PESHWA 



6083 



PETAL 



Peshwa (Persian, leader). Title 

 of a Maratha chieftain. Originally 

 applied to the chief adviser or 

 prime minister, after the usurpa- 

 tion of supreme power by one of 

 these ministers, it was given to the 

 raja of Poona. The last Peshwa 

 was Baji Rao, deposed by the 

 British in 1818. See Maratha. 



Peso (Lat-. pensum, weight). 

 Coin used in several countries of S. 

 and Central America. Argentina, 



Peso. Silver coin used in Guate- 

 mala. Half actual size 



Chile, Uruguay, Panama, Para- 

 guay, Honduras, Salvador, Colom- 

 bia, and Guatemala have each a 

 silver coin of one peso, which is 

 divided into 100 centavos or other 

 similar unit. The first peso was a 

 Spanish coin, coined both in gold 

 and silver, which circulated in 

 Spain and her colonies. The 

 Mexican dollar is also called the 

 peso. Peseta is a diminutive. 



Pesquet's Parrot (Dasyptilus 

 pesqueti). Fruit-eating parrot of 

 the family Nestoridae. It is a 

 native of New Guinea, where it is 

 found at considerable altitudes, 

 flying in pairs or small flocks. The 

 black face and throat are nearly 

 bare of feathers. The upper parts 

 are black, except the wings and 

 tail coverts and a band on each 

 side of the back of the head, which 

 are red ; the under parts also are 

 red. Its cry is loud and harsh. See 

 Kea ; Parrot. 



Pessimism (Lat. pessimus, 

 worst). In general, the tendency to 

 look on the worst side of things ; in 

 philosophy, the doctrine that life 

 and existence are fundamentally 

 evil From a religious point of 

 view it reaches its extreme in 

 Buddhism. Its chief modern repre- 

 sentatives are Schopenhauer and 

 von Hartmann. All satisfaction of 

 our needs is illusory, and only leads 

 to new needs and consequent grief ; 

 the best thing is to take no interest 

 in life. According to Hartmann, 

 the unconscious leads us in a direc- 

 tion contrary to our own interests. 

 Progress only makes us more sen- 

 sible of pain, which is part of our 

 existence. Pleasure is only nega- 

 tive, pain positive. See Pleasure ; 

 consult also Le Pessimisme au 19e 

 Siecle, E. M. Caro, 1878; Pessi- 

 mism : a History and Criticism, 

 J. Sully, 2nd ed. 1891 ; Studies in 

 Pessimism, A. Schopenhauer, Eng. 

 trans. T. B. Saunders, 4th ed. 1893. 



Pestalozzi, JOHAKN 



(1746-1827). Swiss educationist.' 

 Born at Zurich, Jan. 12, 1746, and 

 educated at 

 the university 

 there, he be- 

 came inter- 

 ested in social 

 and educa- 

 tional reform. 

 In 1780 he 

 cultivated a 

 madder farm, 

 and kepta T H p t 

 school forwaifs Swiss' educationist 

 and strays at 



Neuhof, in canton Aargau, and dur- 

 ing this period wrote The Evening 

 Hours of a Hermit, 1780, and the 

 immensely successful moral tale, 

 Leonard and Gertrude, 1781. From 

 1798-99 he conducted a school at 

 Stanz, on the Lake of Lucerne, for 

 the accommodation of children ren- 

 dered homeless and orphans by the 

 French invasion of Switzerland. 

 From 1799 to 1825 he kept a school 

 first at Berthoud and then at 

 Yverdun, where he put into prac- 

 tice his educational theories, which 

 are based on the idea that under- 

 standing is only possible by that 



Henri Philippe Petuin, commander- 



in-cbief of the French armies, 



March-November, 1918 



spontaneous perception which is a 

 result of observation. These views 

 he expounded in How Gertrude 

 Teaches Her Children, 1801. He 

 died Feb. 17, 1827. See Education. 

 Pestilence (Lat. pestilentia, an 

 infectious disease). Term used for 

 any infectious deadly disease. See 

 Black Death ; Plague. 

 '' Pestle (Lat. pinsere, to pound): 

 Instrument for pounding any- 

 thing in a mortar. A pestle and 

 mortar is an apparatus by which 

 substances are crushed or mixed 

 by chemists, colourmen, etc. The 



pestle may be club-shaped or coni- 

 cal with a flat base, constructed of 

 stone, quartz, porphyry, metal, etc., 

 and held in the ,_ _,.,_ _ . _ _ , 

 hand to operate 

 upon a sub- 

 stance con- 

 tamed in the 

 mortar, which 

 is cup-shaped 

 and usually 

 formed of simi- Pestle and mortar 

 lar material to the pestle and of 

 substantial thickness. 



Petain, HENRI PHILIPPE (b- 

 1856). French soldier. Bom at 

 Cauchy-a-la-Tour, Pas-de-Calais, 

 April 24, 1856, he entered the mili- 

 tary school of St. Cyr in 1876, pass- 

 ing out as a sub-lieutenant of in- 

 fantry in 1878. After rising to the 

 rank of major, he was given com- 

 mand of a battalion, and became 

 instructor at the musketry school 

 at Chalons in 1902. Assistant in- 

 structor at the school of war under 

 Foch in 1906, he was promoted 

 colonel in 1912, when he com- 

 manded the 33rd regiment of in- 

 fantry at Arras. At the outbreak of 

 the Great War he was in command 

 of the 4th brigade. Later he 

 commanded the 33rd corps around 

 Arras, and was engaged in the 

 operations in Artois, 1915. 



As commander of an army in 

 Sept., 1915, he participated in the 

 offensive in Champagne, and in 

 Feb., 1916, was placed in command 

 of the defences of Verdun, where 

 he showed brilliant generalship. 

 Given command in Dec. of all the 

 armies of the centre, he later be- 

 came chief of the staff, and in May, 



1917, succeeded Nivelle as com- 

 mander of the armies of the north 

 and north-east. In March, 1918, 

 when Foch was made generalissimo ; 

 Petain became commander-in-chief 

 of all the French armies. He was . 

 made a marshal of France, Nov. 19, 



1918. See Nivelle, Robert ; Verdun. 

 Petal (Gr. petalon, thin sheet of 



metal). In a flower, the inner series 

 of floral leaves, as distinguished 

 from the outer series. They are 

 usually of a much more delicate 

 texture than the outer series (se- 

 pals), and white or coloured in- 

 stead of green. Collectively the 

 petals are referred to as the corolla 

 of the flower. They may be quite 

 separate one from another (poly- 

 petalous corolla), or variously 

 united to form a tube, a funnel, a 

 bell, etc. (gamopetalous corolla). 

 The petals are usually the most 

 conspicuous parts of the plant, 

 their purpose being the attraction 

 of nectar-seeking insects to assist 

 in the work of pollination. With 

 this object in view the petals are 

 frequently streaked with some 

 stronger tint. See Flower. 



