PISTACHIO 



U'.SI 



PITMAN 



ering a large number of supporters; with this 

 strength he seized the Acropolis in 560 B. c. and 

 declared himself tyrant of At lions. Solon died 

 shortly thereafter, and Pisistratus endeavored 

 to carry out his Constitution, but in five years 

 was forced by his opponents to leave the coun- 

 try. He was twice reestablished, permanently 

 about 540 B.C., and on his death he entrusted 

 his two sons, Hippias and Hipparchus. with the 

 power he laid down. 



As a whole, the reign of Pisistratus was dis- 

 tinguished for its beneficence, its support of the 

 poor and its patronage of literature. The schol- 

 ars gathered at his court prepared a new edi- 

 tion of the poems of Homer. From the state 

 revenue he was enabled to construct magnifi- 

 cent buildings and improve the water supply; 

 the idle were set to work on plantations, and 

 the poor were provided with food and clothing. 

 Temples were erected to Dionysus at Limnae 

 and at the foot of the Acropolis, and to Athena, 

 also on the Acropolis; the Lyceum was built, 

 and the magnificent temple to the Olympian 

 Zeus was begun. See GREECE, subtitle H-istory. 



PISTACHIO, pistah'shio, or pista'shio, a 

 small tree native to Syria, cultivated chiefly in 

 countries bordering on the Mediterranean Sea. 

 ;chio nuts, the stones of the olivelike fruit 

 of the tree, are valued for their bright green, 

 oily kernels, the delicious flavor of which makes 

 them popular for flavoring candies, cakes and 

 ices. Oil pressed from them is used in cooking. 

 The tree is a member of the pistacia genus, 

 which contains several other valuable species. 

 Among these is the turpentine tree, which yields 

 a honeylike, greenish-yellow liquid called Cy- 

 prus turpentine. An agreeable gum resin is ob- 

 tained from the batoum tree, found in North- 

 ern Africa. Another species, native to Cochin- 

 China, is the source of a fragrant oil used in 

 flavoring ointments. 



PITCAIRN, pit'kairn, ISLAND, an island 

 belonging to Great Britain, situated in the Pa- 

 cific Ocean. It was first colonized by nine of 

 the members from the Bounty mutiny, who 

 with six men and twelve women, natives of 

 Tahiti, landed there in 1790. Treachery and 

 debauchery resulted for a few years. In 1800 

 all the men were dead except John Adams, who 

 did his best to establish a successful and prop- 

 erly-conducted colony. In 1830 the islanders 

 removed to Tahiti, but returned to Pitcairn in 

 a year. In 1856 the islanders were all taken to 

 Norfolk Island, but two families soon returned 

 and were followed by others. The population 

 is now about 220. 



The soil of the island is fertile and produces 

 : potatoes, yams, melons, bananas, coffee 

 and arrowroot. Goats and chickens are plenti- 

 ful and run wild. The natives speak a Tahitian 

 dialect, but most of them understand English. 



PITCH. See TAR. 



PITCHBLENDE, pitch' blend. See RADII M. 



PITCH'ER PLANTS, a family of plants the 

 leaves of which are so constructed as to form 

 a trap for insects. The common pitcher plant 

 of North America, which grows in bogs and 

 swamps from Labrador south to Florida, is typi- 

 cal of the group. By a curious folding together 

 of their margins, the leaves of this plant form 

 hollow, pitcherlike receptacles, in which rain 

 water collects. At the mouth of each pitcher 

 is a thick growth of bristly hairs, all pointing 

 downward and inward, and when insects, at- 

 tracted by a sweet secretion within the rim, fly 

 into the trap, they are unable to turn back be- 

 cause of the hairs, and so are drowned. Tin 

 entrapped insects are absorbed by the plant as 

 food (see CARNIVOROUS PLANTS). Local names 

 of the plant are side-saddle flower, huntsman'* 

 cup and Indian dipper. Its flowers grow singly 

 on long, slender stems, and are deep reddish- 

 purple in color and globe shaped. A .related 

 species, found on the Pacific coast, has pitcher 

 traps so large that they capture small birds 

 and field mice. 



An illustration of this plant appears in the arti- 

 cle BOTANY, page 858. 



PIT 'MAN, SIR ISAAC (1813-1897), an English 

 educator who was knighted by Queen Victoria 

 for his invention of the system of shorthand 

 writing which is known by his name. He was 

 born at Trowbridge, in Wiltshire, studied at 

 the normal college of the British and Foreign 

 School Society at London, and in 1832 began 

 teaching at Barton-on-Humber. Later he taught 

 at Wotton-under-Edge and at Bath, but after 

 1843 devoted himself entirely to developing his 

 system of phonography, or shorthand, which 

 was first given to the public in 1837 in his 

 Stenographic Sound-Hand. This was not the 

 first shorthand method invented, but it was so 

 much superior to all that had preceded it that 

 it practically superseded all earlier efforts. From 

 1842 until his death Pitman published the 

 weekly Phonetic Journal, and he took a keen 

 interest in spelling reform, publishing several 

 pamphlets on that subject. 



There are two systems of Pitman shorthand 

 writing, that by Isaac Pitman and a later adap- 

 tation by Ben Pitman; the latter, an American. 

 has popularized his work in the United States, 



