Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 18.djvu/758

726 P F E P H subject which he discussed he was able to throw fresh light. A biographical sketch of him by Bartsch occurs in Uhland s Brief- u-ec/isel mit Freiherrn von Lassberg, which Pfeifl er edited. PFEIFFER, IDA LAURA (1797-1858), traveller, was born at Vienna, the daughter of a merchant named Reyer, 1 4th October 1797. Ida was the only sister of six brothers, and in her youth acquired masculine habits. Her training was Spartan, and accustomed her to the endurance of hard ships and deprivations. On 1st May 1820 she married Dr Pfeitfer, a prosperous advocate of Lemberg, twenty-four years older than herself. Through over-zeal in denouncing abuses her husband incurred official persecution, and ina few years after his marriage was reduced to the greatest poverty. Ida, living mostly apart from her husband, underwent great drudgery, but, through her own exertions, managed to educate her two sons. After being relieved of this responsibility she resolved to indulge her intense longing to travel, and, with the most limited means, succeeded in making a series of journeys which, in extent, are probably unparalleled in the case of any other woman. In 1842 Madame Pfeifi er visited Egypt and Palestine, and, with considerable hesitation, published an account of her journey in three small volumes, Reise einer Wienerin in das Heilige Land, in 1845. In the same year she set out again, this time to Scandinavia and Iceland, describing her tour in two volumes, Reise nach dem Skandinavischen Norden und der Insel Island (Pesth, 1846). In 1846 she started on her first journey round, the world, visiting Brazil, Chili, and other countries of South America, Tahiti, China, India, Persia, Asia Minor, and Greece, and reaching home in 1848. The results were published in three volumes at Vienna in 1850, under the title Eine Frauenfahrt um die Welt. For her next and most extensive journey she re ceived the support of the Austrian Government to the small extent of 150. Starting in 1851, she went by London to South Africa, her purpose being to penetrate into the interior ; but, this proving impracticable, she pro ceeded to the Malay Archipelago, spending eighteen months in the Sunda Islands and the Moluccas. After a visit to Australia, Madame Pfeiffer proceeded to California, Oregon, Peru, Ecuador, New Granada, the Mjssiones Territory, and north again to the American lakes, reaching home in 1854. Her narrative, Meine zweite Weltreise, was published in four volumes at Vienna in 1856. In May of the same year Ida set out to explore Madagascar, where at first she was cordially received by the queen. Unfortunately, she un wittingly allowed herself to be involved in the plot of a Frenchman to overthrow the government, and, with brutal treatment, was expelled from the country. After being de tained by her sufferings in Mauritius for some months, Ida returned by England to Vienna, where she died 27th October 1858. The Reise nach Madagascar was issued in 1861, with a biography by her son. All Madame Pfeiffer s narratives have been translated into English as well as other languages, and have maintained a steady popularity up to the present time. Although Ida Pfeiffer can hardly be said to have broken up new ground in her travels, she certainly did much to increase our knowledge of countries about which our in formation was most meagre. Moreover, her scientific collections for she was as good a collector as observer were of considerable extent, and great value and novelty, and were regarded as important acquisitions by the" Vienna museum. She was made an honorary member of the Berlin and Paris Geographical Societies, and received from the king of Prussia the gold medal of science and art. Her travels altogether covered 150,000 miles by sea and 20,000 by land. Ida Pfeiffer was short in stature, and latterly slightly bent ; her manners were simple, unassuming, and womanly. PFORZHEIM, one of the chief industrial towns in the grand-duchy of Baden, is pleasantly situated at the con fluence of the Nagold, the Wiirm, and the Enz, on the northern margin of the Black Forest, 15 miles to the south-east of Carlsruhe. The most prominent buildings are the old palace of the margraves of Baden-Durlach and the Schlosskirche, the latter an interesting edifice of the 12th to the 15th centuries, containing the tombs and monu ments of the margraves. The staple industry is the manu facture of gold and silver ware and jewellery, which gives employment to nearly 10,000 workmen, besides which there are iron and copper works, and manufactures of chemicals, paper, leather, cloth, and other articles. A brisk trade is maintained in timber, cattle, and agricultural produce. In 1880 the population was 24,037, having almost doubled itself in twenty years. Four-fifths of the inhabitants are Protestants. Pforzheim (Porta Hercynirc)is of Roman origin, and has belonged to Baden for 600 years. From about 1300 down to 1565 it was the seat of the margraves of the Baden-Durlach-Ernestine line, now extinct. The town was taken by the troops of the Catholic League in 1624, and was destroyed by the French in 1689. The story of the 400 citizens of Pforzheim who sacrificed themselves for their prince after the battle of AVimpf en (1622) has been relegated by recent historical research to the domain of legend. The humanist Reuchlin was born at Pforzheim in 1455. PH^EDRUS, the author of five books of Latin fables in verse, lived in the reigns of Augustus, Tiberius, Cali gula, and Claudius. To his literary vanity we owe most of our scanty knowledge of his life. He was born on the Pierian Mountain in Macedonia, but seems to have been brought at an early age to Italy, for he mentions that he read a verse of Ennius as a boy at school. According to the heading of the chief MS. he was a slave and was freed by Augustus. He incurred the wrath of Sejanus, the powerful minister of Tiberius, but on what grounds is not known. Devoting himself to literature, he lived in poverty and died at an advanced age. The first two books of his fables were published together ; the third, fourth, and fifth appeared later, each by itself. The third book is dedicated to Eutychus, a wealthy man of business and probably a freedman, to whom the poet appeals for promised help. The fourth book is dedicated to Parti- culon, who seems to have dabbled in literature. From the fact that Seneca, writing in 43 or 44 A.D. (Consol. ad Polyb., 27), knows of no Latin writer of fables we may infer that Phsedrus published his fables after that time, but the exact date is unknown. His work shows little or no originality ; he simply versified (in iambic trimeters)- the fables current in his day under the name of "/Esop;" in terspersing them with anecdotes drawn from daily life, history, and mythology. He tells his fable and draws the moral with business-like directness and simplicity ; his language is classical, neat, and clear, but thoroughly prosaic, though it occasionally attains a dignity bordering on eloquence. He is fond of abstract words. From a literary point of view Phtedrus is far inferior to those masters of fable -writing, Babrius and La Fontaine; he lacks the quiet picturesqueness and pathos of the former, and the exuberant vivacity and humour of the latter. Though he frequently refers to the envy and detraction which pursued him, Phsedrus seems to have attracted little attention in antiquity. He is mentioned by Martial (iii. 20, 5), who imitated some of his verses, and by Avianus. Prudentius must have read him, for he imitates one of his lines (Prud., Cath., vii. 115; cp. Phaedrus, iv. 6, 10). The first edition of the five books of Phaedrus was pub lished by Pithou at Troyes in 1596. But, from the gaps in the books as well as from the disproportionate short ness of some of them, it is plain that this collection is incomplete. In the beginning of the 18th century there was discovered at Parma a MS. of Perotti (1430-1480), archbishop of Siponto, containing sixty -four fables of Phsedrus, of which thirty -two were new. These new fables were first published at Naples by Cassitto in 1808, and afterwards (much more correctly) by Jannelli in 1811. Both editions were superseded by the discovery of a much