436 
P I N 
P I N 
PIN 
PINITE, a mineral that has received its 
name from Pini in Saxony, where it has been 
found in granite. Its colour is reddish- 
brown, or black ; always in crystals, either 
fhomboidal prisms, or six-sided prisms ; 
sometimes entire; sometimes having their al- 
ternate lateral edges truncated ; sometimes 
whole; surface smooth and brilliant ; fracture 
uneven, passing to conchoidal ; specific gra- 
vity 2.9 ■ It melts at 153° of Wedgewood, 
into a black compact gla«s, the surface of 
which is reddish. It consists, according to 
Klaproth, of 
63.00 alumina 
29-30 silica 
6.75 iron. 
99.25 
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 com- 
passing so as that her sides bulge out very 
much. This disposition renders the pinks 
difficult to be boarded, and also enables them 
to carpy greater burdens than others, whence 
they are often used for store-ships, and hos- 
pital-ships, in the fleet. 
PINK. See Dianthus. 
PINNA, in zoology ; a genus belonging 
to the order of vermes testacea. The animal 
is a slug. The shell is bivalve, fragile, and 
furnished with a beard ; gapes at one end ; 
the valves hinge without a tooth. They in- 
habit the coasts of Provence, Italy, and the 
Indian ocean. The largest and most remark - 
.able species inhabits the Mediterranean. It 
is blind; as are all of the genus ; but furnish- 
ed with very strong calcareous valves. The 
cuttle-fish, an inhabitant of the same sea, is 
a deadly foe to this animal : as soon as the 
pinna opens its shell, he rushes upon her like 
a lion ; and would always devour her, but for 
another animal whom she protects within her 
shell, and from whom in return she receives 
very important services. It is an animal of 
the crab kind (see Cancer), naked like the 
hermit, and very quick-sighted. This cancer 
or crab the pinna receives into her covering, 
and, when she opens her valves in quest of 
food, lets him out to look for prey. During 
this the cuttle-fish, approaches; the crab re- 
turns with the utmost speed and anxiety to 
his hostess, who being thus warned of the 
danger shuts her doors, and keeps out the 
enemy. That very sagacious observer Dr. 
Hasselquist, in his voyage towards Palestine, 
beheld this curious phenomenon, which 
though well known to the antients, had es- 
caped the moderns. 
The pinnae marinse differ less from muscles 
in the size of their shells, than in the fineness 
and number of certain brown threads which 
attach them to the rocks, hold them in a fixed 
situation, secure them from the rolling of the 
waves, especially in tempests, and assist them 
in laying hold of slime. See Mytilus. 
These threads, says Rondelet, are as fine, 
compared with those of muscles, as the finest 
flax is .compared with tow. M. de Reaumur 
says, that these threads are nearly as fine and 
beautiful as silk from the silk-worm, and 
hence he calls them the silk-worms of the sea. 
Stuffs, and several kinds of beautiful manu- 
facture, are made of these threads at Palermo ; 
in many places they are the chief object of 1 
flshiftg, and become a silk proper for many j 
purposes. It requires a considerable number 
of the pinnae marinas for one pair of stockings. 
Nothing can equal the delicacy of this singu- 
lar thread. It is so fine, that a pair of stock- 
ings made of it can be easily contained in 
a snuff-box of an ordinary size. In 1754, a 
pair of gloves or stockings of these materials 
was presented to pope Benedict XIV. which, 
notwithstanding their extreme fineness, se- 
cured the leg both from cold and heat. A 
robe of the same singular materials was the 
gift of a Roman emperor to the satrap of 
Armenia. A great many manufacturers are 
employed in manufacturing these threads into 
various stuffs at Palermo and other places. 
The men who are employed in fishing up 
the pinna; maria; inform us, that it is neces- 
sary to break the tuft of threads. They are 
fished up at Toulon, from the depth of 15, 
20, and sometimes more than 30 feet, with 
an instrument called a cramp. This is a 
kind of fork of iron, of, which the prongs are 
perpendicular with respect to the handle. 
Each of them is about eight feet in length, and 
there is a space between them of about six 
inches ; the length of the handle is in pro- 
portion to the depth of the water ; the pinnae 
are seized, separated from the rock, and 
raised to the sun ce, by means of this instru- 
ment. The tuft of silk issues directly from 
the body of the animal ; it comes from the 
shell at the place where it opens, about four 
or five inches from the summit or point in the 
large pinnse. 
PINNACE, a small vessel used at sea, 
with a square stern, having sails and oars, 
and carrying three masts, chiefly used as a 
scout for intelligence, and for landing of men, 
&c. One of the boats belonging to a great 
man of war, serving to carry the officers to 
and from the shore, is also called the pin- 
nace. 
PINNACLE, in architecture, the top or 
roof of a house, terminating in a point. 
This kind of roof, among the antients, was ap- 
propriated to temples ; their ordinary roofs 
were all flat, or made in the platform way. 
It was from the pinnacle that the form of the 
pediment took its rise. 
PINNATED LEAVES. See Botany. 
PiNUS, the pirn -tree, a genus of the mo- 
nadelphia order, in the moncecia class of 
plants. The male calyx is four-leaved ; no 
corolla ; stamina very many, with naked 
anthers; fern. cal. shobiles, with a two-flow- 
ered scale; corolla none; pistil one; nut 
with a membraneous wing. There are 2 1 
species of this genus ; of which the most re- 
markable are the following : 
1. The pinea pineaster, or wild pine, grows 
naturally on the mountains in Italy and the 
south of France. It grows to the size of a 
large tree; the branches extend to a consi- 
derable distance; and while the trees are 
young, they are full of leaves, especially 
where, they are not so close as to exclude the 
air frons those within ; but as they advance 
in age, the branches appear naked, and all 
those which are situated below become un- 
sightly in a few years; for which reason they 
are now much less in esteem than formerly. 
2. The pious pinea, or stone pine, is a 
tall evergreen tree, native of Italy and Spain. 
It delights in a sandy loam, though like most 
others it. will grow well in almost any land. 
Respecting the uses of this species, Danbury 
tells us that u the kernels are eatable, and by 
many preferred to almonds. In Italy they 
are served up at table in their desserts. They 
are exceedingly wholesome, being good for 
coughs, colds, consumptions, &c. on which 
account oniy this tree deserves to be propa- 
gated.” 
3. The rubra, commonly called the Scots 
fir or pine. It is common throughout Scot- 
land, whence its name, though it is also found 
in most of the other countries of Europe. 
M. du Hamel, of the Royal Academy of 
Sciences, mentions his having received some 
seeds of it from St. Domingo in the West 
Indies; and thence concludes, that it grows 
indifferently in the temperate, frigid, and 
torrid zones. The wood of this tree is the 
red or yellow deal, which is the most durable 
of any of the kinds yet known. The leaves 
of this tree are much shorter and broader 
than those of the former sort, of a greyish co- 
lour, growing two out of one sheath; the 
cones are small, pyramidal, and end in nar- 
row points; they are of a light colour, and 
the seeds are small. 
4. The pinus picea, or yew-leaved fir, is a 
tall evergreen, and a native of Scotland, 
Sweden, and Germany. This species in- 
cludes the silver fir, and the balm of Gilead 
fir. d lie first of these is a noble upright 
tree. Mr. Marsham says, “ The tallest 
trees I have seen were spruce and silver firs 
in the valleys in Switzerland. I saw several 
firs in the dock-yards in Venice 40 yards 
long ; and one of 39 yards was 18 inches di- 
ameter at the small. I was told they came 
from Switzerland.” The branches are not 
very numerous, and the bark is smooth and 
delicate. The leaves grow singly on the 
branches, and their ends are slightly indent- 
ed. Their upper surface is of a fine strong 
green colour, and their under has an orna- 
ment of two whitelines running lengthwise on 
each side the mid-rib ; on account of which 
silvery look this sort is called the silver fir. 
r I he cones are large, and grow erect ; and- 
when the warm weather conies on, they soon 
shed their seeds, which should be a caution 
to all who wish to raise this plant, to gathec 
the cones before that happens. 
The balm of Gilead fir has qf all the sorts 
been most coveted, on account of the great 
fragrance of its leaves, though this is nut its 
only good property ; lor it is a very beauti- 
ful tree, naturally of an upright growth, and 
the branches are so ornamented with their 
balmy leaves as to exceed any of the other 
sorts in beauty. 
The silver fir is very hardy, and will grow 
in any soil or situation, but always makes the 
greatest progress in rich loamy earth. The 
balm of Gilead fir must be planted in deep, 
rich* good earth ; nor will it live long in any 
other. The soil may be a black mould, or of 
a sau dp nature, it it is deep enough, and if 
the roots have room enough to strike freely, 
5. N lie pinus abies, or European spruce 
fir, a native of the northern parts of Europe 
and Asia, includes the Norway spruce and 
long-coned Cornish fir. The former of these 
is a tree of as much beauty while growing, as 
its timber is valuable when propagated on 
that account. Its growth is naturally like 
the silver, upright ; and the height it will as- 
pire to may be easily conceived, when we 
say that the white deal, so much coveted by 
