th American river 1800 m. long, the chief
tributary of the Parana, rises in some lakes near Matto Grosso, Brazil,
and flows southward through marshy country till it forms the boundary
between Brazil and Bolivia, then traversing Paraguay, it becomes the
boundary between that State and the Argentine Republic, and finally
enters the Parana above Corrientes; it receives many affluents, and is
navigable by ocean steamers almost to its source.

PARAKLETE, the Holy Spirit which Christ promised to His disciples
would take His place as their teacher and guide after He left them. Also
the name of the monastery founded by Abelard near Nogent-sur-Seine, and
of which HELOISE (q. v.) was abbess.

PARALLAX, an astronomical term to denote an apparent change in the
position of a heavenly body due to a change in the position or assumed
position of the observer.

PARAMAR`IBO (24), the capital of Dutch Guiana, on the Surinam, 10 m.
from the sea, and the centre of the trade of the colony.

PARAMO, the name given to an elevated track of desert on the Andes.

PARANA RIVER, a great river of South America, formed by the
confluence of the Rio Grande and the Paranahyba, in SE. Brazil, flows SW.
through Brazil and round the SE. border of Paraguay, then receiving the
Paraguay River, turns S. through the Argentine, then E. till the junction
of the Uruguay forms the estuary of the Plate. The river is broad and
rapid, 2000 m. long, more than half of it navigable from the sea; at the
confluence of the Yguassu it enters a narrow gorge, and for 100 m. forms
one of the most remarkable rapids in the world; the chief towns on its
banks are in the Argentine, viz. Corrientes, Santa Fe, and Rosario.

PARCAE, the Roman name of the THREE FATES (q. v.), derived
from "pars," a part, as apportioning to every individual his destiny.

PARCHMENT consists of skins specially prepared for writing on, and
is so called from a king of Pergamos, who introduced it when the export
of papyrus from Egypt was stopped; the skins used are of sheep, for fine
parchment or vellum, of calves, goats, and lambs; parchment for drumheads
is made from calves' and asses' skins.

PARCS-AUX-CERFS, the French name for clearings to provide hunting
fields for the French aristocracy prior to the Revolution.

PARE, AMBROISE, great French surgeon, born at Laval; was from the
improved methods he introduced in the treatment of surgical cases
entitled to be called, as he has