PITH (O.E. pitca, cognate with Du.

See also:

• PIT (O. E. pytt, cognate with Du. put, Ger. Pfutze, &c., all ultimately adaptations of Lat. puteus, well, formed from root pu-, to cleanse, whence gurus, clean, pure)

pit,

See also:

• KERNEL (O.E. cyrnel, a diminutive of " corn," seed, grain)

kernel of a

See also:

• NUT
• NUT (0. Eng. knutu, cf. Dutch noot, Ger. Nuss; allied with Gael. cno; it is not of the same form as Lat. nux)

nut)  , properly the medulla, the central column of spongy cellular tissue, in the stems of dicotyledonous plants (see PLANTS: Anatomy) . The word is thence applied to the spinal cord or marrow in animals, to the medullary end of a hair, and to that which forms the central part or core of any object or substance; hence, figuratively, vigour, energy, concentrated force . Very light hats or helmets are made of the dried pith of the Indian spongewood or hat plant (Acschynomene aspera, the native name being Solah) . These pith hats are worn by Europeans in India and the East . The Chinese Ricepaper-tree (Aralia or Fatsia papyrifera), from the pith of which the delicate white film known as " rice-paper " is made, is also known as the pith-plant .