Pinocle
Pinocle Is A Game Of Cards, Similar To The French Game Of "bezique." It Can Be Played By Two, Three Or Four Persons. Keeps In Mind A Count Of The Cards He Has Taken In Play. They Count As Follows: Aces 11, Tens 10, Kings 4, Queens 3, And Knaves ...
Pinturicchio 1454 1513
Pinturicchio (1454-1513), Italian Painter Of The Umbrian School, Whose Full Name Was Bernardino Di Betto (benedetto) Di Biagio, The Son Of A Citizen Of Perugia, Benedetto Or Betto Di Biagio. He Was Probably A Pupil Of Fiorenzo Di Lorenzo; And The Two Masters Appear To Have Co-operated In The Execution ...
Pipe Rolls Or
Pipe Rolls Or The Great Rolls Of The Exchequer Are A Long Series Of Financial Records Of The English Crown. The First Extant Pipe Roll Is That For The 31st Year Of The Reign Of Henry I. The Continuous Series Begins With The Second Year Of Henry Ii.'s Reign And ...
Pipe Smoking
Pipe Smoking. The Original Source Of The Idea Of Smoking Must Be Sought In The Sense Of Smell. This Was Much Keener In Primitive Man Than In Man Of The More Advanced Stages. With The Pleasure Derived From Aroma, There Was Probably A Sense Of Mystery At The Sight Of ...
Pipil
Pipil, A Dialect Of The Nahuatl Or Aztec Language. In South Ern Mexico, Guatemala And Western Salvador There Are Four Groups Of Indians Who Speak A Nahua Dialect, Related To But More Primitive Than Aztec. These Four Groups Are: (i) Pipil Of Soco Nusco, (2) Pipil Of The Upper Motagua ...
Pippin Iii
Pippin Iii. (d. 768), The Short, Was The Younger Son Of Charles Martel. Before His Death In 741 Charles Martel Had Divided The Frankish Kingdom Between His Two Sons Carloman And Pippin, Giving Carloman The Eastern Part And Pippin The Western. Since 737 There Had Been No King In The ...
Piprawa
Piprawa, A Village On The Birdpur Estate In The Basti Dis Trict, United Provinces, India. It Lies On The Uska-nepal Road At Mile 19.75; And About Half A Mile South Of The Boundary Pillar Numbered 44 On The Frontier Line Between British And Nepalese Territory. The Village Is Celebrated As ...
Piquet
Piquet, A Game At Cards, Probably A Development Of Ronfa, A Game Mentioned By Berni In 1526. The Spanish Name Of The Game Was Cientos (centurn, A Hundred). Piquet Was Played In England Under The Name Of Cent, Probably As Early As 1550. The Dealer Deals 12 Cards To His ...
Pirate
Pirate And Piracy. Sir J. Fitzjames Stephen In His Digest Of Criminal Law Defined Piracy As Follows : "taking A Ship On The High Seas Or Within The Jurisdiction Of The Lord High Ad Miral From The Possession Or Control Of Those Who Are Lawfully Entitled To It And Carrying ...
Pirelli And Co
Pirelli And Co. And Societa Italiana Milano, Italy, Are Now One Of The Largest Industrial Organisations Throughout All Italy, With A Large Number Of International Ramifications, Employing At The End Of 1928 Over 30,000 Hands All Over The World, Specialising In The Manufacture Of Electric Cables, Tyres Of All Descriptions ...
Pirke Aboth
Pirke Aboth, Lit. Chapters Of The Fathers, A Collection Of Proverbs Arranged Chronologically And Giving A Eaten Of Jewish Scholars. The Treatise Belongs To The Ivth Order (neziqin) Of The Mishnah And Deals With The History Of Tra Dition. This, The So-called Oral Law (torah She-be-`al Peh, Deut. Iv. 14 ...
Pisa
Pisa, A Town And Archiepiscopal See Of Tuscany, Italy, Capital Of The Province Of Pisa, On The Arno, 7 M. From The Sea, And 49 M. W. Of Florence By Rail. Pop. (1931) 31,215 (town), (commune). It Retains Its Mediaeval Walls, 61 M. In Circuit; The Citadel Now Contains Barracks. ...
Pisces
Pisces, The "fishes," In Astronomy, The Twelfth Sign Of The Zodiac, Represented By Two Fishes Tied Together By Their Tails, And Denoted By The Symbol X . In Greek Legend Aphrodite And Eros, While On The Banks Of The Euphrates, Were Surprised By Typhon, And Sought Safety By Jumping Into ...
Pisidia
Pisidia, The Name Given To A Country In The South Of Asia, Minor, Immediately North Of Pamphylia, By Which It Was Sepa Rated From The Mediterranean, While It Was Bounded On The North By Phrygia, On The East By Lycaonia, Isauria And Cilicia, And On The West And Southwest By ...
Pistoia Or Pistoja
Pistoia Or Pistoja, A Town And Episcopal See Of Tus Cany, Italy, In The Province Of Florence, From Which It Is 21 M. N.w. By Rail On The Main Line To Bologna, With A Branch To Lucca. Pop. (1931) 16,687 (town) ; 70,397 (commune). It Is Situated On A Slight ...
Pistol
Pistol, A Small Fire-arm Designed For Quick Work And Personal Protection At Close Quarters, And For Use In One Hand. It Was Originally Made As A Single- And Also Double-barrelled Smooth Bore Muzzle-loader, Involving No Departure In Principle From The Ordinary Fire-arms Of The Day. With The Introduction Of Revol ...
Pitchblende Or Uraninite
Pitchblende Or Uraninite, A Mineral Species Con Sisting Essentially Of Uranium Oxide, Of Importance As A Source Of Uranium And Radium. It Is A Very Heavy (specific Gravity 9.o 9.7), Compact Mineral With A Conchoidal To Uneven Fracture, And A Brownish To Velvet-black Colour And Pitchy Lustre. Crystals Are Rare; ...
Pitcher Plants
Pitcher Plants, In Botany, The Name Given To Plants In Which The Leaves Bear Pitcher-like Structures Or Are Pitcher-like In Form. The Plant Generally Un Derstood By This Name Is Nepen Thes, Family Nepenthaceae, A Genus Containing Nearly 6o Spe Cies, Natives Of Tropical Asia, North Australia And (one Only) ...
Pitchstone
Pitchstone, In Petrology, A Glassy Igneous Rock Having A Resinous Lustre And Breaking With A Hollow Or Conchoidal Frac Ture (ger. Pechstein, From Its Resemblance To Pitch). It Differs From Obsidian Principally In Its Rather Dull Lustre, For Obsidian Is Bright And Vitreous In Appearance ; Pitchstones Also Contain Water ...
Pitts First Ministry
Pitt's First Ministry Finance.—finance Was The First Consideration. There Was A Heavy Debt And The Fiscal Machinery Was Antiquated. Pitt Floated A Loan Of 16,000,000, Offering The Tenders To Public Competition, And Funded L6,600,000 Of The Floating Debt. The Loss To The Revenue Which Had Long Resulted From The Systematic ...
Pittsburgh
Pittsburgh (sometimes, But Erroneously, Spelled Pitts Burg), The Second Largest City Of Pennsylvania, U.s.a., And The County Seat Of Allegheny County, On The Allegheny, Monongahela And Ohio Rivers, 440m. By Rail W. By S. Of New York City, 348.5m. W. By N. Of Philadelphia, 368m. N.w. Of Washington And 468m. ...
Pittsfield
Pittsfield, A City Of Western Massachusetts, U.s.a., The County Seat Of Berkshire County; On Federal Highways 7 And 20, And Served By The Boston And Albany And The New York, New Haven And Hartford Railways. Pop. (1920) 41,763 (20% F Oreign Born White) ; 1930 Federal Census 49,677. It Occupies ...
Piura
Piura, A Coast Department Of Northern Peru, With Area 15,239 Sq.m.; Pop. (est. 1927) 300,000. The Department In Cludes Mountainous Areas In The North (cerros De Amatope) And East (cordilleran Sierra) And A Great Desert (sechura) In The South. The Chief Rivers Are The Chira, A Permanent Stream, And The ...
Pius Ii
Pius Ii. (enea Silvio De Piccolomini, Known In Literature As Aeneas Silvius), Pope From 1458 To 1464, Was Born On Oct. 18, 1405, At Corsignano (later Called Pienza After Him) Near Siena. His Family Claimed To Trace Descent From Romulus. The Eldest Of 18 Children, He Worked On The Farm ...
Pius Iv
Pius Iv. (giovanni Angelo Medici, Or "medighino"), Pope From 1559 To 1565, Was Born At Milan On March 31, 1499. He Began His Career As A Lawyer, But Later Entered The Service Of Piul Iii., Who Made Him A Cardinal In 1549. In The Protracted Conclave That Followed The Death ...
Pius Ix
Pius Ix. (giovanni Maria Mastai-ferretti), Pope From 1846 To 1878, Was Born On May 13, 1792 At Sinigaglia, The Fourth Son Of Count Jerome And Countess Catherine Vollazi ; The Family Of Mastai Was Of Ancient Descent, And The Title Of Count Came To It In The 17th Century, While ...
Pius V
Pius V. (michele Ghislieri), Pope From 1566 To 1572, Was Born On Jan. 17, 1504, In The Milanese. At The Age Of Fourteen He Became A Dominican Monk. He Was Appointed Inquisitor In Como, Where His Zeal Provoked Such Opposition As To Compel His Recall (155o). The Chief Inquisitor, Caraffa, ...
Pius Vi
Pius Vi. (giovanni Angelo Braschi), Pope From 1775 To 1799, Was Born At Cesena, On Dec. 27, 1717. After Taking The Degree Of Doctor Of Laws He Went To Ferrara And Became The Private Sec Retary Of Cardinal Ruffo, In Whose Bishopric Of Ostia And Velletri He Held The Post ...
Pius Vii
Pius Vii. (luigi Barnaba Chiaramonti), Pope From 1800 To 1823, The Son Of Count Scipione Chiaramonti And The Deeply Religious Countess Ghini, Was Born At Cesena On Aug. 14, 174o (not 1742). He Entered The Benedictine Monastery Of St. Mary At Cesena, And Held Various Teaching Appointments In The Colleges ...
Pius X
Pius X. (giuseppe Sarto), Pope From Aug. 4, 19o3, To Aug. 20, 1914, Was Born Of Humble Parents On June 2, 1835, At Riese In The Province Of Treviso, Italy, And Studied At The Episcopal Seminaries Of Treviso And Padua, Being Ordained Priest In 1858. For 17 Years He Acted ...
Pius Xi 1857 1939
Pius Xi. (1857-1939), Pope From 1922 To 1939, Was Born On May 31, 1857, At Desio, North Of Monza, In The Environs Of Milan, On The Road To Como, And Was Named Ambrose Damien Achille. His Father Was Francesco Ratti, The Manager Of One Of The Great Silk Factories Of ...
Pius Xii 1876
Pius Xii (1876- ) Was Elected Pope On His 63rd Day, March 2, 1939, And Was Crowned On March 12. He Was Born In The Palazzo Pediconi, Via Degli Orsini, In Rome. The Second Of The Four Children Of Filippo Pacelli, He Was Given The Baptismal Name Of Eugenio. His ...
Place Names
Place-names. Ancient Historians Often Speculated Upon The Meaning Of Place-names, Inventing Persons Who Are Presumed To Have Been The First Founders Of The Country And To Have Left Their Mark On Its Nomenclature. But It Is Only Within The Last Half Century That Attempts Have Been Made To Lay The ...
Placenta
Placenta, The Organ By Which The Embryo Is Nourished Within The Womb Of Its Mother. When The Young One Is Born The Placenta And Membranes Come Away As The "afterbirth." The Human Placenta Is A Circular Disk About 7 Or 8 In. In Diameter And 14 In. In Thickness At ...
Plagioclase
Plagioclase, An Important Group Of Rock-forming Min Erals Constituting An Isomorphous Series Between Albite Felspar And Anorthite Felspar. The Intermediate Members Are Soda-lime Felspar Which In Their Crystallographical, Optical And Other Physi Cal Properties Vary Progressively Between The Two Extremes, Albite (ab) And Anorthite (an) The Name Plagioclase Is Derived ...
Plague
Plague, In Medicine, A Term Formerly Given To Any Epidemic Disease Causing A Great Mortality, But Now Confined To A Specific Infectious Fever Caused By B. Pestis. History To 1880.—the First Historical Notice Of The Plague Is Contained In A Fragment Of The Physician Rufus Of Ephesus, Who Lived In ...
Plains Indians
Plains Indians. The Tribes Of The Central Portion Of The North American Continent, On The Open Plains And Parkland Prairies Extending From Alberta And Saskatchewan To Texas And From The Rocky Mountains Almost To The Mississippi River, Formed A Natural Unit, Both In Environment And Culture. Essentially, This Territory Is ...
Plainsong Or Plain Chant
Plainsong Or Plain Chant. A General Term For A Certain Style Of Unisonal Music, Comprising Chiefly The Church Music Called "gregorian" Which Belongs To Rome, And That Called "ambrosian" Which Hails From Milan. But The Other Western Collections Of Church-music, Much Less Well-known Than These, And A Good Many Groups ...
Plane
Plane. The Simplest Definition Of Plane Given By The Greek Geometers Is That Of Heron Of Alexandria (c. 20o) :—a Surface "such That If A Straight Line Passes Through Two Points On It, The Line Coincides Wholly With It At Every Spot, All Ways." Crelle (1834) Defined It As The ...
Planet
Planet (gr. 7-xavirns, A Wanderer). The Term Was Applied In The Ancient Ptolemaic Or Geocentric Astronomy To The Seven Heavenly Bodies Which Were Observed To Change Their Places As Pro Jected Against The Background Of The So-called Fixed Stars. These Bodies Were The Sun, The Moon, Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter ...
Planetarium
Planetarium Is The Name Given To An Arrangement, Made By Zeiss Of Jena, For Producing An Artificial Sky. By Optical Methods Images Of The Sun, Moon, Planets And Stars Are Projected On A Large Hemispherical Dome And By Mechanical And Electrical Means The Apparatus Can Be Revolved So As To ...
Plankton
Plankton Is The Name Which Is Now Given To The Drifting (and Usually Microscopic) Life Contained In The Waters Of The Seas, Lakes, Ponds And Streams. Its Study Was Begun, Just Prior To 1845, By The Great German Zoologist, Johannes Muller, In The Sea Round Heligoland. Associated With Willer, In ...
Plant Breeding
Plant Breeding. The First Object Of Plant Breed Ing Is To Produce New Varieties Superior To One Or More Of The Old Ones. Superiority Means Agricultural Superiority And Is Measured By Net Monetary Return Per Acre. It May Be Sought In Many Direc Tions, Of Which Yielding Capacity And Quality ...
Plants Of The Palaeozoic
Plants Of The Palaeozoic Period In This Great Division Of Geological Time The Oldest Rocks Which Contain Evidence Of Contemporary Plant Life Were Laid Down. The Various Groups Of Plants Present In The Palaeozoic Will Be Treated In Systematic Order While The Distribution And Succession Of The Floras Will Be ...