad Spirit of Certain in England Calling Them- selves Secular Priests," a passionate at- tack upon the conduct and morals of his clerical brethren, exhibits him on his weakest side. He died in Rome, as rec- tor of the English college, April 15, 1610. PARSONS, THEOPHILUS, an Amer- ican jurist; born in Essex eo., Mass., Feb. 24, 1750; was graduated at Har- vard College in 1769, and studied law at Falmouth (now Portland) , in Maine, where he was admitted to the bar in 1774. He was a member of the con- vention which, in 1779, framed the State constitution of Massachusetts and of the convention called to ratify the Constitu- tion of the United States in 1789. In 1800 he removed to Boston. He was appointed in 1806 chief justice of Massa- chusetts. As a lawyer, "he had," accord- ing to Justice Story, "no equal in Massa- chusetts"; and he probably had few, if any, superiors in the United States. A collection of his judicial opinions was published; "Commentaries on the Law of the United States." He died in 1813. PARSONS, THOMAS WILLIAM, a poet and translator of Dante. He was born in Boston in 1819, and from 1836 lived in Italy, where, after some years' study of the language of the country he produced his "Dante's Inferno," later adding parts of the Purgatorio and Paradiso. He afterward practiced den- tistry in Boston and London, and died in 1892. His other works include: "Ghetto di Roma"; "The Magnolia and Other Poems"; "The Old House at Sud- bury"; "The Shadow of the Obelisk, and Other Poems." ^ PARSONS, WILLIAM BARCLAY, civil engineer, of New York City; born in 1859, and educated at Columbia Uni- versity, New York. In 1885 he became consulting engineer of New York City, a position he has held to the present time. From 1894 to 1905 he was the chief en- gineer for the Rapid Transit Co. of New York and constructed their great subway system. In 1898 he conducted explora- tion and drew up plans for a proposed railway from Hankow to Canton, China. During the war with Germany Colonel Parsons largely directed the engineering work of the New York regiments who were with the American Expeditionary Forces in France. PARTHENOGENESIS, in biology, a term introduced by Professor Owen, who calls it also metagenesis. It signifies generation by means of an unimpreg- nated insect, which, moreover, is imma- ture, not having yet passed beyond the larval state. Example, the genus Aphis. The winged aphides deposit eggs which produce imperfect wingless offspring, apparently mere larvae. These larvse, however, in some abnormal way, repro- duce their species. By the time the pi'ocess has gone on for 9 or 10 genera- tions, the season is about closing, and the last brood of the larval aphides pro- duce fully formed and winged specimens of the species, depositing eggs which are hatched in the following spring. PARTHENON, a celebrated temple at Athens, consecrated to Athena or Min- erva, the protectress of the city. The Parthenon was built on an elevated rock near the Acropolis, and has always been regarded as the most perfect example of Grecian architecture; it was built in the Doric style. The Parthenon was erected about 448 B. c, in the time of Pericles, Phidias being the chief sculptor. It had a length of 228 feet, by a breadth of 100. The principal object of art was a statue of Minerva, 26 cubits high, made of ivory and gold, in an erect position, with a lance in her hand, a shield at her feet, and Medusa's head on her chest — a work regarded as the masterpiece of Phidias. It had resisted the ravages of time down to the 17th century, till at the siege of Athens by the Venetians, in 1687, a shell fell on the roof of the Acropolis or citadel, which, firing the magazine beneath, shattered that build- ing and the Parthenon. Early in the 19th century, it was mutilated by Lord Elgin, who removed to England its noblest sculpture. PARTHIA, a celebrated country of ancient Asia, called by the ^ Greeks Parthycea and Parthyene, which was bounded N. by Hyrcania, S. by Carmania Deserta, E. by Asia, and W. by Media. Parthia was a wild and mountainous country of great extent, having 25 large cities. When Parthia became a power-
