Pisano

3742

Piston

tury is said to have been formed of earth
brought from Calvary. The famous kaning
tower, a campanile built entirely of marble,
178^ ft. high, was commenced in 1174 and
completed in 1350. It leans 13 ft. out of per-
pendicular. From its top is a magnificent
view of the surrounding country; p. 77,000.
Pisano, Andrea (c. 1270-1349), Italian

Pisa: Leaning Tower.

sculptor and architect. He went to Florence
and the first bronze door of the Florentine
Baptistery has been ascribed to him,

Pisano, Giovanni (1240-1328), Italian
achitect and sculptor. He built the cloister
which surrounds the Campo Santo of Pisa.

Pisano, Niccolo (1206-78), Italian sculp-
tor and architect. His most important works
are the pulpits for the Baptistery in Pisa and
the Cathedral in Siena.

Pisces, the 12th zodiacal constellation.

Pisciculture, a term usually restricted to
the artificial breeding, rearing and transpor-
ting of fish and other marine creatures. A
primitive fom of pisciculture, which con-
sisted in keeping fishes in ponds or enclosures,
and feeding and protecting them until they
reached a size suitable for the table, was
practised among the ancient Egyptians,
Greeks, and Romans. Modern pisciculture
deals with the artificial impregnation of the
eggs and the rearing of the fry from the
earliest stages.

Piscina, (Lat. 'a cistern,5 or 'pond'), a
small font or basin, usually supplied with
running water, in a niche at the south side
of a church altar, into which the priest pours
the water used in his priestly duties.

Pishin, formerly a district of South Af-
ghanistan, north of Quetta. Since 1878 it
has been occupied by the British, for strateg-
ic purposes; p. 65,000.

Pisistratus, (c. 600-527 B.C.), Athenian
statesman, of noble family. He came for-
ward as a political leader, and having seized
the Acropolis, he made himself tyrant in 560
u.c. He was a patron of art; he built a
temple to Athena on the Acropolis; and he
began the vast temple to Olympian Zeus
near the Ilissus, only finished by the Roman
emperor Hadrian, nearly seven hundred
years after its foundation.

Piso, a family of the Calpurnian clan at
ancient Rome.—Lucius CALPUKNIUS Piso
was consul in 58 B.C. His daughter Calpur-
nia married Julius Caesar. In 50 B.C. Piso was
censor.

Pisolite (Greek 'pea stone'), a concretion-
ary limestone, differing from oolite in having
(he particles as large as peas.

Pistacia, a genus of trees of the natural
order Anacardiacese, having dioecious flowers
without petals, and a dry drupe with a bony
stone. In the south of Europe and in the
east Pistachio nuts are much esteemed; and
oil is expressed from them for culinary and
other uses. They are easily procurable in the
United States. The Turpentine Tree (P.
lercbinthus)- yields the turpentine known in
commerce as Cyprus Turpentine, China Tur-
pentine, or Scio Turpentine.

Pistil* that part of the flower which, after
flowering is over, is developed into the
fruit.

Pistoja (ancient Pl$toria)> town, province
Florence, Italy. The Cathedral of San Ja-
copo (twelfth century) is rich in works of
art. Among other famous churches and
secular buildings are the Madonna delP Urn-
ilta, San Giovanni, San Domenico, the Palaz-
zo Pretorio (1367), the Palazzo del Com-
une (1294), and the Ospcdale del Ceppo
(1277). The principal manufactures are iron
and steel wares, agricultural implements,
paper, oil, and silk. The town has the credit
of having invented and first made pistols;
p. 76,000.

Pistol. See Revolver*.

Pistole, a gold coin formerly current IB
Spain and Italy.

Piston, a circular body, driven by, or act-