Pterichthys
a genus of Placoderms, discovered by Hugh Miller in the Sandstone. The head and ante- Old Red rior part of the trunk were defended by a buckler of large ganoid scales, united by sutures, the cuirass articulating at the sides with a back plate; the rest of the body covered with small ganoid scales. Pectorals long and wing-like, a scaly short tail. Twelve species; eight from the lower, and four from the Upper Devonian of Orkney, Cromarty, Caithness, Scotland, and in Ireland.
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Pteris
in botany, a genus of Polypodeæ. Sori continuous, linear, marginal; involucre scarious or membranous, confluent with the recurved margin of the frond. Known species 80, of worldwide distribution.
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Pterocarpus
in botany, a genus of Dalbergieæ, having a thin wing at the edge of the fruit. Large trees, chiefly from the tropics. P. marsupium, P. indicus, and P. macrocarpus furnish East Indian kino, and P. erinaceus, African kino, P. draco and P. santalinus, red sandal wood. P. balberggioides, a good Indian wood, and P. indicus, the excellent Andaman red wood. Cattle and goats feed on the leaves of P. marsupium.
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Pteroceras
in zoology, scorpion shell, or spider shell. Shell, when young, like that of Strombus; afterward the outer lip becomes prolonged into several long claws, one of them forming a posterior canal. Recent species 12, from India or China.
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Pteropoda
in zoölogy, a class of Cuvier's embranchement of sub-kingdom Mollusca. Also, a sub-class of Cephalopoda, in which the mid-region of the foot is drawn out into a pair of winglike muscular lobes, used as paddles. The hind region is often absorbed, but may carry an operculum; the fore region is sometimes drawn out into tentacles, provided with suckers. There are two orders: Thecosomata and Gymnosomata.
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Pterosauria
an order of flying Reptilia of Mesozoic age. No exoskele- PTOLEMÆUS ton trunk; dorsal - ribs vertebræ double - headed procœlous; broad, anterior sternum, with median keel, and ossified sternal ribs. Jaws generally armed teeth, implanted in distinct sockets with The fore - limb consists of a. ulna, and radius, carpus, and humerus hand of, trivance four fingers, the outer clawless the inner and three enormously unguiculate elon-, gated. Supported by this finger, the PTERODACTYLS side of the body, and the comparatively short hind limb, was a patagium, or flying membrane. The bones were pneumatic. PTOLEMÆUS, the dynastic name of 13 kings of Egypt, who reigned from 323 to 43 b. c. The most famous was Ptolemæus Soter, who reigned from 323 to 285 B. C. See PTOLEMY I.
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Ptolemaic System
the hypothesis maintained by Ptolemy in his "Almagest " that the earth was a fixed body, remaining constantly at rest in the center of the universe, with the sun and moon revolving round it as attendant satellites. To account for the more complicated movements of the planets, a conter planet of revolved was devised in a circle by, while which the each centhat circle described another circle round the earth. The Ptolemaic system prevailed till Copernicus propounded what is now accepted as the true system of the universe. See COPERNICUS;
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Ptolemies, The
tol'e-miz, The, a house of Grecian rulers of Egypt. The dynasty was founded by Ptolemy I, a celebrated Macedonian general who, in 323 B. C., took Egypt as his share of the Empire of Alexander the Great. He made Alexandria his capital, and assumed the title of king, 306 B. C. Ptolemy XII was the last of the name; Cleopatra, the last of the family. The dynasty colonized Alexandria with Greeks and made that city for a century or two the center of Greek learning and literature. Greek was thus made the official language of Egypt. See Alexandria ; Cleopatra ; Ptolemy
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Ptosis
in pathology, a falling; as Ptosis palpebræ, a paralysis of the muscle which should keep the upper eyelid from falling.
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Puberty
the age at which persons or bearing chilare capable of begetting dren; the period marked by the functional development of the generative system in both male and female, and their corresponding aptitude for pron. In botany, the period at which creation. a plant first begins to bear flowers.
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Pubilius Volero
the author of the Pubilian law at Rome; a law by which the power of the plebs or people was greatly increased.
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Public Debts
. See Debts
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Public Health Service
a bureau of the United States Treasury Department, formerly going under the name of the Marine Hospital Service. The officials in its service have the work of managing the marine hospitals and relief stations established for men in the American merchant marine who are ill or disabled. It is also charged with the supervision of the quarantine stations, and the collection of data and dissemination of literature relating to mortality and health, including the examination of persons from abroad who may be suffering from infectious diseases. The Public Health Service dates from the year 1798, and its duties have developed considerably from that time. At first it was charged with the supervision of a small group of hospitals. Then in 1871 the bureau was brought more in touch with the Treasury Department and was established on a broader basis under a surgeon-general with headquarters in Washington. The staff was gradually increased till the number of surgeons has totaled over 400, and hospitals have been established both on the Atlantic and Pacific coasts, on the coasts of the Great Lakes, the Gulf of Mexico, and in other cadaveric poison. places in the more recent possessions. of ptomaines are In 1914 the hospitals numbered 24, and the relief stations 120. In the year previous the bureau distributed close on 1,500,000 pamphlets and similar pieces of literature dealing with matters of health.
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Public Prosecutor
an officer appointed to originate and conduct prosecutions in the public interest. In the United States his title is usually district attorney, though in some states special prosecutors are assigned to minor courts.
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Public Service
. See Franchise ; Municipal Ownership ; Corporation ; Stock-Watering
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Publican
in Roman antiquities, a collector of revenues, or farmer of the taxes consisting of tolls, tithes, harbor duties, duties for the use of pasture lands, mines, salt works, etc., in Roman provinces. Also, formerly a collector of toll, tribute, customs, or the like.
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