Peruvian Balsam
in botany and commerce, the balsam flowing from incisions in the trunk of Myroxylon pereiræ. It is a thick, viscid, almost opaque, balsam, like molasses, with a reddish hue, and translucent when in thin layers; its odor fragrant, its taste acrid, but aromatic. It is brought from San Salvador, in South America. In pharmacy, is used as a stimulant and expectorant in chronic bronchitis, rheumatism, also to arrest excessive discharges from the urethra, and as an external application to stimulate bedsores and ulcers. BARK, PERUVIAN BARK. See PERUVIAN.
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Pesaro
ancient Pisaurum, a town of Italy, on the right bank of the Foglia, here crossed by a bridge of Trajan's age, 1 mile from the Adriatic and 37 miles N. W. of Ancona. Its streets are broad, and adorned with palaces and churches, and the town is surrounded with walls and defended by a citadel (1474) and a fort. It is a bishop's seat; there are two cathedrals, new and old. Silks, pottery, iron, and leather are manufactured; and trade is carried on in wine, olive oil, and fruits. The city is associated with the name of Tasso, some of his MSS. being preserved in one of the town museums; it is also the birthplace of Rossini. Made a Roman colony in 184 b. c., it was destroyed by the Goths; then, having rebuilt by Belisarius, it became one been of the Pentapolis. From 755 to 1285 it belonged to the Popes, then to the Malatestas till 1445, then to the Sforzas and Delle Roveres, in 1631 again to the Popes, and finally in 1860 to Italy. Pop. of town (1915) 28,483. Of the department of Pesaro and Urbine, 270,696.
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Peschiera
a fortress of Italy, a member of the Quadrilateral, stands partly on an island in the Mincio and partly on the right bank of that river, at its outlet from the Lake of Garda. Besides a strong citadel and an arsenal, there is a fortified camp. The fortress has played a prominent part in warlike events, especially after the Napoleonic wars began down to 1859.
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Peshawar
or PESHAWUR, a town of India, 10½ miles from the entrance of the Khyber Pass, 190 E. by S. of Kabul, and 276 N. W. of Lahore. Though a frontier town and occupying a strategic position of the utmost importance, its only defenses are a mud wall and a small fort; but 2 miles W. of the city are the cantonments, with a garrison of six regiments and a battery of Royal Artillery. Peshawar is the seat of to abandon his gratuitous institution, and extensive commerce between Afghanis- to seek pupils who could pay for their tan and India; gold, silver, lace, hides (from Bokhara), horses, mules, fruits, woolen and skin coats (from Kabul) being exchanged for tea, English piece-goods, , salt, rice, butter, oil, and sugar. wheat
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Peso
a silver coin and money of account used in Mexico and other parts of Spanish America, and often considered equivalent to a dollar.
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Pessimism
that mental attitude which induces one to give preponderating importance to the evils and sorrows of existence; the habit of taking a gloom, and desponding view of things. Als the name given to the system of philosophy denounced by Schopenhauer (1788- "The World as Will and Idea" 1860) in (of which the first volume was published in 1819, and the second some 25 years after), and by Von Hartman in his "Philosophy of the Unconscious” (1860), It was at the beginning of the 19th century that pessimism began to create a literature of its own. As examples may be cited Byron's "Euthanasia" and Heine's "Fragen." The adherents of this philosophy have for the most part belonged to the German races, Leopardi (1798- 1837) being the sole Latin writer of note who has advocated pessimist theories.
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Pesth
. See Budapest
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Petal
in botany, one of the divisions of a corolla consisting of several distinct pieces. It is a modification of a leaf. It is generally larger than the calyx, and, unlike it, is as a rule brightly colored, i. e., white, red, blue, yellow, or some of at force the hues produced by their intermixture. Sometimes the margins of the petals unite.
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Petalite
a monoclinic mineral, rarely occurring in crystals, but mostly in cleavable masses. The crystallized form is the castorite. Found on the Isle of Utö, Sweden, and at a few other localities. Related to spodumene.
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Petaluma
a city of California in Sonoma co. It is on the Petaluma river, the Northwestern Pacific and the Petaluma and Santa Rosa railroads. The city is an important agricultural com- Important munity, and the raising of poultry is one of the chief industries. There are manufactories of silk, flour, machine shops and foundries, shoes, gas engines, etc. Pop. (1910) 5,880; (1920) 6,226.
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Petchora
a large river in the N. of European Russia, rises on the W. slope of the Urals, flows N. through the E. parts of the governments of Vologda and Archangel, then S. E. for about 150 miles, and finally sweeping toward the N., and expanding into an estuary 30 miles wide and full of islands, falls into the Arctic Ocean, after a course of over 1,000 miles. It is navigable by boats for upward of 700 miles. The country through which the river flows is thinly peopled, and quite uncultivated. PETECHIÆ, spots formed by extravasated blood, as in typhoid, putrid and malignant fevers, hemorrhagic smallpox, etc.
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Peter I
KING OF SERBIA with his troops until the final invasion by the forces of the Central Powers in 1916, when he escaped through the mountains of Albania to the Adriatic Coast, where he was rescued by the Italian ships. Until the collapse of the Teutonic front in the Balkans in 1918, he remained gion. It exports peas, oats, barley, in Greece, when he returned to Belgrade with his troops, following the retreating Austrians. PETER, PARLEY. See GOODRICH, SAMUEL GRISWOLD. PETER PINDAR. See WOLCOTT, JOHN.
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Peter Martyr
an Italian reformer; born in Florence, Italy, Sept. 8, 1500; entered at 16 the order of the canons regular of St. Augustine at Fiesole, studied at Padua, and became abbot of Spoleto, and later prior of St. Peter at Aram near Naples. Here he was drawn into the doctrines of the Reformers by the teaching of Juan Valdes and Ochino, yet was appointed visitor-general of his order in 1541. His rigor made him hateful to the dissolute monks, and he was sent to Lucca as prior of San Frediano, but soon fell under the suspicions of the Inquisition, and had to flee to Zurich (1542). At Strassburg he was welcomed by Bucer, and made Professor of the Old Testament. In 1547 he went to England on Cranmer's invitation, lectured at Oxford on I Corinthians and Romans, and took an active part in the great controversy of the day. Mary's accession drove him back to Strassburg, then grown too Lutheran for his tastes, and at length in 1555 he repaired to Zurich, where he died Nov. 12, 1562.
the patron saint of the Inquisition, a Dominican of Verona, who, for the for the severity with which he exercised his inquisitorial functions, was in 1252 slain at Como by the infuriated populace. His death formed the subject of a masterpiece by Titian, destroyed by fire in Venice in 1867.
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