Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 16.djvu/618

* PUMA. 540 PTJMPKINSEED. abundant in the Rocky :Mountains, and westward, where the ranching industries supply them with abundant food in the young cattle and horses. The principal food of the puma in North America was deer, but it seized any smaller prey which came in its way. The mode of hunting was by lying in wait for or creeping within leaping distance of the victim and then springing upon it. In the case of sheep, to which in the South- western United States it is especially destruc- tive, the puma rarely contents itself with taking a single one, which «ould satisfy its hunger, but, having once entered a fold or flock, it kills right and left, so that in many eases a hundred sheep have been killed out of a flock in one night by a single puma. Their silence when hunting or when attacked is a notable characteristic; yet on rare occasions, in winter nights, they make the w^oods resound with terrifying screams. The young are born in the earl.y spring, and are usually two or three in number; and it is be- lieved that under natural conditions most pairs breed only once in two years. The kittens at first are covered with black spots and stripes, and their tails ai'e ringed. These markings disappear at the end of about six months, after which they become of the luiiform color of their parents. Full size is not attained before the end of the second year, and during all this time they asso- ciate with the mother, while the father of the family seems to lead a solitary existence. Like other cats, their hunting is entirely at night. BiiiLioGRAPiiY. True, "The Puma," an illus- trated monograph with full bibliography, in An- nual Report Siiiitlisonidii Institution (Washing- ton, ISSil) ; Merriam, Vertebrates of the Adiron- dacks (New York, 1893); Porter, Wild Beasts (New York, 1894): Baillie-Grohman, Fifteen Years. . . in the Unnting Grounds of West- ern. America. (London, 1900) ; Alston, liiologia f'entrali-Atnericana (London, 1879-82); Hudson, The Xatiiralist in La Plata (London, 1892). See Colored Plate of Cat Family, accompanying article Liox. PTJMBLECHOOK, pum'b'l-chook, Mr. Uncle to -Toe (iargerv in Dickens's Orent Expeetations, a fishy-cyeil. pompous man, who bullied Pip when he was poor, but was most servile when he came into his money. PUMELO. See GRArEFRriT. PUMICE (from Lat. pnmex; probably con- nected with spunia, foam). An effusive igneous rock, having a spongy or frothy texture, and com- posed largely or entirely of glass. It is fre- quently made up of parallel fibres or threads with intervening spaces to form a delicate structure. It is produced by the expansion of the occluded moisture of lavas when they reach the surface of the earth, and is most abundantly developed in lavas of rhyolitic composition (see Rhtolite), since these are usually very viscous. It niay, however, be exceptionally produced in connection with any effusive rock, and is hence classified in respect to its chemical composition into rhyolite piiniice, trachyte pumice, and the like. Pumice is extensively used in the manufacture of tooth powder and other abrasive materials. Most of the commercial product is derived from the Lipari Islands. PUMP. See Pi'MP.s and Pumpiijg Machinery. PXnWPEL'LY, Raph.el (I837-). An American geologist, born in Owego, N. Y., and educated in Hanover, Germany, and in the mining schools of Paris and Freiberg, from 1854 to 1800. After explorations in Corsica and in Arizona, lie received in I8G1 a commission from the .Japanese Government to explore the mineral wealth of the island of Y'esso. In February, 1863, under pres- sure of the anti-foreigii party, the Shogiui ilis- missed the foreign emploj'ees who were "'?]]ying out the land." Pumpelly then went to China, and, having been commissioned by the' Cliinese Government to report on the coal su[)ply of the Empire, he made journeys through the central and northern provinces and into the Desert of Gobi. Upon the completion of this work in 18G4, he spent a short time in Nagasaki, and then returned to Europe by way of Siberia. The Smithsonian Institution published a volume re- cording his geological researches in Cliina. Mon- golia, and .Japan, and this was supplemented by a popular narrative of his travels and adventures ejititled Across America and Asia (1870). Upon his return to the United States Pumpelly was appointed professor of mining in Harvard L niver- sity, an office which he held from 18ti0 to 1873. During a short period he was the State geologist of Michigan and then of Jlissouri, and in 1879 he entered the service of the United States Geulog- ical Survey. In 1879-80, he conducted at New- port, R. I., an investigation for the National Board of Health on the filtering ability of various soils. In 1881 he organized an important trans- continental survey throvigh the northwestern ter- ritories of the United States. In 1884 he again entered the United States Geological Survey. In 1903 he left this country for the purpose of mak- ing observations in the Trans-Caspian country under the auspices of the Carnegie Institution of Washington. His publications include: Geolog- ical Researches in China. Mongolia, and Japan, published by the Smithsonian Institution (18ti0) ; Across America and Asia (1870) ; Geologn of the- Copper District of Michigan (187.5); Iron Ores and Coal Fields in Missouri (1873) ; "The Mining- Industries of the United States," in vol. xv. of the United States Census Report (1886) ; and Geol- ogif of the Green Mountains (1894). PUMPKIN (variant of pumpion, from OF. pompinn. variant of pepon, from Lat. pepo. from Gk. irivwii, pepon, kind of melon, ripe; connected with Skt. pakra. ripe, from pac, to cook; in- fluenced by popular etymology with the Eng. diminutive termination -kin). The common name of several annual, vine-like, tendril-bearing herbs of the genus Cucurbita, family C'ucurbitaceiB, natives of warm countries, cultivated for their fruits. The common field pumpkin {Cucurbita. Pepo) is a coarse running, rough-leaved vine, of- ten exceeding 20 feet in length. The fruit is gciurd- like, oblong with flattened ends, yellow whea ripe, and normally weighing from 15 to 40 pounds. The edible portion consists of a flesliy layer an inch or more thick beneath the rind. In Amer- ica the pumpkin is extensively planted in corn- fields in occasional hills of corn. In its raw state the fruit is used as a cattle food, and, after having its hard outer rind and seeds removed, for making pies. The methods of cultivation are the same as for si[uash ( q.v. ) . See Plate of Cucumber Allies. PUMPKIN INSECTS. See Squash Insects. PUMPKINSEED. The conunon sunfish (q.v.). See I'hite of Darters axd Suxfisii.