PLAYFAIR 



in three distinct ways : (a) as an 

 ordinary instrument ; (6) as a 

 mechanical player giving the per- 

 former's own interpretation ; and 

 (c) as a reproducer of the perform- 

 ances of celebrated pianists. 



Playfair, LYON PLAYFAIE, IST 

 BARON (1818-98). British chemist 

 and politician. Born at Chunar, 

 Bengal,May21, 

 1818, and edu- 

 cated at St. 

 Andrews and 

 Glasgow Uni- 

 versities and at 

 Giessen, he be- 

 came in 1842 

 professor o f 

 chemistry a t 

 the Royal 

 Institution, 

 Manchester. 

 He was appointed chemist to the 

 Geological Survey, 1845, and pro- 

 fessor at the School of Mines. 

 He carried out at this time a series 

 of important investigations into 

 nitro-prussides, coals for steam 

 navigation, the gases of the blast 

 furnace, etc. Professor of chemistry 

 at Edinburgh in 1858, in 1868 he was 

 elected M.P. for Edinburgh and St. 

 Andrews Universities. He was M.P. 

 for South Leeds in 1885 and died 

 May 29, 1898. Made a peer in 1892, 

 Playfair received many honours 

 from foreign universities and took 

 part in many royal commissions, 

 notably those on the health of 

 towns, potato disease, and cattle 

 plague. See Memoirs and Corre- 

 spondence, Sir T. W. Reid, 1899. 



Playgoers' Club. London club 

 founded in 1884 for social inter- 

 course among frequenters of the 

 theatre and for discussion of new 

 plays and of theatrical questions 

 generally. Lectures, concerts, and 

 dinners are given from time to time 

 under the auspices of the club. Its 

 premises are 20, Cranbourn 

 Street, London, W.C. 



Playhouse, THE. London 

 theatre. It is in Northumberland 

 Avenue, W.C. The Avenue Theatre 

 (q.v.), occupying the same site, was 

 partially destroyed in 1905 and re- 

 built as The Playhouse. The new 

 building was opened in Jan., 1907, 

 by Cyril Maude with Toddles. 



Playhouse Yard. Turning out 

 of Water Lane, Blackfriars, Lon- 

 don, E.C. Here is the office of The 

 Times (q.v.). The name commem- 

 orates the Blackfriars Theatre, 

 which stood here from 1597-1655. 

 Another Playhouse Yard, linking 

 Upper Whitecross Street and 

 Golden Lane, B.C., derives its 

 name from the Fortune Theatre 

 in Golden Lane, built 1601, for 

 Alleyn and Henslowe, burnt, 1621, 

 rebuilt, and demolished about 1660. 

 See Blackfriars; Shakespeare. 



Playing-Card Makers, THE. 

 London city livery company. 

 It was granted a charter Oct. 22, 

 1628. The office 

 is at 28, Basing- 

 hall Street, E.G. 

 See Cards, Play- 

 ing. 



Plea (late Lat. 

 placitum, decree, 

 decision). Form- 

 erly, a document 

 in which the de- 

 fendant in an 

 action answered the plaintiff's de- 

 claration or statement of claim. A 

 plea might be to the merits, or it 

 might be in bar, or it might be a 

 dilatory plea. The science of plead- 

 ing was highly technical, and there 

 was a race of great lawyers who did 

 little else but draw these documents. 

 The plea is now abolished, except 

 in the mayor's court, London. 



Pleas of the crown is the English 

 legal term for all criminal suits or 

 causes in which the sovereign 

 appears as the plaintiff. 



Pleadings. In English law, the 

 documents in which the plaintiff 

 and defendant respectively state 

 their cases. When, therefore, the 

 case comes into court, the parties 

 and the judge know what is the 

 issue to be tried. Under the present 

 system the plaintiff must first set 

 out the facts on which he relies in a 

 statement of claim. The defendant 

 answers in a defence, in which he 

 either admits or denies each or any 

 of the plaintiff's allegations, and 

 sets out also any affirmative facts 

 on which he relies for a defence. 



Pleasley. Village of Derby- 

 shire, England. It stands on the 

 river Meden, 3 m. from Mansfield, 

 with stations on the Mid. and G.N. 

 Rlys. The church is dedicated to 

 S. Michael, and there is an old 

 market cross. At Pleasley Vale are 

 large factories for making silk and 

 cotton material, and around are 

 coal mines. Pop. 8,400. 



Pleasure (Lat. placer -e, to please, 

 through Fr. plaisir). An agreeable 

 physical or mental state, the op- 

 posite of pain, but independent of 

 it. Its causes are two : activity, 

 whether bodily or mental, move- 

 ment or thought, when it is easily 

 exercised and intensified, and de- 

 sire for the realization of an object. 

 The immediate effect of pleasure is 

 an effort, directed towards retain- 

 ing it as long as possible, or recover- 

 ing it at some future time. It also 

 acts as a signal of realization, a 

 token that the desired object has 

 been attained, and as a stimulant. 

 Ethically, pleasure is only a means, 

 not an end in itself. See Hedonism. 

 Plebeian. Name given to the 

 common people (plebs) of ancient 

 Rome, as opposed to the ruling 



PLEIADES 



order of patricians. They were 

 originally the subject peoples, resi- 

 dent aliens, and even fugitive 

 slaves ; but as time went on and 

 many of them attained to 

 wealth and influence, they de- 

 manded some share of the political 

 power which the patricians kept 

 in their own hands. The struggle 

 lasted more than 200 years. In 494 

 B.C. the plebeians gained the right 

 of electing special magistrates 

 of their own, called tribunes ; 

 in 451 the Decemvirate was cre- 

 ated to codify the laws and 

 equalise them as between the two 

 orders. The republican magis- 

 tracies were successively thrown 

 open to them, ending in 300 with 

 the last of the priestly offices. 

 See Patrician ; Rome ; Tribune. 



Plebiscite (Lat. plebs, people ; 

 scitum, decree). Term originally 

 applied to a law passed by the 

 Roman people assembled in the 

 comitia tributa, i.e. by tribes. 

 Such laws, originally binding only 

 on the plebeians, or commons, 

 were subsequently extended to 

 the whole of the body politic. In 

 modern Europe a plebiscite is a 

 popular vote on a clearly defined 

 political issue involving the answer 

 yes or no. A notable instance was 

 the election of Louis Napoleon as 

 prince -president of France in Dec., 

 1848, by a majority of more than 

 4,000,000 votes, and again three 

 years later after the coup d'etat ; 

 while a similar appeal to the people 

 confirmed the restoration of the 

 empire, Nov., 1852. By the terms 

 of the treaty of Versailles certain 

 frontier districts of Germany were 

 subject to a plebiscite or popular 

 vote to decide to which state they 

 should belong. Of these the most 

 important was Upper Silesia. See 

 Referendum ; Silesia ; consult also 

 a Monograph on Plebiscites, S. 

 Wambaugh, 1921. 



Pleiade, THE. Group of seven 

 16th century French poets, Pierre 

 de Ronsard, Joachim du Bellay, 

 Daurat, Baif, Remi Belleau, Jo- 

 delle, and Pontus de Thyard. They 

 occupy an important position in 

 literature from their determination 

 to treat of great subjects. See 

 Ronsard and La Pleiade, G. Wynd- 

 ham, 1906 ; A Literary History of 

 France, E. Faguet, 1907. 



Pleiades. In Greek mythology, 

 the seven daughters of Atlas and 

 Pleione, and companions of Arte- 

 mis. When pursued by Orion they 

 prayed to be turned into doves. 

 Their prayer was granted, and 

 Shey were placed among the stars. 



Pleiades. In astronomy, a 

 group of conspicuous stars marking 

 the shoulder of the constellation of 

 Taurus. To the eye six stars only 

 are usually visible, but in the 



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