Packing

(pak'ing.) [ From pack.] (Med.) In Hydropathy, the act or proce of swathing the body, or any infirm part thereof, with wet bandages overlaid with dry cloths.-(Masonry.) Small stones set in mortar, used in filling interstices in the middle of walls, . Paco, (pa'ko.) See LLAMA. Pactolus, (pak'to-lus.) (Anc. Geog.) A famous river of Asia Minor, fabled by the ancients to teem with golden sands. It rises, under its present name of Bayouly, in the N. slope of Mt. Tmolus, in Lydia, and empties into the Hermus, N. of Sardis. Paddle, (pad'dl.) [From Fr. patte, a foot.] (Naut.) A short, broad oar, used in urging boats through the water; also, the blade of an oar.-(Mach.) One of the floats of a steamship's paddle-wheel; also, one of the broad boards at the circumference of a mill's waterwheel.-P. -beam, one of the two large beams between which the paddle-wheels of a steamer revolve.-P.-box, a semicircular casing placed over each paddle-wheel of a steamer, and projecting from its side.-P.-shaft, the shaft upon which a steamer's paddle-wheel is fixed, placed centrally with, and attached to the trunk-shaft. -P.-wheel, one of the wheels placed on the sides of a steamer for her propulsion through the water by the action of a number of floats, or paddles, affixed at the circumference. [s. 676]