PUPIL 



Balbinus and Pupienus, however, 

 could not agree ; their authority 

 was defied, and they were both 

 murdered in a revolt of the prae- 

 torian guard. 



Pupil. Opening in the centre of 

 the iris or coloured part of the eye. 

 The iris is provided with muscular 

 fibres by means of which the pupil 

 can be dilated or contracted so as 

 to regulate the amount of light 

 which passes into the eye. In the 

 presence of a strong light, or when 

 gazing at a near object, the pupil 

 contracts. Shading the eye, or 

 gazing at a distant object, causes 

 the pupil to dilate. Certain drugs 

 called mydriatics, e.g. atropine, 

 when dropped into the eye cause 

 the pupil to dilate ; others called 

 myotics, e.g. physostigmine, cause 

 it to contract. Paralysis of the 

 nerves supplying the iris leads to 

 partial or complete loss of its 

 function, a result which is of value 

 in the diagnosis of certain nervous 

 diseases. The word (Lat. pupilla, 

 little doll) apparently refers to the 

 reflected image seen in the pupil ; 

 cf. the O.E. phrase " to look babies 

 in the eyes." In another sense, 

 the derivation, however, being the 

 same, the word is used for one who 

 learns from another. See Eye. 



Puppet (obsolete Fr. poupelle, 

 a little doll). Figure representing 

 the character of a drama. They are 

 moved by the performer or per- 

 formers, who are generally con- 

 cealed and carry on the dialogue, 

 to which the movements are 

 timed. Marionettes are an elabor- 

 ate form of puppet show, in which 

 the figures are moved by strings. 

 In other forms, as Punch and 

 Judy, the guignol of Lyons and the 

 burattini of N. Italy, the figures 

 are moved from below, generally 

 by the hands of the operators con- 

 cealed in the puppets' costumes. 

 Puppets may be flat or round ; 

 their limbs are generally articu- 

 lated, and sometimes moved by 

 springs. The shadow play is a 

 form of puppet show. 



Known to the Greeks in the 5th 

 century B.C., puppet plays are very 

 popular in many Oriental coun- 

 tries, among the most elaborate 

 being those of Java, where the 

 figures, exquisitely designed, repre- 

 sent mythological beings. The 

 performances, which last all night, 

 take place before an illuminated 

 screen, behind which the women 

 sit, and thus see the drama as a 

 shadow play ; while the men, on 

 the other side, see the puppets. In 

 Japan, where distinguished drama- 

 tists wrote in the 18th century for 

 the puppet play, the puppets are 

 very large, and both operators and 

 reciters are in full view. The 

 Turkish puppet shows, in which 



the protagonist is Karagyeuz 

 (Black Eyes), are played in the 

 fast of Ramadan. See Marionettes ; 

 Punch and Judy; .Punchinello. 



Pur anas, THE. Scriptures on 

 which Hinduism is based. The 

 principal Puranas are 18 in number, 

 and there are also 18 secondary ones 

 or Upapuranas. Traditionally said 

 to be the works of the compiler of 

 the Vedas, they are of a later pe- 

 riod, and, according to Elphinstone 

 (History of India), were composed 

 by different authors between the 

 8th and 16th centuries. Theyinclude 

 accounts of the Creation, philo- 

 sophical speculations, instructions 

 for religious ceremonies, genealo- 

 gies, fragments of history, and 

 legends relating to the actions of 

 gods, heroes, and sages. See India ; 

 consult also The Vishnu Purana, 

 Eng. trans. H. H. Wilson, 1840; 

 History of Sanscrit Literature, 

 A. A. Macdonell, 1900. 



Purandhar. Mt. in Bombay 

 Presidency, in the Poona dist. It 

 is 4,472 ft. alt. On one of its peaks, 

 and also on the summit of the 

 neighbouring but lower peak of 

 Wazirgarh, are hill forts. 



Pur bach, PEUERBACH OR PEUR- 

 BACH, GEORG (1423-61). Austrian 

 mathematician and astronomer. 

 Born at Peurbach, near Linz, May 

 30, 1423, he lectured at Italian 

 universities, was astronomer to 

 Ladislas of Hungary, 1454, and 

 later professor of mathematics in 

 Vienna, and died April 8, 1461. He 

 compiled planetary tables, a list of 

 fixed stars and a table of sines, and 

 was a pioneer of decimal notation. 

 Purbeck, ISLE OF. Peninsula 

 in the south-east of Dorset, Eng- 

 land. Lying between the river 

 Frome and Poole Harbour and the 

 English Channel, it measures 12m. 

 in length and 8 m. in breadth, and 

 is crossed from E. to W. by a 

 range of chalk hills which rise to a 

 height of 660 ft. Formerly a royal 

 deer forest, the " island " is noted 

 for its quarries of fresh-water lime- 

 stone, known as Purbeck marble 

 and used largely for paving. In the 

 centre is Corfe Castle, and on the 

 S.E. coast is Swanage. See Swan- 

 age, Its History, Resources, Botany, 

 and Geology, etc., J. Braye, 1890. 

 Purbeck Beds. In geology, 

 name given to the rocks formed at 

 the end of the Jurassic epoch. 

 They are clays, limestones, shales, 

 marls, and the so-called dirt beds. 

 They are chiefly fresh-water de- 

 posits, though containing many . 

 marine fossils. In the Purbeck 

 beds have been found remains of 

 dinosaurs, crocodiles, plesiosaurs, 

 shells of many fresh-water mol- 

 lusca, etc. The Purbeck rocks are 

 named from Purbeck, whence they 

 extend uninterruptedly to Ayles- 



Henry Purcell, 

 English composer 



After Cloiterman 



PURCHAS 



bury, and appear scattered in other 

 counties. The series is famous for 

 Purbeck marbles, and for building 

 and paving stones. 



Purcell, HENRY (c. 1658-95). 

 English composer. Born in London, 

 he became a chorister at the Chapel 

 Royal and a 

 pupil of John 

 Blow, whom 

 he succeeded 

 in 1680 as or- 

 ganist of 

 Westminster 

 Abbey, becom- 

 ing in 1682 

 organist- of 

 the Chapel 

 Royal as well. 

 When young 

 he revealed remarkable gifts for 

 dramatic composition, and his first 

 opera, Dido and Aeneas, was pro- 

 duced in 1675. He composed many 

 other works for the stage, either 

 in the form of incidental music or 

 of complete operas, the most im- 

 portant being Diocletian, King 

 Arthur, and The Fairy Queen. 



His contributions to other de- 

 partments of musical composition 

 were hardly less important, and 

 comprise church music, including 

 some very fine anthems, secular 

 songs and odes, as well as sonatas 

 and lessons for strings and harpsi- 

 chord. Taking into consideration 

 the period when he lived and the 

 stage of musical development 

 reached at that time, Purcell is 

 generally regarded as England's 

 greatest composer. He died Nov. 

 21, 1695. See Lives, W. H. Cum- 

 mings, 1881 ; J. F. Runciman, 1909. 

 Purchas, SAMUEL (c. 1575- 

 1626). English author. Born at 

 Thaxted, Essex, he graduated at 

 S. John's Col- 

 1 e g e, C a m- 

 bridge, and tak- 

 ing orders, be- 

 came curate of 

 Purleigh, Essex, 

 in 1601, and 

 vicar of East- 

 wood, 1604-13. 

 From 1614-26 

 he was rector 

 of S. Martin's, 

 Ludgate Hill, London, and during 

 this period, from many of Hak- 

 luyt's MSS., which he had in- 

 herited, he compiled Hakluytus 

 Posthumus, or Purchas his Pil- 

 grimes, contayning a History of 

 the World in Sea Voyages and 

 Land-Trauells by Englishmen and 

 others, 1625. He also wrote Pur- 

 chas his Pilgrimage, or Relations of 

 the World and the Religions ob- 

 served in all Ages and Places, etc., 

 KU3, 4th ed. 1626; Purchas his 

 Pilgrim : Microcosmus, or the His- 

 tory of Man, 1619. Prow. Purkas. 



Samuel Purchas, 

 English autnor 



