PIL 



5B6 



PIL 



"P'.fl-iRow. Crude Iron. The melted 

 Iron from the smelting furnace is con- 

 ducted into moulds or furrows, made in 

 sand ; the large mass which sets in the 

 main one is called by the workmen a 

 sow, and the lesser one are pigi, and these 

 are known in commerce as pig or crude 

 iron. 



PIG'MENT, Lat. pigmaitwn. 1. A paint 



or colour, usually of a solid form. 2. In 



anatomy, a mucous substance found in 

 the eye, as the pigment of the iris, which 

 covers the posterior surface of the iris, and 

 takes the name of uvea, from its resem- 

 blance in colour to the grape ; and the 

 pigment of the choroid membrane, which 

 covers the anterior surface of that mem- 

 brane, and is generally named the pig- 

 mentum nigrum, or the black pigment. 



PIO'NUT. Earth-nut. The bulbous root 

 of the Itanium bulbocastanum, Lin., so 

 called because pigs are fond of it. 



PIKE. 1. A military weapon consist- 

 ing of a long wooden shaft, with a flat 

 steel head pointed. Its use among sol- 

 diers is now superseded by the bayonet. 



2. A fish, the Esox htcius, Cuv., Yarr., 



&c., found in almost all the fresh waters 

 of Europe. Its usual length is about two 

 feet, but they are frequently found weigh- 

 ing 30 Ibs. in the lakes of the north of 

 England. It is one of the most vora- 

 cious and destructive fishes in existence, 

 but very palatable food. It takes its 

 name from its long snout. 



PILAS'TER, Fr. pilastre. A square co- 

 lumn, sometimes insulated, but oftener 

 set in a wall, and showing only the fourth 

 or fifth part of its thickness. 



PIL'CHARD. Gipsy herring. A fish, the 

 Clupea pilchardus,Cuv., Yarr., &c., which 

 closely resembles the herring, but is 

 shorter and thicker. It is rarely found 

 on the British shores, except on the coasts 

 of Cornwall and Devon, where are the 

 principal pilchard fisheries. 



PILE. 1. Lat. pila, a heap, as a pile of 

 balls. The ancient architects gave the 

 name piles to those square blocks placed 

 upon the epistylia, for supporting the 

 timbers of the roof, and likewise to but- 

 tresses built against the walls of a mole. 

 2. Lat. pains, a stake or beam of tim- 

 ber driven into the ground to form the 

 foundation of buildings, piers of bridges, 

 &c., when the ground is soft or loose. 

 Amsterdam and some other cities are 

 wholly built on piles. Piles, or, as they 

 are sometimes called, pile-timbrrs, are 

 driven by a machine called the pile-driv- 

 ing machine or pile-engine. It consists of 

 a frame of timber, 30 or 35 feet long, 

 placed in an upright position, and having 

 a slide between the timbers of the frame, 

 for the ram (a heavy iron weight) to be 

 drawn up and run down. The ram is 

 raised by a rope or chain passing over a 



pulley, fixed to the ton of the framing, br 

 means of the mechanism of a common 



crane, called a crab, and when it has ar- 

 rived at the highest point, it is disen- 

 gaged from the hook from which, it is sus- 

 pended, by a contrivance called the 

 monkey, and descends with great force 



upon the head of the pile. 3. Pile is also 



a name given to the arms- side of a coin; 

 the head-side being called the crois. 

 Hence the phrase cross and pile. This 

 application is derived, by metonymy, from 

 the pile or puncheon used in stamping 

 figures on coins. 4. In heraldry, an or- 

 dinary represented wedge-shaped. 



PILE'WORT. A plant: the Xanimcului 

 ficaria, the root of which is reckoned a 

 specific for the piles. 



PIL'LAR. 1. An irregular and rude co- 

 lumn. The supporters in Saxon, Xor- 

 man, and Gothic architecture are pillars, 

 not columns ; but in common language 

 the terms column and pillar are often used 



synonymously. 2. In conchology, the 



columella, or perpendicular centre, which 

 extends from the base to the apex in 

 most spiral shells. 



PIL'LORT. An instrument of punish- 

 ment, consisting of a frame of wood 

 erected on posts, made to confine the 

 head and hands of a criminal, in order to 

 expose him to public view, and render 

 him publicly infamous. This mode of 

 punishment was abolished in 1816, in all 

 cases except perjury, and it has new- 

 fallen altogether into desuetude. 



PI'LOSE, Lat. pilosus, hairy. Applied 

 very generally in natural history. 



PI'LOT. A name applied either to a par- 

 ticular officei serving on board a ship 

 during the course of a voyage, and hav- 

 ing the charge of the helm and the ship's 

 route ; or to a person taken on board at 

 any particular place, for the purpose of 

 conducting a ship through a river, road, 





