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•Period: But they are fometimes anticipated 1 Day 8 Hours, Of which Sentiment is Cicero, who in his Orator, fays, Ccti-
23'io"io' 1 '. fiat ilk Ambitus Si? /few comprehenfio e quatuor 'fere partiblis
Victorian Period, an Interval ot 5 32 Julian Tears, which ? »,e membra diamtur, at s£ aures unpleat Si? »e irai/er /?;
elaps'J, the new and full Moons, return on the fame Day of quam fatis Jit, neque loitgior : An Inftance of a periodical
the Julian Year; according to the Sentiment of pi&onms Oration he gives us in the Opening of his Oration for Archi-
t/stiStrm, who lived in the Time of Pope Hitmy. ftwthePoet. Si quid in me fit lr.genii fudices quod tenth
Sorneafcribe this Period to Dionyfius exiguus; and hence quam fit exiguum ; am fi qua exercitatio dicendi' in qua me
call it the Ttionyfian 'Period: others call it the great Pafchal noil Inficicr mediocriter ejfe verfatum ; am fi huj'ufie rei ratio
Cycle ; becaufe invented for computing the Time of Eafier. aliqua ab optimarum artium fiudiis Si? diftiplind profeBa a
The ViBvrian Period, is produced by multiplying the qua ego cenfiteor nullum JEtatis meg tempus abborruite-
Lunar Cycle 19, by the folar Cycle 18 ; the ProduS of which earum rerum omnium velin primis hie A. Licinius fruBum a
is 532. But neither does this rettore the new and full Moons merepetere prope filo jure debet.
to the fame Day ^throughout its whole Duration ; by 1 Day, periods are faid to be either rotundi, round, or quadrati,
1 6 Hours, 58' 5 9" 40'". Square, according to their different Oeconomy and Cadences ;
Dioxyfim Period. See Victorian Period. Afquare Period is that confiding of 3 or a equal Members,
Julian Period, a Series of 7980 Julian Years; arifing by formally diftinguiih'd from each other; as that of ' Cicero on
the Multiplication of the Cycles or the Moon, the Sun, and the Punifhment of Parricides. Around Period is that whofe
Indiftions into one another ; commencing from the firft Day Members or Parts are fo connefted, and fitted into each other,
of January, in the Jultan Year. See Julian. as that the Junflures or Commiffures are fcarce feen ; but the
The Julian Period is alfo produced by multiplying the w hole Aides equally round ; without any notable Stops or Ine-
iBorian Period by 1 5 . Since every Year in the Julian Pe- qualities. Such are the Dicolos and Tricolos of Cicero above-
mention'd.
Period is alfo ufed for the Character (.) wherewith the Periods of Difcourfe are terminated and exprefs'd ; popularly , call'd a Fllll-fiop or Point. See Pointing.
Father Suffer obferves two Difficulties in the Ufe of the Period or Point, i. e. in the diftinguifhing it from the Colon, or double Point ; and in determining jullly the End of a Pe- riod, or perfecf Sentence.
'Tis obferv'd that the Supernumerary Members of a Pe- riod, feparated from the reft by Colons and Semicolons, ufually
VL—
riod has its particular Cycles of the Moon, Sun, and Indie tions- E. gr. only the firft has the Moon's Cycle I, the Sun's Cycle 1, and the Cycle of Indictions 1 ; all the Years of this ^Period are accurately diftinguiih'd from each other.
This Period was invented by Scaligcr, as a common receptacle of Epocha's, to facilitate the reduction of Years of a eiven Epocha, to thofe of another Epocha likewife given. It agrees with the Confiantinopolitan Epocha, or Period, ufed by the Greeks, except in this that the Cycles of the Sun, Moon, and Indictions, are reckon'd differently ; and in that the
firft Year of the Confiantinopolitan Period differs from that commence with a Conjun&ion. (See Colon.) Yet 'tis' certain
of the Julian Period. thelc fame Conjunct ions fometimes rather begin new Periods,
Ccnfiantinopolitan Period. See Julian Period. than fupemumerary Members of old ones. 'Tis the Senfe of
Period, in Grammar, a little Compafs of Difcourfe, con- Things, and the Authors own Difcretion that muft make the
taining a perfeft Senfe ; diftinguiih'd at the End by a Point proper Dittinclion which of the two in effect it is. No
or fulfttop (.) and its Members or Divifions mark'd by Com- Rules will here be of any Service, unlets this be admitted as
ma's, Colons, S$C. See Sentence, Point, igc. one ; that when what follows the Conjunction is of as much
Tie Cologne defines Period a fhort, but perfect Sentence, extent as what precedes it, 'tis ufually a new Period ; other-
confifting of certain Parts or Members, depending one on ano- w ;f e not.
ther, andconnefled togetherby fome common Vinculum. _ The fecondDifficultyarifeshence, that the Senfe appears per-
That celebrated Difinition of Arifiotle is ; a Period is a feci in feveral fhort detached Phrafes, wherein it does not Difcourfe which has a Beginning, a Middle, and an End, f ee m there Ihou'd be periods: A ThingfrequentinfreeDif- all vifible at one View. courfe ; as, ive are all in Sufpence ; make your Propofals im-
A period of two Members, Cicero fupplies us with : Ergo mediately ; you'll be to blame for detaining us longer. Where £$ mibi me<e prifiinie vitts Confitetudinem, C. Cccfar, interclu- ' t i s evident that fimple Phrafes have perfect Senfes like Pe- fara aperuifii; Si? to omnibus ad benede republica fperan- riods; and ought to be mark'd accordingly; but that the
Shortnefs of the Difcourfe making 'em eafily comprehended, the Pointing is neglected. The Word Period in the original Greek asfi'tAs fignifies tet atem hujus AuBoritatem loci contingere non auderem ; fta- ambit, circuit, meremque nihil ImcnifiperfeBumingeuio, elaboratum Indufiria Period, in Numbers, is a Diftincfion made by a Point or afierri ofortere: Omne meum tempts amicorum temporibus Comma, after every fixth Place, or Figure; and is ufed in tranfmittendum putavi. Numeration, for the readier diftinguifhing and naming the
A Period of four Members he gives us in that admirable feveral Figures or Places : which fee under Numeration.
Period, in Medicine, the Space of Time a Diftemper con- tinues, from its Beginning to its Declenfion. See Disease. Hence, fuch as return after a certain Space, with like Symp- toms, are call'd periodical TJifiempers ; fuch are Agues, in- termitting Fevers, lf.c. See Fever. In the Phi). Tranfacf. Dr. Mufgrave gives usan Inftance of garded by Orators ; at leaft by the ancient ones; In ordinary aperiodic Palfy; Dr. Cole an Inftance of a periodic Convul- Difcourfe, and in the modern Tongues, Authors are much f 10ri . See Convulsion, Palsy, ($c. lefs fevere. PERIODIC, fomething that terminates and comprehends
In Oratory, the Members of Periods are to be equal or a Period. See Period. nearly equal ; that the Paufes or Refts of the Voice at the jf periodic Month, is the Space of Time wherein the clofe of each Member may be nearly equal; but in Writing Moon difpatches her Period, or periodic Motion, via. 17 Days, no ways intended for rehearfal, this is difreguarded. Com- 7 Hours, 43 Minutes; in which Time (he returns to the fame mon Difcourfe allows of Periods both longer and Ihorter than Point of the Zodiac, wherein the was when Ihe left the Sun. Oratory ; which admits of none lefs than two Members, nor See Month.
greater than four. Short, mutilated Periods break the Stream, Periodic T)ifiea[es, are fuch as decline and rife again with and check the Courfe of the Sublime ; and long ones cm- fimilar Symptoms alternately.
barrafs and keep the Mind too long in Sufpenfe ; and even Periodic, in Grammar, is applied to a Stile or Difcourfe flrain the Voice which is never to ftop but at the Ends of Pe- that has Numbers ; or which confifts of juft, and artful Yiods. Periods. See Numbers.
The Periods allow'd in Oratory are three: A Period ol PERIODUS Sanguinis, the Circle of the Blood, or the two Members, call'd by the Greeks, TJicclos, and the Lathis, Tour it makes round the Body, for the Support of Life. See Simembris: A Period of three Members, Tricolos, trimem- Circulation.
Iris ; and a Period of Tour, guaJrimembris, Tetracolos. See PERIODEUTA, a Church Officer among the Greeks^ Member. eftablifli'd by the Council oiZaodicea, in Towns, f$c. where
A ftrici Oratorial Period does not allow of either more or fewer there were no Bilhops.
than thefe .• 'Tis poffible indeed to introduce a Period of one The Periodeutte were a Kind of rural Deans, fo call'd, ac^ Member, call'd by Arifiotle Momcclos, or fimple Period ; but cording to Zonaras, becaufe always on the Road, going from 'twill be reputed a Flaw ; and is a Thing never to be praflis'd one Quarter to another to keep the People in their Duty. See by the Matters. The Period may bG likewife prolonged to five Rural.
or fix Members, but then it changes its Name; and inftead of Hence, Gregory of Theffalonica calls 'em Ambulantes, Period commences what they call a periodical Speech. Walkers. "Balfamon calls 'em Exarchs, by which Name
Pbalareus, Hermogenes, Terence, &c. confine the juft they are ftill known among the Greeks at this Day. See perhi (call'd by the Latins, Ambitus and Circuitus,) to four Exarcha.
PERIOPHTHALMIUM, in natural Hiflory, a thin Skin, which Birds can draw over their Eyes, to defend 'em without fhutting their Eye-lids : The fame with the HiBtttatmg Mem- brane. See Nictitating Membrane. The
dum quafi lignum aliquod fufiulifii.
A Period of three Members, the fame Cicero gives us in the Exordium of his Manilian Oration : Nam cum anteaper
Defcription of the Punifhment of Parricides. Ita vivunt ut ducere animam de Cab non queant : Ita Moriuntur ut eorum off a terra non tatigat: Ita jatlamur fiuBibus utnunquam ab- luantur: Ita pofiremo ejicimmir titnead Saxa quidem mortui conquiefcant.
The Laws and Meafures of Periods are pretty ftricf ly re-
Members; agreeably to the Diftich
guatuor e membris plenum formare videbis Rhetora Circuitum, five Ambitus tile vocemr.
