[Pentheus], a king of Thebes, opposed to the introduction of the Bacchus worship into his kingdom, was driven mad by the god, and torn in pieces by his mother and sisters, who, under the Bacchic frenzy, mistook him for a wild beast.
[Penthièvre, Duc de], the father-in-law of Philippe Egalité, and the protector of Florian (1725-1793).
[Pentland Firth] is the strait between the Orkneys and the Scottish mainland connecting the North Sea with the Atlantic, 12 m. long by 6 broad, and swept by a rapid current very dangerous to navigation; 5000 vessels traverse it annually.
[Pentonville], a populous district of London, in the parishes of St James's, Clerkenwell, and Islington, where is the Pentonville Model Prison, built in 1840-42 on the radiating principle to accommodate 520 prisoners.
[Penumbra], the name given to the partial shadow on the rim of the total shadow of an eclipse, also to the margin of the light and shade of a picture.
[Penzance] (14), the largest town in Cornwall, most westerly borough in England, and terminus of the Great Western Railway, is beautifully situated on the rocky W. shore of Mount's Bay; its public buildings chiefly of granite. It has a fine harbour and docks, and is the centre of the mackerel and pilchard fishing industries. Its mild climate makes it a favourite watering-place.
[People's Palace], Mile End Road, London, is an institution for the recreation and instruction of the East-end population, opened by the Queen in May 1887, and owing its origin to the impulse given by Sir W. Besant's "All Sorts and Conditions of Men." In it are a library, art galleries, concert and reading rooms, baths, gymnasium, &c., and technical classes and handicraft schools are held; these are attended by 5000 pupils, and the institution is visited by a million and a quarter people annually.
[Pepin the Short], king of the Franks, was the son of Charles Martel, and at first shared with his brother Carloman the viceroyalty of the kingdom under Hilderik III.; in 747 Carloman retired to a monastery, and five years later Pepin deposed Hilderik and ascended the throne; his kingdom embraced the valleys of the Rhine, the Rhône, and the Seine; he united his interests with those of the Church, and in 756 entered Italy to rescue the Pope from the threatened domination of the Lombards; reduced Aistulf of Lombardy to vassalage, assumed the title of Patrician of Rome, and by bestowing on Pope Stephen III. the "Exarchate" of the Roman empire, laid the foundation of papal temporal sovereignty, five cities being placed under his jurisdiction; his subsequent exploits included the conquest of the Loire Valley and the expulsion of the Moors from France; his fame was overshadowed by that of his son Charlemagne; d. 678.
[Pepsin], an essential constituent of the gastric juice extracted from the stomach of the calf, sheep, and pig, and used in medicine to supply any defect of it in the stomach of a patient.
[Pepys, Samuel], author of a famous Diary, a scholarly man and respected as connected with different grades of society; held a clerkship in the Admiralty, and finally the secretaryship; kept a diary of events from 1660 to 1669, which remained in MS. till 1826, when it was published in part by Lord Braybrooke, and is of interest for the insight it gives into the manners of the time and the character of the author; the latest and completest edition of this Diary is that of H. B. Wheatley, published in 1893-96, in eight vols. (1633-1703).