PEOPLE, of color. Blacks, Mulattoes, so called. They form part of the British territorial army, and are distributed, in corps, among the West India islands.
PERAMBULATOR. See [Pedometer].
PERCH, in mensuration, is ten feet long. See [Measure].
PERCUSSION. The impression which a body makes in falling or striking upon another, or the shock of two moving bodies. It is either direct or oblique.
Direct Percussion, is where the impulse is given in the direction of a right line perpendicular to the point of contact.
Oblique Percussion. When it is given in the direction of a line oblique to the point of contact.
Centre of Percussion. That point wherein the shock of the percutient bodies is the greatest.
PERCUTIENT, striking against or upon.
PERDU, a word adopted from the French, signifying to lie flat and closely in wait. It likewise means the forlorn hope.
A corps Perdu, Fr. Desperately.