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PINCERNA. II1 old English law. But- N lcr; the king's butler, whose office it was to select out of the cargo of every vessei laden with wine. one cask at the prow and another at the stern, for the king's use. Fleta, lib.

2, c. 22.

Poundage of cattle.

P1‘NN]-‘JR. A pounder of cattle; lieepei‘.

a pound-

PINT. A liquid measure of bait a quart, or the eighth part of I galion.

PIONEER PATENT. See PATENT. PIOUS USES. See CHARITABLE Usns.

PIPE. A roii in the exchequer; otherwise called the "great roll." A liquid measure containing two hogsheads

PIRACY. In criminal or forcible (1cpi'od.itiou on the high seas, without lawful authority, doue tmimo fur- amli. in the spirit and intention of universal hos lill’_V. United States v. Palmer. 3 Wheat. (ill). 4 L. Ed. 47]. Tiils is the definition of this olrense by the law of nations. 1 Kent, Comm. 183. And see Talbot v. Jauson, 3 [mil 152. 1 L. Ed. 540; Dole v. Insurance C0,, 51 Me. 467; U. S. v. Smith. 5 Wheat. 161, 5 L. Ed. 57; U. S. v. The Ambrose Light (D. C.) 25 Fed. 408; Davlson v. Seal-skins, 7 Fed. Cos. 192.

There is a distinction between the offense of piimy, as known to the iaiv of nations, wbiah is justiriahie everywhere, and offenses created by statutes of particular nations. coguizabie only before the municipal tribunals of such nations. Doie v. Insurance Co., 2 Ciifi. 39-1, 418, Fed. Cas. No. 8,960.

The term is also applied to the lilicit reprinting or reproduction of a copyrighted book or print or to unlawful pingiarisin from it.

law. A robbery

Pix-atn est linstis humani generic. 3 Inst. 113. A pirate is an enemy of the hu- man race.

PIRATE. A person who lives by piracy; one guiity of the crime of piracy. A se:i-robber. "ho. to enrich himself, by subtlety or open force, setteth upou merchants and others trading by sea. despolling them of their ioading, and sometimes bereaving them or iite and sinking their ships. Ridiey, Oivil £2 Ecc. Law, pt. 2, c. 1, § 3.

A pirate is one who acts solely on his own authority, without any com ion or authority from a sovereign: state. . . 5: by force, and appropriating to bimsclf without discrimination. eiery vessel he meets with. Robbery on the high seas is piraqv; but to constitute the offense the taking must be felonious. Consequent-

ly the am a.m'ma may inquired into. Davigon eal—skina, 2 Paine, 324, Fed. Can. No. 66.

‘Pirates are common sea-rovers, without any fixed place of residence, who acknowledge no

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PIX

sovereign and no law, and support tiicmselrua hy pillage and depredations at sea; but than are instances wherein the word "piratn' has been formerly taken for a sea-captain. Spel- man.

PIRATICAL. "Whcrs the act IISP21 the word ‘piratical,' it does so in :1 general sense; importing that the aggression is us authoiized by the law of nations, bostlin ll its character, wanton and criiniuai hi I: commission, and utterly without any sun: tiou from any public authority or sovercifl pouer. In short, it means that the act D longs to the class of offenses which pirate! are in the hahit of perpetratlnr, whether they do it for purposes of plunder, or for purilost-5 of hatred. revenge, or wanton al:u!O of power." U. S. v. The Mniek Ailhel, 2 How. 32, 11 L Ed. 23.

PIRATICALLY. A technical word which must always be used in an indictment for piracy. 3 Inst. 112

PISCARY. The right or privilege 0! fishing. Thus, common of plsciiry is the right of fishing in waters belonging to an- other person.

PISTAREEN. A small Spanish coin. it is not made current by the laws of the United States. United States v. Gardner, 10 Pet. B18, 9 L. Ed. 556.

P11‘. In old Scotch law. An excavation or cavity in the earth in which women who were under sentence of denth were drowned.

PIT AND GALLOWS. In Scotch law. A privilege of inflicting capital punishment for theft, given by King Malcolm, by which a woman could be drowned in a pit, Uossu.) or a man hanged on a gallows, (fuma.) Beil.

PITCHING-PENCE. In old English law. Money, commonly a penny, paid for pltching or setting down every bag of corn or pack of goods in a fair or market. Cowell.

PITHATISM. In medical Jurisprudence. A term of recent introduction to medical science. signifying curahllity by means of persuasion, and used as synonymous with "hysteria," in elrect limiting the scope of the latter term to the description of psychic or nervous disorders which may be cured unlqueiy by psychotherapy or persuasion. Bahinskl.

PITTANCE. A slight repast or rei'et.~ tion of fish or flesh more than the common aliouance; and the pittancer was the officer who distributed this at certain appointed testlvais. Cowell.

PIX. A mode of testing coin. The ascertaining whether com is of the proper standard is in England called "pixlng" it;