PURSLANE 



4875 



PYGMALION 



purple toga, the royal decrees of the Byzan- 

 tine empire are said to have been written with 

 purple ink, and we still use the expression ''the 

 purple" to convey the idea of rank or au- 

 thority. 



The Romans discovered a process for mak- 

 ing a purple dye from a variety of lichen and 

 kept the process secret for more than a century. 

 Now purple dyes are made from coal-tar prod- 

 ucts. See COLOR. 



PURSLANE, purs' layn, commonly known as 

 pursley, or pulsey, a trailing weed which grows 

 in warm regions in various parts of the world. 

 It is a short-lived annual plant and bears in- 

 conspicuous yellow flowers that open only in 



PURSLAM: 



(a) Stalk and leaves; (b) seed, highly magni- 

 fied; (c) the weed as It appears, growing close 

 to the ground. 



the early part of the day. The young shoots of 

 th plant are sometimes eaten in salads or 

 pickled. Purslane is classed as a herb and be- 

 longs to the portulaca family. 

 PUT 'NAM, ISRAEL (1718-1790), an American 



jot who saw active service in the colonial 

 and Revolutionary wars. He was born in Old 

 Salem, Mass, (the present Danvers), and set- 

 tled in Connecticut as a farmer and wool- 



er. During the last French and Indian 

 War (1754-1763), in which he rose to the rank 

 of major, he was captured by a band of French 

 and Indians and exchanged only after suffering 



1 torture. Toward the close of the strug- 



lic led a Connecticut regiment in an 

 pedition to the West Indies. Throughout th 

 iry period Putnam showed him- 

 self a most zealous opponent of British tyranny. 

 serving as chairman of one of the coininr 

 of correspondence '\\hich see). 



ard the news of the Battle of Lexing- 

 ton while he was working in the field. :m<l. 



mg his plow, he started at once for Cain- 

 bridge and allied himsHf with th- cause of 



the colonies. For six years he gave his best 

 sen-ices to the cause of American liberty, re- 

 tiring only when an attack of paralysis made 

 him an invalid. In the Battle of Bunker Hill 

 he displayed conspicuous courage. Commis- 

 sioned a major-general by Congress, Putnam 

 gave Washington valuable aid in the operations 

 about New York and in New Jersey, and his 

 last command was in the Highlands. At Hart- 

 ford, Conn., there is a fine monument in his 

 honor, the work of J. Q. A. Ward. 



PUTREFACTION, pu trefak'shun, the de- 

 composition into simple elements which takes 

 place in dead tissue of plants and animals un- 

 der the influence of bacteria, everywhere pres- 

 ent in the lower air, in water and on the earth 

 (see BACTERIA AND BACTERIOLOGY). Putrefaction 

 is another term for decay. When the decom- 

 posing substances are proteids, ptomaines and 

 ill-smelling gases are generally produced; thus. 

 sulphureted hydrogen is the characteristic poi- 

 sonous and bad-smelling gas of rotten eggs. 

 Putrefaction is aided by warmth, moisture and 

 exposure to air, but very high and very low 

 temperatures interfere with its progress. Ac- 

 cording to this principle, meats are kept fresh 

 in cold storage, and milk is heated to boiling 

 and protected from the air to prevent its be- 

 coming sour. Certain antiseptics arrest the 

 progress of putrefaction. 



Related Subject*. Various phases of this 

 subject are treated In these volumes In the fol- 

 lowing articles : ' 



Antiseptic Food Products, 



Cold Storage Preservation of 



Fermentation Pasteur, Louts 



Ptomaines 



PUTTY, put' i, a cement made of whiting 

 (fine chalk) and boiled linseed oil, used to fill 

 cavities in wood finishing and to fasten win- 

 dow panes in sashes. For inside work, white 

 lead is often added, together with a little tal- 

 low to keep the mixture from getting too hard. 

 A formula for a cheap and good putty is as 

 follows: Mix equal parts of finely ground whit- 

 ing and whitr lead with enough linseed oil to 

 make a thick liquid, then add whiting or com- 

 imnial putty until the mixture has the de- 

 sired thickness. 



PYGMALION, pig ma 'Icon, a mythical Gre- 



sculptor who became so disgusted with thr 



wickedness of the women of his native town 



that he scorned them all and refused to marry. 



All tin- lo\v which he should have given to a 



worn to his art, and as a punishment 



: that In- should fall in love with 



