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PUMA

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Originally appearing in Volume V22, Page 645 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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PUMA , a name, probably of native origin, introduced into See also:

European literature by the See also:early See also:Spanish writers on See also:South See also:America (as Garcilaso de la See also:Vega and Hernandez) for one of the largest See also:cats (Felis concolor) of the New See also:World. It is generally called " couguar " by the See also:French, " See also:leon " by the Spanish Americans, and " See also:panther " by the Anglo-See also:American hunters of the See also:United States (see See also:CARNIVORA). Though often spoken of as the American See also:lion, chiefly on See also:account of its See also:colour, it rather resembles the See also:leopard of the Old World in See also:size and habits: usually measuring from See also:nose to See also:root of tail about 40 in., the tail being rather more than See also:half that length. The See also:head is small compared with that of other cats and has no mane. The ears are large and rounded. The tail is cylindrical, with some bushy See also:elongation of the hairs near the end, but not forming a distinct tuft. The See also:general colour of the upper parts and sides of the adult is a tawny yellowish See also:brown, sometimes having a See also:grey or silvery shade, but in some cases dark or inclining to red; and upon these and other See also:differences, which are probably See also:constant locally, a number of sub-See also:species have been named. The See also:lower parts, inner See also:surface of the limbs, See also:throat, See also:chin and upper See also:lip are dirty See also:white; the outside of the ears, particularly at their See also:base, and a patch on each See also:side of the muzzle See also:black; the end of the tail dusky. The See also:young are, when first See also:born, spotted with dusky brown and the tail ringed. These markings generally fade, and quite disappear before the See also:animal becomes full grown. The puma has an exceedingly wide range of See also:geographical See also:distribution, extending over a See also:hundred degrees of See also:latitude, from See also:Canada in the See also:north to See also:Patagonia in the south, and formerly was generally diffused in suitable localities from the See also:Atlantic to the Pacific Ocean, but the advances of See also:civilization have curtailed the extent of the districts which it inhabits. In See also:PUMP 645 do not so often occur in this See also:form as do trachytes and rhyolites.

Pumices are most abundant and most typically See also:

developed from See also:acid rocks; for which See also:reason they usually accompany obsidians, in fact in Lipari and elsewhere the base of a See also:lava flow may be black See also:obsidian while the upper portion is a See also:snow white See also:pumice. Small crystals of various minerals occur in many pumices; the commonest are See also:felspar, See also:augite, See also:hornblende and See also:zircon. If they are abundant they greatly diminish the economic value of the See also:rock, as they are hard and See also:wear down more slowly than the glassy material; consequently they produce scratches. The cavities of pumice are sometimes rounded, but may also be elongated or tubular owing to the flowing See also:movement of the solidifying lava. The See also:glass itself forms threads, See also:fibres and thin partitions between the vesicles. See also:Rhyolite and See also:trachyte pumices are white, contain 6o to 75% of See also:silica and the specific gravity of the glass is 2.3 to 2.4; See also:andesite pumices are often yellow or brown; while pumiceous basalts, such as occur in the See also:Sandwich Islands, are See also:pitch black when perfectly fresh. See also:Good pumice is found in See also:Iceland, See also:Hungary, See also:Nevada, See also:Teneriffe, New See also:Zealand, Pantellaria and the Lipari Islands. The last-named are the See also:chief See also:sources of pumice for the arts and manufactures. At Campo Bianco in Lipari there is an See also:extinct volcanic See also:cone with a breached See also:crater from which a dark stream of obsidian has flowed. For See also:industrial purposes the best varieties are obtained from See also:Monte Pelato and Monte Chirica. The pumice is extracted by means of shafts and tunnels driven through the soft incoherent See also:stone. It is brought out in blocks of irregular shape and size and is trimmed into slabs and graded into several qualities before it is exported to Canneto, which is the centre of the pumice See also:trade.

The workmen say that the good pumice occurs in beds or See also:

veins, which are probably lava flows and are separated by valueless rock or by obsidian. The value depends entirely on the regularity, size and shape of the See also:steam cavities and on the See also:absence of See also:minute crystals. From See also:time immemorial the extraction and See also:sale of pumice have been one of the See also:principal sources of See also:wealth to the inhabitants of this See also:island. Ara inferior pumice, known in Lipari as Alessandrina, is used for smoothing oilcloth. Though all the Aeolian Isles are volcanic no pumice 1 is exported from any of the others. In Iceland, Teneriffe and Hungary pumice also occurs, but not in sufficient quantity orof such quality as to render it See also:worth working on a large See also:scale. It is estimated that in Lipari there are 170 pumice quarries (or mines) giving employment to 'zoo persons and producing 6000 tons of pumice per annum. The See also:price varies with the quality: from 3 lire per too kilogrammes for the commonest sorts to 200 or 300 lire for the best pieces, the See also:average being about 15 lire. Much pumice is also used nowadays in the form of a See also:fine See also:powder, produced by crushing the rock, and forms an ingredient of See also:metal polishes and some kinds of See also:soap. It is often confounded with diatom See also:earth or See also:tripoli powder, but can easily be recognized by the aid of the See also:microscope or by See also:simple chemical tests. Among the older volcanic rocks pumice occurs, but usually has its cavities filled up by deposits of secondary minerals introduced by percolating See also:water; hence it is of no value for industrial purposes. Pumice, in minute fragments, has been shown to have an exceedingly wide distribution over the earth's surface at the See also:present See also:day.

It occurs in all the deposits which See also:

cover the See also:floor of the deepest portion of the oceans, and is especially abundant in the abysmal red See also:clay. In some measure this pumice has been derived from submarine volcanic eruptions, but its presence is also accounted for by the fact that pumice will See also:float on water for months, and is thus distributed over the See also:sea by winds and currents. After a See also:long time it becomes waterlogged and sinks to the bottom, where it gradually disintegrates and is incorporated in the muds and Oozes which are gathering there. After the See also:great eruption of See also:Krakatoa in 1883 See also:banks of pumice covered the surface of the sea for many See also:miles and See also:rose in some cases for four or five ft. above the water level. In addition to this much finely broken pumice was thrown into the See also:air to a great height and was See also:borne away by the winds, ultimately settling down in the most distant parts of the continents and oceans. (J. S.

End of Article: PUMA

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PUMICE (Lat. purnex, spumex, spuma, froth)

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