544 
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bech, in Lincolnfhire, praclifed this mode feveral years 
ago, in confequence of the reprefentations made to him of 
it, by captain Clarkfon of the navy, who had feen animals 
fo flaughtered for the ufe of our fleet, when at Jamaica; 
that, after his death, Smith, another butcher of the fame 
place, adopted the lame method ; and that, in the year 
1796, he (the writer) procured, by favour of Mr. Clark¬ 
fon, fo diftinguifhed for humanity, the following account, 
which he had from Smith ; who informedjiim, That he 
killed all his bullocks by finking them in the fpinal 
marrow. That if a line were drawn from ear-root to ear- 
root, at about an inch and a half diftance from the horns, 
or places for them, and the centre of this line were found, 
this centre or fpot would be the place where the knife 
Ihould enter, in ftriking the animals. That the knife 
which he makes ufe of is not in the form of a dagger, 
nor is it thruft in with any great force : it is rather larger 
than a common pen-knife, but the blade is permanently 
fixed in the handle. In the adl of ftriking, the handle is 
taken into the hand, and the fore-finger placed down¬ 
wards towards the point, merely in order to direfl it in 
the operation. The perfon who ufes the knife or inftru- 
ment takes hold of one ear of the beaft with his left hand, 
while with his right he ftrikes it in the proper place 
with the knife or tool. In the fame infant the bullock 
drops, and is apparently out of all fenfation of pain. 
He was informed alfo, that it was not once in a thoufand 
times that any perfon mifles the right place ; though 
perhaps an apprentice or foreman may at firft, or in the 
beginning. But the rule, on the whole, is fo certain, 
that it may be laid hardly ever to fail. However, if it 
Ihould at any time, the knife is atleaft fo near the proper 
place, that by the fmalleft motion or alteration of its 
pofition, without withdrawing it, it may find its.proper 
way, and finifti the bufinefs. In this cafe, it is fuppofed, 
there would hardly be the pain of two feconds to the 
animals. However, in fpeaking to Smith’s apprentice on 
the fubje£l, he was allured by him, that he had no diffi¬ 
culty in finding the proper fpot for the purpofe, and that 
the beaftsdrop inftantly. 
It is not improbable, indeed, that an inftrument might 
be contrived by means of a ftrong fpring, fomewhat in the 
manner of that ufed in cupping, but only with one blade, 
that might, on being properly applied, forceitfelf fuddenly 
into the brain even, and thus inftantly complete the bufi¬ 
nefs ; or the operation might probably be performed in 
an equally complete, convenient, and more expeditious, 
manner, by the difcharge of a fmall piftol, loaded in fome 
proper way for this purpofe, and fuitably direfted. In 
fomeofthefe ways the prefent brutal, beating, hammering, 
and difgufting, practice, may probably be got quit of ; 
which, for many reafons, is highly defirable. 
PITHIVIER'S, or Plu'viers, a town of France, and 
principal place of a diftrift, in the department of the 
Loire; containing 3071 inhabitants: twenty-one miles 
eaft-north-eaft of Orleans, and twenty-three north-weft 
ofMontargis. Lat. 48. 11. N. Ion. 2. 24. E. 
PITH'LESS, culj. Wanting pith ; wanting ftrength : 
Weak fhoulders overborne with burthening grief, 
And pithlefs arms like to a wither’d vine 
That droops his faplefs branches to the ground. 
Shahefpeare's Hen. VI. Part I. 
Wanting energy; wanting force. 
PI'THO, in fabulous hiftory, thegoddefsof perfuafion. 
She was fuppofed to be the daughter of Mercury and 
Venus, and was reprefented with a diadem on her head, 
to intimate her influence over the hearts of man. One of 
iter arms appeared raifed as in the attitude of an orator 
haranguing in a public aflembly ; and with the other file 
holds a thunderbolt, and fetters made with flowers, to 
fignify the powers of reafoning and the attractions of elo¬ 
quence. Acaduceus, as a fyrnbol of perfuafion, appears 
at her feet, with the writings of Demofthenes and Cicero, 
the two raoft celebrated among the ancients, who under- 
P I T 
flood how to command the attention of their audience, 
and to roufe and animate their various paflions.—A cer¬ 
tain Roman courtezan received this name on account of 
the allurements which her charms pofiefled, and of her 
winning expreffions. 
PITHiE'US. See Pithou. 
PI'THOM, [Heb the opening of the mouth.] The 
name of one of the cities that the children of Ifrael built 
for Pharoah in Egypt (Exod. i. 11.) during the time of 
their fervitude. This is probably the fame city with 
Pathionos mentioned by Herodotus, which he places upon 
the canal made by Necho and Darius to join the Red Sea 
with the Nile, and by that means with the Mediterranean. 
Bochart fays, that Pithom and Raamfes (or Ramefes) are 
about five leagues above the divifion of the Nile, and 
beyond this river. Marftiam will have Pithom to be the 
fame as Pelufium, orDamietta; and Dr. Shaw thinks that 
Ramefes flood where Cairo is now built. See Gen.xlvii. 11. 
The verfe, where thefe cities are named in conjunction, 
runs thus, in our verfion : They built for Pharoah treafure- 
cities, Pithom and Raamfes. Exod. i. 11. By treafure- 
cities may, doubtlefs, be meant fore-cities, or public gra¬ 
naries. They might be fortified cities, in which were 
magazines of all forts of ammunition, ftores of grain, 
public provifions, and treafures of money. This is the 
opinion of Biftiop Patrick. In 2 Chron. xvi. 4. xvii. 12. 
the words drey mifcenoth are tranflated fore-cities ; and in 
2 Chron. xxxii. 28. fore-liouj'es for corn and wine. The 
Vulgate tranflation of Exod. i. 11. gives urbes tabernacu- 
lorum, the Septuagint no Art; oyyyct.%, fortified cities. Cal- 
met fuppofes Jl^DD'VO t0 be the name of a city ; and he 
tranflates the verfe thus: “They built cities, namely, 
Mifcenoth, Pithom, and Ramefes.” But we know of no 
city in Egypt whofe modern name bears the moft remote 
analogy to Mifcenoth. By mifcenoth, therefore, fome 
writers think the pyramids to be intended, which from 
]Dp facan, “ to lay up in ftore,” might be defigned to fig¬ 
nify places where Pharoah laid up his treafures; and 
which, from their ftruCture, appear to have been intended 
for fomething of this kind. See Pyramid. 
PITHOU' (Peter), a magiftrate diftinguilhed for his 
integrity and profound erudition, was born in 1539 at 
Troyes in Champagne, of a family originally from Nor¬ 
mandy. After an elementary education at home, he 
went to Paris to ftudy under the learned Turnebus, from 
whom he imbibed the tafte for claflical antiquity for which 
he was remarkable. He afterwards ftudied the law at 
Bourges under Cujas, and was a difciple worthy of fuch 
a mailer. When called to the bar, however, his natural 
diffidence fo much embarrafled him, that he found it 
neceflary to renounce that branch of the profeffion. 
Being attached to the reformed religion, he was near 
lofing his life at the horrid maflacre of St. Bartholomew’s 
day ; which probably had fuch an effeCl upon his mind, 
naturally timid, that in the following year he conformed 
to the catholic church, and foon after obtained the office 
of attorney-general in the chamber of juftice in Guienne. 
When Gregory XIII. had iflued a brief againft the ordi¬ 
nance of Henry III. concerning the council of Trent, 
Pithou publilbed a memoir, in which he developed the 
fecret purpofes of the brief, and vigoroufly defended the 
caufe of his king and country. After Henry IVth’s con- 
verfion, as it has been called, he ufed his bell endeavours 
to reduce the city of Paris to allegiance. He was one of 
the writers of the “ Catholicon d’Efpagne,” a fatire which 
proved very effectual in throwing ridicule upon the 
Spanifh party. He alfo publilhed a little work, which he 
pretended was a tranflation from the Italian, entitled 
“ Raifons pour lefquelles les Eveques de France ont pu 
de droit donner l’Abfolution a Henry de Bourbon,” 
which was feveral times printed, and which made many 
converts to the royal caufe. He died in the year 1596, 
at the age of 57. He is reprefented by De Thou as one 
of the firft men of the age, as well for probity, candour, 
and real piety, as for the extent of his learning, the found- 
