More than one of these 7 encyclopedias carries each of the following subjects — but every one of them treats it in a sentence or two and then moves on. They are gathered here so the different accounts can sit side by side.
Persimmon
Aiton's Encyclopedia: a small tree of the ebonywood family. The persimmon grows in woods and old fields from Rhode Island to Iowa and south to the Gulf. The fruit has the appearance of a plum, but without relationship to it. It is a strongly astringent, i. e., puckering, berry when green, but it becomes sweet and eatable after frosts. The wood is hard and dark, suggestive of the hard, jet black, ebony-wood of its tropical relative in Ceylon. The Japanese make much of a red persimmon resembling a fewseeded tomato.
Collier's New Encyclopedia: or PERSIMON, Diospyros virginiana, a tree 60 feet or more in height, with ovate, oblong, taperpointed, shining leaves, pale yellow flowers, and an orange-colored succulent fruit an inch or more in diameter; very astringent when green, but eatable when bletted. It grows plentifully in the Southern and South Atlantic States. The fruit is brewed into beer, and yields an ardent spirit on distillation.
Covered by Aiton's Encyclopedia and Collier's New Encyclopedia
Petunia
Aiton's Encyclopedia: a well known garden flower. It is a South American relative of the tobacco plant. The name petunia is Indian, signifying tobacco. There are from twelve to fifteen species, all native, from Mexico to South Brazil. They are clammy-hairy, branching herbs, with small, entire leaves. The wild flowers vary from white to a showy violet. Many other tints, as purple, lilac, and red, have been developed under cultivation. Florists have given no little attention to the development of varieties. In some of the larger strains the salver-shaped corolla is four or five inches across. The seeds are very small. They require to be planted on the surface of very fine, rich soil; otherwise they are of easy and rapid growth. They furnish an abundance of flowers from early summer until frost comes. Double flowers may be had, but at the expense of size and color.
Collier's New Encyclopedia: a genus of American herbaceous plants, natural order Solanaceæ, nearly allied to tobacco. They are much prized by horticulturists for the beauty of their flowers. PEWTER. The finer pewter is an alloy of 12 parts tin, one part antimony, and a small quantity of copper; the coarser, of 80 parts tin and 20 of lead. The same ingredients as the finer pewter, but in different proportions (nine of tin to one of antimony) constitute Britannia metal. Pewter is a name also for a polishing material used by marble workers and derived from the calcination of tin.
Covered by Aiton's Encyclopedia and Collier's New Encyclopedia
Phalaris
1000 Classical Characters: A tyrant of Agrigentum, who treated his subjects with great cruelty. Perillus made him a brazen bull, inside of which he proposed to place culprits, and by applying fire burn them to death. The first to be burnt in this manner was Perillus himself. The cruelties practiced by Phalaris were revenged by a revolt of his people, who put him to death by burning him in the bull. 2026 Editor's Note: According to legend, the tyrant Phalaris of Akragas commissioned the brazen bull , a hollow bronze statue designed to roast victims alive while converting their screams into the sound of a bellowing animal. While the device is famously associated with his reign from approximately 570 to 554 BC, historians note that the bull may have been a tool for intimidation rather than a frequently used instrument of execution. (Ed: BR 2026-06-26)
Collier's New Encyclopedia: a small genus of grasses, of which the seed of one of the species, P. canariensis, or canary grass, is extensively employed as food for birds, and commonly cor aly known as canary seed.
Covered by 1000 Classical Characters and Collier's New Encyclopedia
Pharaoh
Aiton's Encyclopedia: fa'ro or fa'ra-o, a title of the Egyptian monarchs. Like shah, czar, emperor, and king, it is a general name applied to the rulers of that country. As used in the Scriptures, pharaoh is equivalent simply to the king. Attempts have been made to identify the pharaoh of Abraham, the pharaoh who was a friend of Joseph, and the pharaoh of the Hebrew Exodus, with, however, little success. The pharaoh who oppressed the Hebrews in Egypt by causing them to make bricks without straw has been identified as Rameses II . See Pyramids; Embalming
Collier's New Encyclopedia: the name borne in the Bible by 10 kings of Egypt; the best known of which are, the monarch to whom Joseph explained his dream, and who loaded him with honors; he who commenced the persecution of the Hebrews, and who put to death all the male children; and he who was summoned by Moses to permit of the departure of the Hebrew people, and who was afterward drowned, with all his host, in the waters of the Red Sea.
Covered by Aiton's Encyclopedia and Collier's New Encyclopedia
Pharos
Collier's New Encyclopedia: a lighthouse. The name is derived from the island of Pharos, close a, to and now part of Alexandria, which protected the port of that city. On the E. promontory of the island stood the lighthouse of Alexandria, so famous in antiquity, and considered wonders of the world, built 300 years B. C. one of the
1000 Classical Characters: A small island in the bay of Alexandria, on which was built a tower which was considered one of the seven wonders of the world . It was erected in the reigns of Ptolemy Soter and Ptolemy Philadelphus, the architect being Sostratus, the son of Dexiphanes.
Covered by Collier's New Encyclopedia and 1000 Classical Characters
Phigalia
1000 Classical Characters: A town in the southwest corner of Arcadia , on the frontiers of Messenia and Elis, which owes its celebrity in modern times to the remains of a splendid temple in its territory, built in the time of Pericles . The sculptures in alto-relievo, which ornamented the frieze in the interior, are now preserved in the British Museum . They represent the combat of the Centaurs and the Lapithae, and of the Greeks and the Amazons. 2026 Editor's Note: The sculptures described are from the Temple of Apollo Epicurius at Bassae, built by the Phigalians in the late fifth century BC. The ancient site is near the modern village of Phigalia, known as Pavlitsa until the early 20th century, now in southeastern Elis. (Ed: BR 2026-06-29)
Collier's New Encyclopedia: an ancient town of Arcadia, situated in its extreme S. W. corner. From its temple of Apollo, at Bassæ, 5 to 6 miles distant, a sculptured frieze representing the contests between the Centaurs and Lapithæ, and the Amazons and Greeks, was brought to the British Museum in 1812. Next to the Theseum at Athens it is the most perfect architectural ruin in all Greece. It was designed by Ictinus, one of the architects of the Parthenon at Athens, and measured originally 125½ feet long and 48 broad. It had 38 columns, of which 34 still stand.
Covered by 1000 Classical Characters and Collier's New Encyclopedia