Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 16.djvu/148

* PLEURODYNIA. 118 PLIANT. are restricted as iiiuch as possible on account of the puin. The disease is dillicult to distin<ruish from intercostal neuralgia, iu which disease, how- ever, the pain is usually more limited and paro-vysmal, and there are tender points along the course of the nerves. If it happens to be attended by a slight febrile excitement and a cough, pleurodjTiia closely resembles pleurisy (ij.v. ), but the physical signs of the latter all'ec- tion are wanting. The pain may be completely relieved by straj)ping the chest with strips of adhesive plaster. Mild counter-irritation and stimulating liniments are very often useful. The general treatment is that of rheumatism (q.v.). PLEUKONECTIDiE. See Flatfish; Flouk- DER. PLEXJROPNEtTMONIA (Xeo-Lat., from Gk. Trevpd, pleura, side + wfivixopla. pneumonia, pneumonia), Lung Plague, Luxg Fever, Peri- I'.NEUMOXIE (Fr. ), LUXGEK.SEUCIIE (Ger. ). A malignant contagious disease of cattle, char- acterized by an inflammatory process accom- panied by exudation on the pleura and in the lungs. The disease has been recognized in Eu- rope since the close of the eighteenth century. Domestic cattle, the bufTalo. and the yak are most susceptible to it. Goats, pigs, horses, and carnivora are very resistant, and man is immune. It occurs at present in Euro]>e, Asia. Africa, and Australia. It has been eradicated from Great Britain, the last case having been observed in 18'JO. The disease was introduced into the United States in 1843, and was finally eradicated through the elforts of the Bureau of Animal In- dustry in 1892. Consult Law. "The Lung Plague of Cattle." in the Farmers' Veterinary Adviser (Ithaca. X. Y., 1892). PLEUROTOMARIA (Xeo-Lat. nom. pi., from (ik. Trfvpop. ]iti uron, rib -f- roiiipiov, toma- rion, diminutive of tS/ios, tomos, cut, slice, from T4nvetv, tcmnein. to cut). The typical genus of Pleurotomaridic, a family of scutibranchiate gas- tropods. While quite rare at the present titne, this genus was abundantly represented in the seas of the Paleozoic, Mesozoic, and Cenozoic eras. Its ancestral form is apparentl.y the genus Raphistoma. a small shell of the early Ordovician, with low spire and sharply an- gular whorls. PK'urotomaria itself, with ele- vated spire and prominent slit band, made its appearance in the Silurian, and with a great variety of forms and allied genera it attained its maxinnim in the seas of Jlesozoic time, since when it has been gradually declining to the present time. This large genus, embracing sev- eral hundred species, is split up into a number of subgenera. One of the most important allies of Pleurotomaria is the Paleozoic genus Mur- chisonia (q.v.). PLEVNA, plev'nA, or PLEVEN. A town of Biilgnrin. situated on a tributary of the Danube and on the Sotia-Varna Railway, about S.i miles northeast of Sofia (Map: Balkan Peninsula. E .3). The town has a considerable trade in cattle and wine. It is connected by a branch railway line with the Danube. Population, in 1900, 18.709. Plevnc is famous for the role which it plaved in the Russo-Turkish War of 1877. Garrisoned only by a small Turkisli force at the begin- ning of the war. the place became, after the taking of Xikopoli by the Russians (July 16, 1877), the centre of oiierations in the western l)art of the theatre of war in Bulgaria. Just as the Russians were preparing to march toward Sofia, Osnian Pasha arrived with a part of his army at Plevna. The Turkish forces at that imint now amounted to 17,000 men with 58 guns, and the Russians dared not advance leaving this unexpected enemy in their rear. On July 20, 1877, an assault by a comparatively small force of Russians was repulsed, their loss being about 2800 men. The result of the first assault revealed to the Russians the strength of the Turkish forces at Plevna, and accordingly tlic Russian forces were increased to about 32,000 men, with 176 guns. The second attack, on .July 30th, led by General Kriidener, was also unsuccessful, and the Russians lost over 7000 men. The besieging army was augmented by about 35,000 Rumanians, while the Turkish forces were also increased to about 36,000 men, with 70 guns. On September 7th the bombardment was resumed, and in a desperate assault on September 11th General ScobelelT captured three trenches, but was com- pelled to abandon them on the following day. Tile Russians and Rumanians lost nearly 16,000 men between September 7lh and 11th, and it was then decided to invest the town by a large army and compel its surrender by cutting olf its supplies. These operations were successfully carried out under the direction of Totleben, and the besieged army, which had by that time been increased to about 45,000 men, soon began to suffer from lack of supplies and ammunition. Osman Pasha finally decided to break through the Russian chain, and accordingly crossed the Vid with his entire army on the night of December 9-10. and after an unsuccessful attack was thrown back toward the river, but, unable to cross the stream, surrendered unconditionally after a hard fight, in which he himself was wounded. The Russians took 40,000 prisoners and 77 guns. The total loss of the besieging army in killed and wounded was about 40.000 men. Consult: Osman Pasha, Defense de Pleima, d'apris tes documents reunis par Mou:affer Pasha et Taalat Bey (Paris. 1889) : Herbert, The De- fense of Plerna (London, 1895). PLEXIMETER. See Percussion. PLEYEL, plT'cl. Igxaz (17.57-1831). An Aus- trian composer, born in Ruppersthal, near Vien- na. He studied music under Wanhal and Haydn, and made in early life an extensive tour of Italy to hear the works of the best composers. In 1783 he was made kapellmeister of the Strass- burg Cathedral, and there composed most of the works on which his popularity rests. In the winter of 1791-92 he was engaged as the con- ductor of the London Professional Concerts. He returned to .Strassburg and subsequently went to Paris (1795), and after a successful career in that city as a publisher of music and piano- forte manufacturer under the firm name of Pleyel, Woltr et Cie., retired to an estate which he had purchased near the capital. His compositions, consisting of quartettes, concertantes, and sonatas, are full of agreeable melodies, some- times light and trivial, but occasionally giving evidence of genius. He died on his own estate. near Paris. PLIANT, Dame. A pretty, silly widow in Ben Jonson's comedy The Alchemist.