pitch black

the length of the span; the Greek has a pitch to of the span; the Roman has a pitch from to of the span; and the Elizabeth an has rafters longer than the span. 3. Hydraulic Eng .: In overshot water-wheels the bucket-pitch is a circular line pa ing through the elbows of the buckets. The elbow is the junction of the floor and the arm, which together form tho bucket. 4. Machinery: (1) The distance between the threads of a screw measured on a line parallel to the axis. (2) The distance between the centers of two jacent teeth in a cog-wheel, measured on the pitch circle. (3) The pitch of a rivet is the distance apart from center to center. (4) The distance between the stays of marine and other steam boilers. In marine boilers it is usually from twelve to eighteen inches. 5. Mining: A lode or portion of a lode let out to men to work by the piece or by a percentage of the output. 6. Music: Musical sounds give to the mind a feeling of acutene or gravity according to the rapidity or slowne of the vibrations producing them; hence, the former are called acute or high, the lat ter grave or low. The absolute pitch of sounds is measured by giving the number of vibrations per second which produce a given sound, e . g . , C=528; 1. Ord . Lang : Pitch-dark (q. v.). 2. Bot .: Black, changing to brown, scarcely disthe relative pitch of sounds is described by giving IMG:content-1138.png:[blocks in formation] hoisted and the supplies and workmen lowered. (3) Engine- pit : The shaft in which the engine works. (4) The bottomle pit : Hell. ( Rev. xx. 1.) pit-cock, s . A pet-cock (q. v.). pit (1), v. t. [PIT, 8.] 1. To place or put in a pit or hole. "Root crops should be housed or pitted ."-Smiths on: Useful Book for Farmers , p. 29. 2. To mark with small hollows, as with the pustules of small-pox; to form small holes or depre ions in. 3. To set in competition, as cocks in a pit; to set against one another, as in a contest. "When also English man and American were pitted together."-London Daily Telegraph. IMG:content-1139.png:[blocks in formation] the ratio of vibrations of the interval, e. g., a fifth is 2:3-that is, the higher sound of any interval of a fifth gives three vibrations, while the lower sound in the same time gives two. The determination of fixed pitch is purely arbitrary, and it has from time to time undergone great variations. In England we have high concert-pitch C = about 540, more or le , and medium-pitch C=about 528; on the Continent the French "diapason normal," C= 518, is being largely adopted. The official standard adopted in this country during the world's fair was what is known as international or "French" pitch, which gives as a standard middle A with 435 vibrations, although the majority of American upright pianos are tuned to high-concert pitch. 7. Planes: The slant of a plane-bit in its stock. 8. Print .: One of the guide-pins which, in floor cloth printing, answer the purpose of the register points. 9. Saws: Rake or inclination of the face of a tooth. 10. Shipbuilding: (1) The pitch of the paddles is the distance between them, measured on the circle which pa es through their centers. It is commonly from 16 to double their depth. (2) The pitch of a propeller-screw is the length, measured along the axis, of a complete turn. A gaining-pitch is one in which the pitch gradually increases from the leading to the following edge. pitch-and-to , s . A game played by throwing up a coin and calling heads or tails; hence, to play pitch and to with anything = to be carele or wasteful about it; to play ducks and drakes. "To play pitch and to with the property of the coun try."-G. Eliot: Felix Holt , ch. xix.