V I F 
FIS 
PIP 
estreats against their lands. All tallies which 
vouch the payment of any sum contained in 
Such accounts, are examined and allowed by 
the chief secondary of the pipe. Besides the 
chief clerk in this office, there are eight at- 
torneys, or swot clerks, and a comptroller. 
PIPER, pepper; a genus of the trigynia 
order, in the diandria class of plants. T here 
is no calyx or corolla; the berry is one-seed- 
ed. There are 6() species, of which the most 
remarkable is the siriboa, with oval, heart- 
shaped, nerved leaves, and reflexed spikes. 
This is the plant which produces the pepper 
so much used in food. It is a shrub whose 
root is small, fibrous, and flexible ; it rises 
into a stem, which requires a tree or prop to 
support it. Its wood has the same sort of 
knots as the vine; and when it is dry, it ex- 
actly resembles the vine-branch. The leaves, 
which have a strong smell and a pungent 
taste, are of an oval shape ; but they diminish 
towards the extremity, and terminate in a 
point. From the llower-buds, which are 
white, and are sometimes placed in the mid- 
dle and sometimes at the extremity of the 
branches, are produced small berries resem- 
bling those of the currant. Each of these 
contains between 20 ami 30 corns of pepper; 
they are commonly gathered in October, 
and exposed to the sun seven or eight days. 
The fruit, which was green at first, and after- 
wards red, when stripped of its covering as- 
sumes the appearance it has when we see it. 
The largest, heaviest, and least shrivelled, is 
the best. The pepper-plant flourishes in the 
islands of Java, Sumatra, and Ceylon, and 
more particularly on the Malabar coast. If 
is not sown, but planted ; and great nicety is 
required in the choice of the shoots. It pro- 
duces no fruit till the end of three years; but 
bears so plentifully the three succeeding 
years, that some plants yield between six and 
seven pounds of pepper. The bark then 
begins to shrink; and the shrub declines so 
fast, that in 12 years time it ceases bearing. 
Betle, or betel, is a species of this genus. 
It is a creeping and climbing plant like the 
ivy ; and its leaves a good deal resemble 
those of the citron, though they are longer 
and narrower at the extremity. It grows in 
all parts of India, but thrives best in moist 
places. The natives cultivate it as we do 
the vine, placing props for it to run and 
climb upon ; and it is a common practice to 
plant it against the tree which bears the areca 
nut. At all times of the day, and even in 
the night, the Indians chew the leaves of the 
betel, the bitterness of which is corrected 
bv the areca that is wrapped up in them. 
There is constantly mixed with it the chinam, 
a kind of burnt lime made of shells. The 
rich frequently add perfumes, either to gra- 
tify their vanity or their sensuality. 
'it would be thought a breach of politeness 
among the Indians to take leave for any long- 
time, without presenting each other with a 
purse of betel. It is a pledge of friendship 
that relieves the pain of absence. No one 
dares to speak to a superior unles his mouth 
is perfumed with betel; it would even be 
rude to neglect this precaution with an equal. 
The women of gallantry are the most lavish 
in the use of betel. Betel is taken after 
meals'; it is chewed dm ing a visit; it is of- 
fered when you meet, and when you sepa- 
rate; in short, nothing is to be done without 
.betel. If it is prejudicial to the teeth, it 
assists ami strengthens the stomach. At 
least, it is a general fashion that prevails 
throughout India. 
The piper nigrum, or black pepper, and 
the piper longum, or long pepper, of Ja- 
maica, with some other species, are indige- 
nous, and known by the names of joint wood, 
or peppery elders. The first bears a small 
spike, on which are attached a number of 
small seeds of the size of mustard. The 
whole of the plant has the exact taste of the 
East India black pepper. The long-pepper 
bush grows taller than the nigrum. The 
leaves are broad, smooth, and shining; the 
truit is similar to the long pepper of the shops, 
but smaller. The common people in Ja- 
maica season their messes with the black 
pepper. To preserve both, the fruit may be 
slightly scalded when green, then dried, and 
wrapped in paper. 
FiPRA, the manakin, a genus of birds of 
the order of passeres. Latham describes 
2.5 different species, and five varieties. The 
general character of the genus is, that the bill 
is short, strong, hard, and slightly incurvated, 
and the nostrils are naked. The middle toe 
is connected to the outer as far as the third 
joint; this character, however, is not alto- 
gether universal, some of the species differ- 
ing in this particular. The tail is short. This 
genus has a considerable resemblance to the 
genus parus, or titmouse. They are sup- 
posed to inhabit South America only ; but 
this is not true, for Mr. Latham assures us 
that he has seen many of those species which 
he has described which came from other 
parts, but which nevertheless certainly belong 
to this genus. 
1. Thepipra rupicola, or crested manakin, 
is about the size of a small pigeon, being 
about ten or twelve inches long. The bill 
is about an inch and a quarter long, and of 
a yellowish colour. The head is furnished 
with a double round crest; the general co- 
lour of the plumage is orange, inclining to 
saffron ; the wing-coverts are loose and 
fringed. The female is altogether brown, 
except the under wing-coverts, which are of 
a rufous orange ; the crest is neither so com- 
plete nor rounded as that of the male. Both 
males and females are at lirst grey, or of a 
very pale yellow, inclining to brown. The 
male does not acquire the orange colour till 
the second year, neither does the female the 
full brown. See Plate Nat. Hist. tig. 337. 
This beautiful species inhabits various parts 
of Surinam, Cayenne, and Guiana, in rocky 
situations; but is no where so frequent as in 
the mountain Luca, near the river Oyapoc, 
and in the mountain Courouaye,near the river 
Aprouack, where they build in the cavernous 
hollows and the darkest recesses. 
2. 'The next species Mr. Latham calls the 
tuneful manakin. Its length is four inches; 
the bill is dusky, the forehead yellow, and 
the crown and nape blue; the chin, sides of 
the head below the eyes, and the throat, are 
black; the upper part of the back, the wings, 
and the tail, are dusky black. It is a native 
of St. Domingo, where it has gained the name 
of organiste from its note, forming the com- 
plete octave in the most agreeable manner, 
one note successively after another. It is 
said not to be uncommon, but not easy to be 
shot, as like the creeper, it perpetually shifts 
to the opposite part of the branch from the 
spectator’s eye, so as to elude his vigilance. 
4“9 
3. The albifrons inhabits South America. 
See Plate Nat. Ilist. jig. 336. There are 
about 30 species. 
PIRATE. By stat 28 II. VlII. c. 15, all 
treasons, felonies, robberies, murders, and 
confederacies committed upon the sea, or 
in any haven, creek, or place where the ad- 
miral has jurisdiction, shall be tried in such 
shires or places as the king shall appoint bv 
bis commission in like forms, as if such of- 
fence had been committed upon land, and 
according to the course of the common law, 
and the offenders shall suffer death without 
benefit ot clergy. And by stat. 6 Geo. 1, 
made perpetual, it is enacted, that if any of 
his majesty’s natural-born subjects, or deni- 
zens of this kingdom, shall commit any pi* 
racy or robbery, or any act of hostility, 
against other his majesty’s subjects upon the 
sea, under colour of any commission from 
any prince or state, or pretence of authority 
from any person whatsoever, such offender 
shall be deemed to be a pirate, felon, and 
robber; and being duly convicted thereof 
according to this act, or the aforesaid act of 
23 H. \ III, shail have and suffer such pains 
of death, loss of lands, goods, and chattels, 
as pirates, felons, and robbers upon the seas, 
ought to have and suffer. By 1 8 Geo. If. 
c. 30. persons committing hostilities, or aiding 
enemies at sea, may be tried as pirates. Pi- 
racies at sea are excepted out of the general 
pardon, by 20 Geo. If. c. 52. 
Pirate’s goods, go to the admiral by 
grant ; but not piratical goods, which go to 
the king if the owner is not known. 
PISCES, in astronomy, the twelfth sign 
or constellation of the zodiac. The stars in 
Pisces, in Ptolemy’s catalogue, are 38 ; in 
Tycho’s, 33 ; and in the Britannic catalogue, 
109. 
PISCIDIA, a genus of the decandria 
order, in the diadelphia class of plants. 
Phe stigma is acute; the legume winged 
four ways. There are two species, viz. 
1 he erythrina or dog-wood tree. This grows 
plentifully in Jamaica, where it rises to the 
height of twenty-live teet or more; the stem 
is almost as large as a man’s body, covered 
with a light-coloured smooth bark’, and send- 
ing out several branches at the top without 
order. The flosyers are of a dirty-white co- 
lour; they are succeeded by oblong pods 
which contain the seeds. 2. T he Carthagini- 
ensis, with oblong oval leaves, is also a native 
of the West Indies. It differs from the form- 
er only in the shape and consistence of the 
leaves, which are more oblong and stiller ; 
but in other respects they are very similar. 
Both species are easily propagated by seeds ; 
but require artificial heat to preserve them 
in this country. The negroes in the West 
Indies make use of the bark of the first 
species to intoxicate fish. When any num- 
ber of gentlemen have an inclination to divert 
themselves with fishing, or, more properly 
speaking, with fish-hunting, they, send each 
ot them a negra-slave to the woods, in order 
to fetch some of the bark of the dog-wood 
tree r l his bark is next morning pounded 
very small with stones, put into old sacks, 
carried into rocky parts of the sea, steeped 
till thoroughly soaked with salt water, and 
then well squeezed by the negroes to express 
the juice. This juice immediately colours 
the sea with a reddish hue ; and, being of a. 
