232 ROYAL SOCIETY OF CANADA 



Pilote. — Name of a fish caught at sea, mentioned by Champlain in connection 

 with his voj^age of 1611; evidently the well-known Pilot flsh. 



Pin. — French name for the European Pines without distinction of species, 

 extended to the American species, where, however, it was applied to 

 the conspicuous and valuable White Pine in particular. Used by all 

 writers from Cartier, in 1534, onwards. Denys distinguished petits pins, 

 which are, very likely, Red Pines. 



Pine. — Used by the early English voyagers in the forms pyne, and even 

 Pine-apple tree (Parkhurst, 1578). Pineapple is an old English name 

 for the cone of the Pine. 



Pinperneau, or Pimperneaux.— Name of a fish mentioned in the Hakluyt 

 translation of Rotaerval's voj^age of 1542. Baxter discusses its identity, 

 showing' that it belonged to the Sparidae, a group of European spiny 

 fishes, and he concludes the name was applied in Canada to the Yellow 

 Perch. This conclusion I do not think is likely to be correct, for in 

 the first place the Yellow Perch is far too insignificant as a food fish 

 to be mentioned in the same list with the others which it accompanies; 

 and in the second place the Perch was a very well-known fish to the 

 French, for which they had a familiar name Perche, as Champlain 

 shows. A much more probable explanation I take to be this. There 

 is a certain rather marked resemblance between the list of fishes given 

 by Cartier in 1535 (compare Baxter, 188 with 240) and that in Rober- 

 val's voyage, and in a general way the Pmperneau of one stands in the 

 place of the Sartres of the other. Now both the Sartre and the Pin- 

 perneau belong to the same family, the Sparidae, and hence I take it 

 they are identical, Pinperneaux being the translator's word for the 

 Sartres of the French. This would make the latter the Cunner, not 

 a fresh-water fish, but it is quite possible the phrase, "and other 

 fresh-water fish," is not meant to include the Pinperneau. There is 

 an old English word, Pimpernol, meaning a small eel, which, however, 

 is apparently a different word. 



Piquebois. — See Beche-bois. 



Pisque Penay. — See Chicamins. 



Pitois, or Putois. — French name for the European Polecat, which does not 

 occur in America, applied by Denys to an animal which his description 

 seems to show is the Mink. The identification is reflected in the scien- 

 tific name of the Mink, which is Putorius. The Acadians call this ani- 

 mal Foutreav, which may be a corruption of Putois. La Hontan gives 

 among the northern animals " Fontereaux, an amphibious sort of little 

 Pole-cat," which is perfectly in accord with this identification, while, 

 moreover, the Canadian French call the Mink Foutereau to this day, 

 according to Mr. Thompson Seton. 



Pivert, or Pyvert. — French name for the woodpeckers, used by Champlain 

 in 1632, generically, for those of America. The Canadian French, ac- 

 cording to Professor Dionne, apply Pivart to the Golden Wing. 



