208 



PITTSFIELD 



PITS 



said to have cost the English government 60,000. 

 The settlement liceame a Imrongh in 1804, and in 

 1816 the borough "as incorporated as the city of 

 Pittsburgh. Pop. (1X10) 4708; (1840) 21,115; 

 (1870) 86,076 (with Birmingham. 1-M,799); (1880) 

 l.i;.:iV: i Mm -_':is,617 ; ( 1900) :l.t>iii. 



Pittsfleld, capital of Berkshire county, Massa- 

 chusetts, 151 miles hy rail \V. of Baton. Beaiiti 

 fully situated on a plateau where six Jakes round 

 the city give rise to the Housatonic River, it con- 

 tains a marble court-house, a handsome atuenipum, 

 and a ladies' seminary, and has a tine park near it* 

 western border. Cotton and woollen goad*, silk, 

 IMIOIS and shoes, and tacks are manufactured. 

 1'i.p. ( 1860) 8045 ;( 1880) 13,364; (1900)21,766. 



PittstOll, city 'f Pennsylvania, on the Sus- 

 <|iifhaiiiiii Kivei . s miles Ky rail' N K. of \Vilkeslmrre. 

 It U in lii" ceiine of a field of anthracite coal, and 

 has cxteiiMvc mining interest... l.e>ides other indus- 

 tries. It i-> -oniH'i 'ted by electric trams with Wilkes- 

 barre, <.Vc., ami I'.v scu'-ral bridges with West Pitts- 

 ton. 1'op. { ISHKi') 1-2,556. 



Pituitary Body, a rounded body of the size 

 of a small bean situated in the sella turcica in the 

 sphenoid bone on the floor of the cavity of the skull. 

 It contains small cavities lined by epithelium. It 

 is not known to possess any function. It derives 

 its name from it having been once supposed to 

 secrete the fluid which is now known to be yielded 

 by the Schneiderian or pituitary membrane of the 

 nostrils (see NOSE). It is composed of two parts, 

 the one a downgrowth from the floor of the third 

 ventricle of the brain, the other an upgrowth from 

 the pharynx, from which it has become completely 

 separated. A disease called acromegaly is by some 

 supposed to result from enlargement of this gland. 



Pit Villain's are collections of earth-caves, 

 dug in the ground and covered with stones, wooden 

 or wattle lids, or clay or sods of turf. They were 

 used by prehistoric races or by races at the lowest 

 stages of barbarism. A good example was un- 

 earthed during the latter half of the 19th century 

 near St Mary Bourne, north-east of Andover, in 

 north-western Hampshire. The pits are reached 

 by entrance shafts, sloping downwards. The pits 

 themselves are oval or pear-shaped, varying be- 

 tween 22 and 42 feet in length, and are aliout 12 or 

 13 feet wide, and 5 feet high, with the fireplace in 

 the centre. Flint and lx>ne implements and rude 

 pottery have been found in them. 



Pit.vri'sisis (from the Greek word pityron, 

 'bran ) is the term given to certain of the squam- 

 ous or scaly diseases of the skin, in which there is 

 a continual throwing oil' of bran-like scales of epi- 

 dermis, which are renewed as fast as they are 1..-I. 

 It is most common on the scalp, when it is known 

 as dandrif, and must be treated with weak alka- 

 line lotions, or, if these fail, with diluted white 

 precipitate ointment, provided there is no inflam- 

 mation. Pityruui* ruora is a severe disease, affect- 

 in;; the whole or almost the whole Uxly, ami closely 

 allied to, if not identical with, a severe form of dry 

 Kc/.ema ( q. v. ). Pityriasit or Tinea verticolor is due 

 to the presence of a parasitic fungus, the Mum 

 iporonfurfurani ; it occurs in the form of irregular 

 yellowish or brownish patches, confined t<> the 

 part* of the body covered by the clothes. Micro- 

 scopic examination of the exfoliated scales shows 

 the spores and filaments of the fungus. The treat- 

 ment of this affection must lie solely local. Prob- 

 ably the l>est remedy is the application of a satu- 

 rated watery solution of sulphurous acid gas, or ol 

 one of the sulphites dissolved in diluted vinegar, or 

 of white precipitate ointment. 



Pius, the name of nine among the Romar 

 pontiffs, of whom the following only appear to cali 

 lor particular notice. Pit's II., originally known 



is Mnens Sylvius, was a member of the noble 

 'amily of Piccolomini, and was U>rn in 1405 at 

 .'orsignano near Siena. His early life was stained 

 with moral irregularities, and, like other humanists 

 if his time, he wrote licentious poems, letters, and 

 at least one loose novel Lvcretia and Euryalus. 

 At twenty six he was employed as secretary to 

 liomenico da Capranica, Bishop of Fenno. at the 

 Council of Basel. He soon develojied a genius fur 

 liplomacy, and from 1432-35 was employed in 

 missions to Scotland, England, and Germany. 

 Returning to Basel he sided with the council in 

 its conflict with the pope, and on the election of the 

 Mitipope, Felix V., was chosen as his secretary, lint. 

 liaving been sent on an einliassy to the Kimieror 

 Frederick III., he was without difficulty induced 

 to accept oHice in the imperial court, and served on 

 several embassies and other missions of importance 

 on In-half of the emperor. Up tijl this time he had 

 lived a life of unrestrained self-indulgence, but at 

 the age of forty his passions had burned themselM - 

 out, and he was able to take orders and make his 

 peace with Rome the only means of obtaining a 

 reward adequate to his ambition. He won over 

 Pope Eugemus IV. hy the frankness of his apology 

 and earned his gratitude by his adroitness in bring- 

 ing back to the papacy the" allegiance of the neutral 

 German Church. Almost the last act of the pontiff 

 was to reward him with the bishopric of Trieste. 

 It was not, however, till the end of 1456 that 

 yEneos was free to leave the uncongenial atmo- 

 sphere of Germany. Nicholas V. had employed 

 him without rewarding him, but Callistus III. 

 created him a cardinal. On the death of Callistus 

 in 1458 he was elected pope, and took the name of 

 Pius II. He possessed a marvellous power of 

 adapting himself to circumstances, and tne profli- 

 gate and shifty intriguer made a most decorous 

 pope. He was embarrassed by contests alioiit 

 Neapolitan and German affairs, but his reign is 

 chiefly memorable for his efforts to organise an 

 armed confederation of Christian princes to resist 

 the progress of the Turkish arms. He died at 

 Ancona, 14th August 1464, his last momenta 

 darkened by the failure of his great scheme. 

 ./Eneas Sylvius was one of the most eminent 

 scholars of his age. His works were published 

 at Basel (1 vol. fol. 1551), and consist chiefly of 

 histories, or historical dissertations and materials 

 of history. The most interesting of his writings, 

 however," are his letters, which throw a vivid 

 light upon their age. The same may lie said 

 of a biographical commentary, or rather autobio- 

 graphy, published under the name of the copyist 

 Gobellinus, and apparently altered by his secretary 

 Campanus. 



See Voigt'g Life (3 vola. Berlin. 1856-63); also two 

 by Bishop Creighton in Maemtilan't Mwmziur, 



voTxxvii., and vol. ii. (1882) of hii Hiitory of tht 

 fa/acy during the Reformation. 



PlUS IV., Giovanni Angelo Medici, was born of 

 humble parents at Milan in 1409, was educat<xl at 

 Bologna, and under Paul III. rose rapidly to be 

 Archbishop of Ragusa, vice-legate of Bologna, and 

 cardinal (lf>49). He was elected pope at the close 

 of 1559. His reign is chiefly memorable as that in 

 which the protracted delilwrations of the Council 

 of Trent were brought to a close. The famous 

 Creed of Pius IV., or Tridentim- Creed, was COM 

 tinned hy a bull dated 26th .January 1564. 1'ius 

 died, December 8, 1565, in the arms of his nephew, 

 St Charles Borromeo. 1 1 is ( '01 respondence with the 

 Kmpcror Maximilian II. has lieen edited by Schwarz 

 (I'aderborn, 1889). 



PITS V.. originally named Michele Ghislieri, 

 was iMirn of poor parent*, in the village of Bosco, 

 ia, in 1504, and at the age of four- 



near Alessandria, 



teen entered the Dominican order. 



His merit was 



