Pepi OR PEPY. Name of two 

 Egyptian kings of the Vlth dynasty. 

 Pepi I, the Phiops of Manetho, 

 during a vigorous reign of 50 years, 

 worked the Sinai turquoise mines 

 and the Assuan granite quarries, 

 and undertook a maritime ex- 

 pedition up the Palestine coast. At 

 Hieraconpolis Quibell unearthed a 

 life-size bronze of him, with eyes of 

 brilliant inlay, and an inscribed 

 sceptre of pure copper. 



Peppermint. Branch with foliage 

 and flowers. Inset, single flower 



Pepin OR PIPPIN. Name of 

 three Frankish rulers. Pepin I was 

 mayor of the palace to the king of 

 Australia early in the 7th century. 

 His grandson, Pepin II, or Pepin 



Pepper Tree. Leaves and iruit. 

 Inset, flowers 



ot Heristal, made himself the most 

 powerful person in the Frankish 

 kingdoms, both of which, Neustria 

 and Austrasia, came under his 

 power, although he did not de- 

 throne the existing kings. He died 

 Dec. 16, 714. His grandson, Pepin 

 the Short, was the son of Charles 

 Martel and the father of Charle 

 magne. In 751 he removed the 

 Frankish king, Childeric, and made 

 himself king, thus 'paving the way 

 for the empire of Charlemagne. He 

 died Sept. 24, 768. See, Caro- 

 lingians ; France ; Franks. 



Pepper (Piper nigrum). Climb- 

 ing shrub of the natural order Pi- 

 peraceae. It is a native of the E. 

 Indies, and has a wavy stem and 

 large, broad oval, alternate leaves. 



605 1 



The 'minute flowers without se- 

 pals or petals are crowded in 

 hanging sprays. The little round- 

 ish red fruits ultimately become 

 black, when they are the pepper- 

 corns of commerce. Ground to 

 powder they form black pepper ; 

 white pepper is produced from fruit, 

 of which the outer fleshy coat has 

 been removed before ripening. 



Peppercorn. Berry of the pep- 

 per plant, used as a synonym for 

 something of little or no value. A 

 peppercorn rent is a term in 

 English law for a nominal rent. 



Pepper Hill. Hill of France 

 more generally known as Poivre 

 Hill (q.v.), or La Cote dn Poivre. 



Peppermint (Menlha piperita). 

 Strong-scented perennial herb of 

 the natural order Labiatae. It is 

 a native of Europe, and has creep- 

 ing underground stems which send 

 vertical branches into the air. The 

 opposite, coarsely toothed leaves 

 are oval or broad lance-shaped, the 

 flowers purple, in loose spikes. Oil 

 of peppermint, extensively used in 

 medicine as a gastric stimulant in 

 certain forms of dyspepsia, is dis- 

 tilled from the leaves. See Mint. 



Pepper-root (Dentaria diphyl 

 la). Perennial herb of the natural 

 order Cruciferae. It is a native of 

 N. America, and has a long branch- 

 ing rootstock. The leaves are 

 divided into three oblong-oval, 

 coarsely toothed leaflets, and the 

 four-petalled flowers are white. The 

 crisp rootstock has a hot, pungent 

 flavour like that of watercress. 



Pepper Tree (Drimys aroma- 

 lica). Small aromatic evergreen 

 tree of the natural order Magnolia- 

 ceae. A native of Tasmania, it has 

 oblong leaves with transparent 

 dots, and white flowers, the sexes 

 being separate. The many-seeded, 

 globular fruit is sometimes used as 

 a substitute for pepper, but all 

 parts of the tree are pungent to the 

 taste. See Peruvian Mastic Tree. 



Pepsin (Gr. pepsis, cooking). 

 Enzyme or ferment present in the 

 gastric juice of the stomach. It 

 acts upon protein, the essential 



constituent of meat, converting it 

 into simpler substances in the pro- 

 cess of digestion. Pepsin only acts 

 in this way in the presence of free 

 hydrochloric acid. For medicinal 

 purposes it is extracted from the 

 stomach of freshly killed pigs and 

 the rennet bags of sheep. See Di- 

 gestion ; Pancreas. 



Peptones. Substances formed 

 from protein by the action of pep- 

 sin in the gastric juice, or trypsin 

 in the pancreatic secretion, during 

 digestion. They help to nourish and 

 build up the tissues. See Protein. 



Pepys, SAMUEL (1633-1703). 

 English diarist and admiralty offi- 

 cial. Born in London. Feb. 23. 



Pepper. Leaves 

 flower sprays. 



and pendulous 

 Inset, fruit 



After Lneller 



1633, fifth son of 

 John Pepys, tailor and 

 member of an old East 

 Anglian family, he 

 was educated at S. Paul's School, 

 London, and Trinity Hall and 

 Magdalene College, Cambridge. 

 Befriended by a relative, Sir 

 Edward Montagu, 1st earl of 

 Sandwich, he held several offices in 

 connexion with the admiralty, in- 

 cluding that of secretary, and was 

 imprisoned in the Tower in 1679, 

 and in the Gatehouse, Westminster, 

 1690, on flimsy charges. He re- 

 presented Castle Rising and Har- 

 wich in Parliament, and proved an 

 untiring and patriotic official. He 

 was master of Trinity House, 167fi 

 and 1685 ; master of the Cloth- 

 workers' Company. 1677 ; and 

 president of the Royal Society, 

 1684-86. Superseded in March, 

 1689, he died at Clapham, May 26, 

 1703, and was buried in the church 

 of S. Olave, Hart Street. , 



Among the MSS. preserved with 

 Pepys's library at Magdalene Col- 

 lege was that of his famous Diary, 

 written in cipher, Jan. 1, 1659- 

 May 31, 1669. In this work, the 

 most intimate human document of 



