758 



THE STANDARD DICTIONARY OF FACTS 



the size of a pea. is gathered in an unripe state 

 and dried, constituting the "black pepper" of 

 commerce. The term "white pepper" is ap- 

 plied to the ripe fruit of the same plant after 

 it is deprived of the outer fleshy portion. The 

 dried fruit ing spikes of a species of Chavica con- 

 stitute "long pepper." u-ed for culinary pur- 

 poses and for pickling. Mit of these plants 

 owe their active properties to the presence of an 

 acrid resin, and of a crystalline principle called 

 piperine. Cayenne-pepper is the produce of 

 Capsicum. Jamaica pepper is obtained from a 

 species of cugenia belonging to the myrtle family. 



Petroleum. A combustible fluid which 

 exudes from the earth in various parts of the 

 world, generally in or near the coal-formations, 

 and is formed (hiring the conversion of vegetable 

 remains into coal, or derived from animal re- 

 mains, as it is now maintained by some scientists. 

 Petroleum varies greatly in color and consistence, 

 being sometimes thin and pale, at others thick 

 and dark-colored. The substances which miner- 

 alogists have distinguished by the names asphal- 

 tum, maltha, petroleum, and naphtha, are 

 thought by some naturalists to be mere varieties 

 of one species. Abundant supplies of petroleum 

 are obtained from wells and springs in Pennsyl- 

 viana. New York, Texas, California, and Canada, 

 and the demand for it to serve as an illuminating 

 agent, and for the lubrication of machinery, has 

 created an important branch of commerce, 

 innumerable quantities of rock-oil being sold 

 under the names of petroleum, kerosene, sano- 

 line, leucaline, etc. 



Pheasant. A family of birds comprising 

 peafowl, true pheasants, jungle fowl, turkeys, 

 and Guinea fowl. The true pheasants, of which 

 there are about fifteen species, whose home is 

 Western Asia, are among the most gorgeous of 

 the feathered tribe. No pheasant is indigenous 

 to Europe, the British species being an intro- 

 duction from Asia Minor, and supposed to have 

 been imported into England by the Romans. 

 At the present day, however, very few of this 

 original breed exist in that country, for it has 

 been crossed with the Chinese Ilingnecked Pheas- 

 ant to such a degree that pure-bred birds are 

 rare. The pheasant chiefly frequents woods 

 for the purpose of roosting, being in the day- 

 time found in hedge-bottoms and thickets 

 searching for its food, which consists of grain, 

 seeds, green shoots, and insects. It is polyg- 

 amous, and very tenacious of its own territory, 

 not permitting intrusion from the males of its 

 race. The female deposits her eggs, from six 

 to ten in number, in a slight hollow, scantily 

 lined with dry leaves; but, being a very timid 

 bird, and easily made to desert her post, the eggs 

 are in most cases removed from the nest, and 

 the young hatched out under domestic fowls; 

 and it is questionable, if this were not done, if 

 the pheasant would not gradually become ex- 

 tinct in that country. Among the most beautiful 

 of the pheasant family are the Golden Pheasant, 

 the Reeves Pheasant, and the Impeyan Pheas- 

 ant, all inhabitants of Central Asia. 



Pigeon. The common name of a group of 

 birds, forming in some systems a section of the 

 order of rasorial or gallinaceous birds, in others 

 a distinct order. The pigeons or doves as a 



group have the upper mandible arched towards 

 its apex, and of horny consistence; a second 

 curve exists at its bast', where there is a cartilag- 

 inous plate or piece through which the nostrils 

 The crop is of large size. The pigeons 

 are generally strong on the wing. They are 

 mostly arboreal in habits, perching upon trees. 

 and building their nests in elevated situations. 

 Both sexes incubate; and these birds generally 

 pair for life; the loss or death of a mate being 

 in many cases apparently mourned and grieved 

 over, and the survivor frequently refusing to be 

 consoled by another mate. The song consists 

 of ihe well-known plaintive cooing. The pigeons 

 are distributed in every quarter of the globe, 

 but attain the greatest luxuriance of plumage 

 in warm and tropical regions. The pigeon fam- 

 ily is divided into various groups. The true 

 pigeons are represented by the stock-dove, the 

 common wild pigeon, from which, it was once 

 supposed, most of the beautiful varieties of the 

 Columbida', which in a state of domestication 

 are dependent upon man, derived their origin; 

 but it is now believed the rock-dove is the parent 

 stock. The passenger-pigeon is very abundant 

 in North America. The numbers that some- 

 times move together are enormous. Numerous 

 flocks of these pigeons associate together in a 

 single roost. The house-pigeons, tumblers, fan- 

 tails, pouters, carriers, and jacobins are the chief 

 varieties of the rock-pigeon, and have been em- 

 ployed by Darwin to illustrate many of the points 

 involved in his theory of "descent by natural 

 selection." Other species of pigeons are the 

 fruit-pigeons of India, the Eastern Archipelago, 

 and Australia; and the ground-pigeons, the 

 largest of the group, including the crowned 

 pigeon of the Eastern Archipelago. 



Pine. The popular name of trees of the 

 genus Finns, divided into the fir tribe and the 

 cypress tribe. The pines belong to the former 

 section, and are distinguished from the spruce, 

 larch, fir, cedar, etc., chiefly by having per- 

 sistent leaves in clusters of two to five in the 

 axils of membraneous scales. Most of the Euro- 

 pean species have only two leaves in a sheath; 

 most of the Asiatic, Mexican, and California!! 

 kinds have three, four, or five leaves, and those 

 of the United States and Canada have generally 

 three. The cones also afford an important 

 ready means of distinction and classification. 

 The Scotch pine or fir is a tall, straight, hardy 

 tree, from sixty to 100 feet high; a native of 

 most parts of Europe, flowering in May and June, 

 and having many varieties. The leaves are 

 rigid, in pairs, somewhat waved and twisted; 

 the lower branches are somewhat pendent; the 

 bark is of a reddish tinge, sometimes rough and 

 furrowed. The leaves are distinguishable from 

 those of all other pines in which they occur in 

 pairs by their glaucous hue, especially when 

 young. The Scotch pine almost always occurs 

 in masses; it is considered full grown and fit 

 to be cut down for - timber in fifty or sixty 

 years; but in the north of Scotland, where pine 

 forests grew to perfection in former times, the 

 tree continued to increase in bulk for three or 

 four centuries. The tree is most abundant in 

 the north of Europe. There are extensive for- 

 ests of it in Russia, Poland, Sweden, Norway, 



