must for the present be suspended. For the various generic
types see Bovidae, and the special articles referred to under that
heading. (R. L.*)
PÉCS (Ger. Fünfkirchen), a town of Hungary, capital of the country of Baranya, 160 m. S.S.W. of Budapest by rail. Pop. (1900), 42,2S2. It lies on the outskirts of the Mecsek Hills, and is composed of the inner old town, which is laid out in an almost regular square, and four suburbs. Pécs is the see of a Roman Catholic bishop, and its cathedral, reputed one of the oldest churches in Hungary, is also one of the finest medieval buildings in the country. It was built in the 11th century in the Romanesque style with four towers, and completely restored in 1881-1891. In the Cathedral Square is situated the Sacellum, a subterranean brick structure, probably a burial-chapel, dating from the end of the 4th or the beginning of the 5th century. Other noteworthy buildings are the parish church, formerly a mosque of the Turkish period; the hospital church, also a former mosque, with a minaret 88 ft. high, and another mosque, the bishop's palace, and the town and county hall. Pécs has manufactories of woollens, porcelain, leather and paper, and carries on a considerable trade in tobacco, gall-nuts and wine. The hills around the town are covered with vineyards, which produce one of the best wines in Hungary. In the vicinity are valuable coal-mines, which since 1858 are worked by the Danube Steamship Company.
According to tradition Pécs existed in the time of the Romans under the name of Sompiana, and several remains of the Roman and early Christian period have been found here. In the Frankish-German period it was known under the name of Quinque ecclesiae; its bishopric was founded in 1009. King Ludwig I. founded here in 1367 a university, which existed until the battle of Mohács. In 1543 it was taken by the Turks, who retained possession of it till 1686.
PECTORAL, a word applied to various objects worn on the breast (Lat. pectus); thus it is the name of the ornamental plate of metal or embroidery formerly worn by bishops of the Roman Church during the celebration of mass, the breastplate of the Jewish high priest, and the metal plate placed on the breast of the embalmed dead in Egyptian tombs. The “pectoral cross,” a small cross of precious metal, is worn by bishops and abbots of the Roman, and by bishops of the Anglican, communion. The term has also been used for the more general “poitrel” or “peitrel” (the French and Norman French forms respectively), the piece of armour which protected the breast of the war-horse of the middle ages.
PECULIAR, a word now generally used in the sense of that which solely or exclusively belongs to, or is particularly characteristic of, an individual; hence strange, odd, queer. The Lat. peculiaris meant primarily “belonging to private property,” and is formed from peculium, private property, particularly the property given by a paterfamilias to his children, or by a master to his slave, to enjoy as their own. As a term of ecclesiastical law “peculiar” is applied to those ecclesiastical districts, parishes, chapels or churches, once numerous in England, which were outside the jurisdiction of the bishop of the diocese in which they were situated, and were subject to a jurisdiction “peculiar” to themselves. They were introduced originally, in many cases by papal authority, in order to limit the powers of the bishop in his diocese. There were royal peculiars, e.g. the Chapel Royal St James's, or St George's Windsor, peculiars of the archbishop, over certain of which the Court of Peculiars exercised jurisdiction (see Arches, Court of), and peculiars of bishops and deans (see Dean). The jurisdiction and privileges of the “peculiars” were abolished by statutory powers given to the Ecclesiastical Commissioners, by the Ecclesiastical Commissioners Acts 1836 and 1850, by the Pluralities Act 1838, the Ecclesiastical Jurisdiction Act 1847, and other statutes.
PECULIAR PEOPLE, a small sect of Christian faith-healers founded in London in 1838 by John Banyard. They consider themselves bound by the literal interpretation of James v. 14, and in cases of sickness seek no medical aid but rely on oil, prayer and nursing. The community is in the main composed of simple working people, who, apart from their peculiarity, have a good reputation; but their avoidance of professional medical attendance has led to severe criticism at inquests on children who have died for want of it.
PEDAGOGUE, a teacher or schoolmaster, a term usually now applied with a certain amount of contempt, implying pedantry, dogmatism or narrow-mindedness. The Gr. παιδαγωγός (παἲς, boy, ἀγωγός, leader, ἅγειν, to lead), from which the English word is derived, was not strictly an instructor. He was a slave in an Athenian household who looked after the personal safety of the sons of the master of the house, kept them from bad company, and took them to and from school and the gymnasium. He probably sat with his charges in school. The boys were put in his charge at the age of six. The παιδαγωγός being a slave, was necessarily a foreigner, usually a Thracian or Asiatic. The Romans adopted the paedagogus or pedagogus towards the end of the republic. He probably took some part in the instruction of the boys (see Schools). Under the empire, the pedagogus was specifically the instructor of the boy slaves, who were being trained and educated in the household of the emperor and of the rich nobles and other persons; these boys lived together in a paedagogium, and were known as pueri paedagogiani, a name which has possibly developed into “page” (q.v.).
PEDAL CLARINET, a contrabass instrument invented in 1891 by M. F. Besson to complete the quartet of clarinets, as the contrafagotto or double bassoon completes that of the oboe family; it is constructed on practically the same principles as the clarinet, and consists of a tube 10 ft. long, in which cylindrical and conical bores are so ingeniously combined that the acoustic principles remain unchanged. The tube is doubled up twice upon itself; at the upper end the beak mouthpiece stands out like the head of a viper, while at the lower a metal tube, in the shape of a U with a wide gloxinea-shaped bell, is joined to the wooden tube. The beak mouthpiece is exactly like that of the other clarinets but of larger size, and it is furnished with a single or beating reed. There are 13 keys and 2 rings on the tube, and the fingering is the same as for the B flat clarinet except for the eight highest semitones. The compass of the pedal clarinet is as follows:—
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The instrument is in B flat two octaves below the B flat clarinet, and, like it, it is a transposing instrument, the music being written in a key a tone higher than that of the composition, and in order to avoid ledger lines a whole octave higher besides. The tone is rich and full except for the lowest notes, which are unavoidably a little rough in quality, but much more sonorous than the corresponding notes on the double bassoon. The upper register resembles the chalumeau register of the B flat clarinet, being reedy and sweet. The instrument is used as a fundamental bass for the wood wind at Kneller Hall, and it has also been used at Covent Garden to accompany the music of Fafner and Hunding in the Nibelungen Ring.
Many attempts have been made since the beginning of the 19th century to construct contra clarinets, but all possessed inherent faults and have been discarded (see Batyphone). A contrabass clarinet in F, an octave below the basset horn, constructed by Albert of Brussels in 1890, was, we believe, considered successful, but it differed in design from the pedal clarinet. (K. S.)
PEDANT, one who exaggerates the value of detailed erudition for its own sake; also a person who delights in a display of the exact niceties of learning, in an excessive obedience to theory without regard to practical uses. The word came into English in the latter part of the 16th century in the sense of schoolmaster, the original meaning of Ital. pedante, from which it is derived. The word is usually taken to be an adaptation of Gr. παιδεύειν,
