FEEB 160 PEIRCE Grandpa"; "The Bird's Nest" (1885); etc. He died in 1897. PEER, in general, an equal, one of the same rank and station. In this sense it is used by the common law of England, which declares that every person is to be tried by his peers. Peer also signifies in Great Britain a member of one of the five degrees of nobility that constitute the "peerage" (duk©, marquis, earl, vis- count, baron), or more strictly a mem- ber of the House of Lords. The dignity and privileges of peers originated with the growth of the feudal system, the peers being originally the chief vassals holding fiefs directly from the crown, and having, in virtue of their position, the hereditary right of acting as royal counsellors. Subsequently not all the crown vassals appeared at court as ad- visers of the king, but only those who were summoned to appear by writ. This custom grew at length into a rule, and these summonses were considered proofs of hereditary peerage. Latterly the honor of the peerage has been exclu- sively conferred by patent. As regards their privileges all peers are on a per- fect equality. The chief privileges are those of a seat in the House of Lords, of a trial by persons of noble birth in case of indictments for treason and felony, and misprision thereof, and of exemp- tion from arrest in civil cases. The British peerage collectively consist of peers of England, of Scotland, of Great Britain, of Ireland, and of the United Kingdom, but only a portion of the Scotch and Irish peers are peers of Parliament. PEGASUS, in astronomy, the Flying Horse; one of the 20 ancient N. constel- lations, bounded on the N. by Lacerta and Andromeda, on the S. by Aquarius, on the E. by Pisces, and on the W. by Equuleus and Delphinus. It is on the meridian in September at midnight. Alpha Pegasi is Markab, Beta Pegasi is Scheat, and Gamma Pegasi is Algenib. These with Alpha Andromedae constitute the great square of Pegasus. In class- ical mythology, a winged steed which sprang forth from the neck of Medusa after her head had been severed by Per- seus. As soon as 1^ was born he flew upward, and fixed his abode on Mount Helicon, where, with a blow of his hoofs e produced the fountain Hippocrene. In ichthyology, the only genus of the f arn- ily Pegasidse. Pectoral fins broad, hori- zontal, long, composed of simple rays, sometimes spinous. Upper part of the snout produced. Four species are known; all very small fishes. PEGOUD, ADOLPHE, a French avia- tor. He was born in 1885, and following the first success of Santos-Dumont and the Wright brothers in flying, took up the profession of an aeronaut. In 1913 he astonished Paris by his feats in the air, diving, looping the loop, flying with his machine at what had hitherto been considered impossible angles. During the war his machine was repeatedly hit by enemy bullets, but he succeeded in bringing down seven or eight German machines, winning military medals. He was killed in the summer of 1915. PEGU, a town, division, and river of Lower Burma. The town stands on the river Pegu, 46 miles N. E. of Rangoon. The old city was founded, in 573 and was made the capital of a powerful indepen- dent kingdom. European travelers in the 16th century speak of its great size and magnificence. It was destroyed in the middle of the 18th century by Al- ompra; but was rebuilt. It was offered to the British by the inhabitants, in the first and in the second Burmese War. PEG WOFFINGTON. See WOFFING- TON, Margaret. PEHLEVI, PEHLAVI, or PAHLAVI, a Parsee sacred language, which suc- ceeded the Zend and preceded the mod- ern Persian. It was a development of the old Zend. The Zend Avesta was translated into it. PEI-HO, a river of China, rises near the borders of Mongolia, flows N. E. and S. E., past Peking and Tien-tsin, and falls into the Gulf of Pechili after a course of more than 350 miles. The mouth of the river is defended by the powerful forts of Taku. See China. PEINE FORTE ET DURE, in Old English law, a penalty or punishment in- flicted on those who, being charged with felony, remained mute, and refused to plead. It was introduced by a statute of Edward I., and was vulgarly called pressing to death, whence there was in Newgate a place called the press yard, where such penalty was inflicted. PEIRCE, BENJAMIN, an American mathematician; born in Salem, Mass., April 4, 1809; studied at Harvard, where in 1833 he became professor. In 1849, he became consulting astronomer to the "American Nautical Almanac"; and from 1867 to 1874 he was superintendent of the Coast Survey. In 1836-1846 he issued an admirable series of mathemat- ical text-books, and he contributed to various mathematical journals. His pa- per on the discovery of Neptune (1848) attracted universal attention; and. his
