introduced at the end of the sixteenth century from Switzerland.
PLAUTIA, pla̤′shī-ȧ (or PLOTIA) GENS. A Roman plebeian tribe, several members of which became consuls. It embraced the family names Hypsæus, Proculus, Silvanus, Venno, and Venox.
PLAU′TUS, Titus Maccius. The greatest comic poet of ancient Rome. He was born c.254 B.C. at Sarsina, a village of Umbria. It is probable that he came to Rome while still a youth, and there acquired a complete mastery of the Latin language in its most idiomatic form, as well as an extensive familiarity with Greek literature. It is uncertain whether he ever obtained the Roman franchise. His first employment was with the actors, in whose service he saved an amount of money sufficient to enable him to leave Rome and commence business on his own account. What the nature of this business was, or where he carried it on, we are not informed; we know, however, that he failed in it, and returned to Rome, where he had to earn his livelihood in the service of a baker, with whom he was engaged in turning a hand-mill. At this time—a few years before the outbreak of the second Punic War—he was probably about 30 years of age; and while employed in his humble occupation, he composed three plays, which he sold to the managers of the public games. The proceeds enabled him to leave the mill and turn his hand to more congenial work. The commencement of his literary career may, therefore, be fixed c. 224 B.C., from which date he continued to produce comedies with wonderful fertility, till 184, when he died in his seventieth year.
Of his numerous plays—130 bore his name in the last century of the Republic—only 20 have come down to us. Many of them, however, were regarded as spurious by the Roman critics, among whom Varro (in his treatise Quæstiones Plautinæ, cited by Gellius) limits the genuine comedies of the poet to twenty-one. With the exception of the twenty-first, these Varronian comedies are the same as those we now possess. Their titles, arranged (with the exception of the Bacchides) in alphabetical order, are as follows: (1) Amphitryo, (2) Asinaria, (3) Aulularia, (4) Captivi, (5) Curculio, (6) Casina, (7) Cistellaria, (8) Epidicus, (9) Bacchides, (10) Mostellaria, (11) Menæchmi, (12) Miles, (13) Mercator, (14) Pseudolus, (15) Pœnulus, (16) Persa, (17) Rudens, (18) Stichus, (19) Trinummus, (20) Truculentus, (21) Vidularia. As a comic writer, Plautus enjoyed immense popularity among the Romans and held possession of the stages down to the time of Diocletian. The vivacity, the humor, and the rapid action of his plays, as well as his skill in constructing plots, commanded the admiration of the educated no less than of the unlettered Romans; while the fact that he was a national poet prepossessed his audiences in his favor. Although he laid the Greek comic drama under heavy contributions, and 'adapted' the plots of Menander, Diphilus. and Philemon with all the license of a modern playwright, he always preserved the style and character native to the Romans and reproduced the life and intellectual tone of the people in a way that at once conciliated their sympathies. The admiration in which he was held by his contemporaries descended to Cicero and Saint Jerome: while he has found imitators in Shakespeare, Molière, Dryden, Addison, and Lessing. and translators in most European countries. The best complete translation of his works into English is that by Thornton and Warner (5 vols., 1767–74); there is another by Riley (London, 1880), and a partial translation in the original meter, by Sugden (London, 1893). Unfortunately the text of the extant plays is in such a very corrupt state, so defective from lacunæ, and so filled with interpolations, that much yet remains to be done by the grammarian and the commentator before they can be read with full appreciation or comfort. Ritschl and his disciples gave the text its first exhaustive recension, on which are based the modern editions, such as those of Ussing (5 vols., Copenhagen, 1875–86) and Goetz and Schoell (3 vols., Leipzig, 1893–96). Among the many good editions of separate plays, with commentary, may be mentioned those of Brix, Lorenz, Morris, Palmer, and Tyrrell. Consult Sellar, Roman Poets of the Republic (Oxford, 1881).
PLAYA, plä′yȧ (Sp., shore). The name given to mud-plains formed by the deposition of silt in temporary lakes. In arid regions, such as the Great Basin, water collects in the valleys during the dry season forming shallow lakes, which shrink or entirely disappear with the recurrence of dry weather. The sediment left by evaporation consists of finely divided rock-débris impregnated with salt and becomes very hard under the sun's heat. The Black Rock Desert, in northwestern Utah, is an example of a playa.
PLAYERS' CLUB, The. A social club in New York City composed of men identified with American art, literature, painting, sculpture, architecture, the drama, etc., as well as prominent bankers and lawyers. Its creation was due in a great measure to the liberality of the tragedian Edwin Booth (q.v.), to whom the club is indebted for its handsome club house at 10 Gramercy Park, New York City. It was purchased by Mr. Booth for $75,000, and entirely remodeled. The work was completed in 1888, and on December 31st of that year it was formally presented, furnished and equipped for all the needs of club life. The club had been organized after the purchase of the building. Its affairs are managed by a board of nine directors, who must be identified with literature and the drama, and at least five of the body must be actors, dramatic writers, or theatrical managers.
PLAY′FAIR, John (1748–1819). An English mathematician and geologist, born at Benvie. He was taught by his father until he was 14 years of age, when he was sent to Saint Andrews, where he made rapid progress, especially in mathematics and natural philosophy, graduating in 1705. He entered the ministry in 1770. but still devoted his leisure time to mathematical studies, and in 1779 he contributed to the Transactions of the Royal Society a paper "On the Arithmetic of Impossible Quantities." In 1785 he became professor of mathematics, jointly with Dr. Adam Ferguson, in the University of Edinburgh. He became secretary of the physical class in the Edinburgh Royal Society in 1789, and later general secretary, which post he held till his death. In 1805 he exchanged the chair of mathematics for that of natural philosophy. In 1807 he became a fellow of the Royal Society. A few years before his death he traveled through France,
