PIN 



&S7 



PIN 



r channel, or from and into a port. It 

 is in the latter sense that the term pilot 

 is now usually applied. 



Pi'LoT-FrsH. Pilot mackerel. A spe- 

 cies of the genus Centronotus, Lacep. The 

 name owes its origin to the fact that this 

 fish follows vessels to seize upon what 

 may fall from them, and, as a similar 

 habit is observed in the shark, it has 

 been said that the former acts as a guide 

 or pilot to the latter. The fish is not 

 above a foot long. 



PI'LUM. A missile weapon used by the 

 Roman soldiers. It was a sort of dart 

 thrown by the hand. 



PIME'LIA,. A genus (or rather tribe of 

 numerous genera) of coleopterous insects 

 belonging to the family Melasoma. The 

 species inhabit the countries situated 

 around the basin of the Mediterranean, to 

 western and southern Asia and Africa. 



PIM'ELITE, from !r/^Aj, fat. A variety 

 of steatite coloured by chrome, and so 

 named from its greasy feel. 



PIMEN'TA, from pimienta, the Spanish 

 for pepper. The generic name of the All- 

 spice or Pimento tree. Class Icosandria ; 

 order Monogynia. This beautiful tree is a 

 native of Jamaica. It is the Myrtus pi- 

 menta, Lin., and the Eugenia pimento, 

 De Cand. 



PIMEN'TO. Allspice or Jamaica Pepper. 

 The fruit of the Pimenta officinalis. See 

 PIMENTA. The berries are plucked when 

 green, dried in the sun, and sent to Eu- 

 rope in bags and hogsheads, where they 

 are sold at about fourpence to fivepence 

 per lb., exclusive of threepence duty. A 

 single tree will sometimes produce 100 Ibs. 

 of the dried berries. 



PIM'PERNEL. In botany, the Anagallis 

 arvensis. The Water Pimpernel is a spe- 

 cies of Veronica pimpinella, Burnet Saxi- 

 frage. A genus of herbaceous plants. 

 Penlandria Digynia. Name, quasi bipi- 

 nella, from the double pinnate order of its 

 leaves. Four species are indigenous : the 

 roots of the P. saxifraga are used in medi- 

 cine. The Anise plant (P. anisum,) is a 

 native of Esypt. 



Pis. This is a small bit of wire, com- 

 monly brass, with a point at one end and 

 a spherical head at the other, requiring 

 for its completion no less than fourteen 

 distinct operations. (I.) straightening the 

 wire ; (2.) pointing; (3.) cutting the wire 

 into pin-lengths ; (4.) twisting the wire 

 for the pin heads ; (5.) cutting the heads ; 

 (6.) annealing the heads; (7.) stamping 

 or shaping the heads; (8.) yellowing or 

 cleaning the pins; (9.) whitening or 

 tinning; i'10.' washing; (11.) polishing; 

 (12.) winnowing ; (13.) pricking the pa- 

 per to receive the pins; (14.) fixing the 

 pins in the papers. - 2. In Chinese diplo- 

 macy, a petition from foreigners to the 

 emperor of China or any of his deputies. 



PIXACOTHE'CA, zrivoc,!-, a picture, and 

 n8;i/LU, I place. In ancient architecture, 

 an apartment for the reception of pictures. 



PIN AND WEB. An old vernacular name 

 for an opacity of the cornea of the eye. 



PINAN'O, \ The Malay name for the 



PEXAN'O. ) betel-nut (Areca catechu). 



PIN'CERS. A sort of tool used by arti- 

 ficers for drawing nails, &c. The upper 



cut represents the shoemaker's pincers; 

 the under, the joiner's. 



PINCH'BECK. A species of brass, in- 

 tended as an imitation of gold, and used 

 in the formation of watch-cases, and arti- 

 cles of a like description. It is also named 

 tombac (Spanish), and sometimes similar 

 &ndpetit-or (French). 



PINE. 1. In botany, see PIN us. 2. 



The wood of the pine or fir-tree, of which 

 several kinds are known in commerce. 

 (1.) Scotch pine, the wood of the Pinus 

 sylvestris,a. native of most of the northern 

 parts of Europe. It is the most durable 

 of all the pine woods, and is exported 

 from Norway and Sweden under the name 

 of redwood. Riga exports a considerable 

 quantity, under the name of masts and 

 spars ; the first sort being eighteen inches 

 and upwards in diameter, and seventy or 

 eighty feet in length ; and the latter less 

 than eighteen inches in diameter. (2.) 

 Spruce pine, of which there are three spe- 

 ciesthe Norway spruce (Pimts abies) ; 

 white spruce (Pinus alba) ; and black 

 spruce (Pinus nigra). These trees rise in 

 straight stems from 150 to 200 feet, and 

 yield the timber known as white fir or 

 deal. The white and black spruce grow 

 in America. (3.) White or Weymmtth 

 pine, the wood of the Pinus gtrobus, a tree 

 of North America, imported in large 

 logs. (4.) Yelloic pine is the wood of the 

 Piut picen, or silver fir-tree, a native of 

 Europe. (5.) Larch belongs to the same 

 family. 



PIS'EAI.. Resembling the fruit of tHo 

 pine; asthc pineal gland, a small projec- 

 tion at the base of the brain, about the 

 size of a pea. It was whimsically ima- 

 gined by Descartes to be the seat of the- 

 soul. 



PINE-APPLE. Ananas. A tropical fruit, 

 now extensively cultivated in the hot- 

 houses of this country. It is the fruit of 

 the Bromelia ananas, and sometimet 



