Pisa lost its independence in 1406 the university closed its doors, but was re- established by the famous Lorenzo de' Medici a few years later. In 1544 the first botanical institute in Europe was founded here. The University suffered in prestige during the two succeeding centuries and not until Grand Duke Leo- pold of Tuscany in 1808 endowed it handsomely did it recover. During the reaction in 1849-1850 in Italy it was forced to close down some of its depart- ments, but since that time it has been reckoned among the greatest of Italian universities. Its library is world- famous, having 202,976 volumes, 97,302 pamphlets and 1,814 manuscripts.
PISAGUA, a small port of the now Chilean province of Tarapacá, 40 miles N. of Iquique. It was bombarded and was the scene of much fighting during the Chilean civil war in 1891.
PISANO, the surname of several dis- tinguished artists of Pisa, very impor- tant in the early history of art in Italy. GIUNTA PISANO, or GIUNTA DI GIUSTINO of Pisa, is the earliest known Tuscan painter, lived in the 13th century. Giunta was anterior to Cimabue, and to him belongs the merit of reviving paint- ing in Italy. NICCOLA PISANO, born about 1206. He was equally distin- guished as sculptor and architect, and must hold the same rank in the former art that Giunta does in painting. He distinguished himself as early as 1225 at Bologna, where he executed the tomb of San Domenico. Niccola was also a great architect; he executed the church of the Frari at Venice; he was the pi- oneer of the Renaissance in Italy, in sculpture and in architecture. He died in 1278. GIOVANNI PISANO, the son and assistant of Niccola, and likewise one of the greatest of the early sculptors and architects of Italy; born in Pisa in 1240, died in Pisa in 1320, and was placed in the same tomb with his father in the the same tomb with his father in the cemetery of Campo Santo, which he de- signed. ANDREA PISANO was another early artist of Pisa, but nearly a century later than Giunta: he was a sculptor and architect, and the friend of Giotto. An- drea was born about 1270. Of several works still extant by Andrea, the bronze gates of the Baptistery of St. John at Florence are the most impor- tant. These two gates are still perfect; the exact date of their execution is dis- puted, whether they were finished in 1330, or only commenced in that year. The city gates and towers were also of his designing, as well as several impor- tant buildings. He died in Florence, in 1349.
PISCATAQUA, a river which consti-
tutes part of the boundary between
Maine and New Hampshire, and forms
at its mouth the excellent harbor of
Portsmouth.
PISCES, in astronomy, the 12th and last of the zodiacal constellations. It is a large constellation, bounded on the E. by Aries and Triangulum, on the W. by Aquarius and Pegasus, on the N. by Andromeda, and on the S. by Cetus. The two fishes are represented on celes- tial globes and maps as separated some distance from each other, and as having is under the right arm of Andromeda, their tails connected by a string. One the other under the wing of Pegasus. About 40 stars are visible to the naked eye. Bode marks the position of 257; the largest, Alpha Piscium, is of magni- tude 3½, and is a double star, one con- stituent being pale green and the other blue. Also the portion of the ecliptic from which precession has made the con- stellation move away. The sun enters it, crossing the equator, at the vernal equinox.
PISCICULTURE. See FISH CULTURE.
PISGAH, a name that seems to have applied generally to the mountain range or district to the E. of the Lower Jor- dan, identical with, or itself a part of, the mountains of Abarrim (Deut. xxxii : 49; xxxiv: 1), one of the summits of which is Mount Nebo (the modern Neba), 2,644 feet above the level of the Mediterranean. From this point Moses enjoyed his glimpse of the Promised Land, in early spring.
PISHIN, a district of southern Af- ghanistan (British Beluchistan after the has been governed by a political agent Afghan War), just N. of Quetta, which of the governor-general of India since 1878. The British occupied it on ac- count of its great strategical importance; it is the meeting-place of several roads, practicable for troops but not for wheeled carriages, leading from Sind and Punjab to Kandahar. The district- area, 3,600 miles; elevation, 5,000 feet- consists of alluvial valleys separated by range of hills, the whole sloping S. W. reach N. and S. 11,000 feet. The peo- and surrounded by mountain chains that ple, partly settled, partly nomad, grow wheat, barley, maize, millet, watermelons, and muskmelons, and trade lucerne, in horses to India. Pop. about 450,000.
PISISTRATUS, a citizen of Athens who raised himself to the sovereign_au- thority in the time of Solon (to whom he was related) 560 B. C. Compelled to
