PITTANCE (through O. Fr. pitance, from

See also:

• LAT

Lat.

See also:

• PIETAS

pietas, loving-Kindness)  , properly a gift to the members of a religious house for masses, consisting usually of an extra allowance of food or wine on occasions such as the anniversary of the donor's death, festivals and the like . The word was early transferred to a charitable donation and to any small gift of food or money . PITT-RIVERS, AUGUSTUS HENRY LANE-FOX (1827-1900), English soldier and archaeologist, son of W . A . Lane-Fox, was born on the 14th of April 1827 . It was not till 188o that he assumed the name of Pitt-Rivers, on inheriting the Dorsetshire and Wiltshire estates of his great-uncle, the second Lord Rivers . Educated at Sandhurst, he received a commission in - the Grenadier Guards in 1845, being captain 185o, lieutenant-colonel 1857, colonel 1867, major-general 1877 and lieutenant-general 1882 . He served in the Crimean War, and was at the Alma and the siege of Sebastopol . His talent for experimental research was utilized in investigation into improvements of the army rifle, and he was largely responsible for starting the Hythe School of Musketry . It is not, how-ever, for his military career, but for his work as an anthropologist and archaeologist, that General Pitt-Rivers will be remembered . His interest in the evolution of the rifle early extended itself to other weapons and instruments in the history of man, and he became a collector of articles illustrating the development of human invention . His collection became famous, and, after being exhibited in 1874-1875 at the Bethnal Green Museum, was presented in 1883 to the university of Oxford .

When, in 188o, General Pitt-Rivers obtained

possession of his great-uncle's estates—practically untouched by the excavator since they had been the battleground of the West Saxons, the Romans and the Britons—he devoted himself to exploring them . His excavations round Rushmore resulted in valuable " finds "; he founded a local museum and published several illustrated volumes . As a scientific archaeologist he attained high rank . Oxford gave him the D.C.L. in 1886; he was president of the Anthropological Institute, and F.R.S . He married, in 1853, Alice Margaret, daughter of the second Lord Stanley of Alderley, and had a numerous family; his second daughter became in 1884 the wife of Sir John Lubbock (Lord Avebury) . General Pitt-Rivers died at Rushmore on the 4th of May 1900 .