Pilchard, Pile.

+ See Clupea.

it was split that it might the more easily catch fire. Pile. Round the pile were placed cypress boughs to hinder the noisome smell. See FUNERAL.

PILE, in Building, is used for a large stake rammed into the ground in the bottom of rivers, or in marshy land, for a foundation to build upon.

PILE is also used among architects for a mass of building.

The pilchard appears in vast shoals off the Cornish coasts about the middle of July, disappearing the beginning of winter, yet sometimes a few return again after Christmas. Their winter retreat is the same with that of the herring, and their motives for migrating the same t. They affect, during summer, a warmer latitude; for they are not found in any quantities on any of our coasts except those of Cornwall, that is to say, from Fowey harbour to the Scilly isles, between which places the shoals keep shifting for some weeks. The approach of the pilchard is known by much the same signs as those that indicate the arrival of the herring. Persons, called in Cornwall huers, are placed on the cliffs, to point to the boats stationed off the land the course of the fish. By the 1st of James I. c. 23. fishermen are empowered to go on the grounds of others to hue, without being liable to actions of trespass, which before occasioned frequent law-suits.

The emoluments that accrue to the inhabitants of that country are great, and are best expressed in the words of Dr W. Borlace, in his Account of the Pilchard Fishery. "It employs a great number of men on the sea, training them thereby to naval affairs; employs men, women, and children, at land, in salting, pressing, washing, and cleaning, in making boats, nets, ropes, casks, and all the trades depending on their construction and sale. The poor is fed with the offals of the captures; the land with the refuse of the fish and salt; the merchant finds the gains of commission and honest commerce; the fisherman, the gains of the fish. Ships are often freighted hither with salt, and into foreign countries with the fish, carrying off at the same time part of our tin. The usual number of hogsheads of fish exported each year, for 10 years, from 1747 to 1756 inclusive, from the four ports of Fowey, Falmouth, Penzance, and St Ives, in all amounts to 29,794; since it appears that Fowey has exported yearly 1732 hogsheads; Falmouth, 14,631 hogsheads and two-thirds; Penzance and Mounts-Bay, 12,149 hogsheads and one third; St Ives, 1282 hogsheads. Every hogshead for ten years last past, together with the bounty allowed for each when exported, and the oil made out of each, has amounted, one year with another at an average, to the price of 11. 138. 3d.; so that the cash paid for pilchards exported bas, at a medium, annually amounted to the sum of 49,532. 10s." The numbers that are taken at one shooting out of the nets is amazingly great. Mr Pennant says, that Dr Borlase assured him, that on the 5th of October 1767, there were at one time inclosed in St Ives bay 7000 hogsheads, each hogshead containing 35,000 fish, in all 245,000,000.

PILE, in Heraldry, an ordinary in form of a wedge, contracting from the chief, and terminating in a point towards the bottom of the shield.

PILE, among the Greeks and Romans, was a pyramid built of wood, whereon were laid the bodies of the deceased to be burnt. It was partly in the form of an altar, and differed in height according to the quality of the person to be consumed. Probably it might originally be considered as an altar, on which the dead were consumed as a burnt-offering to the infernal deities. The trees made use of in the erection of a funeral pile were such as abounded in pitch or rosin as being most combustible; if they used any other wood,

PILE, in Coinage, denotes a kind of puncheon, which, in the old way of coining with the hammer, contained the arms or other figure and inscription to be struck on the coin. See COINAGE.

Accordingly we still call the arms side of a piece of money the pile, and the head the cross; because in ancient coin, a cross usually took the place of the head in

ours.

Plate

PILE-Engine, a very curious machine invented by CCCCXIX Mr Vauloue for driving the piles of Westminster-bridge. A is a great upright shaft or axle, on which are the great wheel B, and the drum C, turned by horses joined to the bars S, S. The wheel B turns the trundle X, on the top of whose axis is the fly O, which serves to regulate the motion, and also to act against the horses, and to keep them from falling when the heavy ram Q is discharged to drive the pile P down into the mud in the bottom of the river. The drum C is loose upon the shaft A, but is locked to the wheel B by the bolt Y. On this drum the great rope HH is wound; one end of the rope being fixed to the drum, and the other to the follower G, to which it is conveyed over the pulleys I and K. In the follower G is contained the tongs F, that takes hold of the ram Q by the staple R, for drawing it up. D is a spiral or fusy fixed to the drum, on which is wound the small rope T that goes over the pulley U, under the pulley V, and is fastened to the top of the frame at 7. To the pulley-block V is hung the counterpoise W, which hinders the follower T from accelerating as it goes down to take hold of the ram; for as the follower tends to acquire velocity in its descent, the line T winds downwards upon the fusy, on a larger and larger radius, by which means the counterpoise W acts stronger and stronger against it; and so allows it to come down with only a moderate and uniform velocity. The bolt Y locks the drum to the great wheel, being pushed upward by the small lever 2, which goes through a mortise in the shaft A, turns upon a pin in the bar 3, fixed to the great wheel B, and has a weight 4, which always tends to push up the bolt Y through the wheel into the drum. L is the great lever turning on the axis m, and resting upon the forcing bar 5, 5, which goes through a hollow in the shaft A, and bears up the little lever 2.

By the horses going round, the great rope H is wound about the drum C, and the ram Q is drawn up by the tongs F in the follower G, until the tongs come between the inclined planes E; which, by shutting the tongs at the top, opens it at the foot, and discharges the ram, which falls down between the guides bb upon the pile P, and drives it by a few strokes as far into the mud as it will go; after which, the top part is sawed off close to the mud by an engine for that purpose. Immediately after the ram is discharged, the piece 6 upon the follower G takes hold of the ropes a a, which raise the end of the lever L, and causes its end N to descend and press down the forcing bar 5 upon the little

Pile.

Plate

specifically lighter than the iron weight below, and Pile moving with a less degree of velocity, cannot come in 11 contact with the iron till it is at the bottom and the ram Pilgrimage. stops. It then falls and again connects the hook with the chain, which draws up the ram, as before.

lever 2, which, by pulling down the bolt Y, unlocks the drum C from the great wheel B; and then the follower being at liberty, comes down by its own weight to the ram; and the lower ends of the tongs slip over the staple R, and the weight of their heads causes them to fall outward, and shut upon it. Then the weight 4 pushes up the bolt Y into the drum, which locks it to the great wheel, and so the ram is drawn up as before.

As the follower comes down, it causes the drum to turn backward, and unwinds the rope from it, whilst the horses, great wheel, trundle, and fly, go on with an uninterrupted motion; and as the drum is turning backward, the counterpoise W is drawn up, and its rope T wound upon the spiral fusy D.

There are several holes in the under side of the drum, and the bolt Y always takes the first one that it finds when the drum stops by the falling of the follower upon the ram; until which stoppage the bolt has not time to slip into any of the holes.

This engine was placed upon a barge on the water, and so was easily conveyed to any place desired. The ram, was a ton weight; and the guides bb, by which it was let fall, were 30 feet high.

A new machine for driving piles has been invented by Mr Bunce of Kirby street, Hatton street, London. It will drive a greater number of piles in a given time than any other; and can be constructed more simply to work by horses than Mr Vauloue's engine above described.

Fig. 1 and 2 represent a side and front section of the ECCCXIX. machine. The chief parts are A, fig. 1, which are two endless ropes, or chains, connected by cross pieces of iron B (see fig. 2), corresponding with two cross grooves cut diametrically opposite in the wheel C (fig. 1.), into which they are received; and by which means the rope or chain Á is carried round. FHK is a side-view of a strong wooden frame moveable on the axis H. D is a wheel, over which the chain passes and turns within at the top of the frame. It moves occasionally from F to G upon the centre H, and is kept in the position F by the weight I fixed to the end K., Fig. 3. L is the iron ram, which is connected with the cross pieces by the book M. Nis a cylindrical piece of wood suspended at the hook at O, which by sliding freely upon the bar that connects the hook to the ram, always brings the hook upright upon the chain when at the bottom of the machine, in the position of GP. See fig. 1.

When the man at S turns the usual crane, work, the ram being connected to the chain, and passing between the guides, is drawn up in a perpendicular direction; and when it is near the top of the machine, the projecting bar Qof the hook strikes against a cross piece of wood at R (fig. 1.); and consequently discharges the ram, whilst the weight I of the moveable frame instantly draws the upper wheel into the position shown at F, and keeps the chain free of the ram in its descent. The hook, while descending, is prevented from catching the chain by the wooden piece N. For that piece being

Mr Bunce has made a model of this machine, which performs perfectly well; and he observes, that, as the motion of the wheel C is uninterrupted, there appears to be the least possible time lost in the operation.

PILE-Worms, are a kind of worms found in the piles of the sea dikes in Holland. They are of very various sizes; for some of the young ones are not above an inch or two in length, while others have been found thirteen or fourteen inches long. The heads of these creatures are covered with two hard shells or hemicrania ; which together form a figure resembling an augre; and with which they bore the wood. The best remedy against them is, to perforate the pile with many small holes about an inch asunder; then, it must be done over with a varnish in the hottest sun; and, while the varnish is hot, brick dust must be strewed over it: and this being several times repeated, the pile will be covered with a strong crust absolutely impenetrable to all insects.

PILES, in Medicine, the same with hæmorrhoids. See MEDICINE, N° 245, &c.

PILEUS, in Roman antiquity, was the ordinary cap or hat worn at public shows and sacrifices, and by the freedmen. It was one of the common rewards assigned to such gladiators as were slaves, in token of their obtaining freedom.

PILEWORT, (Ranunculus ficaria, Lin.), the root. This is a very small plant, found in most meadows and by hedge sides. The roots consist of slender fibres with some little tubercles among them, which are supposed to resemble the hæmorrhoids. From thence it has been concluded, that this root must needs be of wonderful efficacy for the cure of that distemper: to the taste, it is little other than mucilaginous; and although still retained in several of the foreign pharmacopoeias, it is hardly in use in this country.

PILGRIM, one who travels through foreign countries to visit holy places, and to pay his devotion to the relicks of dead saints. See PILGRIMAGE.

The word is formed from the Flemish pelgrim, or Italian pelegrino, which siguifies the same; and those originally from the Latin peregrinus, a "stranger or traveller."

PILGRIMAGE, a kind of religious discipline, which consists in taking a journey to some holy place in order to adore the, relicks of some deceased saint. Pilgrimages began to be made about the middle ages of the church; but they were most in vogue after the end of the 11th century, when every one was for visiting places of devotion, not excepting kings and princes themselves; and even bishops made no difficulty of being absent from their churches on the same account. The places most visited were Jerusalem, Rome, Compostella (A), and Tours; but the greatest numbers now

resort

not

Pilgrimage resort to Loretto, in order to visit the chamber of the blessed virgin, in which she was born, and brought up her son Jesus till he was 12 years of age. For the pilgrimage of the followers of Mahomet, see MAHOME

TANISM.

In every country where popery was established, pilgrimages were common; and in those countries which are still popish, they continue. In England, the shrine of St Thomas à Becket was the chief resort of the pious; and in Scotland, St Andrews; where, as tradition informs us, was deposited a leg of the holy apostle. In Ireland they still continue; for, from the beginning of May till the middle of August every year, crowds of popish penitents from all parts of that country resort to an island near the centre of Lough fin, or White Lake, in the county of Donnegal, to the amount of 3000 or 4000. These are mostly of the poorer sort, and many of them are proxies for those who are richer; some of which, however, together with some of the priests and bishops on occasion, make their appearance there. When the pilgrim comes within sight of the holy lake, he must uncover his hands and feet, and thus walk to the water side, and is taken to the island for sixpence. Here there are two chapels and 15 other houses; to which are added confessionals, so contrived, that the priest cannot see the person confessing. The penance varies according to the circumstances of the penitent; during the continuance of which (which is sometimes three, six, or nine days) he subsists on oatmeal, sometimes made into bread. He traverses sharp stones on his bare knees or feet, and goes through a variety of other forms, paying sixpence at every different confession. When all is over, the priest bores a gimblethole through the pilgrim's staff near the top, in which he fastens a cross peg; gives him as many holy pebbles out of the lake as he cares to carry away, for amulets to be presented to his friends, and so dismisses him, an object of veneration to all other papists not thus initiated, who no sooner see the pilgrim's cross in his hands, than they kneel down to get his blessing.

There are, however, other parts of Ireland sacred to extraordinary worship and pilgrimage; and the number of holy wells, and miraculous cures, &c. produced by them, is very great. That such things should exist in this enlightened age, and in a Protestant country, is indeed strange; but our wonder ceases, when we reflect that it is among the lowest, and perhaps the worst of the people. They who carry external religion to an extreme, and place that confidence in ceremony which belongs only to the spirit of it, are seldom distinguished either for their wisdom or their virtue. We do not deny, however, that they who carry matters to the other extreme, may be equally destitute of real knowledge and genuine morality.

Dr Johnson, in his Rasselas, gives us some observations on pilgrimage, which are so much to the purpose, that we think we cannot do better than lay them before

:

our readers." Pilgrimage (said Imlac, into whose Pilgrimage mouth the observations are put), like many other acts of piety, may be reasonable or superstitious according to the principles upon which it is performed. Long jour neys in search of truth are not commanded. Truth, such as is necessary to the regulation of life, is always found where it is honestly sought change of place is no natural cause of the increase of piety, for it inevitably produces dissipation of mind. Yet since men go every day to view the fields where great actions have been performed, and return with stronger impressions of the event, curiosity of the same kind may naturally dispose us to view that country whence our religion had its beginning and I believe no man surveys those awful scenes without some confirmation of holy resolutions. That the Supreme Being may be more easily propitiated in one place than in another, is the dream of idle superstition; but that some places may operate upon our own minds in an uncommon manner, is an opinion which hourly experience will justify. He who supposes that his vices may be more successfully combated in Palestine, will, perhaps, find himself mistaken; yet he may go thither without folly he who thinks they will be more freely pardoned, dishonours at once his reason and religion." PILKINGTON, LETITIA, a famous poetical genius, the daughter of Dr Van Lewin, a physician of Dublin, where she was born in 1712. She was married very young to the Rev. Matthew Pilkington, a poet also of no inconsiderable merit; and the two wits, as is often the case, lived very unhappily together. They were at length totally separated, on the husband accidentally discovering a gentleman in her bedchamber at two o'clock in the morning; a circumstance which she accounted for in a very unsatisfactory manner. The story is told at large in her Memoirs where she says, "Lovers of Learning, I am sure, will pardon me, as I solemnly declare it was the attractive charms of a new book, which the gentleman would not lend me, but consented to stay till I read it through, that was the sole motive of my detaining him." As there are not wanting some who form objections to marrying learned wives, the chance of such literary assignations may perhaps be added to the list of them. After this unlucky adventure, Mrs Pilkington came to London; and having recourse to her pen for subsistence, through the means of Colley Cibber, she lived for some time on the contributions of the great. She was however thrown into the Marshalsea for debt; and being set a liberty, opened a pamphlet shop. She raised at length a handsome subscription for her Memoirs; which are written with great sprighliness and wit, containing several entertaining anecdotes of Dean Swift, with whom she was intimate, as well as many pretty little pieces of her own poetry. This ingenious woman is said at last to have killed berself with drinking. She died at Dublin, in 1750.

PILL, in Pharmacy, a form of medicine resembling a little ball, to be swallowed whole; invented for such