5. The Greek terms are the following: in Rev. ix. 1. 2, and elsewhere, the "bottomless pit" is the transla- tion of ro tppsap ti,ij aflvoo-ov. The A. V. has rightly taken tbpiap lure as the equivalent ol bdr rather ih.au beer. The pii of the abyss i- as a dungeon. It is opened with a key (Rev. ix. 1; xx. I). Satan is cast into it, as a prisoner (xx, 2). In .Matt. xii. 11. -pit" is the rendering of /3i $uvoe. a deep//./, or "ditch" (aa rendered iii .Man. xv, 1 1 : Luke vi,39). See ClSTEBN. Pitaka or Pitakattayan (Pali pitahan, a "bas- ket," and tdyo, "three"), the sacred books of the Bud- dhisls. The text of the I'itaka is divided into three
greal classes. The instructions contained in the first class, called Winaya, were addn ssed to the priests; those in i be second class, Sutra, to the laity : and those in the third class. Abhidarma, to the dewas and brahmas of the celestial worlds. There is a commentary called the Atthakatka, which, until recently, was regarded a- of equal authority with the text. The text, a- we learn from .Mr. Spence Hardy, was orally preserved until the reign of the Singhalese monarch \Vattagamani, who reigned from B.C. 104 i" B.C. 76, when ii was commit- ted i" writing in the island of Ceylon. The commen- tary was written by Badhagosha in A.D. 120. To es- tablish the text of the Pitakas three several convoca- tions were held. The firsl met B.G 543, when the
whole wa- 1. hearsed, every bj liable being repeated with
PITCAIRN
239
PITCHER
the utmost precision, and an authentic version estab- lished, though not committed to writing. The second convocation was held in B.C. 443, when the whole was again rehearsed, in consequence of certain usages hav- ing sprung up contrary to the teachings of Buddha. The third convocation took place B.C. 308, when the Pitakas were again rehearsed, without either retrench- ment or addition. These sacred books are of immense size, containing, along with the commentary, nearly 2,000,000 lines. See Buddhists.
Pitcairn, Alexander, a Scottish divine who flour- ished in the second half of the 17th century, and ap- pears to have been obliged to seek refuge in Holland, is known to us only as the author of, Compendiaria Phy- siolorjue Aristotelian una cum Anatome Cartesianismi (Lond. 1676, 12mo) : — llarmonia Eranr/elica Apostolo- rum Pauli <t Jamb! in Doctrina deJustif. etc. (Kotterd. 1685, 4to). In the last-named work, which is of a con- troversial nature, Pitcairn opposes Socinians, Papists, and Arminians in general, and Curcelheus, Morns, Bull, Sherlock, and Baxter in particular. There is a good deal of learning and acuteness displayed in the book, and he deserves the study of Calvinists. (J. H. W.)
Pitcaime, Alexander, another Scottish divine, flourished about the same time as the preceding. He was minister at Oron. He published The Spiritual Sacrifice, a treatise concerning the saints' communion with God in prayer (Edinb. 1664, 2 vols. 4to).
Pitch is the rendering in the A. V. of two Hebrew words, ze'pheth, HBT, and Jco'pher, "153. The former is from the root zuplt, S^T, to flow, or be liquid (like the German Schmalz, from the verb schmelzen) (Exod. ii, 3 ; Isa. xxxiv, 9 ; comp. Mishna, Schab. 2). The latter is from the root 123, to cover or smear, and is used in Gen. vi, 14, where the Sept. has ducpaXTov, the Vulg. Mtumen. The word iBfl, chemur, rendered "slime" (Gen. xi, 3; xiv, 10; Exod. ii, 3), likewise belongs here. The three Hebrew terms all represent the same object, viz. mineral pitch or asphalt, in its different as- pects: zepheth (the zift of the modern Arabs, Wilkinson, Anc. Egypt, ii, 120) in its liquid state, chemur in its solid state, from its red color, though also explained in refer- ence to the manner in which it boils up (the former, however, being more consistent with the appearance of the two terms in juxtaposition in Exod. ii, 3; A. V. " pitch and slime") ; and kopher, in reference to its use in overlaying wood-work (Gen. vi, 14). Asphalt is an opaque, inflammable substance, which bubbles up from subterranean fountains in a liquid state, and hardens by exposure to the air, but readily melts under the influ- ence of heat. In the latter state it is very tenacious, and was used as a cement in lieu of mortar in Babylonia (Gen. xi, 3; Strabo, xvi, 743; Herod, i, 179), as well as for coating the outsides of vessels (Gen. vi, 14; Jose- phus, War, iv, 8, 4), and particularly for making the papyrus boats of the Egyptians water-tight (Exod. ii, 3 ; Wilkinson, ii, 120). The Babylonians obtained their chief supply from springs at Is (the modern Hit), which are still in existence (Herod, i, 179). The Jews and Ara- bians got theirs in large quantities from the Dead Sea, which hence received its classical name of Lacus A sphal- tites. The latter was particularly prized for its purple hue (Pliny, xxviii, 23). In the early ages of the Bible the slime-pits (Gen. xiv, 10), or springs of asphalt, were ap- parent in the vale of Siddim, at the southern end of the sea. They are now concealed through the submergence of the plain, and the asphalt probably forms itself into a crust on the bed of the lake, whence it is dislodged by earthquakes or other causes. Early writers describe the masses thus thrown up on the surface of the lake as of very considerable size (Josephus, War, iv, 8,4; Tacit. Hist, v, G ; Diod. Sic. ii, 48). This is now a rare occur- rence (r'ooinson, i, 617), though smail pieces may con- stantly be picked up on the shore. The inflammable