Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume XIII.djvu/391

 PEWTER PEWTER, an alloy of tin with other metals, such as lead, bismuth, antimony, copper, and zinc, in varying proportions. The English pewterers recognize three kinds, called plate, trifle, and ley pewter; the first and hardest being used for plates and other household arti- cles, the second for beer pots, and the third for larger wine measures. Plate pewter is com- posed of 100 parts of tin, 8 of antimony, 2 of bismuth, and 2 of copper, and has a bright silvery lustre. Trifle contains 83 parts of tin and 17 of antimony, with usually considerable lead. Ley contains 4 parts of tin and 1 of lead, and is generally known as common pew- ter. Another formula is, tin 112, lead 16, cop- per 6, zinc 2. A kind of hard pewter is com- posed of tin 96, antimony 8, copper 2. Some think the best pewter is made of tin 100, anti- mony 17; others that the finest is made by adding "temper" (which is composed of 2 parts of tin and 1 of copper) to tin in the pro- portion of from 0'08 to 1 per cent., or one third that proportion of copper. Britannia metal, consisting of tin 86, antimony 10, zinc 3, copper 1, and Queen's metal, containing tin 9, antimony 1, bismuth 1, lead 1, are kinds of pewter used for domestic utensils. Some in- ferior kinds of pewter contain 50 per cent, of lead, by which poisonous properties are im- parted. To obviate the difficulty, the French government appointed a commission, who de- termined that no more than 18 parts of lead might be safely alloyed with 82 parts of tin, and a standard was adopted of 83-5 tin and 16-5 lead in 100 parts, allowing 1-6 per cent, for unintentional errors. The density of this legal standard is 7*764 ; any increase of lead in- creases the specific gravity. Pewter vessels are formed by hammering, or by casting in moulds. When cast in pieces they may be joined to- gether with soft solder. (See SOLDER.) PEYER, Johann Konrad, a Swiss anatomist, born in Schaffhausen, Dec. 26, 1653, died there, Feb. 29, 1712. He graduated as M. D. at Basel in 1681, practised medicine there, and became professor of eloquence and afterward of logic and natural philosophy. He was distinguished for original dissections and observations on the closed glands of the mucous membrane of the small intestine ; those which are collected into plates or patches are known by the name of Peyer's glands, or Peyer's patches. His description of these structures is given in the Exercitatio Anatomico-medica de Glandulis Intestinorum earumque Usu et Affectionibus (8vo, Schaffhausen, 1677). He also published Metliodus Historiarum Anatomico-medicarum (Paris, 1678); Pceonis et Pythagorce Exercita- tiones Anatomicce et Medicm (Geneva, 1681); and a treatise on comparative anatomy entitled Merycologia, sive de Ruminantibus et Rumi- natione (Basel, 1685). PETROMET, Charles Ignace, count de, a French statesman, born in Bordeaux in October, 1778, died at Monf errand, Gironde, Jan. 2, 1854. His father, an attorney of the parliament of PFEIFFER 377 Guienne, had been ennobled, and was guillo- tined during the revolution. In 1796 Charles was admitted to the bar in his native city. He was best known by his licentious life and many duels. In 1814 he figured among the royalist partisans who called in the English and proclaimed the Bourbons. After holding several judicial offices and serving as a deputy, he became in 1821 minister of justice in the Villele cabinet. In 1822 he proposed the law for the restriction of the freedom of the press ; in 1823 defended the armed intervention in Spain; in 1824 procured the reestablishment of the censorship; in 1825 caused the adop- tion of the law against sacrilege; in 1826 at- tempted to have the right of primogeniture re- stored; and in 1827 tried to restrict the press still more, dissolved the national guard, and altered the jury law. The elections of 1828 obliged Charles X. to dismiss the Villele cab- inet; but in 1830 Peyronnet became minister of the interior under Polignac. He signed the ordinances of July 25, which brought about the revolution. After the outbreak he was arrested at Tours, was taken to Yincennes, ar- raigned with his colleagues before the court of peers, sentenced to perpetual imprisonment, and incarcerated at Ham, where he wrote an Histoire dee Francs (2 vols. 8vo, 1835). Re- leased after six years, he retired to private life. PFAFERS, or Pfeffers, a watering place of Switzerland, in the canton of St. Gall, 2 m. S. of Ragatz. It is more than 2,000 ft. above the sea, and has the so-called indifferent ther- mal springs, efficacious in rheumatism and ner- vous diseases. The springs were discovered in 1038. The gorge of the Tamina, leading from the village to the springs, is one of the most picturesque spots in the world. PFALZBIJRG (Fr. Phalsbourg), a town of the German Reichsland of Alsace-Lorraine, inclu- ded before 1871 in the French department of Meurthe, 25 m. N. W. of Strasburg; pop. about 4,300. It occupies a strong position on the W. declivity of the Vosges, commanding one of their passes, and under French rule was a fortress of the second class. In the late war it maintained a gallant defence against the Germans for four months under its comman- der Taillant, finally surrendering on Dec. 12, 1870. The number of prisoners was 1,900. In 1872 the dismantlement of the town was be- gun, the new frontiers having greatly dimin- ished its strategical importance. PFEIFFER, Ida, a German traveller, born in Vienna, Oct. 15, 1797, died there, Oct. 27, 1858. Her maiden name was Reyer. The extended journeys through which she became celebrated did not begin until she reached the age of 44, when, having been for some years separated from her husband, her two sons being estab- lished in life, and a sufficient sum having ac- cumulated from her careful savings, she grati- fied her long cherished desire for travel by making a journey to Palestine in 1842, return- ing through Italy during the same year. In