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Pyroxylin – Platypus or Duck-Bill

Pyroxylin

a form of nitrocellulose, produced by the action of a mixture of sulphuric and nitric acids, slightly diluted with water, on cotton. Soluble in a mixture of alcohol and ether. This solution, on evaporating, leaves a film of collodion. Pyroxylin is largely used in photography. (See NITROCELLULOSE).

Pyrrhic

a species of warlike dance, which is said to have been invented by Pyrrhus to grace the funeral of his PYRRHO father Achilles. It was danced by boys in armor, accompanied by the lute or lyre. Also a metrical foot consisting of two short syllables.

Pythagorean Theorem

the 47th proposition of the first book of Euclid's "Elements," which shows that in any right-angled triangle the square of the hypotenuse is equal to the sum of the squares of the other two sides.

Python

in Greek mythology, a celebrated serpent which destroyed the people and cattle about Delphi, and was slain by Apollo. In zoölogy, rock snake.

Photographs

TRANSMISSION. (See TELEPHOTOGRAPHY.)

Planet Deep

the deepest portion of the Pacific Ocean, situated near the Philippine Islands. It is the deepest water yet sounded anywhere, reaching 32,114 feet, or slightly over six miles. It was discovered in 1912.

Plastic Wood

a preparation a made of wood meal and collodion which, preparation when soft, may be handled and moulded like putty, but which sets hard and may then be cut and turned like wood. It is capable of being finished with sandpaper, and nails may be driven into it without cracking it.

Platypus or Duck-Bill

the popular name of Ornithorhynchus Ananame of Ornithorhynchus Anatinus or Paradoxus tinus or Paradoxus. (See ORNITHOR- , Vol. VII.) An effort was made in 1922 to bring a living specimen of this animal to America, but the only one which survived the voyage from Australia died within a few weeks at the New York Zoological Park.