nearest two or three homes, the rest being built as occasion
offers.

~Oscott College.~--See "_Schools_," &c.

~Oxford, (Edward).~--The boy Oxford who shot at the Queen, on June 10,
1840, was born here and had worked at several shops in the town.

~Oxygen.~--It was on the first of August, 1774, that Dr. Priestley
discovered the nature of oxygen or "dephlogisticated air." If he could
visit Oxygen Street in this town in August of any year, he would
probably say that the air there to be breathed required
dephlogisticating over and over again.

~Packhorses.~--In and about the year 1750 the only method of conveying
parcels of goods from here to London was by means of packhorses, the
charge being at the rate of L7 to L9 per ton; to Liverpool and Bristol,
L5.

~Panorama.~--A circular erection in New Street, and now partly
incorporated in the Society of Artists building, where early in the
century panoramas of various kinds were exhibited.

~Panoramic View.~--A peculiar view of this town was published in 1847 by
Ackermann of London, and was thus called, as it purported to give the
thoroughfares pictorially, showing the houses as they would appear from
a balloon over Moseley Street. The size was 27-1/2 in. by 14-3/4 in. As
a curiosity it is prizable, but its correctness of delineation is marred
very much by the plan adopted.

~Pantechnetheca.~--A large place of general business, opened in 1824, at
the New-street end of Union-passage. In 1817, there stood on this spot a
publichouse, known as the "Old Crown," the entrance to which was in a
large, open gateway at its side, through which a path led to the cherry
orchard. The Pantechnetheca was one of "the sights" of the town, the
exterior being ornamented with pillars and statues; while the name was
not only a puzzle to the "Black Country" visitors, but quite a subject
of dispute as to its etymology among the Greek scholars of the Grammar
School opposite.

~Paradise Street.~--The footpath on the Town Hall side used to be
several feet higher than the causeway, and was supplied with iron
railings. If the name had been given in late years, it might be supposed
to have been chosen because the doors of the Parish Offices are in the
street.

~Parish Offices.~--See "_Public Buildings_."

~Parkesine.~--A material used for knife handles and other purposes, so
named after its maker, Alexander Parkes, a well-known local
manufacturer, who said it was made from refuse vegetable fib