PIARISTS

sheet of paper, perforated to reproduce a musical selection, is inserted in the player and drawn over a row of small openings. As the perforations admit air into these openings the various hammers are moved and strike the keys of the piano. There are various devices for regulating the speed at which the sheet moves, as well as the strength and duration of the tone. The playing mechanism is also sometimes built into the piano case itself. See HARPS; SPINET.

Pi'arists, religious order in the Roman Catholic Church, whose members take, in addition to the three common monastic vows, a fourth, to devote themselves to the gratuitous instruction of youth; founded at Rome by St. Joseph Casalanza or Calasanctius (1556-1648), a Spanish priest.

Pias'sava Fi'ber, coarse substance used for making brushes and brooms for street sweeping; is exported from Brazil, and produced chiefly from the palm trees, Leopoldinia piassaba and Attalea funifera.

Piaster (pi-as'ter), monetary unit of Turkey, equal to 4 cents U. S. gold; issued in gold pieces of 25, 50, 100, 250, and 500 piasters each; issued in Egypt in both gold and silver pieces, 100 piasters of gold making the monetary unit of one pound, equal to $4.94 U. S. gold; silver coins, 1, 2, 5, 10, and 20 piasters each.

Piazzi (pē-ät'sē), Giuseppe, 1746-1826; Italian astronomer; b. Ponte; joined the order of the Theatines; after being Prof. of Philosophy at several Italian universities, was appointed, 1780, Prof. of Mathematics at Palermo, where he promoted the establishment of an observatory, opened 1791, in which he compiled his famous Catalogue of the Stars." On January 1, 1801, he discovered the planet or asteroid Ceres. Piazzi revised the plan of the new observatory at Naples, of which he was for some time director.

Pi-Be'seth, Hebrew name of BUBASTIS (Ezek. xxx, 17), a very ancient city of Egypt; on Tanitic branch of the Nile, midway between Heliopolis and Tanis. Monumental remains have been discovered which date from the fourth, sixth, twelfth, and succeeding dynasties, as well as others, which indicate that it has a continuous history down to Roman times; may have been the royal residence at the time of Joseph; if so, it corresponds well with the biblical narrative in being near the land of Goshen.

PICHEGRU

astronomical observation; made the first exact measurement of a degree of the meridian (between Amiens and Malvoisine, 1669-71);_was chiefly instrumental in establishing the Paris Observatory; and wrote valuable works.

dering on the English Channel, and divided Pic'ardy, ancient province of N. France, borinto Upper and Lower Picardy; capital was Amiens; conquered by the Franks in the fifth century; formed part of the kingdoms of Soissons and Neustria; afterwards passed to the counts of Flanders, and was divided among several vassal counts; Charles VII reconquered it from the English; now forms the department of Somme and parts of Pas-de-Calais, Aisne, and Oise.

66

66

Piccini (pēt-che'nē), Nicolo, 1728-1800; Italian composer; b. Bari; made, 1754, début as a composer with the opera "Le Donne dispettose"; achieved, 1760, an almost unprecedented success by his opera Cecchina, ossia la buona figliuola "; went, 1776, to Paris and engaged in a musical contest with Gluck, brought about by the directors of the Grand Opera; composed during this period "Roland," Phaon," "Atys," "Iphigénie en Tauride," etc., in all fifteen operas; but, although most of them were received with great enthusiasm, Gluck was victorious, and, other troubles being added to the defeat, Piccini left Paris for Naples, 1791. In Italy he composed several successful operas, "Griselda," "Il Servo Padrone," etc., but the government suspected him of sympathizing with the French Revolution, and, 1798, he returned to Paris, where Bonaparte made him inspector of music at the National Conservatory.

Piccolomini (pik-kō-lō'mē-nē), Italian family, associated with the history of Siena and Amalfi. ENEAS SYLVIUS PICCOLOMINI, 1458, became pope as Pius II. ALESSANDRO (150878), a prelate of Siena, was among the first to use the Italian language in philosophical writings. FRANCESCO (1520-1604), Prof. of Philosophy at Siena and elsewhere, published Universa Philosophia de Moribus."

66

Piccolomini, Ottavio (Prince), 1599-1656; Austrian military officer; of Italian origin; fought in the Thirty Years' War on the imperialist side; won distinction at Lutzen, 1632; aided in overthrowing Wallenstein; fought against the Swedes and in the Netherlands; entered the Spanish service, 1643; was recalled by the emperor, 1648, and made marshal.

Picea (pis'e-a), genus of coniferous trees including about twelve species, known as spruces, all natives of the cooler portions of the N.

Six species are natives of N. America, the best known being Picea canadensis, white spruce; P. mariana, black spruce; P. pungens, Rocky Mountain spruce, and P. engelmanni, Engelmann's spruce. The European P. excelsa is known as Norway spruce.

Pichegru (pēsh-grü'), Charles, 1761-1804; French military officer; b. Arbois; entered the Revolutionary army; commander in chief of the Army of the Rhine, 1793; of the Army of the North, 1794; conquered Holland and or

PICENUM

ganized the Batavian Republic, 1795; resumed command of the Army of the Rhine, but on suspicion of treason was deprived of it, 1796. In 1797 he was president of the Council of Five Hundred, but, his plottings with the émigrés and the Royalist party being discovered, he was arrested, 1797, and transported to Cayenne. In 1798 he esaped to England, where he formed a conspiracy with Cadoudal, the Polignacs, and others against Napoleon's life; repaired secretly to Paris, but was captured, imprisoned, and found strangled in his cell.

Picenum (pi-sē’năm), ancient division of central Italy; on the Adriatic; occupied by the Picentes or Piceni, a Sabine people, who had conquered it from the Umbrians. Among the towns were Ancona, Firmum (now Fermo), Hadria (Atri), Auximum (Osimo), Asculum (Ascoli), and Interamna (Teramo). It was subdued by the Romans, 268 B.C.

Pichincha (pē-chen'chä), volcano of Ecuador, 11 m. WNW. of Quito, 15,924 ft. high. Near it was fought, May 22, 1822, the battle which secured the independence of Ecuador.

Pich'urim Beans, or Sas'safras Nuts, seed lobes of Nectandra puchury (properly Ocotea pichurim), a S. American lauraceous tree. They are used by chocolate makers and others for flavoring. They have a strong taste, resembling nutmeg as well as sassafras.

Pick'ens, Andrew, 1739-1817; American military officer; b. Paxton, Pa.; went to Waxhaw Settlement, S. C., 1752; in Revolutionary War rose to rank of brigadier general, and shared with Marion and Sumter the heroic resistance

in S. Carolina to British and Tory forces. In February, 1779, with 400 men, he defeated Col. Boyd, with 700 Tories, at Kettle Creek, and at battle of Cowpens, 1781, commanded the militia, which he rallied and brought a second time into action after they had been broken and compelled to retreat. He served in Congress, 1793-95; frequently commissioned to make treaties with the Indians.

Pick'erel. See PIKE.

Pick'ering, Timothy, 1745-1829; American statesman; b. Salem, Mass.; 1775 was appointed Common Pleas Judge for the Co. of Essex and sole Judge of the Prize Court for Suffolk, Essex, and Middlesex; took command of a regiment in 1776; served as adjutant in battles of Brandywine and Germantown; was a member of Continental Board of War, 1777, and quartermaster general, 1780. After the peace he became a merchant in Philadelphia; removed to Wilkes-Barre, 1786; delegate to convention for acting on the proposed Federal Constitution, 1787, and to convention for revising the constitution of Pennsylvania, 1789. He was Postmaster General, 1791-95; Secretary of War, January to December, 1795; Secretary of State till May, 1800. In 1802 he was appointed Chief Justice of the Court of Common Pleas for Essex Co., Mass., 1802; U. S. Senator, 1803-11, and member of U. S. House of Representatives, 1813-17; was an ardent Federalist.

PICOT

Pick'ersgill, Frederick Richard, 1820-1900; English figure painter; b. London; became Royal Academician, 1858; keeper of the Royal Academy, 1875-87. His works include "Samson Betrayed," "Death of King Lear," and "The Burial of Harold," which was purchased for the Houses of Parliament.

military officer; b. Richmond, Va.; graduated Pick'ett, George Edward, 1825-75; American at West Point, and assigned to the infantry, 1846; served with distinction in the war with Mexico; on frontier duty, 1848-61; resigned, 1861, and entered the Confederate army; brigadier and major general, 1862. In the Virginia Peninsular campaign, 1862, he led a brigade; continuing thereafter with the Army of Northern Virginia, he was conspicuous for bravery; at Gettysburg his division led the assaulting column which suffered so severely July 3, 1863; commanded in N. Carolina at capture of Plymouth; in campaign of 1864-65 made the final stand at Five Forks, where his division was broken up after a desperate resistance.

Pick'nell, William Lamb, 1853-97; American landscape painter; b. Boston, Mass.; member Society of British Artists; honorable mention, Paris Salon, 1880. His pictures of sunlight effects are remarkably luminous. Works by him are in the Metropolitan Museum, New York; Pennsylvania Academy, Philadelphia; Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, and the collection of the corporation of Liverpool, England.

Pico (pē'kō), one of the Azores Islands, belonging to the central group; area, 254 sq. m.; includes the volcanic mass of Pico Alto, 7,613 ft. high. The island produces an excellent wine. Pop. (1902) 24,425.

66

Pico del'la Miran'dola, Giovanni, COUNT OF MIRANDOLA and PRINCE OF CONCORDIA, 146394; Italian philosopher and mystic; went to Florence, 1484; became intimate with the group of Platonizing thinkers known as the Academy." Seeking to reconcile the Platonic and the Aristotelian systems of philosophy, and, at the same time, to harmonize religion and philosophy, fell into a vague and mystical method of interpretation. The wide range of his knowledge is illustrated by his offer, 1486, to defend against all comers 900 propositions on all things that may be known." enced by Pico's enemies, Pope Innocent VIII forbade the reading of the propositions, as in Pico retired to France, but part heretical. Alexander VI, 1493, absolved him from all taint of heresy. By the great scholars of the time he was regarded as the wonder of the world.

66

Influ

Picot (pē-kō'), François Édouard, 1786-1868; French historical and genre painter; b. Paris; Grand Prix de Rome, 1813; member of the Institute, 1836; first-class medal, Salon, 1819; Legion of Honor, 1852. He was the master of a large number of celebrated painters, including Pils, Cabanel, Bouguereau, and Henner. Among his works are Meeting of Venus and Eneas," Brussels Museum; Cephalus and Procris," Amiens Museum; several portraits in the Museum at Versailles, and ceilings in the Louvre.

PICRIC ACID

Pi'cric Ac'id (called also CARBAZOTIC, TRINITROPHENIC, and NITROPHENISIC ACID), product of the action of nitric acid on complex organic substances. Carbolic acid, salicine, silk, indigo, and a variety of resins yield it when treated with fuming nitric acid. It is used in dyeing silk yellow, and, in conjunction with other dyes, green; also in dyeing leather and in the manufacture of melinite, one of the most powerful explosives; and, because of its intensely

bitter taste, is said to be sometimes substituted for hops in beer.

Picrotox'in, poisonous bitter principle found in the Cocculus indicus of commerce, the berries of the Anamirta cocculus. An infusion of the berries has been used against lice, and the alkaloid has been employed to prevent night

sweats.

Pictet (pēk-ta'), Raoul, 1842- ; Swiss physicist and engineer; b. Geneva; for many years Prof. of Physics in Univ. of that city; best known for his successful attempt to liquefy oxygen and nitrogen, 1877-78. The French physicist Cailletet reported a similar result reached by him independently and by the use of an entirely different method. The priority in this matter was given to Cailletet by the Academy of Science, Paris, because he had previously made a demonstration of his method privately before certain members. These researches led Pictet to the development of the industrial applications of his apparatus for the production of artificial cold.

Picts, ancient people inhabiting the E. coast and lowlands of Scotland; supposed to have been identical with the ancient Caledonians; name picti (painted), probably derived from their custom of painting their bodies. Their incursions proved very troublesome to the Roman portions of Britain. The S. Picts were converted to Christianity early in the fifth century, the N. late in the sixth. They suffered severely for centuries from the invading Scots of Ireland, whose king, Kenneth II, finally subdued them, 843. Singular remains called Picts' houses exist in various parts of Scotland.

Pidj'in- (or Pi'geon-) Eng'lish, artificial dialect employed in Hongkong and the treaty ports of China by foreigners of all nationalities, who do not speak Chinese, in their dealings with native servants, merchants, coolies, etc. Its base is corrupted English, with a mixture of Chinese, Portuguese, and Malay words, arranged according to Chinese idiom. Owing to the difficulty the Chinese have in pronouncing consonantal terminations, vowel terminations -o and -ee abound, as olo for old, wifo for

=

=

wife, talkee for talk, catchee for catch, muchee for much, etc. Belong takes the place of the verb to be; my I, me, mine; plenty very; topside above, upstairs; that side there; this side here; how fashion why; savey = know; man-man slow, gently, quietly; chopchop quick; maskee = no matter, never mind; chow-chow= food, eat, etc. The word pidgin is itself a Chinese corruption of the English word "business."

PIETERMARITZBURG

Piedmont, territory of N. Italy; bounded S. by the Maritime Alps, W. by the Graian and Cottian, N. by the Pennine Alps, E. by the river Ticino; area, 11,336 sq. m. In the twelfth century it became a possession of the house of Savoy, and now it forms, with slightly altered boundaries, a large division of the Kingdom of Italy, subdivided into the provinces of Turin, Cuneo, Alessandria, and Novara.

by geographers to that portion of the N. AmerPiedmont Plain or Plateau', term applied

ican continent which lies W. of the coastal plain and E. of the Appalachian Mountains. These portions are quite strongly contrasted. The dividing line between the two, known as the fall line, marks the localities where the streams from the W. leave the region of hard rocks adjacent to the Appalachians and enter the newer and more easily eroded terranes forming the coastal plain. In New England the Piedmont Plateau is broad but less clearly defined than in the middle and S. Atlantic states, where it is a broken, hilly country, deeply trenched by the rivers flowing across it. It broadens from New York to the S., and reaches its greatest width in N. Carolina, where it extends some 300 m. E. from the Appalachians.

Pierce, Franklin, 1804-69; fourteenth President of the U. S.; b. Hillsboro, N. H.; admitted to bar, 1827; member Legislature, 1829-33 (two last years Speaker); Congress, 1833-37; U. S. Senate, 1837-42; removed to Concord, 1838; commissioned brigadier general, U. S. army, at outbreak of Mexican War; joined the army under Scott at Puebla; fought at Contreras and Churubusco; president New Hampshire Constitutional Convention, 1850; elected President of U. S. (Democrat) by 254 electoral votes to 42 for Gen. Scott, Whig candidate, 1852. Among important events of his administration (1853-57) were the dispute respecting the boundary between the U. S. and Mexico, resulting in the acquisition of Arizona; amicable settlement of a serious dispute with Great Britain about the fisheries; repeal of the Missouri Compromise, and organization of the territories of Kansas and Nebraska under the Kansas-Nebraska Act; reciprocity treaty with Canada; treaty with Japan; and troubles in Kansas. On January 24, 1856, Pres. Pierce sent a message to Congress in which he represented the formation of a free-state government in Kansas as an act of rebellion, and justified the principles of the Kansas-Nebraska Act.

Pierre (pēr), capital of S. Dakota and of Hughes Co.; on the Missouri River; 158 m. W. of Huron; is principal trading point for the large quantities for power and lighting; seat Black Hills section; natural gas is used in of Pierre Univ. (Presbyterian) and of a U. S. Indian industrial school. Pop. (1900) 2,306.

Pietermaritzburg (pē-tér-mãr'its-burkh), capital of Natal; over 2,000 ft. above the sea; on plain watered by a tributary of the Umgeni; 73 m. N. of Durban; connected by rail with the Orange River Colony and the Transvaal; chief buildings, government house and office of colonial secretary; takes its name