PEGASUS 



Pegasus. In astronomy, one of 

 the constellations. It is easily 

 recognizable by the four stars 

 which mark a great square, and is 

 contiguous to the Zodiacal con- 

 stellations Pisces and Aquarius. 

 The top left-hand corner of the 

 square is not in Pegasus, but in the 

 constellation of Andromeda. The 

 others are Alpha, Beta, and Gamma 

 Pegasi, whose ancient names were 

 Markab, Scheat, and Algenib. 

 The constellation contains a num- 

 ber of variable stars, double 

 stars, and a well-known stellar 

 cluster. 



Peggotty. Name of a family in 

 Charles Dickens's novel David 

 Copperfield. Clara is always called 

 Peggotty to distinguish her from 

 Clara, David Copperfield's mother. 

 The devoted nurse of David, she 

 marries Barkis the carrier, who is 



Daiiel Peggotty in France, looking 

 for Little Em'ly 



From the drawing by Fred. Barnard 



" willing " to enter into matrimony 

 with her after sampling her cook- 

 ery. Daniel Peggotty, her brother, 

 is a kind-hearted boatman who 

 searches the Continent for his niece, 

 LittLj Em'ly, after her elopement 

 with James Steerforth. 



Pegmatite (Gr. pegma, any- 

 thing fastened together). In geo- 

 logy, a vein of quartz and felspar, 

 etc., occurring in granite rocks. 

 Pegmatites occur as dikes or veins 

 in granite masses, and often con- 

 tain valuable minerals, e.g. garnet, 

 beryl, boron, uranium, cerium, 

 etc., as well as oxide of iron. They 

 are sources of the supply of felspar 

 for porcelain ware, for mica, etc. 



Pegoud, ADOLPHE (1887-1915). 

 French airmaR. ;He came into 

 prominence by his daring and sen- 

 sational experiments in flying. He 

 was the first airman to fly upside 

 down, at Juvisy, Sept. 1, 1913, and 

 three weeks later he first looped 



A. Pegoud, 

 French airman 



6O28 



the loop. He 

 gave exhibi- 

 tion flights in 

 France and 

 England, 

 1913-14, and 

 on the out- 

 break of the 

 Great War 

 joined the 

 French flying 

 corps. He 

 was killed near Belfort in an aerial 

 fight, Aug. 29, 1915. 



Pegu. Div., dist., and town of 

 Burma. The div. comprises the 

 lowland N.W. of the Gulf of Marta- 

 ban, across the valley of the lower 

 Sittang to that of the Irawadi 

 above the delta. The dist. occupies 

 the W. side of the lower valley 

 of the Sittang, and rice is the sole 

 crop. The town is on the Pegu 

 river and is the rly. junction N.E. 

 of Rangoon for the lines to Moul- 

 mein and Mandalay. It was 

 formerly the capital of the Pegu 

 empire, overthrown by Burma, 

 1757. Area, division, 13,258 sq. m. ; 

 district, 4,404 sq. m. Pop. division, 

 2,074,000 ; district, 429,000 ; town, 

 17,000. 



Peiho OR HAIHO. River in Chih-li 

 prov., China. It rises in the spurs 

 of the Inshan Mts., and after an E. 

 course it turns S.E. and, flowing to 

 the W. of Peking, empties at Taku 

 into the Gulf of Chih-li The Peiho, 

 with the other rivers that join it 

 at Tientsin, 47 m. from its mouth, 

 drains an area of 56,000 sq. m., and 

 is liable to extensive floods. By 

 the peace protocol of 1901 the 

 Chinese government undertook 

 to improve the condition of the 

 river below Tientsin. 



Peipus OR OZERO CHUDSKOE. 

 Lake of N.W. Russia. It lies be- 

 tween Esthonia and Russia, and 

 is divided into three parts, Lake 

 Peipus proper, Lake Pskov, and 

 the so-called Warm Lake, a narrow 

 channel connecting the two. Its 

 total length is 90 m., and it dis- 

 charges its waters into the Gulf of 

 Finland by the Narova. In early 

 times it formed the chief frontier 

 between the Slavs and the Finnish 

 Chuds, whence its local name, lake 

 of the Chuds. Its fish supply local 

 markets and Petrograd. 



Peiraeus. Seaport of ancient 

 Greece, now com- 

 monly spelled 

 Piraeus (q.v.). 



Peiresc, NICO- 

 LAS (1580-1637). 

 French scholar 

 and scientist. A 

 great traveller, he 

 visited England, 

 where he made 

 the acquaintance 

 of Camden, the 



PEKAN 



historian, and Cotton, the anti- 

 quary. He formed an extensive 

 collection of coins and medals, was 

 interested in natural history, bot- 

 any, and astronomy, and was cred - 

 ited with several discoveries bv his 

 friend and biographer Gassendi. 



Peirithous. In Greek legend, 

 king of the Lapithae (q.v.). He led 

 his army to battle with Theseus, 

 but on seeing each other the two 

 leaders embraced, and thereafter 

 became the firmest of friends. 

 Among the distinguished guests 

 whom Peirithous invited to his 

 marriage with Hippodamia were 

 the Centaurs (q.v.). One of them 

 offered violence to the bride, and 

 was slain by Theseus. The result 

 was a general battle, in which 

 many of the Centaurs were killed. 

 After the death of Hippodamia, 

 Peirithous and Theseus carried off 

 Helen from Sparta, and Helen fall- 

 ing to the lot of Theseus, the two 

 friends then descended into Hades 

 to carry off Proserpine or Perse- 

 phone as a wife for Peirithous. 

 They were seized by Pluto, from 

 whom Theseus was afterwards res- 

 cued by Hercules, but Peirithous 

 remained for ever in chains. 



Peisistratus OR PISISTRATUS. 

 Tyrant of Athens (560-527 B.C.). 

 A kinsman of Solon, he at first 

 supported his relative ; but, being 

 ambitious of power, allied himself 

 with the " Men of the Mountains," 

 the poorest and most dissatisfied 

 class in Athens. .Appearing one 

 day in the market-place covered 

 with blood, he declared that he 

 must have an armed bodyguard. 



The guard was voted to him by 

 his supporters, and when it had in- 

 creased from 50 to 400 men he 

 seized the Acropolis and assumed 

 the supreme power. Though twice 

 driven out by opposing factions, 

 by 545 he firmly established him- 

 self as autocrat of Athens. His 

 rule was enlightened and benefi- 

 cent. He was a patron of art. 



Peiziere. Village of France, in 

 the dept. of Somme. It lies 1 m. 

 N. of Epehy, and was prominent in 

 the Great War, being captured by 

 the British 3rd corps, Sept. 18, 

 1918. See Epehy, Battle of. 



Peka,n(Martespennanti). Fisher- 

 marten, wood-shock or black fox 

 of N. America. It is a carnivorous 



Pekan, the large North American marten 



