pygmean, pygmæan, pigmean

& s. [Lat. pygmæus =dwarfish, from Gr. Pygmaioi = the race of Pygmies, from pygme =a measure of length, the distance between the elbow and the knuckles. So called because they were reputed to be of the height of a pygme, or 134 inches.] A. As adj .: Pertaining to a pigmy or dwarf; dwarfish, very small. "Throng number i e like that pygmean race." Milton: P. L., i. 780. B. As subst. A pygmy. "These Pig means live in hollow caves, and holes under the ground."- P . Holland : Pliny , bk. vii., ch. ii. pỹg-mỹ, pig-mỹ, pig-meỹ, s . & a. [French pygmé =dwarfish, from Lat. Pygmæus pygmean (q. v.); Sp., Port., & Ital. pigmeo .] A. As substantive: I. Ordinary Language: IMG:content-0015.jpg:[graphic] 1. Cla . Mythol.: One of a fabulous nation of dwarfs dwelling somewhere near the shores of the ocean, and maintaining perpetual wars with the cranes. Ctesias represented a nation of them as inhabiting India. Other ancient writers believed them to inhabit the Indian islands; Aristotle places them in Ethiopia, Pliny in Trans gang etic India. 2. A very short or dwarfish person; a dwarf; anything very little. "Soon grows the pigmy to gigantic size." Dryden: Virgil's Eneid, iv. taining or relating to a funeral pyre. "Unctuously constituted for the better pyrall comb us- tion."-Browne: Urn Burial , ch. iv. pỹ-răl-i-dæ, s. pl . [Mod. Lat. pyral ( is ); Lat. fem. pl. adj. suff.- idœ .] pyr-al-18-lite, s. [Pref. pyr : Gr allos =other, and lithos a stone; Ger. pyrallolith .] Min.: An altered pyroxene (q. v.), intermediate in composition between true pyroxene and tale. Occurs mostly in limestone at several localities in Finland. IMG:content-0016.png:[blocks in formation] resting on a square or sometimes approximately square base, with the sides facing with slight devia- tions toward the four principal winds, and tapering off gradually toward the top to a point or to a flat surface, as a substitute for an apex. The prop or- tion of the base to the height is not always the same, nor is the angle of inclination uniform. The pyramids were constructed in platforms, and then revêted or coated with blocks or slabs of granite, as may still be observed in incomplete pyramids. Recently the theory has been maintained that in the case of the largest pyramids, a smaller one was erected as a nucleus, and subsequently enveloped by another layer. The interior of these ma ive structures contains narrow pa ages, and totally dark halls or chambers, and probably served as the burial-places of the kings who had caused them to be constructed. The entrance to these buildings is raised considerably above the level of the base, and was blocked up by a portcullis of granite, so as to be on ordinary occasions inacces sible. In the pyramid of Cheops, the entrance is raised about 47 ft. 6 in. above the base. The pyra- mids of Egypt begin immediately south of Cairo, and continue southward at varying intervals for nearly seventy miles. The largest is that of Cheops, at Ghizeh, standing on a base each side of which was originally 764 feet long, but owing to the removal of the coating is now only 746 feet. Its perpendicular height, according to Wilkinson, originally 480 ft. 9 in., present height, 460 ft. The principal chamber, the so-called Crowning Hall or King's Chamber, is 34 ft. 3 in. long, and 17 ft. 1 in. wide. Its roof is formed of ma ive blocks of granite, over which, with a view to support the weight, other blocks are laid, with clear intervals between. According to Hero dot us, the erection of this pyramid employed 100,000 men for twenty IMG:content-0017.png:[blocks in formation] IMG:content-0018.png:[blocks in formation] Bot .: A genus of Chrysanth emeæ, reduced by Sir Joseph Hooker to a sub-genus of Matric aria, having the receptacle almost flat. Matric aria inodora, formerly Pyrethrum inodorum; another, M. par thenium, formerly Pyrethrum parthenium, is an pěr-am-6id, s . [PYRAMIDOID.] pŷr-ănt-1-mon-ite, s . [Pref. pyr- , and English escape or a denizen. [FEVERFEW.] IMG:content-0019.png:[blocks in formation] A. As adj .: Useful in fevers or feverishne . B. As subst.: A medicine for the cure of fever. pyr-ě-től-o-gř, s. [Greek pyretos , and logos =a discourse.] [PYRETIC.] Med.: That branch of medical science which treats of fevers. pyr-gi-tą, s. [Gr. pyrgites =of or belonging to a tower; pyrgos =a tower.] Ornith.: A genus of Fringillide, containing the Sparrows. për-he-11-om-e-tër, s . [Gr. pyr =fire; helios Derived from acetic acid by heat. the sun, and metron a measure.) An instrument invented by Pouillet for measuring the amount of heat radiated from the sun. It consists of a shallow cylinder of very thin copper or silver on a stem, provided with means of attachment to a stationary object, and carrying a disk on which the shadow of the cylinder may be received, so that it may be pointed directly toward the sun. The cylinder is blackened in order to absorb all the heat po ible, and is filled with water in which the bulb of a ther- mometer is placed. The instrument, at the atmos- pheric temperature, is first shaded from the sun, but exposed to the sky for five minutes, and, the difference of temperature noted, the shading screen is then withdrawn, and the cylinder exposed to the direct action of the sun's rays for five minutes, and the temperature noted, when it is again shaded for five minutes, and the fall of the thermometer ob- dim in. from pyr = a spark, or pyros =wheat.] py-rid-1-ŭm, 8. [Latin, from Greek pyridion, Bot .: Pomum (q. v.). (Mirbel.) pyr-I-form, a. [Lat. pyrum =a pear, and form a =form.] Having the shape or form of a pear; ob- conical. pyr-i-ta-ceo us (ce as sh), a. [Eng. pyrit (es); -aceous .] Pyritic (q. v.). py-ri-tēş, s . [Gr. pyrites , which embraced both iron and copper pyrites, including marcasite and pyrrhotite; Ger. eisenkies , kies .] Min .: An isometric mineral occurring frequently crystallized, also ma ive, in mammillary forms with fibrous structure, and stalactitic with crystal- line surface. Hardne , 6-6.5; specific gravity, 4'83- 5'2; luster, metallic, splendent; color, pale bra - yellow; streak, greenish-black; opaque; fracture conchoidal, uneven; brittle; strikes fire when struck with a hammer. Composition: Sulphur, 53-3; iron, 46.7=100, which yields the formula FeS2. Other elements sometimes replace a part of the iron, but only in small quantity. Dana divides this species into: (1) Ordinary; (a) distinct crystals; pyrochroite elongated and narrowed in front, the antennse in the males are pectinated or feathery, the elytra completely cover the abdomen. The larvæ feed on rotten wood. The perfect insects are seen on flowers. për-o-chrō-īte, s . [Pref. pyro- ; Greek chroa = color, and suff. -ite ( Min .).] Min.: A foliated mineral found in veins in magnetite at Paisberg. Hardne , 2.5; luster, pearly; color, white, changing on exposure to black. Composition: Protoxide of manganese, 79.8; water, 20-2 =100, corresponding with the formula, MnOHO. A brucite in which sesquioxide of iron replaces mag nesia. IMG:content-0020.png:[blocks in formation] pyr-o-clās-ite, s. [Pref. pyro-; Gr. klasis =a breaking, and suff. -ite ( Min.).] Min.: The same as PYROGUANITE (q. v.). pyr-o-col-lō-di-on, s . [Pref. pyro , and Eng. collodion.] A smokele powder invented by Profe or Mendeleyeff, of Ru ia, in 1896. It is a new form of nitro-cellulose, midway between ordinary 3310