756 



PUN PUPPET SHOWS. 



PUN ; a play upon words, the wit of which 

 depends on a resemblance between two words of 

 iliiirrent mid perhaps contrary significations, or on 

 ill*' u-e of the same wort! in different senses ; as in 

 the well-known story of the man who, being re- 

 quested to make a pun, asked for a subject, and 

 was told to take the king, upon which he replied 

 that the king was no subject. The Greeks and 

 Romans sometimes used puns, even in serious dis- 

 courses; but the moderns restrict them to light 

 conversation, devices, symbols, rebuses, mottoes, &c. 



PUNCH. See Punchinello and Puppet Shows. 



PUNCHEON ; a little block or piece of steel, on 

 one end whereof is some figure, letter or mark, en- 

 graved either in creux or relievo, impressions of 

 which are taken on metal or some other matter, by 

 striking it with a hammer on the end not engraved. 

 There are various kinds of these puncheons used in 

 the mechanical arts ; such, for instance, are those 

 of goldsmiths, cutlers, pewterers, &c. 



PUNCHINELLO, OR PUNCH (from pulcinello), 

 an Italian mask. The abbate Galiani derives the 

 name from a misshapen but humorous peasant from 

 Sorento, who had received it (about the middle of 

 the seventeenth century) from his bringing chickens 

 (pulcinelle) to market in Naples, and who, after his 

 death, was brought upon the theatre San Carlo for 

 the amusement of the people, to whom he was well 

 known. According to another account, a company 

 of actors, which went to Acerra at the time of the 

 vintage, was attacked by the peasants (with whom 

 the vintage is a season of festivity), with a sally of 

 jokes and gibes, in which a certain Puccio d'Aniello 

 among the peasants attracted notice by his comical 

 humour and grotesque appearance, being hunched 

 before and behind. The players had to yield to him ; 

 and, when the contest was over, they determined to 

 take advantage of the talent of Puccio d'Aniello, and 

 persuaded him to join their company. He appeared 

 on the stage in a white robe, and large, full shirt, 

 with long hair, and soon became such a favourite of 

 the Neapolitans that his mask was retained after his 

 death ; and his successor to resemble him the more, 

 chose a mask with a long black nose. From his 

 name was formed, according to Neapolitan custom, 

 Pulcinello. Perhaps, however, this mask was only 

 a modification of an older one, which some have de- 

 rived from the ancient Atellana: (q. v.), and have 

 thought that they discovered the grotesque figure of 

 Punch on ancient vases. This mask is still the de- 

 light of the Neapolitans. The dress at present con- 

 sists of wide drawers of white woollen, a large upper 

 garment of the same material, with wide sleeves, 

 fastened with a black leather belt, or hair cord. 

 This upper garment is sprinkled over with hearts 

 of red cloth, and it is trimmed round the bottom 

 with a fringe. Around his neck Pulcinella wears 

 a linen ruffle ; on his head a white woollen cap, with 

 its long point terminating in red tuft ; three-fourths 

 of the face are covered with a black mask ; the 

 nose is curved and pointed, like a bird's beak. 

 This mask speaks the dialect of the peasants, and 

 figures, not merely in the theatre, but at all the po- 

 pular festivals in Naples, especially during the car- 

 nival. See Mask and Harlequin. 



PUNCTUATION, OR IN TERPUNCTION; the 

 art of employing certain signs, by means of which 

 the parts of a discourse are connected or separated, 

 as the sense requires, and the elevation, depression, 

 or suspension of the voice indicated (from inter- 

 pungere, to point). Punctuation serves both to 

 render the meaning intelligible, and to aid the oral 

 delivery. The system of punctuation is peculiar 

 to the modern languages of Europe. The Eastern 

 languages have signs to regulate the tones, but 



they have no punctuation. The Romans were, in- 

 deed, acquainted with the term, (Cic., De Oratore, 

 iii. 44 and 46, and Seneca, Ep., 40,) but with them 

 it had a totally different signification. Their points 

 as well as those of the Greeks, were almost entirely 

 oratorical, i. e. confined to the delivery and pronun- 

 ciation of the words ; and there were often no points, 

 or, at most, only one at the end of a sentence ; or 

 pauses were indicated by breaking up the matter into 

 lines or paragraphs, (versus rn^ai.) Modern punctu- 

 ation, which is, for the most part, grammatical, is of a 

 later origin, and the invention has been attributed 

 to the Alexandrian grammarian, Aristophanes, after 

 whom it was improved by succeeding grammarians ; 

 but it was so entirely lost in the time of Charlemagne, 

 that he found it necessary to have it restored by 

 Warnefried and Alcuin. It consisted at first of 

 only one point, used in three ways, (trnypv ; hence, 

 in diplomatics, stigmeology, the art of punctuation,) 

 and sometimes of a stroke, both being formed in se- 

 veral different ways. But, as no particular rules 

 were followed in the use of these signs, punctuation 

 was exceedingly uncertain until the end of the fif- 

 teenth century, when the learned Venetian printers, 

 the Manutii, increased the number of the signs, and 

 established some fixed rules for their application. 

 These were so generally adopted, that we may con- 

 sider them as the inventors of the present method of 

 punctuation ; and although modern grammarians 

 have introduced some improvements, nothing but 

 some particular rules have been added since that 

 time. See Hebrew Language and Manuscripts. 



PUNDIT. See Pandit. 



PUNIC t (originally Phoenician, from Pceni, 

 Phoenicians ;) Carthaginian, because Carthage was 

 a Phoenician colony. Punic wars ; wars between 

 Rome and Carthage. (See those articles, and Han- 

 nibal.)' Punic faith, (fides Punica ;) among the 

 Romans, a proverbial expression for faithlessness. 



PUPA. See Papilio and Insects. 



PUPIL. See Eye. 



PUPPET SHOWS. One of the most common 

 classes of puppets are called, in French, marionettes 

 (from morio, fool, buffoon, as Frisch supposes.) 

 These are images of the human figure moved by 

 wires or threads on a stage, and made to perform 

 little dramas. In the common street performance 

 of Punch and Judy, however, the performer puts his 

 fingers in the figures. Puppet shows were common 

 among the Greeks, (who called them viuy>ir<xa.iria.^ 

 from whom the Romans received them. Xeno- 

 phon, Aristotle, Gellius, Horace, and others men- 

 tion them. Such exhibitions, which are so pleasing to 

 children and the uneducated,naturally passed though 

 various degrees of perfection in different ages, and 

 even now, exhibitions of puppets are common in some 

 countries, which display great mechanical ingenui- 

 ty, while the poor hand-organ boy in the street still 

 turns his instrument, and gives to one or two figures 

 on aboard before him a few simple motions with his 

 foot. Clocks for the peasants often display movable 

 puppets, and it is not unfrequent in Germany to 

 find on ancient town clocks puppets which move 

 whenever the clock strikes. In 1674, there was a 

 puppet opera at Paris, which met with great ap- 

 plause. In several large cities of Italy, puppet 

 shows are performed at present, (e. g. at Milan, in 

 the Teatro Girolamo which is visited by the better 

 classes.) In Germany, also, excellent puppet shows 

 are sometimes seen, but they are there hardly ever 

 stationary, and are not by any means so much pa- 

 tronized as in Italy. As itinerary puppet shows 

 have often given cause to scandal, several govern- 

 ments do not allow them but by special license 

 (e. g. those of Prussia and Denmark.) The cen- 



