PULU, a kind of silk obtained from the fibres of a fern-tree of Hawaii.

PUNCH, the name of the chief character in a well-known puppet show of Italian origin, and appropriated as the title of the leading English comic journal, which is accompanied with illustrations conceived in a humorous vein and conducted in satire, from a liberal Englishman’s standpoint, of the follies and weaknesses of the leaders of public opinion and fashion in modern social life.  It was started in 1841 under the editorship of Henry Mayhew and Mark Lemon; and the wittiest literary men of the time as well as the cleverest artists have contributed to its pages, enough to mention of the former Thackeray, Douglas Jerrold, and Tom Hood, and of the latter Doyle, Leech, Tenniel, Du Maurier, and Lindley Sambourne.

PUNDIT, a Brahmin learned in Sanskrit and in the language, literature, and laws of the Hindus.

PUNIC FAITH, a plighted promise that one can put no trust in, such as the Romans alleged they systematically had experience of at the hands of the Poeni or Carthaginians.

PUNIC WARS, the name given to the wars between Rome and Carthage for the empire of the world, of date, the first from 264 to 241, the second from 218 to 201, and the third from 149 to 146 B.C., due all to transgressions on the one side or the other of boundaries fixed by treaty, which it was impossible for either in their passion of empire to respect.  It was a struggle which, though it ended in the overthrow of Carthage, proved at one time the most critical in the history of Rome.

PUNJAB (25,130), “five rivers,” a province in the extreme NW. of India, watered by the Indus and its four tributaries, Jhelum, Chenab, Ravee, and Sutlej; its frontiers touch Afghanistan and Cashmir.  Mountain ranges traverse the N., W., and S; little rain falls; the plains are dry and hot in summer.  There is little timber, cow-dung is common fuel; the soil is barren, but under irrigation there are fertile stretches; wheat, indigo, sugar, cotton, tobacco, opium, and tea are largely grown; cotton, silk, lace, iron, and leather are manufactured; indigo, grain, cotton, and manufactured products are exported in exchange for raw material, dyes, horses, and timber.  The population is mixed, Sikhs, Jats, and Rajputs predominate; more than a half are Mohammedan, and more than a third Hindu.  Lahore is the capital, but Delhi and Amritsar are larger towns.  Several railways run through the province.  The natives remained loyal throughout the Mutiny of 1857-58, Sikhs and Pathans joining the British troops before Delhi.

PURANAS, a body of religious works which rank second to the Vedas, and form the basis of the popular belief of the Hindus.  There are 18 principal Puranas and 18 secondary Puranas, of various dates, but believed to be of remote antiquity, though modern critical research proves that in their present form they are not of very ancient origin.

PURBECK, ISLE OF, the peninsula in South Dorsetshire lying between the river Frome, Poole Harbour, and the English Channel; formerly a royal deer-forest; has a precipitous coast, and inland consists of chalk downs; nearly 100 quarries are wrought of “Purbeck marble.”