Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 16.djvu/31

* PIGOTT. Patriotic Association, founileJ in 1S8G, to resist home rule for Ireland. His papers, part true and part forged, furnished to this organization, were purchased by the London Times, in which they began to appear under the heading "Par- neliisin and Crime" (1887). Widespread sensa- tion was created by a letter (published April 18, 1887), purported to be signed by Parnell. In this letter sympathy was expressed for the Phoe- nix Park murderers. In 1888 Parliament ap- pointed a commission to inquire into the charges made by the Times against the Irish leader. Pigott was exposed by Sir Charles Russell, the counsel for Parnell. confesst'd his crime to Henry Labouch&re, and Hed to iladrid, where he shot himself as the English officers who had come to arrest him entered his room (March 1, 1889). PIGRES, pi'grez (Lat., from Gk. Ulyp-ns). A Greek jjoit of the fifth centurj- B.C. : supposed to have been the brother or son of Queen .rte- misia of Caria. According to .Suidas and Plu- tarch he wrote a poem entitled Mop7(T7)s. and he is now generally regarded as the author of the mock-heroic poem Barpaxonvo/jiaxla ( The Bat- tle of the Frogs and Mice), which was once at- tributed to Homer. Pigres is said to have been the first poet to introduce the iambic trimeter. PIG-TAILED BABOON. A small, black baboonlike monkey, of Celebes Island {Cyno- pithecus niger), which has a rudimentary tail. PIG-TAILED MONKEY. Either of two species of East Indian macaques, remarkable for their short curling tails. The best known is the short-haired one (Macactts neinestrinus), described by Buffon as the 'maimon,' which in- habits the ilalay Peninsula and southward through Sumatra and Borneo. It is as large as a mastiff, and has great strength; and it was long ago related of it that the Sumatrans trained it to climb trees and throw down cocoanuts, but it is now believed that if this were ever true it must have been so only of females or young, as the old males become very fierce and unruly. The Burmese pig-tailed monkey ( Maeacus leoninus) is distinguished by its longer hair, smaller size, and darker color. It has a limited distribution, is rare, and little known. See Plate of Monkeys of the Old World. PIGWEED. A name given to various species of Aniarantus (see Amaranth) and often also to certain species of Chenopodium (q.v.;. PI'KA. The popular name, of the curious little duplicidentate rodents of the genus La- gomys, related to hares and rabbits, but represent- ing a distinct degenerate family, the Lagomyida-. They are sometimes called 'calling hares,' 'little chief hares,' and 'conies.' They are about the size • and shape of a guinea-pig, and are not super- ficially at all like the hares, except about the nose, though the rounded ears are large and the tail very short. Three species at least are known, one in Europe and Asia, a second in Asia, and the third in the mountainous parts of the Western United States. The latter ( Ochotona princeps) is seven inches long, the tail less than an inch. It is dark grizzled blackish above and dirty whitish beneath. It inhabits the higher parts of the mountains, generally just above the timber line. The pikas are somewhat gregarious, and numbers usually inhabit masses of rocky debris at the base of "cliffs, where their squealing 15 PIKE. note makes their presence known. They are timid, unsuspicious, and perfectly harmless ani- mals. They feed entirely upon vegetable matter, and store up hay and dried vegetables — which they cut and lay in the sun to cure — as bedding and fodder for the winter. The Indians hunt and trap them for their skins, which they sew to- gether into undergarments. See Plate of Habes AND PiKA. PIKE (so called from its sharp snout and slender shape). The name of any one of several species of soft-rayed fishes of the family Lu- cid£e (or Esocid«). They have an elongated body, slightly compressed posteriorly, and cov- ered with scales. The head is long with a pro- longed and depressed snout. The mouth is large, the lower jaw somewhat the longer, and well supplied with strong, sharp teeth. The dorsal and anal fins are inserted far back. There is a single genus, Lucius ( Esox ), with six species all restricted to the northern part of Xorth America except one species (Lucius lucius), which is also found in Northern Europe and Asia. This, the 'common' or English pike, grows to a length of about four feet. The "general color is bluish, or greenish gray, with many whitish or yellowish spots . . . arranged somewhat in rows ; the dorsal, anal, and caudal fins with roundish or oblong black spots." It is called lx)th 'pike' and 'pickerel' in the United States. The great- est of the American pikes is the maskinonge (q.v. ), of the Great Lakes, which differs little from the European species. The remaining species are described under Pickerel. All the pikes are known for their voracity and are hated by fish culturists because of their in- roads upon other more desirable species. A pike willingly attacks any fish of its own size and preys freely on the smaller ones, even of its own species. Frogs are frequent prey; water-rats and ducklings are sometimes devoured. They spawn in spring in grassy shallows of the rivers and weedy waters in which they live, laying many thousands of eggs, which remain entangled in the vegetation imtil they hatch. The young pikes grow with great rapidity, and in England are known as 'jacks,' or 'pickerels.' The Scotch name is gedd, a term similar to those in the Scandina- vian languages. The pike is caught by means of nets, by the rod, by set lines, and by trimmers or jiggers, which may be briefly described as floats with lines attached to them, the line being so fastened that the bait swims at a proper depth, and that some yards of line run out when the bait is taken. In angling for pike various baits are used, such as a minnow, a portion of a fish, etc., and sometimes an artificial fly is employed with success. These are English methods. In the United States a commoner method is by trolling with a spoon- bait. They are also much caught through the ice of the northern lakes. See Colored Plate of American. (ame Fishes, accompanying article Trout ; and Plate of Xeedle-Fish, Pikes, etc. Various other fishes are often called pikes, as the gars, and pike- perches (q.v.). The 'Sacra- mento pike' (q.v.) is a chub; the 'picuda' is a barracuda. PIKE (AS. pic, OF. pi^HC, picque. Fr. pi'^wf, pike). A weapon of warfare used extensively till the introduction of the bayonet. Among an- cient armies the JIaccdonians were famous for