PIS 



the American species are of a most splen- 

 did orange colour. They live on iruit, 

 scratch the ground like the common hen, | 

 and construct their nests in the depths of 

 rocky caverns. 



PI'RACY, xiica.ri\i&, an attempt. 1. In 

 law, acts of robbery upon the high se.as, 



equivalent to felony on land. 2. Auy 



infringement in the law of copyright. 



PIROGUE', Sp. piragua. A canoe formed 

 out of the trunk of a tree. The name in 

 America for a narrow ferry-boat carry- 

 ing two masts and a leeboafd. 



PIROUETTE' (French). In dancing, a 

 rapid circumvolution upon one foot. In 

 riding, the sudden turn of a horse so as to 

 bring his head suddenly in the opposite 

 direction to where it was. 



PISALPHAL'TUM. Mineral pitch. 



PIS'CAKY, from piscor, to fish. The 

 right or liberty of fishing in another pro- 

 prietor's waters. 



PIS'CES. The Fishes. In natural history, 

 the fourth class in the systems of Linnaeus 

 and Cuvier. The class is composed of 

 oviparous vertebrata, with a double cir- 

 culation, but in which the circulation is 

 altogether effected through the medium 

 of water. They form two distinct series, 

 that o{ Fishes, properly so called, and that 

 of the Chondropterygii, otherwise called 

 Cartilaginous fishes. In the first division 

 are the Acanthopteri/gii , the Malaco- 

 ftc-tgii, fheLophobranchi, and the Plecto- 



tmatfii. 2. In astronomy, the last of 



the signs in the fixed zodiac, and conse- 

 quently the last of the southern and 

 winter signs : marked ^ on globes and 

 planispheres. The sun enters Pisces about 

 the 19th of February. 



Pis'cis AUSTRA'LIS. The Southern 

 rish. One of the old constellations. Its 

 brilliant, Fomalhaut, is nearly on the 

 same meridian with Markab in Pegasus. 



PIS'CIS VU'LANS. The Flying Fish. A 

 constellation on the antarctic circle, con- 

 sisting of 8 stars, all under the 4th mag- 

 nitude. 



PIS'IFORM, frompisttm.a pea, and/orwur, 

 likeness ; pea-like. Granular iron-ore is 

 called pisiform iron-ore, from its con- 

 taining small rounded masses like peas in 

 size. 



PISSAPHAL'TUM, from triffot, pitch, and 

 a<raA.Ts. asphaltum. A thick variety 

 of rock-oil. See PETROLEUM. 



PISTA'CIA. A genus of trees. Diaecia 

 Pentandria. Name lltfrKxift, supposed 

 to be of Syriac origin. The trees which 

 afford the mastic, Chian turpeutiue, and 

 pistachio nuts, are species. 



PlSTACH'lA, Or PlSTACH'lO NUTS. The 



fruit of thepistac ia vera, a large tree.which 

 grows in Arabia, Persia, and Syria ; and 

 olio in Sicily, whence the nuts arc chiefly 





9 PIT 



brought. They are about the size and 

 shape of a filbert, including a kernel of 

 a pale greenish colour, pleasant, sweetish, 

 and unctuous taste, resembling that of 

 sweet almonds. Those imported from 

 the east are the best. 



PIS'TIL, Lat. pistillum, a pistil. The 

 female organ of a flower, situated in the 

 centre, and forming the rudiments of the 

 fruit. Linn believed' the pistil to origi- 

 nate from the pith, and the stamens from 

 the wood. 



PISTILLIF'EROUS, from pistillum, a pistil, 

 and fero, to bear. Pistil-bearing. Applied 

 to flowers or florets which contain one or 

 more pistils, but no stamens. 



PIST'OLE. The name of a gold coin of 

 several countries. The pistole of Spain 

 (of 1801) is worth 15s. UK ; the quadruple 

 pistole (of the same year) is worth 63s. i)J<i. 

 The value of the pistole of Berne is 

 18s. 113d. ; that of Brunswick is 18s. 8jrf. ; 

 of Geneva is 14s. 2d. (new), 16s. i$d. (old) ; 

 of Parma, 16s. lljd.; of Piedmont, 22s. 2$d.; 

 and of Switzerland, 18s. 9d. 



PIST'ON. A thin body of metal, or other 

 solid substance, adapted to move within 

 a cylinder, so as to run freely up and 

 down, air or water-tight. In the lifting- 

 pump, the piston is sometimes (and per- 

 haps more correctly) termed the bucket, 

 being that part of the machine by which 

 the water is lifted in the cylinder. The 

 solid-piston of steam-engines and force- 

 pumps is that to which the name piston is 

 strictly applicable. 



PIST'ON-ROD. The rod connected with a 

 piston : that by which it is forced down 

 and drawn up. 



PI'SCM. The Pea : a genus of herba- 

 ceous trailing plants. Diadelpliia Decan- 

 dria. Name trurw, borrowed from the 

 Greeks. The Garden and "Wild Peas are 

 cultivated in England ; but the Sea Pea 

 (P. maritimum) is the only indigenous 

 species. 



PITCH. 1. Inspissated tar. 2. In mu- 

 sic, the degree of acutencss or graveness 



of a tone. 3. The pitch of a roof is the 



inclination of the sloping sides to the 

 horizon. 



PITCH'BLENDE. A compound of the 

 oxides of uranium and iron. 



PITCH-STONE. A vitreous lava which 

 occurs in veins and beds, and sometimes 

 forms whole mountains. It intumesces 

 and whitens before the blowpipe. 



PIT-COAL. The coal in common use 

 throughout the country, and thus named 

 because it is dug out of pits. 



PIT'TACALL. One of the six principles 

 detected in wood-tar by M Reichenbach. 

 It is a dark-blue solid substance, like 

 indigo, and (like that pigment) when 

 rubbed it assumes a copper- colour, pass- 

 ing 'according to its degree of purity) into 

 gold- OT brass yellow, so that all sub- 



