Die Hebezeuge; A. Ritter, Lehrbuch der technischen Mechanik; J. Weisbach and G. Herrmann, The Mechanics of Hoisting Machinery; F. Reuleaux, Der Constructeur; A. B. W. Kennedy, Mechanics of Machinery; J. Perry, Applied Mechanics; W. E. Dalby, Balancing of Engines. (E. G. C.)
PULLMAN, formerly a town of Cook county, Illinois, U.S.A.,
and now a part of the city of Chicago. Here are the works of
the Pullman Palace Car Company, steel forging plants, and
other factories. The place was founded in 1880 by George
Mortimer Pullman (1831–1897), the inventor of the Pullman
sleeping car, and the founder (1867) of the Pullman Palace
Car Company, who attempted to make it a “ model town.”
Even the public works were the property of the Pullman Company
and were managed as a business investment. Popular
discontent with the conditions led to the annexation of Pullman
to Chicago in 1889, but until 1910 the corporation held most
of the property. In June and July 1894 a bitter railway strike
developed from a controversy between employed and employers
in the Pullman works. (See Chicago and Illinois: History.)
PULPIT (from Lat. pulpitum, a staging, platform: equivalents
are Fr. chaire d'église, Ital. pulpito, Ger. Kunzel), a raised
platform with enclosed front, whence sermons, homilies, &c.,
were delivered. Pulpits were probably derived in their modern
form from the ambones in the early Christian Church (see Ambo).
There are many old pulpits of stone, though the majority are
of wood. Those in churches are generally hexagonal or octagonal;
and some stand on stone bases, and others on slender
wooden stems, like columns. The designs vary accordingly to
the periods in which they were erected, having panelling,
tracing, cuspings, crockets, and other ornaments then in use.
Some are extremely rich, and ornamented with colour and
gilding. A few also have fine canopies or sounding-boards.
Their usual place is in the nave, mostly on the north side,
against the second pier from the chancel arch. Pulpits for
addressing the people in the open air were common in the
medieval period, and stood near a road or cross. Thus there was
one at Spital Fields, and one at St Paul's, London. External
pulpits still remain at Magdalen College, Oxford, and at Shrewsbury.
Pulpits, or rather places for reading during the meals
of the monks, are found in the refectories at Chester, Beaulieu,
Shrewsbury, &c., in England; and at St Martin des Champs,
St Germain des Prés, &c., in Paris; also in(the cloisters at
St Dié and St Lo. Shortly after the Reformation the canons
ordered pulpits to be erected in all churches where there were
none before. It is supposed that to this circumstance we owe
many of the time of Elizabeth and James. Many of them are
very beautifully and elaborately carved, and are evidently of
Flemish workmanship. The pulpits in the Mahommedan
mosques, which are known as “ mimbars ” are quite different
in form, being usually canopied and approached by a straight
flight of steps. These have a doorway at the foot, with an
enriched lintel and boldly moulded head; the whole of the work
to this and to the stairs, parapet and pulpit itself being of
wood, richly inlaid, and often in part gorgeously painted and
gilt.
PULQUE, or Pulque Fuerte, the national beverage of
the Mexican natives. It is prepared by fermenting the juice of
a number of species of the agave (agave potatorum, americana,
&c.). The cultivation of the agave for purposes of pulque
manufacture constitutes a considerable local industry, the
capital invested running into several millions sterling. The
juice obtained by tapping the agave is termed aguamiel. A
quantity of this is allowed to ferment naturally for about ten
days, and the product so obtained is termed madre pulque
(mother of pulque). A small quantity of this is added to fresh
aguamiel, and thereby a rapid fermentation is induced, the
pulque being ready for consumption within a day or two. It
has a somewhat heavy flavour, resembling sour milk, but it is
much esteemed by the natives on account of its cooling, and
according to them wholesome and nutritious, properties.
PULSE. (1) (O. Fr. pols, Lat. puls, pultis, Gr. πόλτος, a
porridge of beans, peas, &c.), in botany, a collective term for
beans, peas, and other members of the order Leguminosae
(q.v.), which is characterized by having a legume or pod for the
fruit. (2) (M. Eng. pous, pouce, O. Fr. paus, mod. pousse, Lat.
pulsus, sc. venarum, the beating of the veins, pellere, to drive,
beat), throbbing or beating; in physiology the rhythmical
beating due to the changes of blood-tension in the arteries
consequent on the contractions of their elastic tissues (see
Vascular System).
PULSZKY, FERENCZ AUREL (1814–1897), Hungarian
politician and author, was born on the 17th of September 1814
at Eperjes. After studying law and philosophy at the high schools
of his native town and Miskolcz, he travelled abroad. England
particularly attracted him, and his fascinating book, Aus dem
Tagebach eines in Grossbritannien reisenden Ungarns (Pesth,
1837), gained for him the membership of the Hungarian Academy.
Elected to the Reichstag of 1840, he was in 1848 appointed
to a financial post in the Hungarian government, and was
transferred in like capacity to Vienna under Esterhazy.
Suspected of intriguing with the revolutionists, Pulszky fled to
Budapest to avoid arrest. Here he became an active member
of the committee of national defence, and when obliged to fly
the country he joined Kossuth in England and with him made a
tour in the United States of America. In collaboration with his
wife he wrote a narrative of this voyage, entitled White, Red,
Black (3 vols., London, 1853). He was condemned to death
(1852) in contumaciam by a council of war. In 1860 he went to
Italy, took part in Garibaldi's expedition to Aspromonte (1862),
and was interned as a prisoner of war in Naples. Amnestied
by the emperor of Austria in 1866, he returned home and
re-entered public life; was from 1867–1876, and again in 1884, a
member of the Hungarian Diet, joining the Déak party. In
addition to his political activity, he was president of the literary
section of the Hungarian Academy, and director of the National
Museum at Budapest, where he became distinguished for his
archaeological researches. He employed his great influence to
promote both art and science and Liberal views in his native
country. He died on the 9th of September 1897. Among his
writings are Die Jacobiner in Ungarn (Leipzig, 1851) and Eletem
és Korom (Pest, 1880), and many treatises on Hungarian
questions in the publications of the Academy of Pest.
Some Reminiscences of Kossuth and Pulszky were published by F. W. Newman in 1888.
PULTUSK, a town of Russian Poland, in the government of
Warsaw, 33 m. N. of the city of Warsaw, on the right bank of
the Narew. Pop. (1897), 15,878. The town was almost entirely
destroyed by fire in 1875. It is now well built, and had before
the fire a palace (1319) which was formerly a residence of the
bishops of Plock. The industries include woollen, linen and
hosiery mills, copper works and potteries. In 1703 Charles
XII. of Sweden defeated and captured the greater part of a
Saxon army near this town, and in the same locality the French
defeated the Russians in December 1806. The town was
founded as early as 956.
PUMA, a name, probably of native origin, introduced into
European literature by the early Spanish writers on South
America (as Garcilaso de la Vega and Hernandez) for one of the
largest cats (Felis concolor) of the New World. It is generally
called “ couguar ” by the French, “ leon ” by the Spanish
Americans, and “ panther ” by the Anglo-American hunters
of the United States (see Carnivora). Though often spoken
of as the American lion, chiefly on account of its colour, it rather
resembles the leopard of the Old World in size and habits:
usually measuring from nose to root of tail about 40 in.,
the tail being rather more than half that length. The head
is small compared with that of other cats and has no mane.
The ears are large and rounded. The tail is cylindrical, with
sbme bushy elongation of the hairs near the end, but not forming
a distinct tuft. The general colour of the upper parts and sides
of the adult is a tawny yellowish brown, sometimes having a
grey or silvery shade, but in some cases dark or inclining to
red; and upon these and other differences, which are probably
