PLEIN AIR 



telescope over 2,000 can be seen. 

 Originally seven stars were con- 

 spicuous, and were named after the 

 seven daughters of Atlas and 

 Plelone. Most of the brighter stars 

 are of the helium type, and the 

 group is nebulous in character, 

 showing that it is probably emerg- 

 ing from the state of a nebula. 



Plein Air. Term in art identified 

 with a painter or school aiming at 

 the realistic rendering of objects in 

 full daylight. Plein air painting is 

 usually held to have originated 

 with Edouard Manet. See Painting. 



Pleistocene (Gr. pleistos, most ; 

 kainos, new). In geology, name 

 given to the period of time be- 

 tween the end of the Tertiary and 

 the beginning of history. The 

 period is also known as Post- 

 Tertiary, Glacial, and Ice Age, the 

 two latter from the fact that it was 

 a period of great cold and glacial 

 formation. See Glacial Period ; 

 Horse ; Ice Age ; Megatherium ; 

 Tertiary. 



Plender, SIR WILLIAM (b. 1861). 

 British financial expert. Born 

 Aug. 20, 1861, he became a char- 

 tered accountant and head of the 

 firm of Deloitte, Plender, Griffiths 

 & Co. His experience in finan- 

 cial administration led to his 

 acting as adviser to the govern- 

 ment and to appointments to 

 royal commissions on several occa- 

 sions. He advised on questions 

 concerning the Port of London, 

 1908, and in 1911 was on the com- 

 mittee on Irish finance. Knighted 

 in 1911, he was made G.B.E., 1918. 



Plenipotentiary (Lat. plenus, 

 full ; potentia, power). Diplomatic 

 representative. He is accredited 

 direct to the sovereign or head of 

 the state. His full title is envoy 

 extraordinary and minister pleni- 

 potentiary. See Ambassador ; 

 Diplomacy ; Envoy. 



Plenty, BAY OF. Wide opening 

 of the N.E. of North Island, New 

 Zealand. There are no harbours of 

 any importance. Motiti, Mayor, 

 and White are the chief islands. 

 Numerous Maori settlements occur 

 between the bay and Rotorua. 



Pleonaste. In geology, name 

 given to a mineral of the spinel 

 group. In pleonaste the usual 

 magnesium is partly replaced by 

 iron. It is a black opaque mineral 

 found in gneiss and the ejecta of 

 some volcanoes. From its occur- 

 rence in Ceylon it is sometimes 

 called ceylonite or ceylanite. 



Pleroma (Gr., fullness). Term 

 meaning that which is filled or that 

 which makes up the fullness. Of 

 frequent occurrence in the N.T., 

 it is used of God or Christ (John i, 

 16 ; CoL i, 19 ; ii, 9 ; Eph. i, 23 ; 

 iii, 19 ; iv, 13). It implies the full- 

 ness of the Divine attributes which 



6194 



dwelt in Christ and that of the 

 virtues displayed by Him, both of 

 which are imparted to true be- 

 lievers, as suggested in the parable 



PLEVNA 



posure to cold or a wetting. The 

 onset is usually abrupt, with 

 severe pain in the side and rise of 

 temperature, but in children and 



of the vine and its branches, and elderly persons is more likely to 

 should therefore animate the ideal be insidious. The breathing be- 

 Church. See Kenosis ; consult also comes difficult, and this symptom is 

 Commentary on Colossians, J. B. very marked, particularly in cases 

 Lightfoot, 1875. where there has been a rapid 



Plesiosaurus (Gr. plesios, near; effusion of fluid into the pleural 

 sauros, lizard). Extinct marine cavity. The percussion note, i.e. 

 .KM^B^^^^^^^^^^^**^^^^^^ the sound made 



by tapping with 

 one hand the 

 finger of the other 

 hand placed over 

 the chest, is dull, 

 and the voice and 

 breath sounds are 

 altered when 

 listened to through 

 the stethoscope. In 

 mild cases the 

 symptoms subside 

 after a week or 

 ten days. 



Pleurodynia. 

 Painful affection 

 of the intercostal 

 muscles on one 



Plesiosaurus. Fossil skeleton of the extinct marine reptile 



Victoria and Albert Museum, S. Kensington 



reptile found as fossil remains in side of the body. Due to inflam- 

 Liassic rocks. Members of the mation of the fibrous tissue or 



order Sauropterygia, they had 

 thick lizard-like bodies, long flex- 

 ible necks with small heads, strong 

 tails as long as the body, and power- 

 ful paddles for swimming. The 

 length of the animal varied from 

 10 to over 40 ft., according to the 

 family to which it belonged, and 

 the jaws of the relatively small 



fascia surrounding the muscles, 

 it may be brought on by exposure 

 to cold or wet. Treatment consists 

 in resting the muscles by strapping 

 the chest so as to restrict the 

 breathing movements. 



Plevna OR PLEVEN. Town of 

 Bulgaria. It stands about 90 m.N.E. 

 of Sofia, on the Sofia- Varna rly., 

 and has a branch line to Niko- 

 polis, on the Danube. It is 



head were armed with powerful 

 teeth, those of pliosaurus measur- 

 ing 1 ft. in length. They must have famous as the scene of great bat- 

 been very common in the seas of ties and of the siege in the Russo- 

 the Lias. See Dinosaur ; Lizard. Turkish War, 1877-78. Normally 

 Plesivec. Town in the Slovakia it has a large trade in cattle, and 



division of the Czecho-Slovak re- 

 public, also known as Pelsocz (q.v.). 



Pleura. Serous membrane 

 which lines the cavity containing 

 the lung, and on the root of the 

 lung is reflected back to cover the 

 lung (q.v.). 



Pleurisy. Inflammation of the 

 pleura or serous membrane of 

 the lung. Two forms are recognized 

 dry pleurisy and pleuris}' with 



the country around produces good 

 wine. Pop. 23,000. 



Plevna, SIEGE OF. Incident in 

 the Russo-Turkish War of 1877. 

 After its occupation by Osman 

 Pasha with an army of some 

 10,000 men, the Russians ad- 

 vanced against Plevna in the mid- 

 dle of July and invested the town. 



After a brief bombardment, 

 the Russians launched an attack, 



effusion. Dry or fibrinous pleurisy which was repulsed by the Turks 



may follow exposure to cold, or with heavy losses, July 20. Five 



may occur in the course of pneu- weeks later a second attempt by 



monia and other diseases of the the Russians was defeated, both 



lung. The symptoms are pain sides losing heavily. After this 



and a dry cough. On auscultation defeat extensive preparations were 

 the stethoscope, friction 



with the stethoscope, 

 sounds are heard between the two 

 roughened surfaces of the pleura. 

 Adhesions may form between 

 these surfaces and seriously inter- 

 fere with the normal movements 

 of the lung. 



made by the Russians, who col- 

 lected 100,000 men and over 400 

 guns. Osman's troops numbered 

 30,000, and, after a successful pre- 

 liminary attack, August 30, gave 

 battle, Sept. 6-7, despite a furious 

 Russian bombardment, succeeding 



Pleurisy with effusion is much in repulsing the Russians, who had 

 the commoner condition. The called in Rumanians to their aid. 

 disease most often follows ex- But the investment of Plevna was 



