Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume XIII.djvu/549

 PINNIGRADES PINZON 533 our native plants, and well deserving of culti- vation ; it seems to be impatient of removal, and requires some time to become well estab- lished ; it endures the winter near New York. The worm-destroying properties of pinkroot were known to the Cherokees, from whom the whites learned them, and it was long in use as a domestic remedy in the southern states before it became known to the medical pro- fession ; it was afterward made officinal in the pharmacopoeias at home and abroad, and be- came an article of commerce. The root, con- sisting of numerous slender, branching, crook- ed, wrinkled fibres, attached to a knotty head or caudex, is used as an anthelmintic, espe- cially against the ascaris lumbricoides. In large doses it is a somewhat uncertain cathar- tic, and in overdoses it gives rise to vertigo, dilated pupils, and facial and sometimes even general spasms. Some deaths have been at- tributed to its use; but these cases, if genu- Pinkroot (Spigclia Marilandica). ine, must have been in the highest degree ex- ceptional, as the drug is most extensively used both in professional and domestic practice, not only without fatal but usually without unpleas ant consequences. It is generally given in the form of an infusion or fluid extract with some cathartic, as senna. Its dose in substance is from 10 to 20 grains for a child three or four years old. The supposed active principle is acid and bitter, soluble in water and alcohol, uncrystallizable, and of neutral reaction. The dose of the fluid extract, an excellent form, is a teaspoonful for an adult, less for a child. Spigelia anthelmia, growing in the West In- dies, is said to be even more efficient as an anthelmintic than our native species. PINNIGRADES, a division of carnivorous mam- mals, in which the legs are short, the feet be- ing broad, webbed paddles for swimming, as in the seals. PLVTADO. See GUINEA FOWL. POTTO, Mendez. See MEXDEZ PINTO. PIOTO DE FONSECA. See CIIAVES, MAR- QU.IS OF. PINTERICCHIO, Bernardino (BERNARDINO BET- TI), an Italian painter, born in Perugia in 1454, died in Siena in 1513. He is generally said to have been a pupil of Perugino, though this is doubted by some on account of their nearly equal ages; they were at least intimately as- sociated both in study and work. His earli- est works appear to have been the decoration (with portraits, landscapes, and historical sub- jects) of the Belvedere at the Vatican and other palaces. From 1493 to 1496 he was employed by Pope Alexander VI. in similar paintings in the main portions of the Vatican ; and later he painted one of his most important works, "The Discovery of the True Cross," in a chapel of the church of Ara Cceli. Per- haps the most famous of all his works are ten frescoes in the cathedral of Siena (painted 1502-'9), in all of which he is said to have been assisted by Raphael, but this is doubtful with regard to all but one or two. He painted portraits of celebrated contemporary person- ages, and several altarpieces, PIN WORM (oxyuris vermicular is), a nema- toid parasitic worm sometimes inhabiting the rectum of the human subject, especially in young children. This worm is white and fila- mentous ; the male one eighth of an inch long, the female rather less than half an inch. They frequently accumulate in the rectum in con- siderable numbers, some being always visi- ble in the evacuations. Under these circum- stances they are apt to produce a great amount of distressing irritation in the anus and its neighborhood, especially at night after the pa- tient has retired to rest, when they make their way out through the anus and cause a prick- ing, burning, and itching sensation in the deli- cate mucous membrane, which is sometimes almost intolerable. The disease is usually tem- porary, being confined as a general rule to in- fancy and early childhood, and disappearing spontaneously after a time. During this pe- riod, however, it may cause great discomfort, and when exaggerated in intensity may even induce serious disturbance of the health. The parasites are troublesome principally by their numbers, and the proper treatment according- ly is to evacuate them from time to time by the administration of anthelmintic remedies, or, what is better, by the habitual use of ene- mata, consisting of soap and water, or salt and water, repeated every two or three days until the symptoms are relieved. PINZON, the name of a family of wealthy and daring navigators, of the port of Palos de Moguer in Andalusia, three members of which were intimately associated with Columbus in his discovery of America. I. Martin llonso, the head of the family at that time, offered to afford the means for Columbus to renew his application to the court. When the latter had obtained the royal order to fit out three ves- sels for the voyage, it was principally through