PASSER 135 PASSOVER ish pushed N. E. from Grafenstafel Ridge, to a point about a thousand yards S. W. of the village of Passchendaele, up to the main heights. It was a notable success on the part of the Allies, in that it gave the British command of the surrounding region and established a foothold in Belgium. In this important advance the Allied troops gained possession of most of the obser- vation points that commanded a view of the great plain of Flanders. PASSER, in ornithology, a genus of Fringillidsey which in many classifications has been allowed to lapse. According to Brisson, the generic characters are: Bill hard, strong, sub-conical, bulging above and below; nostrils basal, lateral, rounded, almost hidden by projecting and recurved frontal plumes. Gape straight. First primary small and at- tenuated, but distinctly developed; third or foui-th rather the longest. Tail mod- erate, nearly square. Tarsus stout, nearly as long as the middle toe. Claws moderately curved, rather short. Profes- sor Newton makes the house sparrow P. domesticus and the tree sparrow P. montanus. In the plural, Passeriformes, Inses- sores, an order of Aves, now generally placed first, and including the great mass of the smaller birds — crows, finches, fly- catchers, creepers, etc. PASSION FLOWER, the genus Passi- ftora. The three stigmas seemed to the devout Roman Catholics of South Amer- ica to represent nails; one transfixing each hand, and one the feet of the cruci- fied Saviour; the five anthers, His five wounds; the rays of the corona. His crown of thorns, or the halo of glory around His head; the digitate leaves, the hands of those who scourged Him; the tendrils, the scourge itself; while, finally, the 10 parts of the perianth were the 10 apostles — that is, the 12, wanting Judas who betrayed, and Peter who denied, his Lord. PASSIONISTS, a congregation of Ro- man Catholic priests founded by Paul Francis (1694-1775) surnamed Paul of the Cross, in 1737. The first convent was established on the Celian Hill at Rome. It has been revived since 1830, and new houses have been founded in England, Ireland, Belgium, and Aus- tralia. They were introduced in 1852 in the United States, where they now possess ten monasteries. The special ob- jects of the institute was to instil into men's minds by preaching, by example, a sense of the mercy and love of God as manifested in the passion of Christ. Hence the cross appears everywhere as their emblem. A large crucifix, more- over, forms part of their very striking costume. They go bare-footed, and prac- tice many other personal austerities, and their ministerial work consists chiefly in holding what are called "missions," wher- ever they are invited by the local clergy, in which sermons on the passion of Christ, on sin, and on repentance, to- gether with the hearing of confessions, hold the principal places. PASSION PLAY, a mystery or miracle play founded on the passion of our Lord; a dramatic representation of the scenes of the passion. The only Passion play of importance still main- tained is that periodically represented at Oberammergau in Bavaria. The PASSION FLOWER World War (1914-1918) was the cause for postponing the usual representation. Passion plays were introduced into America by the Spaniards, and at this day (1920) are still given in certain Mexican towns. PASSOVER, a festival instituted to commemorate Jehovah's "passing over" the Israelite houses while "passing through" those of the Egyptians, to de- stroy in the latter all the first-born (Exod. xii: 11, 12, 23, 27). The first passover (that in Egypt), those subse- quently occurring in Old Testament times, and those of the New Testament and later Judaism, were all somewhat different. In the first of these a lamb
