[Pythoness], the priestess of [Apollo at Delphi] (q. v.), so called from the [Python] (q. v.), the dragon slain by the god.
[Pyx], the name of a cup-shaped, gold-lined vessel, with lid, used in the Roman Catholic churches for containing the eucharistic elements after their consecration either for adoration in the churches or for conveying to sick-rooms. Pyx means "box." Hence Trial of the Pyx is the annual test of the British coinage, for which purpose one coin in every 15 lbs. of gold and one in every 60 lbs. of silver coined is set aside in a pyx or box.
Q
[Quadragesima] (i. e. fortieth), a name given to Lent because it lasts forty days, and assigned also to the first Sunday in Lent, the three Sundays which precede it being called respectively Septuagesima, Sexagesima, and Quinquagesima.
[Quadrant], an instrument for taking altitudes, consisting of the graduated arc of a circle of ninety degrees.
[Quadratic Equation], an equation involving the square of the unknown quantity.
[Quadriga], a two-wheeled chariot drawn by four horses abreast, used in the ancient chariot races.
[Quadrilateral, The], the name given to a combination of four fortresses, or the space enclosed by them, in North Italy, at Mantua, Legnago, Verona, and Peschiera.
[Quadroon], the name given to a person quarter-blooded, in particular the offspring of a mulatto and a white person.