What is "persian powder"

Insect \In"sect\ ([i^]n"s[e^]kt), n. [F. insecte, L. insectum, fr. insectus, p. p. of insecare to cut in. See Section. The name was originally given to certain small animals, whose bodies appear cut in, or almost divided. Cf. Entomology.]

1. (Zo["o]l.) One of the Insecta; esp., one of the Hexapoda. See Insecta.

   Note: The hexapod insects pass through three stages during their growth, viz., the larva, pupa, and imago or adult, but in some of the orders the larva differs little from the imago, except in lacking wings, and the active pupa is very much like the larva, except in having rudiments of wings. In the higher orders, the larva is usually a grub, maggot, or caterpillar, totally unlike the adult, while the pupa is very different from both larva and imago and is inactive, taking no food.

2. (Zo["o]l.) Any air-breathing arthropod, as a spider or scorpion.

3. (Zo["o]l.) Any small crustacean. In a wider sense, the word is often loosely applied to various small invertebrates.

4. Fig.: Any small, trivial, or contemptible person or thing.
   --Thomson.

   Insect powder,a powder used for the extermination of insects; esp., the powdered flowers of certain species of Pyrethrum, a genus now merged in Chrysanthemum. Called also Persian powder.

Persian \Per"sian\, a. [From Persia: cf. It. Persiano. Cf. Parsee, Peach, Persic.] Of or pertaining to Persia, to the Persians, or to their language.

Persian berry, the fruit of Rhamnus infectorius, a kind of buckthorn, used for dyeing yellow, and imported chiefly from Trebizond.

Persian cat. (Zo["o]l.) Same as Angora cat, under Angora.

Persian columns (Arch.), columns of which the shaft represents a Persian slave; -- called also Persians. See Atlantes.

Persian drill (Mech.), a drill which is turned by pushing a nut back and forth along a spirally grooved drill holder.

Persian fire (Med.), malignant pustule.

Persian powder. See Insect powder, under Insect.

Persian red. See Indian red (a), under Indian.

Persian wheel, a noria; a tympanum. See Noria.

Persian powder is an insecticide powder. It is also known as Persian pellitory and insect powder.