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LEFT PICHON 244 PICKEBING braces the Quito plateau and its slopes; area 9,030 square miles. The soil is fertile in the W. The province takes its name from the active volcano of Pich- incha, 8 miles N. W. of Quito, the chief town. It has five peaks, two of which (15,418 feet) Mr. Whymper ascended in 1880. The enormous crater, nearly a mile across at the top and perhaps 1,500 feet in diameter at the bottom (which is 2,500 feet below), is said to be the deepest in the world. Pop. about 205,000. PICHON, STEPHEN, a French journalist and statesman, born in Arnay )e Due, 1857, studied medicine at the University of Paris, but instead of fol- lowing the medical profession, he took up journalism and, in 1880, joined the editorial staff of "La Justice.'* In 1882 he was elected to the municipal council of Paris, of which he later became sec- retary. In 1885 he was elected to the Chamber of Deputies, of which he was secretary from 1889 to 1890. In 1894 he served successively, for short periods, as French Minister to Hayti, Brazil, China (where he was present during the Boxer uprising) and to Tunis. In 1905 he became a member of the Senate, from Jura. In the year following he was given the portfolio for Foreign Af- fairs, by Clemenceau. This same post he held in the Briand Cabinet, in ( 1910-1911 and under Barthou, in 1913. After the reorganization of the French Cabinet, in November, 1917, when Clem- enceau became Premier, Pichon again became Minister of Foreign Affairs, and also a member of the War Committee of the Cabinet. At the Peace Confer- ence at Versailles he acted as one of the French delegates. PICHURIM BEANS, a name given to the seed lobes of Ocotea pichurim, a South American tree. ^ They resemble nutmeg and sassafras in taste and are used for flavoring chocolate, etc. PICID^ffi, woodpeckers; a family of zygodactyle Picarian birds, with, accord- ing to "Wallace, 30 genera and 320 species, almost universally distributed, being only absent from the Australian region beyond Celebes and Flores. Bill more or less straight; toes in pairs. They are insectivorous; the tongue is extensile, barbed at the point, and cov- ered with a viscid solution to assist them in catching their prey; tail feathers hard and stiff, terminating in points, enabling the bird to run up the trunks of trees with facility. In 1752 he removed to South Carolina; was engaged in the expedition against the Cherokees in 1761. During the Rev- olution he was promoted Brigadier-Gen- eral; took part in the defense of South Carolina against the British. He de- feated the Tories at Kettle Creek, and in the battle of the Cowpens, commanded the militia, rallying them when retreat- ing; received a sword from Congress for gallant conduct. He served in Congress from 1793 to 1795; and made treaties with the Indians. He died in Tomassee, S. C, Aug. 17, 1817. PICKENS, PORT, a fort on Santa Rosa Island, Pensacola harbor, held by a small Union force under Lieut. A. J. Slemmer at the beginning of the Civil War. It refused to surrender when be- sieged by the Confederates in 1861, and was held till re-enforced. PICKEREL PICKEREL, a small pike, a young pike. The term is applied to several species of fishes belonging to the pike family. PICKEREL WEED, a genus of fresh water plants, the Pontederia. PICKERING, TIMOTHY, an Amer- ican statesman; born in Salem, Mass., July 17, 1745; was graduated at Har- vard in 1763, and admitted to the bar in 1768. He participated in the battle of Lexington; in 1776 joined the Conti- nental army in command of 700 men; was soon appointed adjutant-general by Washington; in 1780 was selected for the post of quartermaster of the army. Shortly after his resignation, he united with Patrick Henry and Alexander Hamilton in opposing the measure that drove the Tories from the country. He negotiated a treaty between the United States and the Six Nations in 1791, and a month later was appointed Postmas- ter-General. He was Secretary of State under Presidents Washington and Adams, but was dismissed during the "X. Y. Z." papers dispute in 1800. He retired from politics for a time, but was elected to the United States Senate in 1804, and from that time continued ac- v tively in politics. He died in Salem, Jan. 29, 1829. PICKENS, ANDREW, an American PICKERING, WILLIAM HENRY, military officer; born in Paxton, Pa., an American astronomer; born in Bos- Sept. 13, 1739, of Huguenot ancestry, ton, Mass., Feb. 15, 1858; was graduated