Peppermint
Peppermint, An Indigenous Perennial Herb Of The Family Labiatae, And Genus Mentlia (see Mint), The Specific Name Being 111entha Piperita, Is Distinguished From Other Species Of The Genus By Its Stalked Leaves And Oblong-obtuse Spike-like Heads Of Flowers. It Is Met With, Near Streams And In Wet Places, In Several ...
Perceval
Perceval, The Hero Of A Comparatively Small But Highly Important Group Of Romances, Now Forming Part Of The Arthurian Cycle. Originally The Story Of Perceval Was Of The Character Of A Folktale, And That One Of Considerable Importance And World Wide Diffusion. He Is Represented As The Son Of A ...
Perfumes
Perfumes, Substances, Generally Of Complex Composition, Which By Reason Of Their Fragrance Gratify The Sense Of Smell. The History Of Perfumes Is Closely Associated With That Of Cosmetics (q.v.), And Many Of The Earliest Forms Were Made By Digesting Odorous Vegetable Substances With Sesame, Almond Or Olive Oil. The Principle ...
Pergamum Or Pergamus
Pergamum Or Pergamus (mod. Bergama), An Ancient City Of Teuthrania, A District In Mysia. It Is Usually Named Ilipyai.tov By Greek Writers, But Ptolemy Has The Form Mp-yaktog. Little But Mythology Is Known Of The City Till The Time Of Xenophon, But It Had Been Striking Coins Since 420 B.c. ...
Pergolesi
Pergolesi (or Percolese), Giovanni Battista (1710-1736), Italian Musical Composer, Was Born At Jesi Near Ancona On Jan. 3, 171o. He Was Sent By A Noble Patron To Com Plete His Education At Naples, Where He Became A Pupil Of Greco, Durante And Feo For Composition And Of Domenico De Matteis ...
Periander 625 585
Periander (625-585 B.c.), The Second Tyrant Of Corinth. In Contrast With His Father Cypselus, The Founder Of The Dynasty, He Is Generally Represented As A Cruel Despot. The Greek Tradition, However, Is Probably Derived From A Prejudiced Source. There Is No Doubt That He Was Ruthless With The Remains Of ...
Peridotite
Peridotite, A Plutonic Holo-crystalline Rock Composed In Large Part Of Olivine, And Almost Or Entirely Free From Felspar. The Rocks Are The Most Basic, Or Least Siliceous Plutonic Rocks, And Contain Much Iron Oxide And Magnesia. Hence They Have Dark Colours And A High Specific Gravity (3.o And Over). In ...
Perigueux
Perigueux, A Town Of South-western France, Formerly Capital Of The Old Province Of Perigord, Now Chief Town Of The Department Of Dordogne, 79 M. E.n.e. Of Bordeaux, On The Rail Way Between That City And Limoges. Pop. (1931), Vesunna Was The Capital Of The Petrocorii, Allies Of Vercingetorix When Caesar ...
Perino Del Vaga
Perino Del Vaga A Painter Of The Ro Man School, Whose True Name Was Perino (or Piero) Buonac Corsi. He Was Born Near Florence On June 28, 150o. Perino Was First Apprenticed To A Druggist, But Soon Passed Into The Hands Of A Mediocre Painter, Andrea Da Ceri, And, When ...
Periodical
Periodical. The Term "periodical" Refers To Reviews And Magazines Appearing Monthly Or At Longer Intervals; It Has Also Been Applied To Weekly And Other Newspapers But These Are For The Most Part Excluded Here. The Date In Parentheses Is The Date When The Periodical Was First Published. The General Output ...
Periods Of Art
Periods Of Art. An Art Period Is That Duration Of Time Within Which The Main Arts, Both Fine And Applied, Show A General Recognizable Trend Or Group Of Characteristics. These Characteristics Which The Reader Will Find Described Under The Various Articles Listed At The End Of This Article, Like Those ...
Periscope
Periscope, An Optical Instrument Used In Land Warfare And In Submarine Navigation To Enable An Observer To See His Sur Roundings While Remaining Under Cover Or Submerged. It Invari Ably Includes Among Its Optical Elements Two Mirrors Or Reflecting Prisms To Change The Direction In Which The Light Travels, The ...
Perissodactyla
Perissodactyla, An Order Of Hoofed, Herbivorous Mammals, Including The Tapirs, Horses, Rhinoceroses And Their Ex Tinct Relatives, In All Of Which The Number Of Digits (toes) On Each Hindfoot Is Either Three Or One. The Name Perissodactyla ("odd Toes") Was Given By Sir Richard Owen, To Distinguish The Group From ...
Peritonitis
Peritonitis, Inflammation Of The Peritoneum. (see Coelom And Serous Membranes.) It May Be Acute Or Chronic, And Either Localized Or Diffused. Present Few Symptoms Of Any Kind. In Some Cases, The Neighbour Ing Coils Of Intestine Having Been Glued Together, A Collection Of Serous Fluid Takes Its Place In The ...
Periwinkle
Periwinkle, The Name Given To Various Species Of The Botanical Genus Vinca, Of The Dog-bane Family (apocynaceae). The Name Periwinkle Is Possibly Taken From Pervinka, The Russian Name Of The Flower, Which In Turn Is Derived From Pervi, "first," As It Is One Of The First Flowers Of Spring. The ...
Perlite Or Pearlstone
Perlite Or Pearlstone, A Glassy Volcanic Rock Which, When Hammered, Breaks Into Small Rounded Masses Often Of A Pearly Lustre, The Reason Being The Many Small Cracks Travers Ing Its Glassy Substance. These Cracks Mostly Take A Circular Course, And Often Occur In Groups, One Within Another; They Bound The ...
Permeameter
Permeameter, An Instrument For Measuring The Permea Bility Of A Sample Of Iron Or Steel, And More Generally For Exam Ining The Magnetic Characteristics. The Name Was First Applied By S. P. Thomson To An Apparatus Devised By Himself In 189o. In This The Sample, In The Form Of A ...
Permian
Permian, A Geological Term Designating The Uppermost System Of Rocks Of The Palaeozoic Era And Suggested By Sir R. Murchison In 1841, From Their Great Development In The Russian Province Of Perm. Towards The Close Of The Carboniferous Period A Great Dia Strophic Revolution Of The Earth's Surface Resulted In ...
Pernambuco
Pernambuco, A North-eastern Atlantic State Of Brazil. Area, 38,312 Sq.m.; Pop. 093o) 2,869,814. It Comprises A Com Paratively Narrow Coastal Zone, A High Inland Plateau, And An Inter Mediate Zone Formed By The Terraces And Slopes Between The Two. Its Surface Is Much Broken By The Remains Of The Ancient ...
Perpendicular Period
Perpendicular Period, In Architecture, The Latest Style Of English Gothic, Roughly Embracing The Period From 1375 To The Introduction Of The Renaissance, During The 16th And 17th Centuries. It Gains Its Name From The Dominance Of Vertical Lines In Window Tracery And Wall Panelling; In Windows The Vertical Mullions Sometimes ...
Perpetual Motion Or Perpetuum
Perpetual Motion Or Perpetuum Mobile, In Its Usual Significance, Not Simply A Machine Which Will Go On Moving For Ever, But A Machine Which, Once Set In Motion, Will Go On Doing Useful Work Without Drawing On Any External Source Of Energy, Or A Machine Which In Every Complete Cycle ...
Perpignan
Perpignan, A Town Of France, Capital Of The Department Of Pyrenees-orientales, On The Tet, 7 M. From The Mediterranean And 42 M. S. By W. Of Narbonne By Rail. Pop. (1931) 58,440. Perpignan Dates At Least From The Loth Century. In The Nth And I 2th Centuries It Was A ...
Perry
Perry, A Village Of Wyoming County, New York, U.s.a., On Silver Lake, 35 M. S.w. Of Rochester; Served By The Buffalo, Rochester And Pittsburgh Railway. Pop. 193o Federal Census 4,231. It Has Large Knitting Mills, A Condensed-milk Plant And Other Manufacturing Industries. Silver Lake Is A Summer Resort. The Village ...
Persephone
Persephone Was The Daughter Of Zeus And Demeter. In Cult And In Mythology Demeter And Persephone Were Closely Associated, Being Known Together As The Two Goddesses, The Venerable Or August Goddesses, Sometimes As The Great God Desses. The Latter Is Often Called Kore ("the Maiden") ; Whether This Results From ...
Persepolis
Persepolis, An Ancient City Of Persia, Situated Some 4o M. N.e. Of Shiraz, Not Far From Where The Small River Pulwar Flows Into The Kur (cyrus). The Site Is Marked By A Large Terrace With Its East Side Leaning On Kuh-i-rahmet ("the Mount Of Grace"). The Other Three Sides Are ...
Persia Iran
Persia (iran), A Kingdom Of Western Asia, Bounded On The North By The Caspian Sea And The Transcaucasian And Trans Caspian Territories Of Russia; On The East By Turkistan, Afghan Istan And Baluchistan; On The South By The Persian Gulf, And The Oman Gulf Of The Arabian Sea, And On ...
Persian Literature
Persian Literature. We Possess Scarcely Any Docu Ments On The Intermediary Stages Of The Persian Language Between Middle Persian And Modern Persian. More Than This, The First Specimens Of Modern Persian Are In Verse ; Therefore The Be Ginnings Of The Persian Language, As Known To Us, Practically Coincide With ...
Persis
Persis (mod. Fars, Q.v.), The South-western Part Of Iran (persia), Named From The Inhabitants, The Iranian People Of The Parsa (fars) ; Their Name Was Pronounced By The Ionians Persai, With Change From A To E, And This Form Has Become Dominant In Greek And In The Modern European Languages. ...
Persius
Persius, In Full Aulus Persius Flaccus (a.d. Roman Poet And Satirist. According To The Life Contained In The Mss., Persius Was A Native Of Volaterrae, Of Good Stock On Both Parents' Side. When Six Years Old He Lost His Father, And His Step Father Died In A Few Years. At ...
Personal Property
Personal Property, One Branch Of The Main Division Of The Common Law Of Property, The Other Being "real Property." The Division Of Property Into Real And Personal Represents In A Great Measure The Division Into Immoveable And Moveable, Inci Dentally Recognized In Roman Law And Generally Adopted Since. Personal Estate ...
Personality
Personality. What Is New In The Philosophical Treat Ment Of Personality Is The Recognition Of Its Supreme Place In The Interpretation Of Value. To Meet The Modern Form Of The Ancient Subjective Explanations Of "good" ("man Is The Measure Of All Things," Including Good And Evil), Or The Modern Theory ...
Perspective
Perspective, Deals With The Phenomena Of Appearance; Usually Applied To The Construction Of Drawings Intended To Repre Sent Objects As Seen From Some Definite Point Of View. In Appear Ance An Object May Seem Very Unlike What It Is Known To Be In Reality. A Railway Track Is Of The ...
Pertab
Pertab (or Partab) Singh, Sir, Maharaja Of Idar (1844-1922), Native Indian Soldier And Statesman, Belonging To The Rahtor Rajputs Of The Jodha Class, Was Born In 1844, Being The Son Of Maharaja Takht Singh, Ruler Of Marwar (or Jodhpur). In 1878 And Again In 1879 He Was Chief Minister Of ...
Perth
Perth, The Capital Of Western Australia, Is Situated In The South-west Of The State (lat. 31° 57' S.; Long. 5o' E.) On Ground Rising From The Swan River (alt. Zoo Ft.) About 12 Miles From Its Mouth Where Lies Its Port Fremantle (v. Inf.). Established In 1829 And For A ...
Perth Amboy
Perth Amboy, A City Of Middlesex County, New Jersey, U.s.a., At The Mouth Of The Raritan River, On Raritan Bay And Staten Island Sound. It Is Served By The Baltimore And Ohio, The Central Of New Jersey, The Lehigh Valley And The Pennsylvania Railways And By Boats To New York; ...
Perth_2
Perth, City, Royal, Municipal And Police Burgh, And County Town Of Perthshire, Scotland, 32 M. N. By W. Of Edinburgh By The L.m.s., And 47i M. By The L.n.e. Railway, Via The Forth Bridge And Kinross Junction, The Two Companies Using One Station. Pop. (1931) 34,807. It Is Situated On ...
Perthshire
Perthshire, Inland County, Scotland, Bounded North By The Shires Of Inverness And Aberdeen; East By Angus; South East By The Firth Of Tay And The Counties Of Fife And Kinross; South By The Shires Of Clackmannan And Stirling ; South-west By The Counties Of Stirling And Dumbarton ; West By ...
Peru
Peru, A Republic On The Pacific Coast Of South America. It Extends In A General South-easterly Direction From 3° 16' S. To 18° S., With A Sea-coast Of More Than 1,400 Miles. Its Area Is Estimated At 522,689 Sq.m., An Approximate Figure, However, Since Much Disputed Territory Is Occupied By ...
Perugia
Perugia (anc. Perusia), A City And Archiepiscopal See Of Italy, The Capital Of The Province Of Perugia In Umbria Situated Ft. Above Sea-level. Pop. (1931) 30,741 (town); 79,270 (commune). The Town Is Finely Situated Upon A Group Of Hills Nearly I,000 Ft. Above The Valley Of The Tiber. Its Outline ...
Perylene
Perylene, A Hydrocarbon Whose Preparation Was Described In 1910, Since When The Subject Has Become Of Importance In View Of Its Application To Vat Colours. Perylene, Does Not Appear To Have Been Detected In Coal Tar. The Hydro Carbon Itself Was First Obtained By The Union Of Two Naphthalene Nuclei, ...
Pesaro
Pesaro, A City And Seaport Of The Marches, Italy (anc. Pisaurum), The Capital Of The Province Of Pesaro And Urbino, Situated On The Coast Of The Adriatic 37 M. N.w. Of Ancona By Rail, On The Right Bank Of The Foglia, The Ancient Pisaurus. The Ground On Which It Is ...
Peseta
Peseta. The Monetary Unit Of Spain. It Is Divided Into Ioo Centimos. It Is A Coin Of 5 Grammes Of Silver .835 Fine, And Was Thus Equivalent At Par To The Silver Franc. The History Of The Peseta Since 1914 Is In Many Ways A Curious One. During The War, ...
Peshawar
Peshawar, A City Of British India, The Capital Of The North-west Frontier Province, Giving Its Name To A District. The City Is Situated Near The Left Bank Of The River Bara, I 1 M. From Jamrud At The Entrance Of The Khyber Pass, The Railway Station Being 1,588 M. North-west ...
Pessimism
Pessimism, A Word Of Modern Coinage, Denoting An Attitude Of Hopelessness Towards Life, A Vague General Opinion That Pain And Evil Predominate In Human Affairs (from Lat. Pessimus, Worst) It Is The Antithesis Of "optimism," Which Denotes The View That On The Whole There Is A Balance Of Good And ...
Pessinus
Pessinus (llecratvoin, Iiecrwods), An Ancient City Of Galatia In Asia Minor, Situated On The Lowest Southern Slope Of Mt. Dindymus. The Ruins, Discovered By Texier, Lie Round The Village Of Bala-hissar, 8 Or 9 Miles S.e. Of Sivri-hissar. Originally A Phrygian City, It Became The Capital Of The Gallic Tribe ...