Pytftagoras

3888

the |

Pyxiclanthera

r holding tin- sacrament.
'0.\ of >ilver \\ith a base

according lo Benllnri; -nh: looker, the | Pyx, a receptacle
quince and medlar. If is usually <•• -mail

Pythag-oraf, a 4 J'eck philosuphei oftheoth and stun, and I'M used when the consecrated
century r.«\, who u:i> aoparcntl) a native of! elements are carried to the sick.
Samos, and after e^tci^ivc travels settled at !
Crotona in Italy, uhere he formed a society
mainly of aristocrats. The chief dn» trine of
the Pvthagorean school relaVd to numl)er:
eveiything, they held, that is intelligible can
be expressed numerically; without number aS!
Is chaos. The (ruth of the .]7th proposition
of the first book of Fuclid is attributed to
Pythagoras. In astrononu he recognized the
circular focus of the earth; and his followers
realized ihat K and the planets involve round
n, central point, which tiny called a lire.

Pythia. The Pythian festival and games
in ancient (iiecce were celebrated at Delphi,
the ancient name of which was Pytbo. They
resembled the Olympic ganus in being held
every four years, in the third year of each
Olympiad, and in the number and character
of the contests.

Pythias. See Damon.

PytJiow, a genus of large, non-poisonous

snakes, of wide distribution in the tropical hip to the fet-al standaul of weight and fine-
parts of the Old World. It belongs to the t'iim-| ne.ss. The pyx is the chest or box in which

I'yt/wn (P.

Pyx, Trial of the. This is the periodical
testing of uold and .-liver coins issued by the
Mint to a.-certain whether thev conic

ily Boida1, which includes the boa and ana-
conda. As in the other members of the fam-
ily, vestiges of the hind limbs are present,
which ;»ppeur at the surface in the* foim of
spurs near the anus. The larger \siutic forms
are capable of crushing and swallowing mam-
mals as large as u half-grown sheep,

the coins for trial are depo.sited,
Pyxidanthora, A charming trailing plant,

native of the pint* barrens of NY\\ Jersey and
N. Caiolina. It blooms ven early in spring,
its slender .stems, creeping over the damp sand,
crowded viith small, ivergre.en leaves and
\vhilii, waxen flowers.