was £200 a year, played in October 1877 at the Globe Theatre for the benefit of Mr F. H. Macklin. The first play to make a hit was The Money Spinner (Theatre Royal, Manchester, Nov. 1880); but in The Squire (St James's Theatre, Dec. 1881) he attempted serious drama, and gave promise of the qualities of his later work. In 1883 and 1884 Pinero produced seven pieces, but the most important of his works at this period were the successful farces produced at the Court Theatre: The Magistrate (March 1885), which ran for more than a year; The Schoolmistress (March 1886); Dandy Dick (Jan. 1887), revived in February 1900, The Cabinet Minister (April 1890), and The Amazons (March 1893). Two comedies of sentiment, Sweet Lavender (Terry's, March 1888) and The Weaker Sex (Theatre Royal, Manchester, Sept. 1888), met with success, and Sweet Lavender has enjoyed numerous revivals. With The Profligate (Garrick, April 1889) he returned to the serious drama which he had already touched on in The Squire. Out of deference to the wishes of John Hare the play was fitted with the conventional “ happy ending,” but the original denouement was restored, with great advantage to the unity of the play, in the printed version. The Second Mrs Tanqueray (St James's, May 27, 1893) dealt with the converse of the question propounded in The Profligate, but with more art and more courage. The piece aroused great discussion, and placed Pinero in the front rank of living dramatists (see Drama: Recent English). It was translated into French, German and Italian, and the part of Paula Tanqueray, created in the first place by Mrs Patrick Campbell, attracted many actresses, among others Eleonora Duse. His later plays were The Notorious Mrs Ebbsmith (Garrick, March 13, 1895), The Benefit of the Doubt (Comedy, Oct 1895), The Princess and the Butterfly (St James's, April 7, 1897), Trelawney of the Wells (Court, ]an. 30, 1898), The Gay Lord Quex (Globe, April 8, 1899), Iris (Garrick, Sept. 21, 1901), Letty (Duke of York's, Oct. 8, 1903), A Wife Without a Smile (Wyndham's, Oct 9, 1904), His House in Order (St James's, Feb 1, 1906), The Thunderbolt (St James's, May 9, 1908) and Mid-Channel (St James's, Sept. 2, 1909). Pinero was knighted in 1909.
His Plays (II vols. 1891–1895) have prefaces by M. C. Salaman. See also H. Hamilton Fyfe, A. W. Pinero (1902).
PINEROLO [Pignerol], a city and episcopal see of Piedmont. Italy, in the province of Turin. Pop. (1901), 12,608 (town), 18,039 (commune). It is built on a hill-side just above the valleys of the Chisone and the Lemina, at a height of 1234 ft. above the sea, 24 m. by rail S W. of Turin. The railway goes on to Torre Pellice; and steam tramways run from Pinerolo
to Perosa, and to Cavour and Saluzzo. Till 1696 it was strongly fortified with a citadel on Santa Brigida, a castle on S. Maurizio,
and city walls constructed by Thomas I. of Savoy. It has a
cathedral (St Donatus), the palace of the princes of Acaia and
other buildings of some interest. Cotton, silk, wool and hemp are among the local manufactures.
Pinerolo was bestowed on the bishops of Turin by Otto III. in 996, but in 1078 the countess Adelaide made it over to the Benedictine abbey of Santa Maria, in whose possession it remained till 1159. Thomas I. of Savoy captured the castle in 1188, and in 1246 the commune formally recognized the supremacy of Savoy. Passing in 1295 into the hands of Philip, son of Thomas III, Pinerolo became his residence and capital, a distinction which it retained under Amadeus VIII. of Savoy Francis I. of France obtained possession of the town in his descent into Italy, but Emmanuel Philibert received it back from Henry III. in 1574. A second occupation by the French occurred under Cardinal Richelieu, the French language was imposed on the people, great fortifications were constructed, and the fortress (Pignerol) was used as a state prison for such men as Fouquet, De Caumont and the Man with the Iron Mask (see Iron Mask). Victor Amadeus bombarded the place in 1693, and ultimately compelled Louis XIV to relinquish his hold on it, but before the withdrawal of the French troops the defences were demolished. In 1748 the town was made a bishop's see.
PIN-EYED, a botanical term for flowers which occur in two forms, one of which shows the stigma at the mouth of the corolla. as in the primrose, the term is contrasted with thrum-eyed.
PING-PONG, or Table-Tennis, a miniature variety of lawn-tennis played on a table, which may be of any size not less than 512 ft. long by 3 ft. broad. Various attempts were made to adapt lawn-tennis to the house, but the real popularity of the game began when, near the close of the 19th century, celluloid balls were introduced, and the game was called ping-pong from the
sound of the balls as they were struck by the racket or rebounded from the table. In 1900 the ball was improved and made heavier, and for the next two years ping-pong enjoyed a popularity never before attained by a game in so short a time, not only in Great Britain but in France, the British Colonies and America.
Two leagues were formed, the “Table-Tennis Association” and
the “Ping-Pong Association,” whose laws were practically
identical. The regular tournament table is 9 ft. long by 5 ft.
broad, and the net is a little less than 7 in. high. The balls,
which are of hollow celluloid, are about 34 in. in diameter. The
racket has a blade, shaped like a lawn-tennis racket, about 6 in
long and a handle long enough to grasp comfortably, all in one
piece. Rackets are made either wholly of wood covered with
vellum, cork, sand-paper or rubber, or of light frames covered
with vellum or some other material. The table was at first
marked out in courts, but is now plain. It should be unpolished
and stained. In serving, a player must stand directly behind
his end of the table and use an underhand motion only. The
ball must clear the net and strike the table anywhere on the
other side. The game is then continued until the ball misses
the table or fails to pass over the net. Only one service is
allowed, except in case of a let. The scoring is the same as in
lawn-tennis.
See Ping-Pong, by Arnold Parker (London, 1902); Table Tennis, by A. Sinclair (London, 1902).
PINK, in botany, the common name corresponding to a genus of Caryophyllacae, the Dianthus of botanists. It is characterized by the presence of simple leaves borne in pairs at the thickened nodes, flowers terminating the axis and having a tubular calyx surrounded by a number of overlapping bracts, a showy corolla of five free long-stalked petals, ten stamens proceeding, together with the petals, from a short stalk supporting the ovary, which latter has two styles and ripens into a cylindric or oblong podlike one-chambered many-seeded capsule which opens at the apex by four cults or valves. The species are herbaceous perennials of low stature, often with very showy flowers. They are natives chiefly of southern Europe and the Mediterranean region, a few being found in temperate Asia and South Africa. Four species are wild in Britain. Of these, D. armeria, Deptford pink and D. deltoids, maiden pink, are generally distributed, D. caesius, Cheddar pink, occurs only on the limestone rocks at Cheddar. Two others, D. plumarius and D. caryophyllus, are more or less naturalized, and are interesting as being the originals of the pinks and of the carnations and picotees of English gardens. Garden pinks are derivatives from Dianthus plumarius, a native of central Europe, with leaves rough at the edges, and with rose-coloured or purplish flowers. The use of “ pink ” for a colour is taken from the name of the plant.[1]
The pink is a favourite garden flower of hardy constitution. It has been in cultivation in England since 1629, and is a great favourite with florists, those varieties being preferred which
- ↑ The etymology of “ pink ” is disputed; it may be connected with “ to pink ” (apparently a naturalized form of “ pick ”), properly to prick or punch holes in material for the purpose of ornament, hence, later, to scallop or cut a pattern in the edge of the material. The flower has jagged edges to the petals, but the name occurs in the 16th century, and the later meaning, “to scallop,” " not till the 19th. Others connect with “ pink,” half-shut blinking of the eyes, as in “ plumpie Bacehus, with pinke eyne ” (Shakespeare, Ant. and Cl. II. vii. 121); this word is seen in Dutch pinken, to blink, shut the eyes, and may be connected with “ pinch.” The French name for the flower, oeillet, little eye, may point to this derivation. The disease of horses, known as “ inkeve," a contagious influenza, is so-called from the colour of the inflamed conjunctiva, a symptom of the affection
