the heat, she took his place at the cannon and served heroically through the battle. In 1822 she was recognized for her heroism with a state pension. Some historians attribute the act of replacing her husband at the cannon to Margaret Corbin (1751-1800) in the attack on Fort Washington in 1776.
pitcher plant Any carnivorous plant with pitcher-, trumpet-, or urn¬ shaped leaves. Several families include pitcher plants: Nepenthaceae (Old World pitcher plants), Cephal- otaceae, Asclepiadaceae (milkweed family), and especially Sarraceni- aceae (New World pitcher plants, particularly those in the eastern North American genus Sarracenia).
Pitcher plants inhabit bogs, swamps, wet or sandy meadows, or savannas where the soils are water-saturated, acidic, and deficient in nitrates or phosphates. Their unusual tubular leaves have a series of nectar- secreting glands that extend from the lip down into the interior and attract insects. Once in the plant, the prey tumbles down into a liquid pool and drowns, after which an enzyme secreted within the leaf digests it, releasing nitrates and other nutrients, which supplement the meager nutrient supply of bogs. Most pitcher plants produce pitcher-shaped, insect-catching leaves in the spring and tubeless leaves in the fall. Their flowers are showy and have an agreeable scent.
pitot tube \'pe-,to\ Instrument for measuring the velocity (speed) of a flowing fluid. Invented by Henri Pitot (1695-1771), it consists of a tube with a short, right-angled bend, which is placed vertically in a moving fluid with the mouth of the bent part directed upstream; the pressure, mea¬ sured with an attached device, depends on the fluid flow and can be used to calculate the velocity. Pitot tubes are used to measure airspeed in wind tunnels and aboard aircraft in flight; they are also used to measure the flow of liquids (see flow meter).
Pitt, William, the Elder later 1st earl of Chatham (b. Nov. 15, 1708, London, Eng.—d. May 11,1778, Hayes, Kent) British statesman and orator, twice virtual prime minister (1756-61, 1766-68). He entered Par¬ liament in 1735 and provoked controversy with his maiden speech, which criticized the ministry of Robert Walpole. With the outbreak of the Seven Years' War, he was named secretary of state and became virtual prime min¬ ister. His leadership brought many British victories that greatly extended the British Empire. His wide popular appeal led to the nickname “the Great Commoner,” though he was disliked by many in government for his high¬ handedness. He resigned in 1761 when the cabinet refused to declare war on Spain. He became a champion of liberty and spoke in favour of Ameri¬ can colonial resistance to the Stamp Act. He formed another government in 1766, in which he served as lord privy seal, but he resigned in 1768 because of ill health. Widely mourned on his death in 1778, he was buried in West¬ minster Abbey.
Pitt, William, the Younger (b.
May 28, 1759, Hayes, Kent,
Eng.—d. Jan. 23, 1806, London)
British statesman and prime minister (1783-1801, 1804-06). The son of William Pitt, he entered Parliament in 1781 and served as chancellor of the Exchequer (1782-83). He was appointed prime minister in 1783 and undertook reforms that reduced the large national debt incurred by the American Revolution, reduced tar¬ iffs, placed the East India Co. under government control, and restructured the government in India. Forced into conflict with France by the French Revolutionary Wars, he formed a series of coalitions with European states against France (1793, 1798,
1805). Pitt responded to demands by radicals for parliamentary reform
Yellow pitcher plant (Sarracenia flava).
JEFF LEPORE/PHOTO RESEACHERS
William Pitt the Younger, detail of an oil painting by John Hoppner; in the National Portrait Gallery, London.
COURTESY OF THE NATIONAL PORTRAIT GALLERY, LONDON
© 2006 Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc.
1506 I pittosporum ► Pizarro
with repressive measures. In 1800 he secured the Act of Union with Ire¬ land but resigned in 1801 when his proposal for Catholic emancipation was denied. His second term as premier (1804-06) was marked by the collapse of the Third Coalition after the Battles of Ulm and Austerlitz, the news of which weakened his already fragile health.
pittosporum \p3-'tas-p3-r3m\ Any of various evergreen shrubs or trees, mainly from Australia and New Zealand, that make up the genus Pittosporum (family Pittosporaceae), commonly known as Australian lau¬ rel. They are planted especially as ornamentals in warm regions. The most popular and hardiest species, called tobira, or house-blooming mock orange ( P. tobira), is native to China and Japan; it is a popular fragrant hedge plant in warm climates and a handsome indoor plant elsewhere.
Pittsburgh City (pop., 2000: 334,563), southwestern Pennsylvania, U.S. It is situated at the confluence of the Allegheny and Monongahela rivers where they form the Ohio River. In 1758 the French Fort Duquesne was captured there by the British, and the site was renamed Pitt. It was incorporated as a borough in 1794 and as a city in 1816. In the 19th cen¬ tury it developed rapidly as a steel-manufacturing centre. The American Federation of Labor began there in 1881 (see AFL-CIO). The second- largest city in the state, it is the centre of an urban industrial complex that includes several neighbouring cities. There are more than 150 industrial research laboratories in the area. It is home to the University of Pittsburgh, Carnegie Mellon University, and other educational institutions.
Pittsburgh Platform Manifesto of Reform Judaism, drawn up in 1885 by a conference of rabbis chaired by Isaac Mayer Wise in Pittsburgh, Pa. It declared that Judaism taught the highest conception of God, but it rec¬ ognized the efforts of other religions to grasp the truth. The Bible was understood as the primary instrument of moral and religious instruction even though it reflected the primitive ideas of the time of its composition. It rejected the Mosaic and rabbinic laws regulating diet and dress, accept¬ ing only those laws that elevate the spirit. The Pittsburgh Platform looked forward to the messianic kingdom and accepted the immortality of the soul but not resurrection of the body. It advocated social justice and uni¬ versal moral reform and maintained that Judaism was an evolving reli¬ gion. It remained the official philosophy of the U.S. Reform movement until 1937, when the Columbus Platform moved Reform Judaism back to a more traditional position.
pituitary \p9-'tu-3-,ter-e\ gland or hypophysis \hI-'paf-3-s9s\ Endocrine gland lying on the underside of the brain. It plays a major part in regulating the endocrine system. Its anterior lobe secretes most of the pituitary hormones, which stimulate growth (see growth hormone); egg and sperm development; milk secretion; release of other hormones by the thyroid gland, adrenal glands, and reproductive system; and pigment pro¬ duction. The posterior lobe stores and releases hormones from the hypo¬ thalamus that control pituitary function, uterine contraction and milk release, and blood pressure and fluid balance.
Pius \'pi-9s\ II orig. Enea Silvio Piccolomini (b. Oct. 18, 1405, Cor- signano, Republic of Siena—d. Aug. 14/15. 1464, Ancona, Papal States) Pope (1458-64). An Italian diplomat who became bishop of Trieste (1447) and Siena (1449), he mediated between the German princes and the papacy, arranged the coronation of Frederick III as Holy Roman emperor (1452), and made peace with Aragon and Naples. As pope he tried to unite Europe in a Crusade against the Turks, but he was unable to win the sup¬ port of the Christian princes. Pius was also a noted humanist and a pro¬ lific writer on the events of his day.