Pine Chafer
or PINE BEETLE (Hylophagus piniperda), a species of beetle which infests Scotch pines. It feeds on the young shoots of these trees and eats its way into the heart, thus converting the shoot into a tube.
Only in Collier's New Encyclopedia
Single-source entries: P (67)
These 12 listings are so strange that each appears in only one of the 7 encyclopedias we compared. They include such classics as Pine Chafer, Pine Marten, Pineapple Fiber.
Pine Marten
an animal, Mustela martes, distributed over Europe and Asia. The body is long and lithe, about 18 inches, with a tail two-thirds that length; legs short, paws with five digits armed with claws; snout sharp, vibrissæ long; fur dark brown, lighter on cheeks about 13,000. and snout; throat, and under side of neck light-yellow. It is arboreal, and frequents coniferous woods, whence its popular name. The female makes a nest of moss and leaves, sometimes occupying those of squirrels or woodpeckers and killing the rightful owners.
Only in Collier's New Encyclopedia
Pineapple Fiber
the fiber yielded by the leaves of the pineapple plant. In China and the Philippines the fleshy surfaces of the long leaf are cut off with a plane. The fibers are then removed from about the middle of the leaf by hand. They are steeped in water, washed, dried, and bleached. Pineapple fiber is long, white, and silky, and is one of the strongest of vegetable fibers. A small strand tested against an equal quantity of flax sustained a weight of ninety pounds more than that sustained by the flax. It is prepared readily for spinning. The individual filaments are flexible, fine, and of regular size. In Europe pineapple fiber is used in the manufacture of novelty fabrics, and in mixtures with silk, wool, and cotton. In China a coarse cloth resembling grass cloth is made from it. In Central Mexico it is used in making ropes, twine, thread, hammocks, and bagging. In the Philippines the famous pina cloth is made from the fiber of the wild pineapple. Pina cloth is thin, soft, of delicate texture, and great durability. Efforts have been made to utilize the fiber from the leaves of the Florida pineapple, but with indifferent success. A ton of pineapple leaves yields from forty-five to sixty pounds of fiber. No practicable machinery has yet been invented for extracting the fiber from the leaves.
Only in Aiton's Encyclopedia
Pinero
SIR ARTHUR WING, an English dramatist; born in London, May 24, 1855. A lawyer's son, he studied for the law, then became an actor, and ultimately left the stage for dramatic about 3,500. in tennis. ARTHUR W. PINERO authorship. His first comedy, "Two Can Play at That Game," was produced in 1877, and was followed by "Two Hun- Year" (1877); "The Money dred a Spinner" (1880); "The Magistrate" (1885); "Dandy Dick" (1887); "His House in Order" (1906); "Thunderbolt" Phlox subulata. (1909); "Mind the Paint Girl" (1912); etc. ease in horses.
Only in Collier's New Encyclopedia
Pinerolo
or PIGNEROL (province of Turin) a town of North Italy, at the E. Turin foot. of the Alps, 23 miles S. W. of 1547, near From 1042 a town of Savoy, it Scotland, till was 1713 strongly fortified, having the Protector among other defenses a citadel, in which number the and Man with the Iron Mask, Lauzun, terly Fouquet were imprisoned. This said, being fortress was in French hands from 1536 pursuit, to 1574, again from 1630 to 1696, from barely 200. 1704 to 1706, and from 1801 to 1814. The town contains a cathedral and a diplomatist technical school. Cloth, paper, leather, March 17 cotton, and silk are manufactured. Pop.
Only in Collier's New Encyclopedia
Pines
ISLE OF, an island S. of Cuba belonging to that country. It is about 40 miles S. E. of the S. coast of the province of Pinar Del Rio. Its total area is about 840 square miles. The production of fruits is the principal industry, although there is extensive cattle raising. In recent years large numbers of people from the United States have settled on the island and tentative efforts have been made to have it come into possession of the United States. The capital is Nueva Gerona. Pop.
Only in Collier's New Encyclopedia
Ping-Pong
table lawn tennis, a game that was introduced from England and became very popular in the United States in 1902. The game is played very much as is the regular game of tennis. Across the center of a table a net about six inches high is stretched; the rackets and balls are proportionately small, the former being strung with fine gut, or formed from a single piece of vellum stretched tightly over a racket frame; and the latter being made of celluloid. The scoring is the same as
Only in Collier's New Encyclopedia
Pinguicula
a genus of plants of the natural order Lentibulariaceæ, with rosettes of fleshy radical leaves, and solitary purple, violet, or yellow flowers.
Only in Collier's New Encyclopedia
Pinion
The smaller of two toothed wheels which are geared into one another. The tooth of a pinion is called a pinion leaf.
Only in American Watchmaker and Jeweler
Pink
in art, a class of pigments of yellow or greenish-yellow color, prepared by precipitating vegetable juices on a white earth, such as chalk, alumina, etc., and used only in water colors. The varieties are Italian pink, brown pink, rose pink, and Dutch pink. In botany, the genus Dianthus, of about 70 known species. The majority are cultivated in gardens; specifically, Dianthus plumarius, the garden pink. Also various plants superficially resembling it in flowers; thus, the cushion pink is Silene acaulis, the moss pink,
Only in Collier's New Encyclopedia
Pink-Eye
a highly contagious dis-
Only in Collier's New Encyclopedia
Pinkerton, Allan
Allan (1819-1884), a celebrated American detective. A native of Scotland. Pinkerton came to this country a penniless boy. His first efforts at earning money were sawing wood at fifty cents a day. His first efforts in the detective line were in the secret service of Chicago. He was the first detective of that city. In 1850 he set up independently and made a specialty of bank and express robberies. Pinkerton accompanied President Lincoln to Baltimore on the way to his first inauguration. He was attached to the secret service of the Army of West Virginia . He joined McClellan's command on the peninsula in the same capacity, and became finally known as Major Pinkerton. Toward the close of the war he established Pinkerton's National Detective Agency at Chicago, with offices at New York and Philadelphia. Pinkerton was a man of great energy, with a dignified demeanor, and notwithstanding that he was familiar with all the arts and wiles and iniquities of criminals, he was considered the soul of honor and distinctly repudiated the adage, "Set a rogue to catch a rogue." He wrote a volume of reminiscences, Thirty Years a Detective. He is credited with breaking up the " Molly Maguires " of the Pennsylvania coal region. See Molly Maguires ; Bertillon
Only in Aiton's Encyclopedia