Part 189

Harper's Mag.

||Pei`gnoir" (?), n. [F., fr. peigner to comb, L. pectinare. See Pectinate.] A woman's loose dressing sack; hence, a loose morning gown or wrapper.

Pe"le's hair (?). [After a Hawaiian goddess associated with the crater Kilauea.] Glass threads or fibers formed by the wind from bits blown from frothy lava or from the tips of lava jets or from bits of liquid lava thrown into the air. It often collects in thick masses resembling tow.

Pel"i*can State. Louisiana; -- a nickname alluding to the device on its seal.

Pe*lisse" (?), n. A lady's or child's long outer garment, of silk or other fabric.

Pel*lag"rous (?), a. [It. pellagroso: cf. F. pellagreux.] (Med.) Pertaining to, or affected with, or attendant on, pellagra; as, pellagrous insanity.

Pe*lo"rus (?), n. [After Pelorus, said to have been Hannibal's pilot when he left Italy.] (Navig.) An instrument similar to a mariner's compass, but without magnetic needles, and having two sight vanes by which bearings are taken, esp. such as cannot be taken by the compass.

||Pe*lo"ta (?), n. [Sp., lit., ball.] A Basque, Spanish, and Spanish-American game played in a court, in which a ball is struck with a wickerwork racket.

Pel`tier" ef*fect" (?). [After Jean C. A. Peltier, French physicist, the discoverer.] (Elec.) The production or absorption of heat at the junction of two metals on the passage of a current. Heat generated by the passage of the current in one direction will be absorbed if the current is reversed.

Pel`tier's" cross (?). (Elec.) A cross formed of two strips of different metals, to illustrate the Peltier effect.

Pel"ton wheel (?). (Mech.) A form of impulse turbine or water wheel, consisting of a row of double cup-shaped buckets arranged round the rim of a wheel and actuated by one or more jets of water playing into the cups at high velocity.

||Pe*lure" (?), n. [F., lit., peel, fr. peler to peel.] A crisp, hard, thin paper, sometimes used for postage stamps.

Pel*vim"e*try (?), n. [Pelvis + -metry.] (Med.) The measurement of the pelvis.

Pem"broke ta`ble (?). [From Pembroke, a town and shire in Wales.] A style of four-legged table in vogue in England, chiefly in the later Georgian period.

The characteristic which gives a table the name of Pembroke consists in the drop leaves, which are held up, when the table is open, by brackets which turn under the top.

F. C. Morse.

Pem"mi*can, n. A treatise of much thought in little compass.

Pe*nang" law"yer (?). [Prob. fr. Malay pnang lar.] A kind of walking stick made from the stem of an East Asiatic palm (Licuala acutifida).

||Pen`chant" (?), n. (Card Playing) A game like bézique, or, in the game, any queen and jack of different suits held together.

Pe"ne*plain` (?), n. [L. paene, pene, almost + E. plain.] (Phys. Geog.) A land surface reduced by erosion to the general condition of a plain, but not wholly devoid of hills; a base-level plain.

Pen*in"su*la State. Florida; -- a nickname.

||Pen*tath"lon (?), n. In the modern Olympic Games, a composite contest made up of a running broad jump, throwing the javelin, a 200-meter run, throwing the discus, and a 1500-meter run.

{ Pen"to*san (?), n. Also -sane (?) }. [From Pentose.] (Chem.) One of a class of substances (complex carbohydrates widely distributed in plants, as in fruits, gums, woods, hay, etc.) which yield pentoses on hydrolysis.

Pen"tose (?), n. [Penta- + - ose.] (Chem.) Any of a group of sugars of the formula C5H10O5, as arabinose; -- so called from the five carbon atoms in the molecule. They are not fermented by yeast.

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Peo"ple's bank (?). A form of coöperative bank, such as those of Germany; -- a term loosely used for various forms of coöperative financial institutions.

People's party. (U. S. Politics) A party formed in 1891, advocating in an increase of the currency, public ownership and operation of railroads, telegraphs, etc., an income tax, limitation in ownership of land, etc.

Pep"lum (?), n.; pl. E. - lumus, L. -la. [L.] A peplos. Hence: An overskirt hanging like an ancient peplos; also, a short fitted skirt attached to a waist or coat.