a small, light, manageable buckler, used by the ancients, and also worn by the Amazons. The pelta is said by some to have resembled an ivy leaf in form; by others it is compared to the leaf of an Indian fig-tree, and by Seribus to the moon in her first quarter.

PELUSSIN, a town of France, in the department of the Loire, and arrondissement of St Etienne. It has some considerable manufactories of silk; and the neighbourhood is remarkable for the great quantity of chestnuts which are collected annually for exportation. It contains about 460 houses, with 3350 inhabitants.