440 
V I S 
P I S 
P I T 
poisonous nature, will in an hour’s time make 
the lishes, such as groopers, rock-lish, old- 
wives, Welshmen, &c. so intoxicated, as to 
swim on the surface of the water, quite heed- 
less of the danger; the gentlemen then send 
in their negroes, who pursue, both swimming 
and diving, the inebriated fishes, till they 
catch them with their hands ; their masters 
in the mean time standing by, on high rocks, 
to see the pastime. It is remarkable, that 
though this poison kills millions of the small 
fry, it has never been known to impart any 
bad quality to the fish which have been 
caught in consequence of the intoxication. 
The wood of this tree, although pretty hard, 
is only fit for fuel. 
PISCIS VOLANS, a small constellation 
of the southern hemisphere, unknown to the 
antients, and invisible to us in these northern 
regions. 
PISOLITE, a mineral found at Carlsbad 
in Bohemia. It has the form of round masses 
composed of concentric layers, and contain- 
ing a grain of sand in their centre. Colour 
white, often greyish, reddish, or yellowish. 
The round bodies are collected together like 
a bunch of grapes. 
PISONJA, a genus of the polygamia di- 
.cecia class of plants, the corolla whereof is 
of an infundibuliform shape ; the tube is short ; 
the limb is semiquinquefid, acute, and patu- 
lous ; the fruit is an oval quinquangular cap- 
sule, formed of five valves, and containing 
only one cell; the seed is single, smooth, 
and ovato-oblong. There are live species, 
trees of tne West Indies. 
PISTACHIA, turpentine-tree, pistachio- 
nut, mastich-tree ; a genus of the pentandria 
order, in the dioecia class of plants. The 
male is an ament. ; cal. five-cleft; cor. none ; 
fern, distinct ; cal. trifid ; cor. none; styles 
two; drupe one-seeded. There are six spe- 
cies ; of which the most remarkable are : l . 
The terebinthus, or pistacbia-tree. This 
grows naturally in Arabia, Persia, and Syria, 
whence the nuts are annually brought to 
Europe. In those countries it grows to the 
height of 25 or 30 feet; the bark of the stem 
and old branches is of. a dark russet colour, 
but that of the young branches is of a light 
brown. Some of these trees produce male 
and others female flowers, and some have 
both male and female on the same tree. The 
male flowers come out from t^e sides of the 
branches in loose bunches or catkins. They 
have no petals, but five small stamina. The 
female flowers come out in clusters from the 
sides of the branches; they have no petals; 
but a large oval germen supporting three re- 
flexed styles, and are succeeded by oval 
nuts. 2. The lentiscus, or common mastich- 
tree, grows naturally in Portugal, Spain, and 
Italy. Being an evergreen, it has been pre- 
served in this country in order to adorn the 
green-houses. In the countries where it is 
a native, it rises to the height of eighteen or 
twenty feet. 3. The orientals, or true inas- 
tich-tree of the Levant, from which the mas- 
tich is gathered, has been confounded by 
most botanical writers with the lentiscus, or 
common mastich-tree, above described, 
though there are considerable differences 
between them. 
The first species is propagated by its nuts : 
which should he planted in pots filled with 
light kitchen-garden earth, and plunged into 
a, moderate hotbed to bring up the plants. 
The second sort is commonly propagated 
by laying down the branches, though it may 
also be raised from the seed in the manner 
already directed for the pistachia-nut tree ; 
and in this manner alio may the true mas- 
tich-lree be raised. But this, being more 
tender than any of the other sorts, requires to 
be constantly sheltered in winter, and to have 
a warm situation in summer. 
Pistachia-nuts have a pleasant, sweet, unc- 
tuous taste, resembling that of almonds; and 
they abound with a sweet and well-tasted 
oil, which they yield in great abundance on 
being pressed after bruising them; they are 
reckoned amongst the analeptics, and are 
wholesome and nutritive, and are by some 
esteemed very proper to be prescribed by 
way of restoratives, eaten in small quantity, 
to people emaciated by long illness. 
PISTIA, a genus of the monadelphia oc- 
tandria class and order. There is no calyx ; 
the corolla is one-petalled, tongue-shaped, 
entire ; anthers six or eight ; style one ; 
capsule one-celled. There is one species, 
an aquatic of Senegal. 
PIST1 L. See Botany. 
PISTON . See Pump. 
PISUM, pea; a genus of the decan- 
dria order, in the diadelphia ciass of plants. 
The style is triangular, above one-celled, pu- 
bescent; calyx has the two upper segments 
shorter. The species are, 1. l'he sativum, 
or garden-pea. 2. The maritimum, or sea- 
pea, with footstalks which are plain on their 
upper side, an angular stalk, arrow-pointed 
stipula?, and footstalks bearing many flowers. 
3. The ochrus, with membranaceous running 
footstalks, having two leaves and one flower 
upon a footstalk. 
There is a great variety of garden-peas 
now cultivated in Britain, which are distin- 
guished by the gardeners and seedsmen, and 
have their different titles ; but as great part 
of these have been seminal variations, so, if 
they are not very carefully managed, by tak- 
ing away all those plants which have a ten- 
dency to alter before the seeds are formed, 
they will degenerate into their original state ; 
therefore all those persons who are curious 
in the choice of seeds, look carefully over 
those which they design for seeds at the time 
when they begin to flower, and draw out all 
the plants which they dislike from the other. 
This is what they call roguing their peas; 
meaning the taking out all the bad plants 
from the good, that the farina of the former 
may not impregnate the latter; to prevent 
which, they always do it before the flowers 
open. By thus diligently drawing out the 
bad, reserving those which come earliest to 
flower, they have greatly improved their 
peas of late years, and are constantly endea- 
vouring to get forwarder varieties ; so that 
it would be to little purpose in this place 
to attempt giving a particular account of all 
the varieties now cultivated ; wo shall there- 
fore only mention the names by which they 
are commonly known, placing them accord- 
ing to their time of coming to the table, or 
gathering for use. 
The golden hotspur. 
The cbarlton. 
The Reading hotspur. 
Master’s hotspur. 
Essex hotspur. 
The dwarf pea. 
Nonpareil. 
Sugar dwarf. 
Sickle pea. 
Marrowfat. 
Rose or crown pea. 
Rouncqval pea. 
The sugar pea. Grey pea. 
Spanish Morotto Pig pea. 
Among the new varieties we may specify 
an uncommonly fine species of marrowfat, 
raised by that truly philosophical gardener, 
R. P. Knight, esq. and to be had at Mr, 
Mason’s, Fleet-street. 
The English sea-pea is found wild upon 
the shore in Sussex and several other coun- 
ties in England, and is undoubtedly a dilier- 
ent species from the common pea.’ 
The third sort is annual, and grows natu- 
rally among the corn in Sicily and some parts 
of Italy, but is here preserved in botanic gar- 
dens tor the sake of variety. It has an an- 
gular stalk, rising near three feet high; the 
leaves stand upon winged footstalks, each 
sustaining two oblong lobes. The flowers 
are of a pale yellow colour, shaped like those 
of the ether sort of pea, but are small, each 
footstalk sustaining one flower; these are 
succeeded by pods about two inches long, 
containing five or six roundish seeds, which 
are a little compressed on their sides. These 
are by some persons eaten green ; but un- 
less tney are gathered very young, they are 
coarse, and at best not so good as the com- 
mon pea. It may be sown and managed in 
the same way as the garden pea. 
PITCAIRN IA, a genus of the liexandria 
monogynia class and order. The calyx is 
three-leaved, half-superior; corolla tiiree- 
petalled, with a scale at the base of each ; 
stigmas three, contorted; capsules three, 
opening inwards ; seeds winged. There are 
three species, herbs of tne West Indies. 
PITCH, a tenacious oily substance, drawn 
chiefly from pines and furs, and used in ship- 
ping, medicine, and various other arts ; or it 
is more properly tar, inspissated by boiling 
it over a slow fire. See Pinus. 
Pitch, mineral, has a strong resemblance 
to common pitch. Colour black, dark- 
brown, or reddish. Specific gravity from 
1.45 to '2. Does not stain the fingers. On 
a white iron it flames with a strong smell, 
and leaves a quantity of grey ashes. See 
Bitumen. 
PJTCHSTONE. This stone, which. oc- 
curs in different parts of Germany, France, 
and other countries, has obtained its name 
from some resemblance which it has been 
supposed to have to pitch. It is most usually 
in amorphous pieces of different sizes. 
Its fracture is conchoidal and uneven, and 
sometimes approaches the splintery. Ex- 
ceedingly brittle ; it yields even to the nail 
of the finger. Specific gravity 2.3 to 1.6. 
Its colours are numerous ; greyish black, 
bluish grey, green, red, yellow of dillerent 
shades. Sometimes, several of these colours 
appear together in the same stone. A speci- 
men of pitch.tone, analysed by Mr. Kla- 
proth, contained 
73.00 silica 
14.50 alumina 
1.00 lime 
1.00 oxide of iron 
0. 1 0 oxide of manganese 
1.75 soda 
8.50 water. 
99-85 
PITH, in vegetation, the soft spongy sub- 
stance contained in the central parts of "plants 
and trees,. See Plants, physiology of. 
