Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume XIII.djvu/634

 614 PLOOK PLOTINUS reous and marly, consisting of mollusks, echin- oderms, and other marine animals, separated in places by thin layers of hard limestone and coral-like masses. It is easily distinguished from red crag by its whiteness ; it was formed at a greater depth, and in an ocean having a higher temperature. Pliocene deposits have been found near Antwerp and on the banks of the Scheldt, from which over 200 species of shells have been taken, more than half of which are recent species found in the north- ern seas, and a few still living in the Mediter- ranean. Similar deposits occur in Normandy, and in Italy between the Apennines and the sea, on either side ; and the marine strata of the seven hills of Rome are of the same age. In the United States pliocene beds occur in North and South Carolina, extending as far south as the Edisto river. In them have been found the remains of a mastodon and a stag, and they contain from 40 to 60 per cent, of living species of shells. The beds are soft, either clay, loam, or sand, and lie in depres- sions of the older tertiary and cretaceous for- mations. The equivalents of these beds in Vir- ginia and New Jersey are not clearly made out. In the upper Missouri region, the great ceme- tery of the pliocene, the White river group is overlaid by other fresh-water tertiary beds 300 to 400 ft. thick, called by Meek and Haytfen the Loup river group. They contain in their upper part the remains of numerous extinct mammals, including camels, rhinoceroses as large as the Indian species, elephants, five spe- cies of the horse family, a wolf larger than any living species, a tiger as large as the Bengal tiger, and a porcupine, besides land and fresh- water shells, which are probably of recent spe- cies. These beds occur on the Loup fork of the Platte, and stretch north to the Niobrara and south beyond the Platte. FLOCK, or Plotzk. I. A government of Rus- sia, in Poland, bordering on Lomza, Warsaw, from which it is separated by the Vistula, and Prussia; area, 4,198 sq. m. ; pop. in 1872, 490,291. The surface is level, and agriculture is the principal occupation of the inhabitants. II. A town, capital of the government, on the right bank of the Vistula, 58 m. N. W. of War- saw; pop. in 1867, 21,843. It is the seat of a bishop, and one of the oldest towns of Poland, and in former times was the residence of the dukes of Masovia. It consists of an old and a new town, and has several squares. Besides the cathedral, with tombs of Polish dukes, there are ten other Catholic churches. Among the schools is a Piarist gymnasium. The trade is active, especially in grain and lumber. PLOCKHURST, Bernhard, a German painter, born in Brunswick in 1825. He completed his studies under Couture in Paris. From 1865 to 1869 he was professor of painting in Wei- mar, and subsequently in Berlin. Among his works are "Mary and John returning from the Sepulchre," "The Adulteress before Christ," "Mater Dolorosa," and " The Resurrection." PLOBIBli)RES, a watering place of France, in the department of Vosges, 15 m. S. of Epinal, in a fine valley of the Angronne, a tributary of the Sa6ne, about 1,300 ft. above the level of the sea; pop. about 1,500. It has noted thermal, ferruginous, and other springs, chief- ly used for bathing, and recommended for dis- eases of the liver and digestive organs, rheu- matism, and many other ailments. The bath houses belong to the government, and the principal of them were established by Napo- leon III. It contains fine promenades, a hand- some new church, a former royal palace, now inhabited by physicians, and a hospital. Hard- ware is made here. Napoleon III. and Cavour met here in 1858. PLOTINUS, a Neo-Platonic philosopher, born in Lycopolis, Egypt, about A. D. 204, died at Puteoli about 270. At the age of 28 he went to Alexandria, and attended the lectures of Ammonius Saccas, the founder of the eclectic school, with whom he remained 11 years. In 242 he accompanied the emperor Gordian's expedition against the Persians, in order to study the philosophy of the East ; and on the death of the monarch (244) he barely escaped with his life to Antioch. He then went to Rome, and taught the doctrines of Ammo- nius, but only orally, as he had agreed to keep them secret; and although his fellow pupils, Herennius and Origen, began to publish them, he did not follow their example until the first year of the reign of Gallienus (254). Ten years later, when Porphyry became his pupil, he had written 21 books, and subsequently composed 33 more. In Rome, where he remained until his death, he was a great favorite not only with men of science, but with senators and states- men ; and so great was the confidence reposed in him, that many Romans on their deathbeds made him the guardian of their children and estates. Gallienus was so much attached to him, that had it not been for the efforts of some of the courtiers he would have rebuilt two cities in Campania to afford Plotinus an opportunity of founding a commonwealth mod- elled after the ideal republic of Plato. Ploti- nus never corrected nor read through a second time his, manuscript, and paid no attention to spelling or the division of syllables. His hand- writing was execrable, and as his thoughts were put down without any systematic con- nection, he is one of the most obscure writers to be found in any language. His productions, revised by his pupil Porphyry, are in 54 books, called the Enneads, and treat of the most abstract subjects of thought, such as " Entity and Unity," " The Essence of the Soul," and " The Unity of the Good." According to his biographer, Porphyry, so ashamed was he that he existed in the body, that he would neither reveal his parentage, his ancestry, his native country, nor the day of his birth. So great was his contempt for the body, that he had no concern for his health, and was very scan- ty in the use of food, generally refraining