NATURAL HISTORY 



759 



Germany, the Alps, the Pyrenees, and the Vos- 

 ges. In Scotland it grows at the height of 2,71 " > 

 feet on the Grampians. The Corsican pine 

 grows to a height of from eighty to 100 feet, 

 and in the island of Corsica it is said to reach 

 an altitude of 140 to 150 feet. The pinaster, or 

 cluster pine is indigenous to the south of Europe, 

 to the west of Asia, the Himalayas, and, it seems, 

 even to China. It is a large, handsome, pyra- 

 midal tree varying from forty to sixty feet in 

 height. Its cones point upwards, in star-like 

 . whence the name of pinaster or star 

 pine. In France, especially between Bayonne 

 and Bordeaux, it covers immense tracts of barren 

 sand, in which it has been planted to prevent 



ml from drifting. The stone pine is a 

 lofty tree in the south of Europe, where it is a 

 native; its spreading head forms a kind of para- 

 sol; the trunk is fifty or sixty feet high, and 

 clear of branches. In Britain the stone pine 

 seldom exceeds the size of a large bush, although 

 specimens have reached a height of thirty and 

 forty feet. Sabine's pine was discovered in 

 California in 1826. Tne leaves are in threes, 

 rarely in fours, from eleven to fourteen inches 



the trees are of a tapering form, straight, 

 and from forty to 120 feet high, with trunks 

 from three to twelve feet in diameter. The 

 Cemliran pine is a native of Switzerland and 

 Siberia. The red Canadian pine or yellow pine, 

 inhabits the whole of Canada from the Atlantic 

 to the Pacific, and is also found in the northern 

 and eastern parts of the United States. The 

 trunk rises to the height of seventy or eighty feet 

 by about two in diameter at the base, and is 

 chiefly remarkable for its uniform size for two- 

 thirdfl of its length. The wood is yellowish, 

 compact, fine-grained, resinous, and durable. 

 The true yellow pine rises to the height of fifty 



;y feet, by fifteen or eighteen inches in 

 diameter at base. The cones are small, oval, 

 and armed with fine spines. The timber is largely 

 used in shipbuilding and for house timber. The 

 Labrador or Banks s pine is usually a low strag- 

 gling tree, growing among barren rocks to a 

 height of from five to eight feet, but may attain 

 three times that height. The cones are re- 

 curved ami twisted; and the leaves are regu- 

 larly distributed over the branches. In Nova 

 Mate of Maine it is known as the 

 scrub pine, and in Canada as the gray pine. 

 The other Americ.-in pines ;ire the Jersey pine, 

 the trunk of which is too small tobeof any utility 

 in the arts; the pitch pine, which is most abun- 

 dant along the Atlantic coast, and the wood of 

 which, when the tree grow- in a dry, gravelly 

 '-oil. is compact and contains a large 



ii : the lol. lolly pine, the timber 



of \\hich decays speedily on being exposed to 



the air; the long -leaved pine, which abounds' 

 in the lower part of the Carolina*, Georgia, and 

 Florida, furnishing: re-in, tar. pitch, and turpen 

 :id timber which is hardly inferior to the 

 white oak in naval architecture; the \Veymouth 

 jiine. the timber of \\hich. though not without 

 .lied iii much greater 

 quantities, and for a far great. 

 poses, than almost any other; and 1 

 pine, wlin between the fortieth and 



illels of latitude, and about lot) 



miles from the Pacific. It is of gigantic size, the 

 trunk rising from 150 to upwards of 200 feet, 

 and being From seven to nearly twenty feet in 

 diameter. 



Pink. A genus of plants of which more 

 than 100 species are known, all. with perhaps 

 one or two exceptions, natives of the northern 

 and temperate parts of the European continent. 

 Their roots are annual or perennial; the sterns 

 herbaceous and jointed; the leaves opposite 

 and entire, and the, flowers terminal, aggregate, 

 or solitary, and always beautiful. The clove 

 pink or carnation, and the garden pink, of which 

 there are many varieties, are familiar species. 



Pistachio (pis-t&'shi-o). A tree of several 

 species, of the genus Pistacia, growing to the 

 height of fifteen to twenty feet. The true pista- 

 chio yields the well-known pistachio-nut, which 

 contains a kernel of a pleasant taste, resembling 

 that of the almond, wholesome and nutritive, 

 yielding a pleasant oil. It is a native of \\ 

 Asia, but is much cultivated in the south of 

 Europe. The gum named mastic is obtained 

 from the pistachio tree. 



Polecat. A name common to several spe- 

 cies of the weasel family. The common pole- 

 cat is found in most parts of Europe and America. 

 Its body is about seventeen inches long, and the 

 tail six inches. The color is dark brown. It is 

 a nocturnal animal, sleeping during the day 

 and searching for its prey at night. It is espe- 

 cially destructive to poultry, rabbits, and game, 

 as pheasants, so that in Britain it is being rapidly 

 exterminated by gamekeepers, farmers, and 

 others Frogs, toads, newts, and fish are often 

 stored as food by this voracious animal. It has 

 glands secreting a fetid liquor, somewhat like 

 that of the American skunk, which it ejects 

 when irritated or alarmed. The name of " Fou- 

 mart" is also applied to the polecat; and its 

 fur, which is imported in large quantities from 

 Northern Europe, is known as that of the 

 " I itch." Its hairs form a superior kind of 

 artists' brushes. 



Pomegranate. A dense spiny shrub. 

 from eight to twenty feet high, supposed to 

 have belonged originally to the north of Africa. 

 and subsequently introduced into Italy. ! 

 was called by the Romans nmlum punicum. or 

 Carthaginian apple. The leaves are opposite, 

 lanceolate, entire, and smooth; the flowers are 

 large and of a brilliant red ; the fruit is as large 

 as an orange, having a hard rind tilled with a 

 soft pulp and numerous red seeds The pulp 

 is more or less acid and slightly astri] 

 The pomegranate is extensively cult 

 throughout Southern Europe, and sometimes 

 attains a great size. Another species inhabits 

 the West In. lies and Guiana. 



Poppy. The common name for plants of 

 the genus Pap&ver. The poppy are 



'oils plants, all bearing largo, brilliant. 

 but fugacious flowers. The white poppy yields 

 the well-known opium of commerce. Most of 

 the species are natives of Europe, and four are 

 truly natives of Britain. <-n occur as 



weeds in fields and waste places, and are fre- 

 (jtiently also cultivated in gardens for ornament. 

 The seeds of the white poppy \i.-id , ii\ed harm- 

 less oil employed for culinary purposes; and the 



