Pawtucket
Pawtucket, A City Of Providence County, Rhode Island, U.s.a., On The Blackstone River (known Here As The Pawtucket Or The Seekonk), 4 M. N. Of Providence And Adjoining Central Falls. It Is Served By The New York, New Haven And Hartford Railroad, Motor-bus And Truck Lines And A Steamboat Line ...
Payment
Payment, The Performance Of An Obligation, The Discharge Of A Sum Due In Money Or The Equivalent Of Money. In Law, In Order That Payment May Extinguish The Obligation It Is Necessary That It Should Be Made At A Proper Time And Place, In A Proper Manner, And By And ...
Paynter
Paynter (or Painter), William (c. English Author, Was A Native Of Kent. He Matriculated At St. John's College, Cambridge, In 1554. In 1561 He Became Clerk Of The Ordnance In The Tower Of London, A Position In Which He Appears To Have Amassed A Fortune Out Of The Public Funds. ...
Peace
Peace, Freedom From War Or Hostilities; A State Or Relation Of Concord And Amity. In International Law, That Condition Of A Nation Not At War With Another. Gudelinus In His De Jure Pacis Commentarius (162o) Defines Peace As "tranquil Freedom, Con Trary To War Of Which It Constitutes The End ...
Peach
Peach, The Name Of A Fruit Tree Which Is Included Under The Genus Prunus (prunus Persica) ; Its Resemblance To The Plum Is Obvious. Others Have Classed It With The Almond As A Distinct Genus, Amygdalus ; While Others Again Have Considered It Suffi Ciently Distinct To Constitute A Separate ...
Peach Tree Borer
Peach Tree Borer, A North American Sesiid Moth (conopia Exitiosa), One Of The Most Important And Serious Enemies Of The Peach In The United States. The Principal Injury Occurs East Of The Rocky Mountains, From Canada South To Florida. It Attacks Trees Of All Ages. Its Original Food Plants Were ...
Peanut
Peanut (ground-nut, Earth-nut, Pistache De Terre, Mon Key Nut, Goober, Manilla Nut), The Fruit Or Pod Of Arachis Hy Pogaea (family Leguminosae). The Plant Is An Annual Of Diffuse Habit, I To 2 Ft. High, With Hairy Stem, And Two-paired, Abruptly Pinnate Leaflets. The Pods Or Legumes Are Stalked, Oblong, ...
Pear
Pear, A Fruit-bearing Tree (pyres Communis) Belonging To The Rose Family And Very Closely Allied To The Apple (q.v.), Culti Vated Since Ancient Time For Its Juicy Pome Fruit. The Pear Differs From The Apple In Its More Erect Manner Of Growth, Smooth, Shin Ing, Very Finely-toothed Leaves, Pure White ...
Pearl
Pearl. Pearls Are Calcareous Concretions Of Peculiar Lustre, Produced By Certain Molluscs, And Valued As Objects Of Personal Ornament. The Experience Of Pearl-fishers Shows That Those Shells Which Are Irregular In Shape And Stunted In Growth, Or Which Bear Excrescences, Or Are Honeycombed By Boring Parasites, Are Those Most Likely ...
Peasant Movement
Peasant Movement. The World War Gave A Strong Impetus To The Political Consciousness Of A Class Which Had Seemed Obliterated Since The Industrial Revolution. During The Past Century The Peasants, Even In Western Europe, Have Been Dom Inated By Commerce And Industry. In Eastern Europe They Have Had No Share ...
Peat
Peat, A Product Of Decayed Vegetation Found In The Form Of Bogs In Many Parts Of The World. The Principal Areas Of The Peat Deposits Of The World Are As Follows : Russia . ....... 65,00o Square Miles Canada ...... . 37,000 „ Finland ...... . 30,000 „ Sweden ...... ...
Pecora
Pecora. Horns, Hoofs And A Diet Of Grasses Or Foliage Are The Three Most Obvious Characteristics Of The Very Important Group Of Mammals Known As The Pecora Or True Ruminants. The Name Comes From The Latin Pecus, Cattle, But As Used By The Zoologist It Includes Not Only Oxen, Sheep ...
Pedipalpi
Pedipalpi, The Name Of A Group Of The Class Arachnida (q.v.), In Some Respects Connecting The Scorpions And The Spiders But More Nearly Related To The Latter. The Most Scorpion-like In Appearance Are The Species Of The Order Uropygi Which Takes Its Name From The Termination Of The Body By ...
Pedro Il Dom Pedro
Pedro Il (dom Pedro De Alcantara) (1825-1891), Sec Ond Emperor Of Brazil, Was Born In Rio De Janeiro On Dec. 2, 1825. On April 7, 1831, When He Was Not Yet Six Years Old, His Father, Pedro I., Abdicated In His Favour, And For Nine Years The Country Was Governed ...
Peeblesshire Or Tweeddale
Peeblesshire Or Tweeddale, Southern Inland County, Scotland, Bounded North And North-east By Edinburghshire, East And South-east By Selkirkshire, South By Dumfriesshire, And West By Lanarkshire. Its Area Is 222,240 Ac. (excluding Water). The Surface Consists Of A Succession Of Hills, Which Are Highest In The South, And Belong To The ...
Peerage
Peerage. Although In England The Terms "peerage" (fr. Pairage; Med. Lat. Paragium; M.e. Pere; O.fr. Per, Peer, Later Pair; Lat. Paris, "equal"), "nobility," "house Of Lords" Are Com Monly Regarded As Synonymous, In Reality Each Expresses A Dif Ferent Meaning. A Man May Be A Peer And Yet Not Be ...
Pegging The Exchange
Pegging The Exchange. The Phrase And Practice Of "pegging The Exchange" Finds Its Origin In The World War. It May Be Defined As Consisting Of Continued Governmental Or Official Action To Maintain The Foreign Exchange Value Of A Country's Currency Against The Principal Gold Currencies At Par Or At Any ...
Pegmatite
Pegmatite, The Name Given By Rally To Those Masses Of Graphic Granite Which Frequently Occur In Veins. They Consist Of Quartz And Alkali Felspars In Crystalline Intergrowth (see Petrol Ogy). The Term (from Gr. Rfkykta, A Bond) Was Subsequently Used By Naumann To Signify Also The Coarsely Crystalline Veins Rich ...
Peisistratus
Peisistratus B.c.), Athenian Statesman, Was The Son Of Hippocrates And Second Cousin To Solon, Whose Friend Ship He Retained In Spite Of Their Political Opposition. About 57o He Became Well Known And Popular As Commander In The War With Megara Which Resulted In The Recovery Of Salamis. He Next Appears ...
Peking
Peking (officially Renamed Peiping In 1928), The Most Re Nowned Of All The Cities Of China, The Capital Of The Chinese Empire From About 1267 To 1368 And Again From 1421 To The Fall Of The Manchu Dynasty In 1911, And Of The Republic Of China From 1911 To 1928. ...
Pelagius
Pelagius (c. 360–c. 420), Early British Theologian. Of The Origin Of Pelagius Almost Nothing Is Known. He Seems To Have Been One Of The Earliest, If Not The Very Earliest, Of That Remark Able Series Of Men Who Issued From The Monasteries Of Scotland And Ireland, And Carried Back To ...
Pelasgians
Pelasgians. Various Traditions Were Current Among The Greeks With Regard To The Pre-greek Inhabitants Of Their Country. They Were Inclined To Call All These By The General Name Of Pelas Gians, Although They Recognized Carians And Leleges As Distinct. The Dorians Claimed That The Ionians Were Pelasgian Or At Least ...
Pelham
Pelham, The Name Of An English Family, Derived From Pel Ham In Hertfordshire, Which Was Owned By A Certain Walter De Pelham Under Edward I., And Is Alleged To Have Been In The Pos Session Of The Same Family Before The Norman Conquest. The Family Dignities Included The Barony Of ...
Pellagra
Pellagra, The Name Given To A Chronic Disease Of Com Paratively Modern Recognition. For Some Time It Was Supposed To Be Practically Confined To The Peasantry In Parts Of Italy (partic Ularly Lombardy), France, The Asturias, Rumania And Corfu. But It Has Been Identified In Various Outlying Parts Of The ...
Pelopidas
Pelopidas (d. 364 B.c.), Theban Statesman And General. In 385 B.c. He Served In A Theban Contingent Sent To The Support Of The Spartans At Mantineia, Where He Was Saved, When Danger Ously Wounded, By Epameinondas (q.v.). Upon The Seizure Of The Theban Citadel By The Spartans (383 Or 382) ...
Peloponnesian War
Peloponnesian War). At The Same Time Pericles Was Being Sorely Hampered By His Adversaries At Home. The Orthodox Conservatives And Some Demo Crats Who Were Jealous Of His Influence, While Afraid To Beard The Great Statesman Himself, Combined To Assail His Nearest Friends. The Sculptor Pheidias (q.v.) Was Prosecuted On ...
Pembroke
Pembroke, Municipal Borough And County Town Of Pem Brokeshire, Wales. Pop. (1931) (together With Pembroke Dock) 12,008. It Is A Walled Town On A Creek Of Milford Haven, And Con Sists Of A Long Street Running From The Station On The East To The Mediaeval Castle On The West. A ...
Pembrokeshire
Pembrokeshire (sir Benfro, Dyfed), The Most West Erly County Of South Wales, Bounded North-east By Cardigan, East By Carmarthen, South By The Bristol Channel, And West And North West By St. Bride's Bay And Cardigan Bay Of St. George's Chan Nel. The Coastline Is Much Indented And Over 140 M. ...
Pemphigus
Pemphigus, A Skin Disease, In Which Large Blebs Appear, On A Red Base, Containing A Clear Or Yellowish Fluid; The Blebs Occasion Much Irritation, And When They Burst Leave Raw Ulcerated Surfaces. The Disease Is Principally Known In Unhealthy Or Neg Lected Children. A Variety Of The Malady Pemphigus Foliaceus, ...
Pen Drawing
Pen Drawing. The Art Of Line Drawing Is Perhaps The Oldest Of The Graphic Arts. The Greeks Seem To Have Considered Drawing And Writing As Essentially The Same Process, Since They Used The Same Word For Both. This Points To The Early Identity Of The Two Arts When Drawing Was ...
Penang
Penang, The Town And Island Which, After Singapore, Form The Most Important Part Of The British Crown Colony Of Straits Set Tlements. The Island Is Situated In 5° 24' N. And 100° 21' E., And Distant About 2/ M. From The West Coast Of The Malay Peninsula. It Is About ...
Penates
Penates, Roman Gods Of The Store-room, Properly Di Penates (lat. Genus). This Was, In Old Times, Beside The Atrium, The Room Which Served As Kitchen, Parlour, And Bedroom In One; But In Later Times Was In The Back Part Of The House. In Private Cult They Were Associated With Vesta ...
Pencil
Pencil, A Name Originally Applied To A Small, Fine Pointed Brush Used In Painting, And Still Employed To Denote The Finer Camel's-hair And Sable Brushes Used By Artists (lat. Penicillus, Brush; Literally, Little Tail), But Now Commonly Signifying A Solid Rod Of Marking Material Used For Writing And Drawing, Either ...
Pencil Drawing
Pencil Drawing. A Pencil Drawing Is One Made By A Piece Of Graphite Sharpened Into A Fine Point, And Held In A Porte Crayon, And The Term Is Usually Applied To A Drawing Made With This Material Upon Vellum Or Parchment. The Greatest Masters Of This Particular Art Were Dutchmen, ...
Penda
Penda, King Of Mercia (d. 654 Or 655), Son Of Pybba, Prob Ably Came To The Throne In 626, But It Is Doubtful Whether He Actually Became King Of Mercia Until 633, The Year Of The Defeat And Death Of Edwin Of Northumbria. According To The Anglo Saxon Chronicle He ...
Pendentive
Pendentive, In Architecture, A Triangular Segment Of A Spherical Surface, Filling In The Upper Corners Of A Square, Rectangular Or Polygonal Room, In Order To Form, At The Top, A Circular Support For A Dome. Its Intersections With The Walls Against Which It Abuts Are Semi-circles, And Are Usually Carried ...
Penguin
Penguin, The Name Originally Given To The Garefowl (q.v.), But Now Applied To The Flightless Sea-birds Forming The Family Sphenicidae. The Wings Lack Quills And Are Incapable Of Flexure, Though They Move Freely At The Shoulder-joint. In The Water The Birds Use Them As Paddles, And On Land They Are ...
Peninsular War 1808 1814
Peninsular War (1808-1814). This Term Is Applied To The Operations Conducted By The British, Spanish And Portuguese Armies Against The French In The Iberian Peninsula During The Years Above Noted. The British Make The Most Of It First, Because They Were, With One Or Two Trifling Exceptions, Their Only Success ...
Peninsular And Oriental Steam
Peninsular And Oriental Steam Naviga Tion Company. This British Steamship Company, Famil Iarly Known As The "p. & 0.," Was Founded By Messrs. Willcox & Anderson, A Firm Of London Shipowners As The "peninsular Serv Ice" In 1834, Changing Its Name In 1840. In 1842 The Company Embarked Upon A ...
Penitential
Penitential, A Manual Used By Priests Of The Catholic Church For Guidance In Assigning The Penance Due To Sins. Such Manuals Played A Large Role In The Early Middle Ages; They Were Mainly Composed Of Canons Drawn From Various Councils And Of Dicta From Writings Of Some Of The Fathers. ...
Penmarch
Penmarch, A Village Of Western France In The Department Of Finistere, 18 M. S.w. Of Quimper By Road. Pop. (1931) Al The End Of The Peninsula On Which It Stands Are Fortified Re Mains Of A Town Important From The 14th To The I6th Centuries, Which Included Penmarc'h, St. Guenole ...
Pennine Chain
Pennine Chain, An Extensive System Of Hills In The North Of England. The Name Is Probably Derived From The Celtic Pen, High, Appearing In The Apennines Of Italy And The Pennine Alps. The English System Is Comprised Within The Following Physical Boundaries. On The N. A Well-marked Depression, Falling Below ...
Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania, Popularly Known As The "keystone" State Because Of Its Central Position Among The Original 13 Col Onies, Is One Of The Commonwealths Of The United States Of America, Lying Mostly Between Lat. 43' (the Mason And Dixon Line) And 42° N. And Long. 43' And 8o° 31' W. Of ...
Pennsylvania Railroad Company
Pennsylvania Railroad Company, A Corpo Ration Of The Commonwealth Of Pennsylvania, U.s.a., Is The Par Ent Company Of A Group Of More Than Ioo Corporations Known As The Pennsylvania Railroad System, United In One Management Through Ownership Of The Majority Of The Stock, Or Long Term Leases Or Both. The ...
Penny
Penny, An English Coin, Equal In Value To One-twelfth Of A Shilling. It Is One Of The Oldest Of English Coins, Superseding The Sceatta Or Sceat. It Was Introduced Into England By Offa, King Of Mercia, Who Took As A Model A Coin First Struck By Pippin, Father Of Charlemagne, ...
Penology
Penology, Penal Science, That Part Or Division Of Crimin Ology Which Concerns Itself With The Philosophy And Practice Of Society In Its Efforts To Repress Criminal Activities. As The Term Signifies (lat. Poena, Pain, Suffering), Penology Has Stood In The Past And, For The Most Part, Still Stands For The ...
Penrith
Penrith, Market Town, Urban District, Penrith And Cocker Mouth Parliamentary Division, Cumberland, England, 281 M. From London On The L.m.s. Railway. Pop. (1931) 9,065. It Is Also Served By The L.n.e. Railway. A 14th Century Grammar School Was Refounded By Queen Elizabeth ; And There Are Two Mansions Dating From ...
Penryn
Penryn, A Market Town And Port, And Municipal Borough Of Cornwall, England, 2 M. N.w. Of Falmouth, On A Branch Of The G.w. Railway. Pop. (1931) 3,414. Penryn Owed Its Devel Opment To The Fostering Care Of The Bishops Of Exeter Within Whose Demesne Lands It Stood. These Lands Appear ...
Pensacola
Pensacola, A City Of Florida, U.s.a., On Pensacola Bay (an Arm Of The Gulf Of Mexico), 5o M. S.e. Of Mobile; A Port Of Entry And The County Seat Of Escambia County. It Is On Federal Highways Go And 131, And Is Served By The Frisco System And The Louis ...
Pensionary
Pensionary, A Name Given To The Leading Functionary And Legal Adviser Of The Principal Town Corporations Of Holland, Because They Received A Salary, Or Pension. At First This Official Was Known By The Name Of "clerk" Or "advocate." The Office Originated In Flanders. The Earliest "pensionaries" In Holland Were Those ...
Pensions Perpetual Or Hereditary
Pensions: Perpetual Or Hereditary. Per Petual Or Hereditary Pensions In Great Britain Were Freely Granted Either To Court Favourites Or As A Reward For Political Services From The Time Of Charles Ii. Onwards. Such Pensions Were Very Fre Quently Attached As "salaries" To Places Which Were Sinecures, Or Posts Which ...
Pensions Political
Pensions: Political. In Great Britain, By The Politi Cal Offices Pensions Act, 1869, Pensions Were Instituted For Those Who Had Held Political Office. For The Purposes Of The Act Political Offices Were Divided Into Three Classes : (i) Those With A Yearly Salary Of Not Less Than 15,000; (2) Those ...
Pensions The Unitedstates
Pensions : The United States. The Soundness Of A Pension System Depends Principally On Whether The System Contains Within Itself The Power Of Self-perpetuation And Not On The Nature Of The Organization Nor The Scale Of The Pension Benefits. If Financial Provisions, Scientifically Calculated, Will Provide The Pen Sion Payments ...
Pentastomida
Pentastomida, Also Called Linguatulida, A Group Of Parasitic Animals Of Uncertain Systematic Position But Sometimes Regarded As Degenerate Arachnida (q.v.) Of The Order Acari. The Body Is Worm-like, Unsegmented, But Superficially Annulated, The Alimentary Canal Traverses It From End To End, And Close To The Mouth, Which Is Encircled By ...
Pentecost
Pentecost, A Feast Of The Jews, Is Celebrated On The Soth Day After The Passover (hence Its Name "pentecost," A Greek Word Meaning "fiftieth"), And Now On The Following Day Also, I.e., Sivan 6 And 7. In The Bible, Where A Festival Of One Day Only Is Referred To, It ...
Penza
Penza, A Province Of The Russian S.f.s.r., Surrounded By Those Of Saratov, Tambov, Ryazan, Nizhegorod And Ulianovsk. Area 45,903 Sq.km. Pop. (1926) 2,207,668. The Province Forms Part Of The Central Russian Plateau, Here Reaching A Height Of Goo Ft. It Is Deeply Dissected By Rivers, The Chief Being The Moksha, ...
Peonage
Peonage, A Form Of Involuntary Servitude Which Developed In Mexico. It Prevailed Extensively In Yucatan And Especially In The Valle Nacional, Where Cheap Labour Was Required In The Cultivation Of Tobacco. The Beginning Of Peonage, However, Has Been Traced As Far Back As The Conquest Of Mexico By The Spaniards. ...
Peoria
Peoria, A City Of North-central Illinois, U.s.a., On The Illi Nois River Where It Widens To Form Lake Peoria, Midway Between Chicago And Saint Louis; A Port Of Entry And The County Seat Of Peoria County. It Has A Municipal Airport And Is A Station On The Chicago-to-gulf Airway; Is ...
Pepper
Pepper, A Name Applied To Several Pungent Spices Known Respectively As Black, White, Long, Red Or Cayenne, Ashanti, Jamaica And Melegueta Pepper, But Derived From At Least Three Different Natural Orders Of Plants. Black Pepper Is The Dried Fruit Of Piper Nigrum (family Piper Aceae), A Perennial Climbing Shrub Indigenous ...
Pepper Tree
Pepper Tree, A Tree Which Has No Proper Connection With The True Pepper (piper), And Is Really A Member Of The Family Anacardiaceae, Being Known Botanically As Schinus Molle, From The Peruvian Name Afulli. It Is A Native Of Tropical South America And Is Grown In The Open Air In ...