PIG 



PIC 



nine, except it be the last trick, nothing is 

 reckoned for it- The cards being played 

 out, he that has most tricks reckons ten 

 for unming the cards: but if they have 

 trick-> alike, neither reckons any thing. 

 If one of them wins all the tricks, instead 

 often, \viiicii is his right for winning the 

 cards, he reckons forty, and this is called 

 cupot. 



The deal being finished, each person 

 sets up his game; they then proceed to 

 deal again as before ; cutting afresh each 

 time for the d> al : if both parties are 

 wiihin a tew points of being up, the carte 

 blanche is the first that reckons, then the 

 point, then the sequences, then the qua- 

 torzes, then the tierces, and then the 

 tenth caid.s He that can reckon thirty 

 in hand by carte blanche, points, quintes, 

 &c without playing, before the other has 

 reckoned any thing, reckons ninety for 

 them, and tins is called a repike ; and if 

 he reckons above thirty, he reckons so 

 many above ninety. If he can make up 

 thirty, part in hand, and part in play, be- 

 fore the other has told any thing, he reck- 

 ons tor then* sixty ; and this is called a 

 pique, whence the name of the game. 

 Mr. cle. Moivre, in his doctrine of chan- 

 ces, has resolved, among others, the fol- 

 lowing problems: 1. To find, at picquet, 

 the probability which the dealer has for 

 taking one ace or more in three cards, he 

 having none in his hands. He concludes 

 from his computation, that it is 29 to 28 

 that the dealer takes one ace, or more. 

 2. To find at picquet the probability 

 which the eldest has of taking an ace or 

 more in five cards, he having no ace in 

 his hand. Answer; 232 to 91, or 5 to 3, 

 nearly. 3. To find at picquet the proba- 

 bility which the eldest has of taking both 

 an ace and a king in five cards, he having 

 none in his hand. Answer; the odds 

 against the eldest hand taking an ace and 

 a king are 331 to 315, or 21 to 20 nearly. 



4. To find at picquet the probability of 

 having twelve cards dealt to, without 

 king, queen, or knave; which case is 

 commonly called cartes bknch.es. An- 

 swr; the odds against cartes blanches are 

 323 to 578, 956, or 1791 to 1 nearly. 



5. To find how many different sets, es- 

 sentially different from one another, one 

 may have at picquet before taking in. 

 Answer, 28,967,278. This number falls 

 short of the sum of all the distinct com- 

 binations, whereby twelve cards may 

 be taken out of 32, this number being 

 225,792,840; but it ought to be consi- 

 dered, that in that number several sets of 

 the same import, but differing in suit 



might be taken, which would not intro- 

 duce an essential difference among the sets 



PICRAMNIA, in botany, a genus of the 

 Dioecia Pentandria class and order. Essen- 

 tial character : calyx three or five-parted; 

 corolla three or five-petalled ; berry two- 

 celled. There are two species, viz. P. 

 antidesma and P. pentandra, both natives 

 of Jamaica. 



P1CRIS, in botany, ox-tongue, a genus 

 of the Syngenesia Polygamia JEqualis 

 class and order. Natural "order of Compo- 

 site Semiflosculosse. Cichoracex, Jussieu. 

 Essential character: calyx calycled; recep- 

 tacle naked; seed transversely grooved; 

 down-feathered. There are six species. 



PICRUM, in botany, a genus of the 

 Tetranclria Monogynia class and order. 

 Natural order of Rotacese. Gentianx, 

 Jussieu. Essential character: calyx four 

 or five cleft; corolla one-petalled, four 

 orfive cleft ; nectary of four or five scales-; 

 stigma bilumellate; capsule half two cell- 

 ed, two valved. There are two species, 

 viz. P. spicatum and P. ramosum. 



PJCTS 7iw//, in antiquity, a wall begun 

 by the Emperor Adrian, on the northern 

 bounds of England, to prevent the in- 

 cursions of the Picts and Scots. It was 

 first made only of turf, strengthened with 

 palisadoes, till the Emperor Severus 

 coming in person into Britain built it with 

 solid stone. This wall, part of which still 

 remains, begun at the entrance of Sol- 

 way Frith in Cumberland, and running 

 X. E. extended to the German ocean. 



PICUS, the -wood-peck^, in natural his- 

 tory, a genus of birds of the order Pica:, 

 Generic character: bill straight, strong, 

 angular, and wedge-formed at the tip 

 nostrils covered with bristly feathers, re- 

 flected downwards; tongue louig, slender, 

 cylindric, bony, jagged at the end, and 

 missile; tail often feathers, stiff' and sharp- 

 pointed. These birds live principally upon 

 insects, to obtain which they climb trees, 

 and are perpetually in search of those 

 crevices in which their food is lodged. 

 These insects they transfix with their 

 missile and daggered tongue, which, 

 when it has obtained its purpose, is by 

 an almost invisible motion withdrawn 

 wholly into the mouth. This process is 

 incessantly repeated throughout the day, 

 with inconceivable precision and celerity. 

 Doomed to this perpetual occupation, 

 wood-peckers avoid society, even of their 

 own species, and appear to possess none 

 of the animation of cheerfulness or vigour 

 of courage. They have no notes but such 

 as are expressive of pain and sadness. 

 There are fifty species. P. martins, or the 



