Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 19.djvu/116

Rh 106 P I N P I N cylindro-conical outline ; the loaves are short, rigid, and glaucous; the cones, oblong and rather pointing upwards, grow only near the top of the tree, and ripen in the second autumn ; the seeds are oily like those of P. Pinea, and are eaten both on the Alps and by the inhabitants of Siberia ; a fine oil is expressed from them which is used both for food and in lamps, but, like that of the Italian pine, it soon turns rancid. The growth of P. Ccmbra is slow, but the wood is of remarkably even grain, and is employed by the Swiss wood-carvers in preference to any other. The Ccmbra is the &quot;zirbel&quot; or &quot;zirbel-kiefer of the Germans, and is known locally in Switzer land as the &quot; aroile,&quot; &quot; aloies,&quot; and &quot; arve.&quot; P. occidentolis, a five-leaved pine with pale green foliage and small ovate cones, is found on the high mountains of St Domingo. Many members of the group occur on the Mexican isthmus, one of which, P. ccmbroides, produces edible seeds. P. Ayacahuitc, a large tree growing on the mountains of Guatemala, with glaucous foliage like P. Strobus, yields a valuable resin. P. filifolia and P. macrophylla, likewise natives of Central America, are remark able for the extreme length of their leaves ; the former is said to attain a large size. (C. P. J.) PINE-APPLE. The pine-apple so-called consists in reality of the inflorescence of the plant, the originally separate flowers of which, together with the bracts sup porting them, become fleshy and consolidated into one mass. The swelling and fusion of the tissues take place after the process of fertilization, and it may be that the richly perfumed succulent mass is an aid in the distribu tion of seed by affording food to certain animals. In the highly developed cultivated pines, however, it frequently happens that the seeds do not ripen properly. The pine, Ananassa sativa, is a member of the Bromeliad family, supposed to be of tropical American origin, and has been found wild in Mexico, Central America, Guiana, and Brazil, but is now widely dispersed in all tropical and semitropical countries. Evelyn in his Diary mentions tasting a pine-apple from Barbados at the table of Charles II., and this is we believe the first mention of the fruit in English literature. A picture, of which a copy may be seen at the rooms of the Royal Horticultural Society of London, represents the royal gardener, Mr Rose, presenting on bended knee the first pine-apple grown in Britain, and it is surmised that this may have been grown from the &quot; suckers &quot; of the fruit above alluded to by Evelyn, though it is generally considered that the pine was not cultivated in England till 1712. In spite of the great improvements in the quality of pines, and the great progress that has been brought about in the rapidity and facility of production, pine- growing is still attended with considerable expense, and much expenditure of time and labour. At the same time great attention has been given to pine culture in the West India Islands, the Azores, &c., and very large quantities of fruit of fine quality are imported into Britain at relatively low prices. But for pines of the highest flavour in the winter and spring seasons Englishmen must still look to their own gardens. See HORTICULTURE. PIXEL, PHILIPPE (1745-1826), a distinguished French physician, was born at the chateau of Rascas, Saint- Andre, in the department of Tarn, France, on April 20, 1745. He studied at Lavaur and afterwards at the university of Toulouse, where he took his doctor s degree in 1773. From Montpellier, where he taught mathematics and at the same time carried on his medical studies, he removed in 1778 to Paris, engaging there chiefly in literary work connected with his profession. His first publication was a French translation of Cullen s Nosology (1785) ; it was followed by an edition of the works of Baglivi (1788), and in 1791 he published a Traite medico-philosophique de I alienation mentale. In 1792 he became head physician of the Bicetre, and two years afterwards he received the corresponding appointment at the Salpetriere, where he began to deliver a course of clinical lectures ; these formed the basis of his Nosographie philosophise (1798 6th ed. 1818), which was further developed in La Mcdecine dinique (1802). Pinel was made a member of the Insti tute in 1803, and soon afterwards was appointed professor of pathology in the Ecole de Medecine. Neither as a lecturer nor as an author, however, did he achieve great success, and his enduring fame rests entirely upon the fact that by his courageous action he was among the first to introduce the humane treatment of the insane, removing with his own hands the bonds of patients who had been chained to the wall for years. See vol. xiii. p. 110. He died at Paris on October 26, 1826. PIXEROLO, a city of Italy, in the province of Turin (Piedmont), is built in a straggling manner on a hill-side just above the junction of the valleys of the Chisone and the Lemina, at a height of 1237 feet above the sea, 23| miles by rail south-west of Turin. It is the terminus of the branch railway from Turin by Sangone or Nichellino, and has steam tramways running up to Perosa (12 miles) and south to Saluzzo. Till 1696 it was strongly fortified with a citadel on Santa Brigida, a castle on St Maurizio, and city walls constructed by Thomas I. of Savoy. It has a cathedral (St Donatus), a bishop s palace, a large semi nary, a theatre (1842), a hospital (1546), a public library, a cavalry college, a school of music, and a Waldensian chapel and schools. Cotton, silk, wool, and hemp are among the local manufactures. The population of the city was 11,362 in 1871 and 12,003 in 1881 (commune 16,730 and 17,492). Pinerolo was bestowed on the bishops of Turin by Otho III. in 996 ; but in 1078 the countess Adelaide made it over to the Bene dictine abbey of Santa Maria, in whose possession it remained till 1159. Thomas I. of Savoy captured the castle in 1188, and in 1246 the commune formally recognized the supremacy of Savoy. Passing in 1295 into the hands of Philip, son of Thomas III., Pinerolo became his residence and capital, a distinction which it retained under Amadeus VIII. of Savoy, even after the extinction of the separate house of Piedmont in 1418. Francis I. of France obtained possession of the town in his descent into Italy, and tried to secure the allegiance of the people by relieving the woollen trade from taxation ; but Emmanuel Philibert received it back from Henry III. in 1574. A second occupation by the French occurred under Cardinal Richelieu : the French language was imposed on the people, great fortifications were constructed, and the fortress was used as a state prison for such men as Fouquet, De Caumont, and the Man with the Iron Mask. Victor Amadeus bombarded the place in 1693, and ultimately compelled Louis XIV. to relinquish his hold on it ; but before the withdrawal of the French troops the defences were demolished and the military importance of Pinerolo brought to a close. In 1748 the town was made a bishop s see. Michele Buniva, pensioned by Victor Emmanuel I. as the introducer of vaccination into Piedmont, was a native of Pinerolo and has a statue in the Piazza del Palazzo. De Grossi and Massi are among the local historians. PINK. As usually applied this word corresponds to a genus of Caryophyllacese, the Dianthus of botanists. It is characterized by the presence of opposite simple leaves proceeding from thickened nodes, a cymose inflorescence, a tubular calyx surrounded by a number of overlapping bracts, a showy corolla of five free long-stalked petals, ten stamens proceeding, together with the petals, from a short stalk supporting the ovary, which latter has two styles and ripens into an oblong pod which splits by two valves. The species are herbaceous or perennial, of low stature, often with very showy flowers. They are natives chiefly of southern Europe and the Mediterranean region, a few being found in temperate Asia and South Africa. One species only is native to America, and that only in the north west. Four species are wild in Britain, with two others which are more or less naturalized. These two are the more interesting as being the originals of the pinks and of the carnations and picotees of English gardens. Garden Pinks are derivatives from Dianthus plumarius, a native of central Europe, with leaves rough at the edges, and with rose-coloured or purplish flowers. The use of &quot; pink&quot; to denote a colour is derived from the name of the plant.