PIT-POWDER. That made with charcoal which has been burned in pits, not in cylinders.
PIVOT. A cylinder of iron or other metal, that may turn easily in a socket. Also, in a column of troops, that flank by which the dressing and distance are regulated; in a line, that on which it wheels.
PIVOT-GUN. Mounted on a frame carriage which can be turned radially, so as to point the piece in any direction.
PIVOT-SHIP. In certain fleet evolutions, the sternmost ship remains stationary, as a pivot upon which the other vessels are to form the line anew.
PLACE. A fortress, especially its main body.
PLACE for Everything, and Everything in its Place. One of the golden maxims of propriety on board ship.
PLACE OF ARMS. In fortification, a space contrived for the convenient assembling of troops for ulterior purposes; the most usual are those at the salient and re-entering angles of the covered-way.
PLACER. A Spanish nautical term for shoal or deposit. Also, for deposits of precious minerals.
PLACES OF CALL. Merchantmen must here attend to two general rules:—If these places of call are enumerated in the charter-party, then such must be taken in the order laid down; but if leave be given to call at all, or any, then they must be taken in their geographical sequence.
PLAGES [Lat.] An old word for the divisions of the globe; as, plages of the north, the northern regions.