P YR 



*210 



P YR 



Pyrenees Perpignan is the chief place of the department. The 



!l forests occupy about 45,000 acres. The contributions in 



Pyrroont. jgOS were 1,810,520 francs, and the population 117,764.. 



dressing they repair to the great promenade or alley, 



which is formed of four rows of lofty limes planted in n "s Acid 



1688. -The alley is 500 feet long and 40 wide. The 



03 were 1,81 u,5!zUTrancs, ami tne popuiauon 11 /,/VT. *v/ u ^..~. 7> _ ",. , , , & . , ? , Pvromalte 



PYRENEES, LOWER, a department in the south of chateau of the prince of Waldeck is very beauti ul. Add 



France, is bounded on the north by the departments of 

 the Landes and the Gers, on the west by the sea and 

 the Pyrenees, on the south by the Pyrenees, and on the 

 east by the department of the Upper Pyrenees, It 

 contains 8072 square kilometers, or 409 square leagues. 

 The department is mountainous, and the scenery grand 

 and picturesque. Its principal productions are maize, 

 corn, flax, wines, pasturage, chesnuts, wood, brandy, 

 and cattle. The mineral products are iron, copper, 

 lead, coal, salt, marble, granite, and alabaster. Its ma- 

 nufactures consist of woollen, linen, and cotton goods 

 and leather. Its chief exports are wine, brandy, pew- 

 ter, iron, salt, cattle, salted meat, and wool. The prin- 

 cipal rivers are the A dour and the Nive. The chief 

 places of the arrondissemens are, 



Population. 



Pau, - - - P,5S3 



Bayonne, - - 13,190 



Ortez, - - - 6,780 



Oleron, 6,738 



Mauleon, - 1,010 



Pau is the capital ot the department. The forests 

 occupy about 150,000 acres. The contributions in the 

 year 1803 were 1,523,760 francs. Population 384,030. 

 See BAYONNE and PAU. 



PYRENEES, UPPER, a department in the south of 

 France, is bounded on the north by the department of 

 the Gers ; on the west by that of the Lower Pyrenees ; 

 on the south by the Pyrenees, and on the east by the 

 department of the Upper Garonne. It occupies 4937 

 square kilometers, or 250 square leagues. Several of 

 its valleys, such as the Aure, the Barege, the Bastan, 

 the Campan, the Cautorets, and the Gavarnie, stretch 

 into the very heart of the Pyrenees, and exhibit much 

 sublime and romantic scenery. In the valleys and 

 on the sides of the mountains, the productions of the 

 department are corn, maize, wines, figs, brandy ; and 

 the minerals are iron, copper, lead and calamine. 

 There are fine mineral springs at Bagneres, Barege, 

 Coutarets, &c. The principal rivers are the Adour and 

 the Gers, beside a number of gam 1 or torrents. The chief 

 places of the arrondisemens are as follows : 



Population. 



Tarbes, - - - - 6777 



Bagneres, - 5962 



Argellez, 810 



Tarbes is the chief place of the department. The 

 forests occupy about 115,000 acres. The contributions 

 in 1803 were 893,637 francs. Population 206,680. 

 See BAREGE. 



PYRENEITE. See MINERALOGY, Index* 

 PYRITES. See MINERALOGY, Index. 

 PYRMONT, a small town of the north-west of Ger- 

 many, and capital of a district of the same name. It 

 is situated in a fine valley, and has a number of good 

 houses. The citadel is fortified with a broad ditch, 

 high ramparts, and subterraneous passages and vaults. 

 This town derives all its importance from its acid* 

 ulous chalybeate springs, which have long been in 

 great repute. So early as 1556 more than 10,000 

 strangers had been attracted to Pyrmont by its waters. 

 The gay season commences in the end of June, and in 

 July the place is most crowded and brilliant. Those 

 who wish to be free from the bustle of that season 

 should go in the beginning of June, or not till August. 

 The company drink the waters at six in the morning, 

 breakfast at nine, dine at twelve or oae ; and after 



Near the well there is a stone quarry under ground, 

 from some parts of which a sulphurous stream rises 

 to a small height. Animals are suffocated by it. It is 

 a good sudorific to those who stand in it, but with 

 their head sufficiently raised above its influence. Po- 

 pulation of the place about 2000. The ingredients of 

 the Pyrmont waters have been already given in our 

 articles MINERAL WATERS, Vol. XIV. p. 381. See the 

 Phil. Trans. No. 448 ; and the Misctll. Berolinens. 

 torn. v. part ii. sect. 4. See Marcard Beschreibung 

 Pyrmont. Leipzig, 1789, 2 vols. and Pyrmonts 

 krvurdiskeiten : eine Skizze fur Reisende und Kur- 



von 



Merktvurdigkeiten 



gasle. Leipzig, 1800, 8vo. 



PYROLIGNOUS ACID, or wood vinegar, is the name 

 given to an acid obtained from ihe destructive distilla- 

 tion of any kind of wood. It has been proved by Four- 

 croy and Vauquelin, that it is merely the acetic acid, 

 with a little empyreumatic oil and bitumen. 



M. Monge first showed that it preserved animal sub- 

 stances from putrefying. It is sufficient to immerse 

 meat or fish for a few seconds in it to preserve it for 

 a long time. Mr. Ramsay of Glasgow, an eminent 

 manufacturer of that acid in the greatest purity, has 

 made many interesting experiments with it, which 

 Dr. Brewster has published in the Eiiin. Phil. Journ. 

 Vol. iii. p. 21. to which we refer the reader. Fish 

 and beef receive a fine flavour from being simply dip- 

 ped in it ; and in warm weather these two substances 

 will keep several days longer if they are merely rub- 

 bed over with it by a sponge. In the same Journal, 

 there is a letter to Dr. Brewster from Dr. Stanley of 

 Whitehaven, stating the excellent antiseptic effects 

 upon meat when exposed to a sea voyage, and to a hot 

 .climate. See Vol. IV. p. 344. 



PYROLITHIC ACID, is the name givrn to a new 

 acid, obtained from the silvery white plates which 

 sublime from uric acid concretions when distilled in 

 a retort. When a solution cf these plates, which are 

 pyrolithate of ammonia, is poured into a solution of 

 subacetate of lead, there falls a pyrolithate of lead, 

 which when well washed with water, is to be decom- 

 posed by sulphuretted hydrogen gas. The liquid 

 which swims at the top, yields by evaporation small 

 acicular crystals of pyrolithic acid. It is soluble in 

 four parts of cold water, melts and sublimes in white 

 needles by heat, reddens vegetable blues ; is dissolved 

 by boiling alcohol, and by nitric acid without change. 

 It forms neutral salts with lime, barytes, potash, soda, 

 and ammonia. The pyrolithate of lime consists of 

 91.4 of acid and 8.6 of lime. The pyrolithic acid is 

 composed of oxygen, 44.32 ; carbon, 28.29 ; azote, 

 16.84; and hydrogen, 1000. 



P\ ROMALIC ACID, the name of a new acid ob- 

 tained from an acid liquid, which passes over into the 

 receiver, when malic or sorbic acid are distilled in a 

 retort. This liquid yields by evaporation crystals of 

 pyromalic acid. 



These crystals are permanent in the air, and melt at 

 118 of Fahrenheit. They are soluble in strong al- 

 cohol, and in twice their weight of water. The solu- 

 tion reddens vegetable blues. This acid forms neutral 

 salts with barytes, potash, ami lead. 



In the original distillation of the malic or sorbic acid, 

 small white needles appear in the neck of the retort, 

 which are considered by M. Lassaigne as a peculiar 

 acid. 



