P I c 
3S8 PIC 
flowers, which are fubfeflile at the bofoms of the leaves, 
and have a purple corolla. It flowers at almoft all times 
of the year, and is called Coutoubea alfo. It is found in 
woods and by fides of rivulets. Aublet i. 72, 74. 
PI'CROLITE,/. A mineral defcribed by Hanfmann. 
It is principally compofed of the carbonate of magnefia. 
According to the defcription of Mr. Jamefon, (Minera- 
logy, vol.ii. p. 537.) its colours are leek-green, moun¬ 
tain-green, or ftraw-yellow. It occurs maflive ; inter¬ 
nally it is dull or glimmering, and pearly. The fracture 
is long, fplintery, which paflfes by gradation to flat con- 
choidal. In fome inftances it ffiows a delicate concentric 
fibrous ftrufture. It fometimes occurs in concretions 
which are either concealed or have undulating lamellae. 
It is tranflucent on the edges; and is rather hard, and 
difficultly frangible. It feels meagre, and is infufible. 
The fpecific gravity is It appears to be allied to 
ferpentine and talc. 
PI'CROMEL, f. The name given by Thenard to a pe¬ 
culiar fubftance which imparts to the bile of oxen, dogs, 
Iheep, and cats, mod of its chemical characters. If ace¬ 
tate of lead be poured into bile previoufly deprived of its 
refin by fuperacetate of lead, a copious precipitate falls, 
confifting of oxyd of lead united with this fubftance, pi- 
cromel. Eighty parts of ox-bile contain feventy parts of 
water, twenty-four of refin, and fixty of picromel. The 
human bile and that of fwine contain no picromel. 
Thomfon’s Chemiftry, p. 455-457. 
PICROTOX'INE, J'. A name given by M. Boulley to 
a peculiar fubftance which he extracted from the Coccu- 
lus Indicus, and to which that fubftance owes its delete¬ 
rious qualities. It may beobtainedby the following pro- 
cefs. Boil the feeds deprived of their pericarp in a fuffi- 
cient quantity of water; filter the decoftion, and preci¬ 
pitate it by acetate of lead ; then filter again, and evapo¬ 
rate flowly to the confidence of an extraCf ; diflblvethis 
extraCt in alcohol, and evaporate the folution to drynefs. 
Repeat thefe folutions in alcohol and evaporation, till the 
refidue is wholly foluble in alcohol and water. It then 
confifts of picrotoxine mixed with a little colouring mat¬ 
ter; agitate it with a very fmall quantity of water, the 
colouring matter is diflolved, and the picrotoxine fepa- 
rates in fmall cryftals. Its properties are as follow: Its 
colour is white, and it cryftallizes in four-fided prifms; its 
tafteis difguftingly bitter; 100 parts of boiling water dif- 
folve four parts of picrotoxine, one-half of which fepa- 
rates as the folution cools; thefolution does not alter the 
colour of vegetable blues; alcohol of the fpecific gravity 
•8 diflolves the third of its weight of this fubftance; a 
little water throws down the picrotoxine, and the addi¬ 
tion of a greater quantity rediflolves the precipitate; ful- 
phuric ether of the fpecific gravity '7 diflolves only *4 
of picrotoxine; it is infoluble in oil, both fixed and vo¬ 
latile ; diluted fulphuric acid does not aft upon it; con¬ 
centrated acid diflolves it, afluming a yellow colour; 
when heat is applied, the picrotoxine is changed and de- 
ftroyed; nitric acid diflolves it without the difengagement 
of nitrous gas; the folution is yellowifh-green; when 
heat is applied, the picrotoxine is converted into oxalic 
acid ; but about eighteen parts of nitric acid are requi- 
fite to produce this effeft. Muriatic, oxyinuriatic, and 
fulphureous, acids, do not aft upon it: acetic acid readily 
diflolves it: carbonate of potafti precipitates it from this 
folution unaltered : potaffi, foda, and ammonia, diluted 
with ten times their weight of water, readily diflolve pi¬ 
crotoxine: when triturated with potafti, itaffumes a yel¬ 
low colour, but does not emit the odour of ammonia: 
when heated, it burns without melting, or flame, exha¬ 
ling a white fmoke, which has a refinous odour : when 
diftilled, it yields very little water, and gafeous produfts, 
but much yellow-coloured empyreumatic oil, and a bril¬ 
liant bulky charcoal remains behind. Annal. de C/rim. 
tom. lxxx. 
PICT, J\ [pifius, Lat.j A painted perfon : 
Your neighbours would not look on you as men, 
But think the nations all turn’d Pitts again. Lee. 
PrcTS was the name of one of thofe nations who anciently 
pofleffed the north of Britain. It is generally believed that 
they were fo called from their cultom of painting their 
bodies ; an opinion which Camden fupports with great eru¬ 
dition. It is liable, however, to confiderable objections; 
for, as this cuftoin prevailed among the other ancient in¬ 
habitants of Britain, who ufed the glaflum of Pliny and 
the vitrnm of Mela for the like purpofe, it may be alked. 
Why the name of Pi£ti was confined by the Romans to 
only one tribe, when it was equally applicable to many 
others ? Why ffiould they defign them only by an epithet, 
without everannexing their proper name ? Or why fliould 
they impofe a new name on this people only, when they 
give their proper name to every other tribe which they 
have occafion to fpeak of ? As thefe queftions cannot be 
anfwered in any fatisfaftory manner, it is plain we muft: 
look for fome other derivation of the name. 
The Highlanders of Scotland, who fpeak the ancient 
language of Caledonia, exprefs the name of this once 
famous nation by the term Pi&ich ; a name familiar to 
the ears of the moft illiterate, who could never have de¬ 
rived it from the Roman authors. The word Piciick 
means “pilferers or plunderers.” The appellation was 
probably impofed upon this people by their neighbours, 
or aflmned by themfelves, fome time after the reign of 
Caracalla, when the unguarded ftate of the Roman pro¬ 
vince, on which this people bordered, gave them frequent 
opportunities of making incurfions thither, and commit¬ 
ting depradations. Accordingly this name feems to have 
been unknown till the end of the 3d century. Eume- 
nius the panegyrift is the firft Roman author who men¬ 
tions this people tinder their new name of Piflich , or, 
with a Latin termination, Pitti. When we fay that this 
name may have been probably aifumed for the reafon juft 
now mentioned, we muft obferve, that, in thofe days of 
violence, the charafter of a robber was attended with no 
difgrace. If he had the addrefs to form his fchemes weli, 
and to execute them fuccefsfully, he was rather praifed 
than blamed for his conduft; providing he made no en¬ 
croachments on the property of his own tribe or any of 
its allies. Vie mean this as no peculiar ftigma upon the 
Pifts; for other nations of antiquity, in the like rude 
ftate, thought and afted as they did. See Thucydides, 
lib. iii. p. 3. and Virg. JEn. vii. 745 et 749. 
Concerning the origin of the Pifts, authors are much 
divided. Boethius derives them from the Agathyrfi, 
Pomponius Lietus from the Germans, Bede from the Scy¬ 
thians, Camden and Father Innes from the ancient Bri¬ 
tons, Stillingfleet from a people inhabiting the Cimbrica 
Cberfonefus, and Keating and O’Flaherty, on the autho¬ 
rity of the Caftiel Pfalter, derive them from the Thra¬ 
cians. But the moft probable opinion is, that they were 
the defcendants of the old Caledonians. Several reafons 
are urged in fupport of this opinion by Dr. Macpherfon; 
and the words of Eumenes, Caledonuni, aliorumque Pic- 
tornm,filvas, fyc. plainly imply that the Pifts and Caledo¬ 
nians were one and the fame people. The Caledonians 
had been often mentioned before by claffic authors, under 
other names; but on this occafion they were called Pifts, 
on account of their peculiar feclufion from the Roman 
provincials on the fouth ; and they were often mentioned, 
during the decline of the Roman empire, by orators, his¬ 
torians, and poets, under that fignificant appellation. 
Towards the conclufion of the fourth century, Ammianus 
Marcellinus ( 1 . xxvii. c. 7.) fpoke of thefe people in the 
fame manner. The poets alfo, referring to the cuftoin of 
painting themfelves, that prevailed among the Caledoni¬ 
ans, and perhaps erroneoufly imagining that they were on 
this account called Piili, confirm the fame opinion. 
Thus Claudian, about the year 400, “ De Bello Getico,” 
alludes to them in the following lines: 
-ferroque 
