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PLEYEL 275 PLINY, THE ELDER attempt to cut his way through the in- vesting Russian army, he was compelled, provisions and ammunition running short, to capitulate with 42,000 men and 77 guns. The siege cost the Russians 55,000 men, the Rumanians 10,000 and the Turks 30,000. Pop. about 25,000. PLEYEL, IGNAZ JOSEPH, a German composer; born in Ruppertsthal, near Vienna, June 1, 1757; studied under Haydn and in Italy, and in 1783 was made Kepellmeister of Strassburg Cathe- dral. In 1791 he visited London, and he harmonized many of the melodies for Thomson's "Collection of Scottish Songs." In 1795 he opened a large music shop in Paris, and in 1807 joined thereto a pianoforte manufactory. His compositions consisted of quartets, con- certos, and sonatas. He died in Paris, Nov. 14, 1831. PLICA. POLONICA, Polish ringworm; a disease characterized at first by ten- derness and inflammation of the scalp, after which the hairs become swollen, their follicles secreting a large quantity of viscid reddish-colored fluid, which glues them into tufts or masses. The disease is probably caused chiefly by filth. It is endemic in Poland, Russia, and Tartary. PLIMSOLL, SAMUEL, "the sailor's friend," and English legislator; born in Bristol, England, Feb. 10, 1824. In 1854 he started business on his own account, in the coal trade in London. Shortly afterward he began to interest himself in the sailors of the mercantile marine, aad the dangers to which they were ex- posed in unseaworthy ships, bad stow- age, overloading, etc. Failing to induce Parliament to take legislative steps to put an end to these evils, Mr. Plimsoll himself entered Parliament, for Derby, in 1868; but it was not till he had pub- lished "Our Seamen" (1873) that he succeeded in getting passed the Merchant Shipping Act in 1876. By this act the Board of Trade was empowered to de- tain, either for survey or permanently, any vessel deemed unsafe, either on ac- count of defective hull, machinery, or equipments, etc.; a penalty not exceed- ing $1,500 was incurred by any owner who should ship a cargo of grain in bulk exceeding two-thirds of the entire cargo, grain in bulk being especially liable to shift on the voyage; the amount of tim- ber that might be carried as deck cargo was defined, and enforced by penalties; finally every owner was ordered to mark (often called the "Plimsoll Mark") on the sides of his ships, amidships, a cir- cular disk, 12 inches in diameter, with a horizontal line 18 inches long drawn through its center, this line and the center of the disk to mark the maximum load line — i. e. the line down to which the vessel might be loaded, in salt water. In 1890 this act was amended, the fixing of the load line being taken out of the owner's discretion and made a duty of the Board of Trade. Mr. Plimsoll re- tired from parliamentary life in 1880. In 1890 he published a work on "Cattle- ships," exposing the cruelties and great dangers connected with the shipping of live cattle across the ocean to British ports. He died June 3, 1898. PLINY, THE ELDER (Caius Plinius Secundus), one of the most celebrated writers of ancient Rome; born in Verona or Como A. D. 23, served in the army of Germany, afterward became an advocate, and was ultimately procurater in Spain. As an inquirer into the works of nature PLINY THE ELDER he was indefatigable. Being at Mise- num with a fleet, which he commanded, on the 24th of August, A. D., 79, his sis- ter desired him to observe a remarkable cloud that had just appeared. Pliny discovering that it proceeded from Mount Vesuvius, ordered his galleys to sea, to assist the inhabitants on the coast, while he himself steered as near as possible to the foot of the mountain, which now sent forth vast quantities of burning rock and lava. Pliny and his companions landed at Stabiae, but were soon obliged to leave the town for the fields. Pliny, who was very corpulent, fell down dead, suffocated probably by the noxious va- pors. The eruption which caused his death was that in which the cities of