PYT 



PYT 



terials require preparation before they 

 a;x r'.i for use; and before a person can 

 be qualified for the business of tire -work 

 making-, he must understand the method 

 of making- the moulds, cases, &c. and be 

 acquainted with the instruments used in 

 the art, their dimensions and materials. 

 To discuss the several topics connected 

 with the business would require a space 

 very much larger than could be afforded 

 in this work ; we shall therefore content 

 ourselves with this notice, referring- our 

 readers to distinct treatises on the sub- 

 ject, which are to be found in the Eng-lish 

 and French language. 



PYRUS, in botany, a genus of the Ico- 

 sandria Pentagynia class and order. Natu- 

 ral order of Pomacese. Rosacese, Jussieu. 

 Essential character : calyx five-cleft ; pe- 

 tals five ; pome inferior, five-celled, 

 many-seeded. There are thirteen spe- 

 cies, with many varieties. The P. com- 

 nuinis, common pear-tree, grows to a lofty 

 height, with upright branches, the twigs 

 or branchlets hanging down ; leaves ellip- 

 tical, obtuse, serate ; the younger ones 

 clothed with a deciduous cotton under- 

 neath and along the edge ; stipules linear; 

 flowers in terminating villose corymbs ; 

 corolla snow-white ; pome produced at 

 the base ; hard and acerb, in the wild 

 state, with five cells in the middle, each 

 two-valvecl, containing two seeds. The 

 wood of the pear is light, smooth, and 

 compact ; it is used by turners, also for 

 joiners' tools, for picture frames to be 

 stained black ; the leaves afford a yellow 

 dye, and may be wsed to give a green to 

 blued cloths : the juice of the fruit fer- 

 mented is called Perry. The P. mains, 

 common apple-tree, is very spreading, 

 with the branches and twigs irregular 

 and twisting, more horizontal than in the 

 pear ; leaves ovate, serrate, the younger 

 ones pubescent underneath ; stipules li- 

 near ; flowers in terminating sessile, vil- 

 lose, umbels ; corollas white inside, and 

 finely tinged with red on the outside ; 

 fruit roundish, umbilicate at the base, 

 acid. The wood of the wild apple is 

 tolerably hard ; it turns very clean, and 

 when made into cogs for wheels acquires 

 a polish, and lasts a long time ; the bark 

 affords a yellow dye ; the acid juice of 

 the fruit is called verjuice ; it is much 

 used in recent sprains, and in other cases, 

 as an astringent or repellent. For a full 

 description of tlic numerous varieties of 

 ]K ars and apples, the reader is referred 

 to Martyn's edition of Millar's "Gar- 

 ;le;v !';; and Botanist's Dictionary." 



PYTHAGORAS, in biography, one of 



the greatest philosophers of antiquity, 

 was born about the forty-seventh Olym- 

 piad, or 590 years before Christ. His 

 father's principal residence was at. Sa- 

 mos ; but being a travelling merchant, 

 his son Pythagoras was born at Sidon, in 

 Syria; but soon returning home, our phi- 

 losopher was brought up at Samos, where 

 he was educated in a manner that was 

 answerable to the great hopes that were 

 conceived of him. He was called " the 

 youth with a fine head of hair ;" and from 

 the great qualities that soon appeared in 

 him, he was regarded as a good genius 

 sent into the world for the benefit of 

 mankind. 



Samos, however, afforded no philoso- 

 phers capable of satisfying his thirst for 

 knowledge ; and therefore, at eighteen 

 years of age, he resolved to travel in 

 quest of them elsewhere. The fame of 

 Pherecydes drew him first to the island 

 of Syros ; from hence he went to Mile- 

 tus, where he conversed with Thales. 

 He then travelled to Phoenicia, and stayed 

 some time at Sidon, the place of his 

 birth ; and from hence he passed into 

 Egypt, where Thales and Solon had been 

 before him. 



Having spent twenty- five years in 

 Egypt, to acquire all the learning and 

 knowledge he could procure in that 

 country, with the same view he travelled 

 through Chaldea, and visited Babylon, 

 Returning 1 after some time, he went to 

 Crete ; and from hence to Sparta, to be 

 instructed in the laws of Minos and L,y~ 

 curgus. He then returned to Samos ; 

 which, finding under the tyranny of Po- 

 lycrates, he quitted again, and visiled 'he 

 several countries of Greece. Passing 

 through Peloponnesus, he stopped at 

 Pholius, where Leo then reigned; and 

 in his conversation with that prince, he 

 spoke with so much eloquence and wis- 

 dom, that Leo was at once ravished and 

 surprised. 



From Peloponnesus he went into Italy, 

 and passed some time at Heraclea and at 

 Tarentum; but made his chief residence 

 at Croton ; where, after reforming the 

 manners of the citizens by preaching, and 

 establishing the city by wise and prudent 

 counsels, lie opened a school, to display 

 the treasures of wisdom and learning he 

 possessed. It is not to be wondered that 

 he was soon attended by a crowd of dis- 

 ciples, who repaired to him from differ- 

 ent parts of Greece and Italy. 



He gave his scholars the rules of the 

 Egyptian priests, and made them pass 

 through the austerities which he himself 



