Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume XIII.djvu/516

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500 PICTET PIEDIMONTE D'ALIFE led some persons fraudulently to substitute it in beer for a portion of the hops. It is em- ployed for dyeing wool and silk yellow ; and with aniline green, indigo, and Berlin blue, it is used for dyeing silk tind wool green. In France extensive use is made of the acid for the manufacture of the picrate gunpowder. PICTET, Francois Jules, a Swiss naturalist, born in Geneva about 1800, died there in April, 1872. He was professor of zoology and anat- omy in the academy of Geneva, and besides many other works published Traite elemen- taire de paleontologie (4 vols., Geneva, 1844- '6), and Melanges paleontologiques (1863). Among many of his relatives of scientific emi- nence is ADOLPHE PICTET (born in 1799), pro- fessor of aesthetics and linguistics at Geneva, and author of Les origines indo-europeennes, ou les Aryas primitifs (2 vols., 1859-'63). PICTOR, Fabius. See FABITJS, vol. vii., p. 52. PICTON, a town, port of entry, and the cap- ital of Prince Edward co., Ontario, Canada, sit- uated on the bay of Quinte, 115 m. E. by N. of Toronto ; pop. in 1871, 2,361. It contains manufactories of iron castings, steam engines, machinery, &o., a brewery, a pottery, a tanne- ry, saw and grist mills, a branch bank, about 60 stores, three weekly newspapers, and churches of five denominations. The value of imports for the year ending June 30, 1874, -was $26,840 ; of exports, $178,400. PICTOU. I. A N. E. county of Nova Scotia, Canada, bordering on Northumberland strait ; area, 1,126 sq. m. ; pop. in 1871, 32,114, of whom 27,165 were of Scotch, 1,974 of Irish, 1,719 of English, and 758 of Swiss origin or descent. The surface is generally level, and is intersected by numerous streams. The soil is very fertile. The county contains limestone and rich mines of coal and iron ore. It is traversed by the Pictou branch of the Intercolonial rail- way. II. A town, capital of the county, at the head of a harbor of its own name, opening into Northumberland strait, and at the E. terminus of the Pictou branch of the Intercolonial rail- way, 80 m. N. N. E. of Halifax ; pop. in 1871, 3,462. It is situated in a fertile and well culti- vated district, containing extensive coal mines and quarries of building stone, and is well built and lighted with gas. The harbor is very fine. At the S. side of its entrance is a lighthouse, with a fixed light 65 ft. above the sea. Large quantities of coal are exported. The value of imports for the year ending June 30, 1874, was $375,136; of exports, $266,310. The number of entrances was 238, tonnage 102,192; clear- ances 218, tonnage 79,953. The town contains two steam carding mills, two tobacco factories, an iron foundery, several saw and grist mills, tanneries, &c., three branch banks, a number of stores, an academy, a library, a weekly news- paper, and several churches. PICTS, an ancient people of North Britain, inhabiting the E. coast and lowlands of Scot- land. They are supposed to have been identi- cal with the ancient Caledonians; the name Picti (painted), probably derived from their custom of painting their bodies, occurs first in a speech of the rhetorician Eumenius, A. D. 296, to the emperor Constantius Chlorus on his return from the victory over Allectus. After this they are frequently spoken of by Roman historians, and Ammianus Marcellinus in the annals of the year 368 says that they were divided into the Dicalidonse and Vectu- riones. Their incursions proved very trouble- some to the Roman portions of the island. The southern Picts were converted to Christianity under the preaching of St. Niuian early in the 5th century; the northern Picts by St. Co- lumba late in the 6th century. They suffered severely for centuries from the invading Scots of Ireland, whose king Kenneth II. finally sub- dued them in 843, thus making all Scotland for the first time subject to one king, and fixed his residence at Forteviot in Stratherne, the Pictish capital. It has been a subject of dispute whether they were of Celtic or Teu- tonic descent. Their language bore some re- semblance to the Welsh, and it was the opin- ion of Camden that the modern Welsh are of Pictish origin. Singular architectural remains still exist in various parts of Scotland, which are popularly called Picts' houses. PIE, Louis Francois Desire Edouard, a French bishop, born at Pontgouin, Eure-et-Loire, Sept. 26, 1815. Soon after his ordination he was ap- pointed vicar general of Chartres, and on May 23, 1849, he became bishop of Poitiers. Though warmly attached to thB legitimist party, he gave at first a qualified adhesion to Napoleon III. ; but in refuting, in 1861, La Gueron- niere's pamphlet La France, Rome et Vltalie, he compared Napoleon III. to Pontius Pilate, responsible for the death of Christ. He was summoned to answer for this offence before the council of state, but refused to appear. In 1869 he took a prominent part in advoca- ting a speedy declaration of pontifical infalli- bility ; and in the Vatican council he was the leader of the French infallibilists, and reported back to the council, May 14, 1870, the schema on the primacy of St. Peter and the official infallibility of his successors. His principal publications are : Instruction synodale sur les erreurs de la philosophic moderne (Poitiers, 1855) ; Discours et instructions pastorales (3 vols. 8vo, 1858-'60) ; Instruction synodale sur les principals erreurs du temps present (1864) ; and two series of discourses and pastoral in- structions in vol. xvi. of Migne's Collection des orateurs sacres. PIEDIMONTE D'ALIFE, a town of S. Italy, in the province and 20 m. N. by E. of the city of Caserta, at the foot of Monte Matese; pop. about 8,000. It is remarkable for its moun- tain scenery, has many cotton mills, and pro- duces excellent oil and wine. The Laurenzana palace is the most remarkable building. The town is said to be built from the ruins of the neighboring ancient Samnian city of Allifae, at present the site of the small town of Alife.