  We present some new results from an ongoing investigation of the anisotropy
of the two--point correlation function for optically selected galaxies. We have
estimated xi(r_p,pi) from the Perseus-Pisces redshift survey, which is now
virtually 100\% complete for all morphological types to m_B = 15.5. We detect
strong distortions of the iso-correlation contours in xi(r_p,pi). These
correspond to a global (`cluster' plus `field') pairwise velocity dispersion at
1 h^{-1} Mpc, sigma(1), which is about a factor of two higher than the
canonical value \sim 350 km s^{-1} obtained from the CfA1 survey and recently
from the 1.2 Jy IRAS redshift survey. However, the variance of this value is
still rather strong even within the relatively large volumes surveyed
(typically 90$^\circ$ $\times$ 45$^\circ$ $\times$ 100 h^{-1} Mpc). From the
largest volume explorable (126 h^{-1} Mpc depth), the best bet for the `cosmic'
value of sigma(1) seems to be between 600 and 700 km s^{-1}. However, for a
hopefully robust determination of its value we will have to wait for the
analyses of the next generation of larger {\tenbf optical} redshift surveys
(such as, e.g., the now completed ESP or the forthcoming Sloan Digital Sky
Survey).
