Purification
Purification. Purification Denotes The Processes Em Ployed To Prepare Individuals Or Communities For Contact With Persons Or Things Otherwise Dangerous, Or To Prevent The Conse Quences Of Contact With Such Persons Or Things. To Deal First With The Latter Aspect, A Man May Unwittingly Violate A Tabu And Such Is ...
Purim
Purim, A Jewish Festival On Adar 14 And 15, To Commemorate The Deliverance Of The Jews From Haman, The Minister Of Ahasuerus (artaxerxes?), As Related In The Book Of Esther (lit. Lots, Heb. Ts, Esther Iii. 7; Ix. 24, 26, Possibly From Assyrian Guru, Stone Or Vedic Piirti, Portion) : ...
Puritanism
Puritanism. The Name Puritan, "would-be Purifier," Was Applied In England About 1564 To Groups Who Disapproved Of Queen Elizabeth's Choice Of A Middle Path Between Rome And Geneva, And Sought Further Purification Of The Church Of England. Originally Scornful, Puritan Has Become, Particularly In New England, A Term Of Honor. ...
Purnea
Purnea, A Town And District Of British India, In The Bhagal Pur Division Of Behar And Orissa. The Town Is On The Little River Saura, With A Railway Station. Pop. (1931) The District Of Purnea Has An Area Of 4,972 Sq.m. And A Population (1931) Of 2,186,543, Extending From The ...
Purpura
Purpura, A Pathological Condition In Which Blood Leaves The Smaller Blood-vessels And Is Deposited In The Tissues In Patches, Which, If Minute, Are Termed "petechiae," If Large, "ecchymoses." The Condition Depends Upon An Alteration Of The Blood Itself, Particularly The Blood-platelets ; Coagulation Time Is Prolonged And The Plasma Often ...
Purveyance
Purveyance Was A Prerogative Of Purchasing Goods For The Royal Household, Enjoyed By All English Kings Up To Charles Ii. Certain Officers Attached To The King's Court Were Charged With The Duties Of Buying And Arranging For The Cartage Of Goods Where Necessary, The Ancient Prerogative Of The King Entitling ...
Pusa
Pusa, A Village Of British India, In Darbhanga District, Bihar And Orissa, Near The Right Bank Of The Burh Gandak River; And 6 M. From The Pusa Road Station On The Bengal And North-western Railway. The Government Acquired An Estate Here In 1796, Long Used As A Stud Depot And ...
Puteoli
Puteoli, An Ancient Town Of Campania (mod. Pozzuoli, Q.v.), Italy, On The Northern Shore Of The Bay Of Puteoli, A Portion Of The Bay Of Naples, From Which It Is 6 M. W. The City Was Probably Founded Under The Name Of Dicaearchia By A Colony Of Samians From Cumae ...
Putting The Shot
Putting The Shot, The Modern Form Of Stone Putting, Practised At The Irish Tailteann Games, Began 1829 B.c. The Adop Tion Of A Shot In Preference To A Heavy Stone Was Suggested By The Use Of Such A Missile At Military Sports Meetings Which Had Access To An Assortment Of ...
Puyallup
Puyallup, A City Of Washington, U.s.a. It Is Served By The Great Northern, The Northern Pacific And The Union Pacific Railways. (1920) 6,323 (87% Native White) ; 1930 It Was I 7,094. It Is In A Fertile Region, Famous For Its Berries, And Has Three Large Fruit-canning And Pre-cooling Plants, ...
Pycnogonida
Pycnogonida, Also Known As Pantopoda Or Podoso Mata, A Small Group Of Marine Arthropoda Characterized By A Very Small Body And Disproportionately Long Legs. The Facts That There Are Usually Four Pairs Of Legs And, Typically, A Pair Of Chelate Or Pincer-like Appendages In Front Of The Mouth, Have Led ...
Pygmy
Pygmy, A Term For A Diminutive Human Being. Homer, In The Iliad (iii. 6) Uses It Of A Race Of Tiny Folk Dwelling In A Far Southern Land, Whither The Cranes Fly When Inclement Winters And Piercing Frosts Visit The Northern Shores. Fierce Battles Were Often Mentioned By Later Writers ...
Pylos
Pylos (mod. Navarino), A Town And Bay On The West Coast Of Messenia, Noted Chiefly For The Part It Played In The Pelopon Nesian War. The Bay, Roughly Semicircular, Is Protected By The Island Of Sphacteria (mod. Sphagia), Over 21 M. Long. To The North Lies The Lagoon Of Osman ...
Pyorrhoea
Pyorrhoea Is A Term Used To Designate Any One Of A Group Of Diseases (periodontoclasia Or Pyorrhoea Which Attack The Gums And Bone Around The Teeth. They Include Ula Trophia (recession Of The Gums), Gingivitis (inflammation Of The Gums), Alveolar Resorption (wasting Of The Bony Socket), Perice Mentoclasia (pus Pocket ...
Pyramid
Pyramid, The Name For A Class Of Buildings, First Taken From A Part Of The Structure,' And Mistakenly Applied To The Whole Of It By The Greeks, Which Has Now So Far Acquired A More Definite Meaning In Its Geometrical Sense, That It Is Desirable To Employ It In That ...
Pyrazoles
Pyrazoles, In Organic Chemistry A Series Of Compounds Containing A Five-membered Ring With Three Carbon Atoms United To Two Adjacent Nitrogen Atoms Arranged As In Formula (i.), Which Represents The Structure Of Pyrazole Itself. 4-aminopyrazole, Which Resembles The Aromatic Bases; It Gives A Colour Reaction With Bleaching Powder Solution And ...
Pyrenees
Pyrenees, A Range Of Mountains In South-west Europe (span. Pirineos, Fr. Pyrénees), Separating The Iberian Peninsula From France, And Extending For About 240 M., From The Bay Of Biscay To Cape Creus, Or, If Only The Main Crest Of The Range Be Considered, To Cape Cerbere, On The Mediterranean Sea. ...
Pyrenees Orientales
Pyrenees-orientales, A Department Of South-west Ern France, Bordering On The Mediterranean And The Spanish Frontier, Formed In 1790 Of The Old Province Of Roussillon And Of Small Portions Of Languedoc. The Population, Which Includes Many Spaniards, Numbered (1931) 238,647. Area, 1,598 Sq.m. The Department Is Bounded North By Ariege And ...
Pyridine
Pyridine, Is A Liquid Organic Base Formed During The Destructive Distillation Of A Great Variety Of Nitrogenous Organic Substances Such As Bone, Coal, Shale And Lignite. It Has Been Detected In Crude Petroleum And Fusel Oil, And Is Also A Charac Teristic Decomposition Product Of Various Alkaloids (q.v.) Either Heated ...
Pyrite Or Pyrites
Pyrite Or Pyrites, A Term Applied To Iron Disulphide When Crystallized In The Cubic System. The Original Word Pyrites (from Gr. Rop, Fire) Had Reference To The Fact That Sparks Might Be Elicited On Striking The Mineral Violently, As With Flint, So That Irvpirns Wog Meant A Stone Which Struck ...
Pyrolusite
Pyrolusite, A Mineral Consisting Essentially Of Manganese Dioxide Of Importance As An Ore Of Manganese. It Is A Soft, Black, Amorphous Mineral, Often With A Granular, Fibrous Or Columnar Structure, And Sometimes Forming Reniform Crusts. It Has A Metallic Lustre, And A Black Or Bluish-black Streak, And Readily Soils The ...
Pyrones
Pyrones, In Chemistry A Group Of Heterocyclic Compounds Containing A Six-membered Ring Composed Of Five Carbon Atoms And One Oxygen Atom. Substances Containing The Pyrone Nucleus Occur In Nature; For Example, Coumarin, The Odoriferous Principle Of The Tonka Bean, Contains A Pyrone Residue And So Also Do Me Conic Acid, ...
Pyrophyllite
Pyrophyllite, A Mineral Species Composed Of Hydrous Aluminium Silicate, It Occurs In Two More Or Less Dis Tinct Varieties, Namely, As Crystalline Folia And As Compact Masses; Distinct Crystals Are Not Known. The Folia Have A Pronounced Pearly Lustre, Owing To The Pres Ence Of A Perfect Cleavage Parallel To ...
Pyroxene
Pyroxene, In Mineralogy, An Important Group Of Rock F Orming Minerals Very Similar In Chemical Composition And Gen Eral Characters To The Amphiboles (q.v.). The Name (from Gr. Irvp, Fire, And Stranger) Was Originally Given By Haily In 1796 To The Augite (q.v.) Of The Lavas Of Vesuvius, In The ...
Pyrrhus
Pyrrhus (c. 318-272 B.c.), King Of Epirus, Son Of Aeacides, And A Member Of The Royal Family Of The Molossians. He Claimed Descent From Pyrrhus, The Son Of Achilles, And Was Also Connected With The Royal Family Of Macedonia Through Olympias, The Mother Of Alexander The Great. He Became King ...
Pyrrole
Pyrrole, In Chemistry A Comparatively Simple Organic Base Containing Four Carbon Atoms And One Nitrogen Atom, United To Form A Five-membered Ring (formula I.). Its Tetrahydro Compound, Pyrrolidine, Has A Similar Cyclic Structure (formula Ii.) But With Four Additional Hydrogen Atoms. Pyrrole And Pyrrolidine Are Of Great Significance In Connection ...
Pyruvic Acid Or Pyroracemic
Pyruvic Acid Or Pyroracemic Acid, An Ex Tremely Reactive Organic Acid Employed In The Synthesis Of De Rivatives Of Aryl-cinchonic Acids Including Phenylcinchonic Acid (acidum Phenylcinchonicum, U.s. Pharmacopoeia), Which Is Also Known As Phenoquin Or Atophan, Used In Neuralgia, Sciatica Or For The Elimination Of Uric Acid In Gout And ...
Pythagoras
Pythagoras (6th Century B.c.), Greek Philosopher, Was A Native Of Samos And Flourished About 532 B.c. He Is Said To Have Been A Pupil Of Pherecydes (q.v.). He Left In Ionia The Reputation Of A Learned And Universally Informed Man. "of All Men," Says Heracleitus, "pythagoras, The Son Of Mnesarchus, ...
Pytheas
Pytheas, Of Marseille (massilia), Greek Navigator And Geographer, Was Probably Contemporary With Alexander The Great ; His Work Is Lost, And We Are Left In The Dark As To Its Form And Character, But The Various Titles Under Which It Is Quoted (e.g., Rijs Ireplobos, Or Ta. Repi 7-6 12keavol)) ...
Python
Python, A Genus Of Snakes Of The Family Boidae. The Snakes Of This Genus Are Very Large And Are Found Throughout The Tropical Regions Of The Old World; They Are Distinguishable From The Boas, With Which They Are Often Confused, By The Presence Of An Extra Bone In The Skull ...
Qain
Qain Is The Administrative Headquarters Of The Very Extensive District Of Qainat, The South-eastern Portion Of The Province Of Khurasan In Persia. This District Has The Province Of Kerman On The South And Extends Eastwards To The Frontier Of Afghani Stan. The Region In Which Qain Is Situated Consists Mainly ...
Qairiv An
Qairiv An, The Sacred City Of Tunisia, 36 M. South By West By Rail From Susa, And About 8o M. Due South From The Capital. Qairwan Is Built In An Open Plain A Little West Of A Stream Which Flows South To The Sidi-el-hani Lake. Qairwan, In Shape An Irregular ...
Qais
Qais, An Island In The Persian Gulf Lying About 1 O M. Off The Mainland Of Persia In 54° E. ; It Is The Site Of A Trade Emporium Of Great Importance In Former Times. The Island Measuring Io M. By 5 M., Rises 120 F T. Above Sea Level ...
Qaraites Or Karaites
Qaraites Or Karaites (hebr. Bene Miqra', Sons Of The Scripture), A Mediaeval Jewish Sect Claiming To Return To Primitive Judaism By Restoring The Scriptures To Their Rightful Place Now Usurped By Tradition (the Oral Law). Neither His Torically Nor Spiritually Have They Any Connection With The Sad Ducees, The Samaritans ...
Qishm
Qishm, Styled By The Arabs As Jazirat-at-tawilah Or Long Island, The Oarakta Of The Ancients, The Largest Island In The Persian Gulf, Is Situated In The Strait Of Ormuz And Separated From The Mainland Of Persia By Clarence Strait, 2 To 15 M. In Width. The Island Has An Extreme ...
Quackery
Quackery, The Pretensions Or Practice Of A Boastful Pre Tender To Skill Which He Does Not Possess, Especially Medical Skill. Although This Dictionary Definition Does Not Attach The Condition That The Quack Practises For Gain, Such Is Usually The Fact. The Existence Of Quackery Pre-supposes Four Factors (i) An Evil, ...
Quadrilateral
Quadrilateral, In Geometry, A Figure Formed By Four Straight Lines. It Is Said To Be Plane Or Skew According As The Four Lines Do Or Do Not Lie In One Plane. Quad Rilateral Is Also A Military Term Applied To A Combination Of Four Fortresses Mutually Supporting Each ,other. The ...
Quaestor
Quaestor (lat. Quaerere, To Investigate), A Roman Magis Trate Whose Functions, In The Later Times Of The Republic, Were Principally Financial, Although He Was Originally Concerned With Criminal Jurisdiction. The Quaestorship Was Probably Instituted In 509 B.c. Simultaneously With The Consulship. The Number Of Quaestors, Originally Two, Was Successively Increased ...
Qualitative Pluralism
Qualitative Pluralism In The First Place The Term "pluralism" May Have A Qualitative Meaning. One Of The Oldest Problems Of Philosophy Is That Which Concerns Itself With The Question Whether The Ultimate Funda Mental Stuff, Which Is The Ground Of Reality, Is A Single Substance Or Includes A Number Of ...
Qualities
Qualities. Primary Qualities Of Matter Are, Mainly, The Spatio-temporal Ones, Such As Shape Or Motion; Secondary Ones Are The Sensible Qualities, Such As Colour Or Smell. "tertiary Qualities" Is A New And Convenient Term, Introduced By Bosanquet, Among Others, To Designate What Are Commonly Called The Ultimate Values, Beauty, Goodness, ...
Quantitative Pluralism
Quantitative Pluralism Quantitative Pluralism Includes All Those Theories Which Hold Reality To Be Made Up Of A Number Of Relatively Independent Sub Stantial Entities, Each Of Which Exists, At Any Rate To Some Extent, In Its Own Right. Quantitative Pluralism Is Thus Sharply Contrasted With Those Forms Of Singularism Or ...
Quantity Theory Of Money
Quantity Theory Of Money. A Summary Form Of Expression For Two Allied But Distinct Propositions Relating To The Causes Of Changes In The Value Of Money. The Broader Propo Sition Referred To Is That, Other Things Being Equal, Changes In The Value Of Money Are Dependent Upon Changes In The ...
Quarrying
Quarrying, The Art Of Winning Or Obtaining From The Earth's Crust The Various Kinds Of Stone Used In Construction, Road Building And The Various Manufacturing Processes For Which Rock Minerals Are Employed, The Operation Being, In Most Cases, Con Ducted In Open Workings. There Are Two Distinct Types Of Quarry ...
Quarter Squares
Quarter Squares. Among The Labour-saving Devices For Multiplying Is One Which Seems To Be Of Hindu Origin And Which May Be Stated As Follows : To Find The Product Of Two Numbers, Take The Difference Between A Quarter Of The Square Of Their Sum And A Quarter Of The Square ...
Quartermaster
Quartermaster, A Commissioned Officer Of A Unit Whose Chief Duty Is The Care Of The Stores, Rations, Equipment, Etc. Quartermasters Were Mentioned As Early As 1447, And Were Found On The Regimental Lists Of The Army In Ireland In 1660. The Former Title Was "harbinger's Clerk," The Quartermaster-general Being Styled ...
Quartz
Quartz, A Widely Distributed Mineral Species, Consisting Of Silicon Dioxide, Or Silica, Si02. It Is The Commonest Of Minerals, And Is Met With In A Great Variety Of Forms And With Very Diverse Modes Of Occurrence. The Various Forms Of Silica Have Attracted Attention From The Earliest Times, And The ...
Quartz Porphyry
Quartz-porphyry, In Petrology, The Name Given To A Group Of Hemi-crystalline Acid Rocks Containing Porphyritic Crystals Of Quartz In A More Fine-grained Matrix Which Is Usually Of Micro-crystalline Or Felsitic Structure. In The Hand Specimens The Quartz Appears As Small Rounded, Clear, Greyish, Vitreous Blebs, Which Are Crystals (double Hexagonal ...
Quartzite
Quartzite, In Petrology, A Sandstone Which By The Deposit Of Crystalline Quartz Between Its Grains Has Been Compacted Into A Solid Quartz Rock. As Distinguished From Sandstones, Quartzites Are Free From Pores And Have A Smooth Fracture, Since When Struck With The Hammer They Break Through The Sand Grains, While ...
Quaternary
Quaternary, In Geology, The Time-division Which Corn Prises All The Time Which Has Elapsed From The End Of The Pliocene To The Present Day. The Term Was Proposed By J. Desnoyers In 1829. The Quaternary Is Thus The Fourth Of The Great Time-divi Sions In The Geological Scale—the Primary Or ...
Quaternions
Quaternions Is The Algebra Of Vectors—quantities, Like Force, Velocity And Acceleration, That Have Both Magnitude And Direction. Ordinary Numbers (scalars) Have Merely Magnitude. All Positive Numbers (integral, Fractional Or Irrational) May Be Represented By The Points Of A Straight Line Lying On One Side Of Some Point 0 Which We ...
Quebec
Quebec, A Province Of The Dominion Of Canada, Is Situated West And North-west Of The Provinces Of Nova Scotia, New Bruns Wick And Prince Edward Island, And Is Bounded On The East By That Part Of The Labrador Coast Which Belongs To Newfoundland And The Gulf Of St. Lawrence; On ...
Queensland
Queensland, A State Of The Commonwealth Of Australia, Occupying 670,500 Sq. Miles (22.54%) In The North-east Of The Continent. A Coast-line Of 3,00o Miles—after That Of Western Australia The Longest Of Any Individual State—bounds It On The North From The Gulf Of Carpentaria And On The North-east And East From ...
Quelpart
Quelpart (chai-ju), An Island To The South Of Korea, Used As A Korean Penal Settlement. It Measures 4o M. From East To West And 17 From North To South. It Rises Gradually From The Seaboard, Is Heavily Wooded And Is Cleared For Cultivation To A Height Of 2,000 F T. ...
Queretaro
Queretaro, A City Of Mexico, Capital Of The State Of Queretaro, 167 Miles By Railway N.w. Of The National Capital. Pop. (1930) 32,585, Including A Large Indian Element. Queretaro Is Served By The Mexican Central Railway. The City Stands On A Plain At The Foot Of The Cerro De Las ...
Quetta
Quetta, The Capital Of British Baluchistan, India, Which Also Gives Its Name To A District. It Rose To Prominence In 1876, When Sir Robert Sandeman Founded A Residency There. The Name Is A Variation Of The Word Kwat-kot, Signifying A Fortress, And The Place Is Still Locally Known As Shal ...
Quiche
Quiche, The Most Important Indian Nation In Guatemala At The Time Of The Spanish Conquest. To-day The Quiche Tongue, A Maya Dialect, Is Spoken By About 275,000 Pure-blooded Natives Throughout The Departments Of Quiche, Quezaltenango, Totoni Capan, Retalhuleu And Sacatepequez. Quiche History And Tradition Are Preserved In A Book Known ...
Quicksilver
Quicksilver, A Common Name For Mercury (q.v.). Quietism, A Complicated Religious Movement That Swept Through France, Italy And Spain During The I7th Century. Its Chief Apostles Were Miguel De Molinos, A Spaniard Resident In Rome; Fenelon, The Famous French Divine, And His Country Woman, Madame Jeanne Marie Guyon. Quietism Was ...
Quilimane Or Kilmane Quelimane
Quelimane, Quilimane Or Kilmane, A Town Of Portuguese East Africa, In 18° 1' S., 36° 59' E., 14 M. Inland From The Mouth Of The River Quelimane Or Quaqua (rio Dos Bons Signaes). The River During The Rainy Season Becomes A Deltaic Branch Of The Zambezi, With Which It Is ...
Quince
Quince, A Fruit-tree Concerning Which Botanists Differ As To Whether Or Not It Is Entitled To Take Rank As A Distinct Genus, Cydonia, Or As A Section Of The Genus Pyrus (family Rosaceae, Q.v.). The Name Cydonia Vulgaris Is To Be Preferred To Pyrus Cydonia. Bailey Gives Five Varieties Of ...
Quincy
Quincy, A City Of Norfolk County, Massachusetts, U.s.a., On Massachusetts Bay, Just South Of Boston, Occupying 16.77 Sq.m. Between The Neponset River On The North And Fore River On The South. It Is Served By The New York, New Haven And Hartford Railroad. Pop. 47,876 In 1920, 29% Foreign-born White; ...
Quinine
Quinine, The Most Important Alkaloid Contained In Cin Chona Bark (see Cinchona, Alkaloids Of). Physiological Action.—our Knowledge Of This Subject Is Mainly Due To Professor Binz Of Bonn. Quinine Is A Bactericide, Many Bacteria Being Killed By A .2% Solution, But Is More Definitely Poisonous To Minute Animal Organisms Especially ...
Quinoline
Quinoline Is A Colourless, Highly Refractive Oil, Of Spe Cific Gravity 1.095, And B.p. 239° C. It Has A Peculiar Character Istic Smell And Is Only Slightly Soluble In Water, But Freely Sol Uble In The Usual Organic Solvents. It Is Alkaline To Litmus. As A Mono-acid Base It Forms ...
Quinones
Quinones In Organic Chemistry A Group Of Compounds Derived From The Aromatic Hydrocarbons And Containing Two Ketonic Groups, Co. (see Ketones.) The Quinones Are Of Two Fold Importance, First As Being Intermediates In The Manufacture Of Synthetic Dyes, And Secondly As Forming The Basis Of A Theory Of Colour Among ...
Quintilian Marcus Fabius Quintilianus
Quintilian [marcus Fabius Quintilianus] (c. A.d. Roman Rhetorician, Was Born At Calagurris In Spain. The Years From 61 To 68 He Spent In Spain, Probably In The Retinue Of The Future Emperor Galba, With Whom He Returned To The Capi Tal. For At Least 20 Years After The Accession Of ...
Quito
Quito, The Capital Of The Republic Of Ecuador, And Of The Province Of Pichincha, Situated In Lat. O° 14' S., Long. 45' W., About 114m. From The Pacific Coast And 165m. In A Direct Line North-east Of Guayaquil, With Which It Is Connected By A Railway Completed In 1908. In ...
Quo Warranto
Quo Warranto, In English Law, The Name Given To An Ancient Prerogative Writ Calling Upon Any Person Usurping Any Office, Franchise, Liberty Or Privilege Belonging To The Crown, To Show "by What Warrant" He Maintained His Claim, The Onus Being On The Defendant. It Lay Also For Non-user Or Misuser ...
Quoits
Quoits, A Pastime Resembling The Ancient Discus-throwing Which Formed One Of The Five Games Of The Greek Pentathlon (see Discus), The Two Main Differences Between The Ancient And Modern Sports Being That The Quoit Is Ring-shaped (one Surface Being Rounded, The Other—the Back—being Flat) And Is Lighter Than The Discus, ...
Rabah Zobeir
Rabah Zobeir (d. 1900), The Conqueror Of Bornu (an Ancient Sultanate On The Western Shores Of Lake Chad, Included Since 1890 In British Nigeria), Was A Half-arab, Half-negro Chief Tain. He Was Originally A Slave Or Follower Of Zobeir Pasha (q.v.), And Is Said To Have Formed One Of The ...
Rabat
Rabat (ribat), A City On The Atlantic Coast Of Morocco, In 3' N., 46' W., 13o M. S. Of Cape Spartel, On The Southern Side And At The Mouth Of The Bu-regreg, Which Separates It From Sale On The Northern Bank, Administrative Capital Of The French Protectorate, Seat Of The ...
Rabban Bar Sauma
Rabban Bar Sauma (fl. 1280-1288), Nestorian Travel Ler And Diplomatist, Was Born At Peking About The Middle Of The 13th Century. He Started On A Pilgrimage To Jerusalem, And Travelling By Way Of Tangut, Khotan, Kashgar, Talas In The Syr Daria Valley, Khorasan, Maragha And Mosul, Arrived At Ani In ...