583 



PLOUGH MONDAY PLUTARCH. 



of thirty-nine into the East, to learn the doctrines of 

 the Magi, ami in his fortieth year, became a teacher 

 of philosophy in Rome. His writings and instruc- 

 tion* excited the most enthusiastic admiration among 

 his disciples. He died A. D. 270, in Campania, his 

 death having been hastened by his austerities. His 

 pupil Porphyry wrote his Lire, and arranged his 

 writings. Marsilius Ficinus first edited and trans- 

 lated them. Creuzer lias published his Dissertation 

 on Beauty (Heidelberg, 1814), and Engelhardt has 

 translated his Enneades into German, with a com- 

 mentary (Erlaiigen, 1820 1823.) See New Pla- 

 tonists. 



PLOUGH MONDAY; the next Monday after 

 Twelfth Day. On Plough Monday, the ploughmen 

 in the northern part of England used to draw a 

 plough from door to door, and beg money for drink. 



PLOVER (charadrius) ; a genus of the grallee, 

 or waders, distinguished by having a moderate-sized 

 compressed beak, enlarged at the end, and the hin- 

 der toe exceedingly small, not touching the ground. 

 They inhabit all parts of the world, traversing tem- 

 perate climates in the spring and autumn. They 

 are gregarious, and are generally seen in meadows, 

 or on the sea-shore, in search of food, which they 

 procure by stirring the earth or mud with their feet, 

 and thus inviting worms and aquatic insects to the 

 surface. The female lays about four eggs in a rude 

 nest in the sand. Their flesh is excellent, and hence 

 they are much sought for by sportsmen. They are 

 thus enumerated by C. Bonaparte: C. semipalmatus 

 (ring plover), peculiar to America ; C. melodius 

 (ring plover), peculiar to America; C. JVilsonius 

 (Wilson's plover), peculiar to America ; C. vociferus 

 (killdeer), peculiar to America ; C. pluvialis (golden 

 plover), inhabits throughout the world; C. helveticus 

 (black- bellied plover), inhabits the north of Europe 

 and America. The ruddy plover belongs to the 

 genus tringa, and is also found in both continents. 



PLUM (prunus); a genus of plants belonging to 

 the rosacete, and now separated from the cherry, 

 chiefly on account of the large oval fruit covered 

 with a fine whitish dust, the oblong, compressed, and 

 acute stone, and the different manner in which the 

 young leaves are folded. About a dozen species are 

 known, all inhabiting the north temperate regions 

 of the globe. They are small trees or shrubs, with 

 alternate leaves, and white flowers, either solitary, 

 or disposed in fascicles in the axils of the ancient 

 leaves. The common garden plum (P. domestica) 

 does not seem to be a native of Europe, and pro- 

 bably was introduced from Syria. It is mentioned 

 by Dioscorides and Theophrastus, and now is very 

 generally cultivated. It is a robust tree, of middling 

 stature, seemingly adapted to every kind of soil, 

 though most flourishing where it is light and a little 

 sandy. The varieties are very numerous, and differ 

 in colour, taste, size, and form ; some are not larger 

 than cherries, while others are nearly two inches in 

 diameter; some are oblong or ovoid, and others 

 perfectly globular; the colour is either white, green, 

 yellow, red, purple, blue, or blackish; the taste 

 acid, austere, insipid, sweetish, or aromatic; the 

 consistence of the flesh coriaceous, hard, soft, melt- 

 ing, dry, or watery; all, however, have a smooth 

 skin, which is always more or less covered with a 

 fine whitish dust, easily removed by rubbing. The 

 most esteemed of all these varieties is the green 

 gage, or reine Claude. (See Green Gage) The 

 Washington plum is similar to the green gage, but 

 the skin is dull yellow, assuming an orange cast 

 on the side exposed to the sun, and is more or less 

 mottled with crimson dots ; the flesh is yellow, firm, 

 very sweet, and luscious, and separates freely from 

 the stone. The origin of the Washington plum is 



remarkable, and deserves a passing notice. The 

 parent tree was purchased in the New York market, 

 and remained barren for several years, when it was 

 struck by lightning, and destroyed. The root after- 

 wards threw up a number of vigorous shoots, which 

 were suffered to remain, and in due time produced 

 fruit. The foliage of this tree is also among plums 

 remarkable for its beauty. Almost all the varieties 

 of plums may be dried and converted into prunes, 

 but those which are most fleshy, and best retain 

 their quality, are preferred. Prunes now form a 

 considerable article of commerce, and are imported 

 chiefly from France, particularly from the port of 

 Marseilles. Plums may also be preserved in various 

 manners, in spirits of wine or sugar, or formed into 

 marmalade, jellies, &c. The wood of the plum tree 

 is hard, compact, traversed with reddish veins, and 

 susceptible of a fine polish. It is frequently em- 

 ployed by turners and cabinet-makers, but requires 

 to be thoroughly dried. The sloe (P. spinosa) is a 

 thorny shrub, growing wild in most parts of Europe, 

 and bearing a small, round, and nearly black fruit, 

 of an extremely austere taste. The juice of this 

 plum is frequently employed to communicate a red 

 colour and astringent flavour to wines. 



PLUMBAGO, OR GRAPHITE. This valuable 

 mineral is sometimes found in thin, irregular, six- 

 sided tables ; but more generally in scales, or com- 

 pact. Lustre metallic ; colour iron-black, or dark 

 steel-gray ; streak black, shining ; opaque. It is 

 ductile and flexible in thin laminae ; hardness be- 

 tween talc and gypsum ; specific gravity 2. It con- 

 sists of carbon 96, and iron 4. In a high degree of 

 heat it is combustible, and leaves a residue of oxide 

 of iron. It is infusible alone, and with additions. 

 It sometimes occurs in beds in primitive rocks, par- 

 ticularly those of the trappean variety. When found 

 in primitive limestone, it is disseminated in scales, 

 after the manner of talc. It is also found in the 

 coal formation. Its most remarkable depository is 

 at Borrowdale, in Cumberland, (England), where it 

 exists in a bed of trap, alternating with clay slate. 

 The chief employment of plumbago is in manufac- 

 turing pencils and crucibles ; the latter particularly 

 for the mint. It is also used for giving a gloss to 

 iron stoves and railings, and for diminishing the 

 friction of machinery. 



PLUMBER'S SOLDER. See Bismuth. 



PLURALITY is used in contradistinction to ma- 

 jority, in reference to votes given in at elections. 

 Majority signifies at least one more than half of all 

 the votes given in, whilst plurality means only the 

 greatest number of votes, so that if there are three 

 or more candidates for an office, one of them may 

 have a plurality without a majority, which latter is 

 required in many cases by law. If none of the can- 

 didates for the presidency of the United States has 

 a majority, the election of the president devolves 

 upon the house of representatives of the United 

 States, who are bound to elect one of the three can- 

 didates who had the most votes, a case which oc- 

 curred when Mr John Q. Adams was chosen. In 

 France, majority, in this sense, is called majorite 

 absolue. 



Plurality of benefices signifies the holding of more 

 benefices than one by the same clergyman (pluralist) 

 at the same time. 



PLUS, more, in mathematics, signifies addition; 

 the sign by which it is indicated is +; thus, A + B, 

 which is read, A plus B, denotes that the quantity 

 A is to be added to the quantity B. Plus, or its 

 sign, +, is also used to indicate a positive magni- 

 tude or relation, in opposition to minus ( ), which 

 indicates a negative. 



PLUTARCH; a learned and prolific Greek 



