PIN 



PIN 



filiation Xv'itli \vater, three pounds of them 

 yield an ounce of essential oil, which con- 

 geals into a butyraceous white concrete, 

 even when the air is not sensibly cold ; 

 these seeds also yield an oil, by expres- 

 sion, of a greenish colour and grateful 

 taste, strongly impregnated with the fla- 

 vour of the seeds. It is a native of 

 Egypt ; it is cultivated in Malta and 

 Spain, whence the seeds are annually 

 imported into England. 



PIN, in commerce, a little necessary 

 implement made of brass- wire, used 

 chiefly by the women in adjusting their 

 dress. The perfection of pins consists 

 in the stiffness of the wire and its white- 

 ness, in the heads being well turned, 

 and in the fineness of the points. The 

 London pointing and whitening are in 

 most repute, because our pinmakers, in 

 pointing, use two steel mills, the first of 

 which forms the point, and the latter 

 takes oft* all irregularities, and renders it 

 smooth, and as it were polished ; and in 

 \vhitening, they use block-tin granulat- 

 ed : whereas in other countries they are 

 fsaid to use a mixture of tin, lead, and 

 quicksilver; which not only whitens 

 \vorse than the former, but is also dange- 

 rous, on account of the ill quality of that 

 mixture, which renders a puncture with 

 a pin thus whitened somewhat difficult 

 to be cured. The consumption of pins 

 is incredible, and there is no commodity 

 sold cheaper. The number of hands 

 employed in this manufacture is very 

 great, each pin passing through the hands 

 of six different workmen, between the 

 drawing of the brass wire and the stick- 

 in of the pin in the paper. 



Pins are sometimes made of iron wire, 

 rendered black by a varnish of linseed- 

 oil, with lamp-black, which the brass wire 

 would not receive : these are designed 

 for the use of persons in mourning, 

 iJiough not universally approved. 



PINCHBECK. See COPPER. 



PINE. See Pixus. 



PINK apple. See AXAXAS. 



PINEAL GLAND. See AXATOMT. 



PINGUICULA, in botany, butter wort, 

 a genus of the Diandria Momnryuia class 

 and order. Natural order of *Cory dales. 

 Lysimachiee, Jussieu. Essential character: 

 corrolla ringent, with a spur ; calyx, two- 

 lipped, five-cleft ; capsule, one celled. 

 There are live species, natives of many 

 parts of England. 



PINION, in meclumics, an arbor, or 

 spindle, in the body whereof are several 

 notches, which catch the teeth of a wheel 

 that serves to turn it round ; or it i^ a les- 



ser wheel which plays in the teeth of a 

 larger. In a w:ueii, &c. the notches of a 

 pinion, which are commonly 4, 5, 6, 8, 

 &c. are called leaves, and not teeth, as 

 in other wheels. For the pinions of a 

 watch, and the leaves, turns, ike. thereof. 

 See CLOCII. 



PINION of report, is that pinion in a 

 watch, commonly fixed on the arbor of 

 a great wheel; it drives the dial- wheel,. 

 aii'.l carries about the hand. 



FINITE, in mineruiogy, is of a black- 

 ish grey colour, usually crystallized, in 

 six-sided prisms, with truncated edges 

 and angles. The crystals are of different 

 sizes. Specific gravity almost three. It 

 experiences no alteration before the 

 blow-pipe, either alone or with the ad- 

 dition of borax. With carbonate of soda 

 it forms an opaque globule, and with 

 microcosmic salt, a transparent glass : it 

 is compounded of 



Alumina 6375 



Silica 29.50 



Oxide of iron 6.75 



100.00 



It has been found only in the mine level 

 of Pini in Saxony, hence it derives its 

 name ; and is usually accompanied with 

 quartz, felspar and micar. 



PINK, a vessel used at sea, masted and 

 rigged like other ships, only that this is 

 built with a round stern ; the bends and 

 ribs compassing so as that her ribs bulge 

 out very much. This disposition renders 

 the pinks difficult to be boarded, and also 

 enables them to carry greater burthens 

 than others, whence thev are often used 

 for store-ships, and hospital ships in the 

 fleet. 



PIXK. See DIAXTHUS. 



PINNA, in natural history, nacre, a 

 genus of the Vermes Testacea class and 

 order : animal a limax : shell bivalve, fra- 

 gile, upright, gaping at one end, and fur- 

 nished wit h a beard ; hinge without 

 teeth, the valves united into one. There 

 are eighteen species. The inhabitants of 

 these shells produce a large quantity of 

 by ssu s, which is woven by the Italians 

 into a kind of silk : the shells themselves 

 are generally found standing erect in the 

 smoother waters of the bays, with the 

 larger end a little open : the fish of se- 

 veral of the species affords a rich food. 

 We do not know of any species on the 

 shores of the United States. 



PINNACE, a small vessel used at sea, 

 with a square stern, having sails and oars, 

 and carrying three musts, chiefly used as a 





