Photoperiodism
Photoperiodism, The Term Employed To Designate The Response Of Organisms To Length Of Day, With Special Reference To Plants. Its Possible Application To Animal Life Has Not Yet Been Adequately Investigated, Though There Is Some Evidence Of Its Connection With Bird Migration. So Far As Known At Present, Sun Light ...
Phrenology
Phrenology, The Name Given To The Empirical System Of Psychology Formulated By F. J. Gall, About The Year I800 And Developed By His Followers, Especially By J. K. Spurzheim And G. Combe. The Principles Upon Which It Is Based Are Five : (i) The Brain Is The Organ Of The ...
Phrygia
Phrygia, The Name Of A Large District Of Asia Minor In Ancient Times, Derived From A People Whom The Greeks Called Cdpiryfs, I.e., "freemen." Taken At Its Widest Extent, Phrygia Comprised The Whole North-west And Centre Of Asia Minor As Far As The River Halys And The Southern Mountain-edge Of ...
Phthalic Acids
Phthalic Acids, The Name Given To The Three Isomeric Benzene-dicarboxylic Acids, C6114(co2h)2: (i) Ortho, Or Phthalic Acid; (2) Meta, Or Isophthalic Acid; (3) Para, Or Terephthalic Acid. The Most Important Is The First, As It Forms The Starting Material In The Production Of Many Synthetic Dyes And Of The Synthetic ...
Phylactery
Phylactery, A Term Applied In Matt. Xxiii. 5 To The Tefillin Of The Jews On The Assumption That These Were Amulets (cpvxakriipta), Against Physical Evil. Tefillin, Either From To Attach, Or Y?p, Whence Prayer, Are Certain Pentateuchal Texts Which, In Accordance With Exod. Xii. 16 And Deut. Vi. 5-9, Were ...
Phyllite
Phyllite, In Petrology, A Group Of Rocks Which Are In Prac Tically All Cases Metamorphosed Argillaceous Sediments, Consisting Essentially Of Quartz, Chlorite And Muscovite, And Possessing A Well Marked Parallel Arrangement Or Schistosity, So Called From Gr. Oxxop, A Leaf, Probably Because They Yield Leaf-like Plates, Owing To Their Fissility. ...
Phylloxera
Phylloxera, A Genus Of Insects Belonging To The Group Phylloxerinae Of The Family Aphididae Which Comprises The Aphides (q.v.) Or Plant Lice. The Phylloxerinae Are Sometimes Placed In A Separate Family Of Their Own, Since They Differ From True Aphides In Characters Exhibited In The Wing-veins, And Also In The ...
Physical Culture
Physical Culture Is The Development Of The Body By Exercise To Promote And Maintain Good Health Or To Correct Defects Or Weaknesses Of The Body. Benefit To The Body Is The Main Object And Recreation Derived Therefrom Is Incidental. Physical Culture In Its Simplest Form Is Taking Exercises Such As ...
Physical Resources
Physical Resources. Though The Term "physical" Or "natural" Resources Has No Precise Definition, It May Be Taken To Designate Those Things, Inert Substances, Living Organisms And Effective Combinations Or Products Of Natural Forces, Which Men Utilize To Promote Their Material Well-being. An Analytical Classification Of Natural Resources Might Rest On ...
Physical Units
Physical Units. In Order That Our Acquaintance With Any Part Of Nature May Become Exact We Must Have Not Merely A Qualitative But A Quantitative Knowledge Of Facts. Hence The Moment That Any Branch Of Science Begins To Develop To Any Extent, Attempts Are Made To Measure And Evaluate The ...
Physics
Physics. The Old Term "natural Philosophy" Signified An Attempt To Frame A Theory Of That Part Of The Material Universe Which Could Be Explored By Observation And Experiment, And Of Which The Underlying Laws Were Sufficiently Understood To Be Amenable To Mathematical Calculation. The Science Of Biology Was Excluded From ...
Physics In Medicine
Physics In Medicine. The Science Of Physics Con Cerns Itself With Energy In Its Various Manifestations And The Properties Of Matter, And In Consequence Plays A Part In Medicine Whose Value And Importance Are Ever Increasing. It Furnishes Means Of Investigating The Structure Of The Animal Body And The Functions ...
Physiocratic School
Physiocratic School, The Name Of A Group Of French Economists And Philosophers. The Heads Of The School Were Francois Quesnay (q.v.) And Jean Claude Marie Vincent, Sieur De Gournay (1712-1759). The Principles Of The School Had Been Put Forward In 1755 By R. Cantillon, A French Mer Chant Of Irish ...
Physiognomy
Physiognomy, A Term Which Denotes A Supposed Science For The "discovery Of The Disposition Of The Mind By The Linea Ments Of The Body" (bacon); Is Also Used Colloquially As A Syno Nym For The Face Or Outward Appearance, Being Variously Spelled By The Old Writers. Physiognomy Was Regarded By ...
Physiology
Physiology Is The Science Which Treats Of The Functional Working Of The Body In Health, As Opposed On The One Hand To Anatomy Which Treats Of The Structure Of The Body And Pathology Which Treats Of Its Function As Distorted By Disease. In All Forms Of Animal Life Except The ...
Piacenza
Piacenza (lat. Placentia), A Town And Episcopal See Of Emilia, Italy, The Capital Of The Province Of Piacenza, 424 M. S.e. Of Milan And 91 M. N.w. Of Bologna By Rail. Pop. (1931) 46,710 (town), (commune). It Lies On The Lombard Plain, 217 Ft. Above Sea-level, Near The Po, Which ...
Pianoforte
Pianoforte. The Group Of Keyed Stringed Musical Instru Ments, Among Which The Pianoforte Is Latest In Order Of Time, Has Been Invented And Step By Step Developed With The Modern Art Of Music. During The Loth Century The "organum" Arose, An Elemen Tary System Of Accompaniment To The Voice, Consisting ...
Pianoforte Manufacture
Pianoforte Manufacture. There Are Eighty Eight Notes In The Full Compass Keyboard Of The Pianoforte, Which Gives A Range Of 7 4 Octaves. The Fifty-second Note From The Bass End Of The Scale Is Called "pitch C," And Serves As The Standard From Which All The Others Are Tuned. Since ...
Piauhy Or Piauhi
Piauhy Or Piauhi, A North-eastern State Of Brazil, Bounded North And West By Maranhao, East By Ceara., Pernambuco And Bahia, And South By Bahia. It Has A Few Miles Of Atlantic Coast-line On The North, And The Rio Parnahyba Forms The Bound Ary Line With Maranhao Throughout Its Entire Length. ...
Piave
Piave, A River In Italy, Which Played An Important Part In The Latter Period Of The World War On The Italian Front. It Rises Under The Paralba Pass In The Carnic Alps And Flows In A South Westerly Direction Past Belluno As Far As Feltre And Then Turns To The ...
Picardy
Picardy, An Old Province Of France, Bounded North By Hainaut And Artois, On The East By Champagne, On The South By The Ile De France, And On The West By Normandy And The English Channel. Its Maritime Frontier Ran From The Mouth Of The Aa To The Cliffs Of Caux, ...
Picenes
Picenes. The Picenes Do Not Figure At All Prominently In The Writings Of Ancient Historians. They Played A Considerable Role, However, In The Confederacy Of Italian States Which Chal Lenged The Hegemony Of The Growing Roman Republic, And Were Punished At The End Of The Social War By The Complete ...
Picric Acid Or Lyddite
Picric Acid Or Lyddite, Is A Yellow Crystalline Solid Melting At 122.5° C And Owes Its Name To The Intensely Bitter And Persistent Taste Of Its Yellow Aqueous Solution. As Experiments Regarding The Use Of Picric Acid As A High Explosive Were Once Conducted At The Town Of Lydd (sussex), ...
Pictography
Pictography. In The History Of Writing A Very Large Number Of Conventional Marks Are Demonstrably Reductions From Still Older Forms, Which Have Often Developed Out Of Pictographs. Pictography Has Left Its Traces In All Parts Of The World, But Was Most Widely Developed In The New World As A System ...
Pictorial Photography
Pictorial Photography By Pictorial Photography We Mean Photography Applied To The Production Of Pictures In The Accepted Artistic Tradition, But Whether Such Pictures Are To Be Admitted As Art Is A Matter Upon Which The Critics Are Still At Variance. The Subjects With Which Photography Can Deal Most Successfully Are ...
Piedmont
Piedmont (pi-ad'rnont), Is A Territorial Division Of North Italy, Enclosed On All Sides Except Towards The Lombard Plain By The Vast Semicircle Of The Pennine, Graian, Cottian, Mari Time And Ligurian Alps. In 1859 It Was Divided Into The Four Provinces Of Alessandria, Cuneo, Novara And Torino (turin) To Which ...
Pier
Pier. In Architecture (q.v.) It Usually Denotes A Vertical Support In Masonry, Brickwork Or Concrete Which Carries An Arch Or Superstructure. In This Sense It Is Applied Both To Those Por Tions Of A Structure Which Are Visible Above Ground And To Isolated Or Detached Supports Underground Described As Foundation ...
Piero Di Cosimo 1462 1521
Piero Di Cosimo (1462-1521), The Name By Which The Florentine Painter Pietro Di Lorenzo Is Generally Known. He Was Born In Florence In 1462, And Worked In The Bottega Of Cosimo Rosselli (from Whom He Derived His Popular Name). He Had The Gift Of A Fertile Fantastic Imagination, Which, As ...
Pierre
Pierre, The Capital City Of South Dakota, U.s.a., And The County Seat Of Hughes County; In The Centre Of The State, On The East Bank Of The Missouri River Opposite The Mouth Of Bad River, At An Altitude (at The State Capitol) Of 1,496 Ft. It Is On Federal Highways ...
Pierrot
Pierrot [ital. Pedrolino], The Name Given To The Leading Character In The French Pantomime Plays Since The 18th Century; Transferred From The Italian Stage, And Revived Especially In Recent Times. He Is Always In White, Both Face And Costume, With A Loose And Daintily Clownish Garb, And Is Represented As ...
Pietermaritzburg
Pietermaritzburg, The Capital Of Natal, South Africa, 29° 46' S., 3o° 13' E.; Altitude 2,218 Feet. Though Only M. Inland, It Is 73 M. By Rail From The Port Of Durban. The Main Town Is Laid Out On A Low Ridge Between The Umsundusi River And The Dorp Spruit. Suburbs ...
Pietism
Pietism, A Movement In The Lutheran Church, Which Arose Towards The End Of The 17th And Continued During The First Half Of The Following Century. The Name Of Pietists Was Given To The Adherents Of The Movement As A Term Of Ridicule, Like That Of "methodists" Somewhat Later In England. ...
Pietro Della Vigna Or
Pietro Della Vigna Or Pier Delle Vigne [petrus De Vineas Or De Vineis] (c. 1190-1249), Chancellor And Secretary To The Emperor Frederick Ii., Born At Capua In Humble Circumstances, Studied Law At Padua. He Became Secretary To Frederick Ii., Who Made Him Judex Magnae Curiae, Councillor, Governor Of Apulia, Prothonotary ...
Pietro Perugino
Perugino, Pietro (c. 145o-1524), Whose Family Name Was Vannucci, Italian Painter, Was Born At Citta Della Pieve In Umbria, And Belongs To The Umbrian School Of Painting. The Name Of Perugino Came To Him From Perugia, The Chief City Of The Neighbourhood. Pietro Was One Of Several Children Born To ...
Pig Sticking Or Hog Hunting
Pig-sticking Or Hog-hunting Is The Sport Of Chasing The Wild Boar On Horseback With A Spear. From The Earliest Times The Pursuit Of Thi Wild Boar Has Been A Favourite Pastime In Europe But The Modern Sport Of Pig-sticking Is Of Indian Origin. It Is Now Generally Accepted As A ...
Pigeon
Pigeon, A Name Of Norman Introduction For Certain Birds Of The Family Columbae (see Dove). Perhaps The Best Known Species To Which The Name Is Exclusively Applied Is The Passenger Pigeon (ectopistes Migrarius) Of North America. Formerly Nesting In Countless Multitudes In The Then "backwoods" Of Ken Tucky, Ohio, And ...
Pigeon Post
Pigeon Post. The Use Of Homing Pigeons To Carry Mes Sages Is As Old As Solomon, And The Ancient Greeks, To Whom The Art Of Training The Birds Came Probably From The Persians, Con Veyed The Names Of Olympic Victors To Their Various Cities By This Means. Before The Electric ...
Pigments Of Skin And
Pigments Of Skin And Hair. The Pigment Of The Skin, The Pigment Of The Blood, The Pigment Of The Yolk Of The Egg, And The Pigment Of The Butterfly's Wing May Each Be Regarded As Representative Of A Chemical Group Of Colouring Matters, And Into Those Four Groups The Great ...
Pike
Pike, Fresh-water Fishes Generally Distributed Over The Rivers And Lakes Of Europe, Northern Asia, And North America, And Fortning A Small Family (esocidae) Of Soft-rayed Fishes. They Are Recognized By Their Elongate Compressed Body Covered With Small Scales, A Long Head, Long Spatulate Snout, And Large Mouth Armed With Strong ...
Pilgrimage
Pilgrimage, A Journey Undertaken, From Religious Mo Tives, To Some Place Reputed As Sacred. These Journeys Play An Important Role In Most Pre-christian And Extra-christian Religions: In The Catholic Church Their Acceptance Dates From The 3rd And 4th Centuries. The Pilgrimage In Pre- And Non-christian Religions.—to The Germanic Religions The ...
Pillory
Pillory, An Instrument Of Punishment Which Consisted Of A Wooden Post And Frame Fixed On A Platform Raised Several Feet From The Ground, Behind Which The Culprit Stood, His Head And His Hands Being Thrust Through Holes In The Frame (as Are The Feet In The Stocks) So As To ...
Pilotage Laws
Pilotage Laws. The Present General British Pilotage Laws Are Contained In The Pilotage Act, 1913, Which Act Consoli Dated And Amended The Laws Of Pilotage As They Existed Under The Merchant Shipping Act, 1894. On The Passing Of The Former Act, The Board Of Trade, As The Central Authority, Held ...
Pimpernel
Pimpernel (anagallis Arvensis), A Small Herb Of The Prim Rose Family (primulaceae), Called Also Shepherd's Clock And Poor Man's Weather-glass, Native To Europe And Widely Naturalized In North America From Newfoundland To The Pacific Coast And Southward To Mexico. It Is A Delicate Annual With Diffusely Branching Stems, With Small, ...
Pindar
Pindar (gr. Ilivbapos, C. 522-443 B.c.), The Great Lyric Poet Of Ancient Greece, Was Born At Cynoscephalae, In Boeotia, At The Time Of The Pythian Games (fr. 175, 193)i, Which Is Taken By Bockh To Be 522 B.c. He Would Thus Be Some Thirty Four Years Younger Than Simonides Of ...
Pine
Pine, A Name Given By The Ancients To Some Of The Resinous Cone-bearing Trees To Which It Is Now Applied, And, As Limited By Modern Botanists, The Designation Of A Large Genus (pines) Of True Conifers, Differing From The Firs In Their Hard Woody Cone Scales Being Thickened At The ...
Pinehurst
Pinehurst, A Winter Resort In The Long-leaf Pine Region Of The Sandhills Belt Of North Carolina, U.s.a., 75mi. South-west Of Raleigh On Federal Highway 15 And The Norfolk And Southern Railroad, 55oft. Above Sea Level. The 1930 Census Gives The Resi Dent Population As 1,705, And The Number Of Visitors ...
Pinnacle
Pinnacle, In Architecture, Any Vertical, Decorative Motive Serving As The Upper Termination Of A Building Or Other Form ; Hence, Metaphorically, A Summit Or Topmost Limit. The Word Is Distinguished From Finial (q.v.) As Signifying A Larger Motive, Sometimes Of Considerable Complexity, Whereas A Finial Is A Single Ornament, And ...