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PESTH 203 PETECHIA tains in Europe. Pestalozzi's method was that of communicating all instruc- tion by direct appeal to the sense? and the understanding, selecting the sub- jects of study in such a way that each step should best aid the further progress of the pupil. He died in 1827. PESTH. See Budapest. PETAIN, MABSHAL HENRI PHILIPPE, a French general, born 1856; educated in Saint Cyr Military Academy, and Ecole Superieure de Guerre. Entering the army, he was rapidly promoted on account of his re- markable capacity for training cadets. In 1901 he was appointed to the faculty of the Ecole Superieure de Guerre. When the war broke out, in 1914, he was a colonel, and as such, was in command of a force at Charleroi, in Belgium, where he distinguished himself by hold- ing back a vastly superior force of Ger- mans. His skillful retreat on this occa- sion lead to his being given command of a division with which he participated in the first battle of the Marne. In May, MARSHAL HENRI PETAIN 1915, in the Artois sector, he captured over 10,000 Germans and a correspond- ing amount of war material. In the early part of 1916, he was placed in com- mand of the troops defending Verdun, 4 days after the German attack had begun. At that moment, and at that point, Ger- many niade her supreme effort. General Petain met the Germans with a counter- attack which drove them back and de- feated them decisively. In recognition of this deed, he was made a marshal of France. In April, 1917, he became Chief of Staff, and a month later became French Commander-in-Chief, which po- sition he held until the unification of all Allied forces under General Foch, in April, 1918, when he became a member of the General Staff. He visited the United States in 1920. PETAL, in botany, one of the divisions of a corolla consisting of several distinct pieces. It is a modification of a leaf. It is generally larger than the calyx, and, unlike it, is as a rule brightly colored, i. e., white, red, blue, yellow, or some of the hues produced by their intermixture. Sometimes the margins of the petals unite. PETALITE, a monoclinic mineral, rarely occurring in crystals, but mostly in cleavable masses. The crystallized form is the castorite. Found on the Isle of Uto, Sweden, and at a few other locali- ties. Related to spodumene. PETALTTMA, a city of California in Sonoma co. It is on the Petaluma river, the Northwestern Pacific and the Peta- luma and Santa Rosa railroads. The city is an important agricultural com- munity, and the raising of poultry is one of the chief industries. There are man- ufactories of silk, flour, machine shops and foundries, shoes, gas enecines, etc. Pop. (1910) 5,880; (1920) 6,226. PETARD, a machine formerly used for blowing open gates or barriers in for- tifications. It was bell shaped, charged with powder, and fired by a fuse. The mouth of the machine was placed against the obstacle, and kept in place by struts or by being hung on a hook driven into the woodwork. PETCHORA, a large river in the N. of European Russia, rises on the W. slope of the Urals, flows N. through the E. parts of the governments of Vologda and Archangel, then S. E. for about 150 miles, and finally sweeping toward the N., and expanding into an estuary 30 miles wide and full of islands, falls into the Arctic Ocean, after a course of over 1,000 miles. It is navigable by boats for upward of^ 700 miles. The country through which the river flows is thinly peopled, and quite uncultivated. PETECHI-SJ, spots formed by ex- travasated blood, as in typhoid, putrid and malignant fevers, hemorrhagic smallpox, etc.