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PYIl

PYL

mass is again reduced to a powder, which is now fit for use. TheHesh, vegetables, &c. may be either raw, or dressed in suchmanner as may be found necessary : they are to be packed inwooden boxes, surronnded with the powder, and secluded fromthe external air. By this method, it is stated, both animal asdvegetable matters may be kept free from corruption, for an indeti-fintte period of time.

PUTRID, rotten, or putrefied. Thus a putrid fever, isa fever in which the humours, or parts of them, are becomeputrefied, as in malignant fevers.

Putty, in its popular sense, is a kind of paste compounded ofwhiting and linseed-oil, beaten together to the consistence of athick dough. It is used by glaziers for the fastening in the squaresof glass in sash-windows, and bv painters for stopping up the cre-vices and clefts in timber and wainscots, &c.

Putty sometimes also denotes the powder of calcined tin, usedin polishing and giving the last gloss to works of iron and steel.

PUY DE DOME, a department of France , bounded on theN. by that of the Allier; E. by that of the Rhone and Loire ; S.by those of the Cantal, and the Upper Loire ; and YV. by thoseof the Correze, and the Creuse . It contains nearly the whole ofthat part of the late province of Auvergne, called Limagne . SeeAuvergne .

Puy-Cerda, a strong town of Spain, in Catalonia , the capital ofCerdagna ; 19 miles K. N. E. of Urgel, 45 N. VV. of Gerona , 53W. of Perpignan, and 67 N. YY 7 . of Barcelona . Lon. 1. 50. E.Lat. 42. 30. N.

PUZZULANA TERRA, or TERRA POZZOLANA, is agreyish kind of earth used in Italy for building under water. Thebest is found about Puteoli, Baix, and Curux, in Naples , fromthe first of which places it derives its name.

PYVLLPIELY, a large town of N. Wales, in Caernarvonshire ,6 miles S. of Newin, and 20 S. S. W. of Caernarvon.

PYANEPSIA, in antiquity, an Athenian festival celebrated onthe 7th day of the mouth Pyanepsion . Plutarch ascribes thefnstitution of this feast to Theseus , who, after the funeral of his fa-ther on this day paid his vows to Apollo , because the youths whoreturned with him safe from Crete then made their entry into thecity.

PYANEPSION, a month in the ancient Attic calendar, an-swering to our September.

PYCNOSXY'LE, in ancient architecture, a building wherethe columns stancr very close to each other; only one diameterand a half of the column being allowed for the intercoluniniations.The pycnostyle chielly belonged to the composite order, and wasused in the most magnificent buildings.

PYDNA, an ancient city of Macedonia , originally called Ci-tron, seated between the mouths of the Aliacmon tndJLydius.The decisive battle, by which the Romans got possession of Ma-cedonia , was fought here, B. C. 168.

PYG.YL'EI, an ancient nation of dwarfs, in the extreme partsof India, or /Ethiopia , of whom many fabulous stories are told byHomer, Aristotle, Ovid, Strabo , Ac.

PYGMALION, in fabulous history, a king of Cyprus .

Pygmalion, king of Tyre, son of Belus, and brother of Q.Dido, who founded Carthage . lie succeeded his father, butbecame odious by his avarice and cruelty ; and among others mur-dered Sichxus, the husband of Dido, in a temple of which he waspriest, on which Dido lied with her husband’s treasure. He diedin his 51st year and 47th of his reign.

PYGMY, [irvy/xMi©',] a dwarf; one of a nation fabled to beonly three spans high, and after long wars to have been destroyedby cranes. Any thing little. The pigmy was represented a; notexceeding a cubit in height. This appellation was given by theancients to a fabulous nation inhabiting Thrace ; who broughtforth young at live years of age, and were old at eight.

PYKAR, a broker in India , inferior to those called dallals, whotransacts the business at first hand with the manufacturer, andsometimes carries goods about for sale.

PYKE, a watchman in India , employed as a guard at night.Likewise a footman or runner on business. They are generallyarmed will] a spear.

PYL/E, Vr.ui.-u, i. e. gates,] a word applied by the Greeks toall straits or passages, which opened a communication between onecountry and another ; as Tlierniopvlx, Ac.

Pyl/e, in ancient geography, a town of Asia, between Cappa-docia and Cilicia .

PYLORUS , [n-iAui;©',] the lower orifice of the stomach. SeeAnatomy.

PYLOS, an ancient town of Mcssenia, on the YV. coast of Pe-loponnesus , at the foot of mount /Egalxus, opposite the islandSpliaeteria, in (he Ionian sea ; seated on the promontory ol Cory-phasion, a name also given to the town.

PYLSTART, an island in the S. Pacific Ocean, 6 miles incircumference; discovered by Tasman. Lon. 175. 47 YV. Lat.22. 26. S.

PYRAMID, [tfvj't.wir, from nup,, fire; because fire alwaysascends in the figure of a cone,] a solid figure, whose base is a po-lygon, and whose sides are plain triangles, their several pointsmeeting in one.

Pyramids are sometimes used t*> preserve the memory of sin-gular events, and sometimes to transmit to posterity the glory andmagnificence of princes. But as they are esteemed a symbol ofimmortality, they are most commonly used as funeral-monument;and temples to the gods. Such is that of Cestius at Rome ; thepyramids of Dashur drawn by Pococke ; and those celebratedones of Egypt , as famous for the enormity of their size as their an-tiquity. Of these the largest are the

Pyramids of Egypt , or Pyramids of Geeza, so calledfrom a village on the banks of the Nile , distant from them about11 miles. The three which most attract the attention of travellersstand near one another on the YY 7 . side of the river, almost oppo-site to Grand Cairo, and near the place where the ancient Mem-phis stood.

Pv kamids op Saccara. In the desert of Saccara there is agreat number of pyramids, which, in Mr. Bruce’s opinion, arecomposed of clay. They terminate in what the inhabitants call adagiour or false pyramid,’about two miles from the Nile , betweenSufand YVoodan. This is a hill cut into the shape of a pyramid,or naturally so formed, for a considerable height; on the top ofwhich is a pyramidal building of brick, terminating in a point, andhaving its basis so exactly adapted to the top of tlie hill, that at adistance the difference cannot be perceived ; especially as the faceof the stone resembles the clay of which the pyramids of the Sac-cara are composed.

PYRA MI DALIS, in anatomy, one of the muscles of the ab-domen. See Anatomy.

PYRAMIDOID, Parabolic. See Parabolic.

PY11EIA, or PYRATERIA, in antiquity, temples conse-crated to the sun, wherein a perpetual lire was kept. 1 hey werelarge enclosures built upon high eminences, without any covering.The Guebres, or worshippers of fire in Persia , and the East Indies,have still these Pyreia.

PYREN/EUS, in fabulous history, a king of Thrace , who,during a storm gave shelter to the Nine Muses in his palace.

PYRENEAN MOUNTAINS , or PY RENEES, mountainswhich divide France from Spain, and the most celebrated in Eu-rope, except the Alps. They reach from the Mediterranean seaas far as the ocean, and are about 212 miles in length. They havedifferent names, according to the different places wherqin theystand. Some think they are as high as the Alps ; but the passagesover them are not so difficult, w hatever some travellers may thinkwho have not crossed the former.

Pyrenees, Eastern, a department of the French enmire,containing the late province of Rousillon ; bounded on the N. bythose of the Arriege and the Aude; on the E. by tin: Mediterra-nean; and on the S. and YV. by Spain . It is 58 miles long fromE. to YV. and from IS to 25 broad from N. to S. Perpignan is thecapital.

Pyrenees, Lower, a department of France , bounded on theN. by those of the Landes, and the Gets ; E. by that of the UpperPyrenees; S. by Spain, and YV. by the Mediterranean ; being 70miles long, and from 15 to 45 broad. It comprehends the lateprovinces ol Bearn, Navarre, and part of Gascony. Pau is thecapital.

Pyrenees, Upper, a department of France , bounded on the N.by that of the Gers : on the E. by that of the Upper Garonne ; onthe S. by Spain ; and on the YV. by the department of the LowerPyrenees. It is 53 miles long, and from 25 to 38 broad, but one dis-trict towards the N. is only 7 miles broad. It contains the late prd-+ vinces

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