PENANCE 



4oo7 



PENCIL 



and flexibility. The expense of manufacture 

 has been lessened by the substitution of indium 

 for diamonds and rubies in making tips for the 

 points. Such tips are a protection against wear- 

 ing on the part of the points. Gold pens are 

 used exclusively in fountain pens, which have 

 in the holder an ink barrel that feeds the point 

 automatically. The stylographic pen is a va- 

 of fountain pen in which a needle at the 

 end serves as a valve to release the ink when 

 the point is pressed on the paper. The electric 

 pen, one of Edison's latest inventions, consists 

 of a small perforating instrument connected 

 with an electric battery and used in the manner 

 of an ordinary pen. A series of minute holes is 

 punched in the paper, thus making a stencil 

 that can be used to reproduce the letters or 

 drawings traced by the pen. W.F.R. 



PENANCE, pen'ans, a sacrament in the Ro- 

 man Catholic Church, by which repentant sin- 

 ners make atonement for offenses, upon the 

 throe conditions of confession, contrition, ac- 

 companied by a firm purpose of amendment, 

 and satisfaction, with the absolution of the 

 priest. The firm purpose of amendment is 

 necessary, as it proves the sincere contrition, 

 and the satisfaction is the atonement by prayer, 

 almsgiving or self-denial. It was instituted 

 from the words of Jesus (John XX, 23), "Re- 

 ye tin- Holy Ghost; whose sins ye shall 

 forgive they are forgiven them; whose sins ye 

 shall retain they are retained." See ROM\N 

 CATHOLIC CHURCH. G.W.M 



PENANG, penang', an island in the British 

 Straits Settlements, at the northern entrance 

 to the Malacca Strait,, off the northwest coast 

 of the Malay Peninsula. The island is of r 

 commercial importance, being second only to 

 Singapore, the chief port, in the Straits Set- 

 tlements. The capital is Georgetown, with a 

 fine harbor and annual shipping of nearly 5,000,- 

 000 tons. The principal exports are tin, sugar, 

 spices and rice. The area of Penang is about 

 107 square mile*, the population being chiefly 

 Chinese and Tamils. The jungle still covers 

 considerable portions of the island, but when 

 cleared, the soil is fertil* ; popula- 



tion of the island was 129,950 in 1914 ; of these 

 only 1,160 were Europeans and Americans, who 

 are there for commercial or governmental rea- 

 sons only. 



The settlement of Penang politically em- 

 braces the island of Penang, officially called 

 Prince of Wales Island, the Province of V. 

 lesley and the Dindings. The population of th. 

 district is 287,935. 



PENATES, pena'teez. See LARES AND PE- 

 NATES. 



PENCIL, pen'sil. A piece of lead when 

 drawn across paper leaves a dark-gray mark. 

 The ancient Egyptians discovered that lead 

 would mark on papyrus (which see), and they 

 used it for such purpose many centuries ago. 

 The Romans also knew of this peculiarity of 

 lead, and they made small rods of it which 

 they used for marking and writing. Then a 

 substance that made a blacker mark was found, 

 and it was called black lead. This substance 

 was graphite (which see), and for a long time it 

 has been used for the "leads" in so-called lead 

 pencils, which contain no lead whatever. 



How Manufactured. The lead pencil of com- 

 merce consists of a rod of graphite mixed with 

 pipe clay and enclosed in a wooden case. The 

 best graphite in the United States is found in 

 the mines at Ticonderoga, N. Y. It is ground 

 and separated according to its degrees of fine- 

 ness by being floated in water in a series of 

 tanks, so arranged that the water flows from the 

 top of one tank to the next below it. The 

 coarsest settles in the first tank, the next grade 

 in the second, and so on until the last tank. 

 which contains the finest grade, is reached. The 

 powdered graphite is then mixed with ground 

 pipe clay, the proportions depending upon the 

 degree of hardness required in the pencil. 

 Equal parts of clay and graphite make a hard 

 pencil. 



An ordinary pencil has seven parts clay to 

 ten parts graphite. A soft pencil has a still 

 larger proportion of graphite. The clay and 

 graphite are ground together until they are 

 thoroughly mixed and the mixture has the con- 

 sistency of dough. It is then put into an iron 

 cylinder, whose lower end is perforated with 

 holes of the size required for the leads. An 

 iron piston, pressed down upon the mass by 

 means of a screw, forces it out through these 

 holes, forming the leads, which are roiled hk. 

 wire on a table. The leads are immedi 

 straightened and cut into lengths suitable for 

 two pencils. They are then thoroughly dried 

 and are ready for the cases. 



The cases of the poorest grades of pencils are 



made of pine; tli< <>t the best grade of red 



cedar. Most of the work on the cases is done 



at the lumlirr mill. They are sent to the manu- 



;i tin- >liapc of blocks, each block being 



large enough for six pencils and containing six 



grooves for the leads. The grooved face of one 



lie blocks is coated with glue, the leads are 



laid in the grooves, and another grooved block 



