his two sons, Carloman and Charlemagne, divided his territories between them.
Pep'per, William, an American physician, educator, author and benefactor, was born at Philadelphia, Aug. 21, 1843, and educated at the University of Pennsylvania (q. v.), from which he took both his classical and his medical diploma. He was elected provost of the university in 1881; and during his incumbency of 13 years it became a new institution, one of the foremost in the Union. So great was his devotion to the university, that he not only gave his services free but contributed many thousands of dollars out of his own private fortune toward its various endowments. He died on July 28, 1898.
Pep'sin, a substance contained in the gastric juice and the mucous membrane of the stomach, to which the gastric juice largely owes its power of dissolving the contents of the stomach and converting them into chyme. Various plans have been devised for extracting pepsin from the stomachs of calves, pigs and other animals; but it has never yet been obtained in its purity, and its chemical constitution is unknown. Pepsin has been used to a considerable extent in medical practice in cases of weak or disordered digestion; and it is an ingredient in most of the digestive preparations now in the market.
Pepys (pěp′ǐs, pēps or pǐps), Samuel, a notable English diarist, born in 1683, died in 1703. His famous Diary deals with the era of the Restoration, and is replete with minute and curious facts concerning the times in which its author lived. The Diary was written in cipher, and was not discovered and published until 1825.
Pequots (pe'kwots^ or Pe'quods, a tribe of North American Indians, a branch of the Mohicans, who inhabited the country around Thames River when Connecticut was first settled by the English. It is supposed they branched off from the Hudson River Mohicans at the beginning of the 17th century. They soon conquered most of the tribes in Connecticut, and made treaties with the Dutch and English. But afterwards becoming hostile, an expedition was sent against them fror~ Hartford in 1637. A Pequot fort near the. present town of Groton was attacked and fired, and hundreds perished. The war continued until the tribe was nearly annihilated at Fair-field Swamp. The remnant was either sold as slaves or scattered among the neighboring tribes, but a small number were afterward gathered into bands in Ledyard and North Stonington. Even now a few descendants of the Pequods live at Green Bay, Wis.
Perch, a fresh-water fish generally distributed in Europe, the eastern United States and northern Asia There are about one hundred species. The common yellow
perch is the type of those of moderate size. The American form is dark olive-green above, with golden-yellow sides crossed by six or eight dark bars; the lower fins are orange and the upper ones dark green. A few larger fishes, called pike-perches, also be PERCH
long to the family. The wall-eyed pike is a perch, not a pike. It is one of the most, important food-fishes of the lake's region, and is abundant in Saginaw Bay. It attains a length of three feet and a weight of ten to 30 pounds. In contrast with these large perch the family includes a number of darters too small to be of use as food.
Percy, a distinguished English family, descended from William de Percy, who accompanied William the Conqueror to England, in 1066 and received large grants of* land. See Shakspere's Henry IV and Henry V for Hotspur or Henry Percy. See, also, OTTERBURN, BATTLE OF.
Peren'nial Plants, those which live from year to year, either by the persistence of their stems, as in the case of shrubs and trees, or by the persistence of underground parts. The actual duration of such plants is exceedingly variable, the term simply meaning that they do not disappear entirely within one or two years. They may endure a few years or hundreds of years. See DURATION.
Perfectionists, also called Communists and Free-Lovers, a small American sect founded by John Humphrey Noyes, who was born at Brattleboro, Vt., Sept. 6, 1811. Noyes practiced law a number of years and then became a Congregational preacher. Experiencing a second conversion, he claimed that the prevailing theology is all wrong and separated himself from the Congregational church. He held that the gospel, if accepted, secured entire freedom from sin; that God has a dual being (mafe and female); that the author of evil is uncreated but is not God; and that communion with Christ saves, not from sinning only, but from disease and death. He and his converts formed a Perfectionist church or community at Putney, Vt., afterward moving to Oneida, N. Y. Men and women put their property into a common stock; they gave up formal prayer, religious service and observance of the Sabbath; those who were married renounced their marriage ties,
