Polytheism
Polytheism, In Sophiology, Or The Science Of Human Conceptions, Term Employed To Designate The Doctrines Peculiar To The Ontologies Of Most Mythological Philosophy Of A Plurality Of Gods, As Well As The Primitive Theories Of Knowledge Out Of Which Such Doc Trines Proceeded. Polytheism, Thus Character Istic Of An Ontological ...
Polyzoa
Polyzoa, A Group Of Animals, At First Re Garded As Radiates, Then As Mollusks And Later As Members Of The Heterogeneous Group Of Worms. Its Precise Rank And Position Remain To Be Determined. All Are Small And All Are Aquatic, The Great Majority Being Marine. At The Anterior End Of ...
Pombal
Pombal, Sebastiito Jose De Carvelho E Mello, Sa-bas-te-an'oo Da Kar-varyoo A Mieloo Poii-balc Or P6m-bar, Marquis Of, Portuguese Statesman: B. Soura, Near Coimbra, 13 May 1699; D. Pombal, 2 May 1782. He Suc Cessively Entered The Law And The Army, But Soon Relinquished Each Because Of :ncompatibility. In 1739 He ...
Pomerania
Pomerania, P6m-i-ra'ni-a (german, Pommern), Prussia, A Northern Province And Duchy, Bounded North By The Baltic, West By The Duchy Of Mecklenburg, South By The Province Of Brandenburg And East By West Prussia ; Area, 11,629 Square Miles. It Consists Of A Long And Comparatively Narrow Tract Of Country, Stretch Ing ...
Pompadour
Pompadour, Jeanne Antoinette Son, Zhan In-twan-et Psva-s66 Pan-pi-door, Marquise De, Mistress Of Louis Xv: B. 29 Dec. 1721; D. Versailles, 15 April 1764. She Was The Daughter Of Francois Poisson, Equerry To The Duke Of Orleans, And Not Butcher To The In Valides As Frequently Stated. The Paternity Of The ...
Pompano
Pompano, An Important Food Fish (tra Chinotus Carolinus) Belonging To The Teleosto Mous Family Carangida, And Found Chiefly In The Southern United States, Especially In Florida. These Fishes Are Related To The Mackerels, But Lack The Median Finlets Which Are So General In The Latter. The Pompano Reaches A Length ...
Pompeii
Pompeii, P6m-pa'ye (lat. Pom-peyi), An Cient City Of Italy, Near The Gulf Of Naples, And 12 Miles Southeast Of Naples, Lying At The South East Base Of Vesuvius, And Important As Being Preserved Almost Intact To Our Own Time By A Shower Of Ashes And Pumice From Vesuvius 24 Aug. ...
Pompey
Pompey, Pom'pi (cneius Surnamed The Great (magnus) : B. 30 Sept. 1 B.c. • D. 28 Sept. 48 A. C. In 98,87 S.c. He Served In The Social War With Great Distinction. For Some Years Subsequently The Party Of Marius Was In The Ascendant In Italy, And Pompey, Who Belonged ...
Pompey The Younger
Pompey The Younger (sexrus Pomptius), Roman Warrior, 2d Son Of Pompey The Great :' B. 75 N.c.; D. 35 B.c. He Accom Panied His Father In His Flight Into Egypt And After His Death Went To Spain, Where He Organ Ized A Force Of Fugitives And Malcontents And Demanded From ...
Ponce De Leon
Ponce De Leon, Juan, Spanish Discov Erer: B. Leon, About 1460; D. Cuba, 1521. He Fought In The Conquest Of Granada And In 1493 Shipped With Columbus On The Admiral's Second Voyage. Subsequently He Held Under Ovando The Post Of Governor Of The Eastern Portion Of Espanola, In 1508 Undertook ...
Poncelet
Poncelet, Jean Victor, French Military Engineer: B. Metz, 1 July 1788; D. Paris, 23 Dec. 1867. Between The Years 1807 And 1810 He Attended The Ecole Polytechnique, Where He Was A Pupil Of Monge. In 1812 He Received The Commission Of Lieutenant In The Engineers, But On Napoleon's Retreat From ...
Pond
Pond, John, English Astronomer; B. Lon Don, 1767; D. Blackheath, Kent, 7 Sept. 1836. He Was Educated At Cambridge, Traveled Exten Sively And On His Return To England In 1798 Set Tled At Westbury, Near Bristol, Where He En Gaged In Astronomical Observations. He Erected There An Altazimuth Instrument, Two ...
Pondicherry
Pondicherry, Pon-di-sheri (french, Pondichery, Pon-de-sha-re), India, The Capital Of The French Possessions In India, On The East Or Coromandel Coast, 85 Miles By Rail South West Of Madras. Its Territory, With An Area Of 107 Square Miles, Is Surrounded On The Land Side By The British District Of South Arcot. ...
Poniatowski
Poniatowski, Po-nya-tov'ske, The Name Of An Illustrious Polish Family Descended From An Italian Stock. Giuseppe Salinguerra (b. 1612), Of The Italian Family Torelli, Having Set Tled In Poland, Took The Name Of Eziolek, And Afterward That Of Poniatowski, From The Estate Of Poniatow Belonging To His Wife. Among Important Descendants ...
Pontiac
Pontiac, Pon'ti-ik, Indian Chief : B. On Ottawa River, About 1720; D. Cahokia, Ill., 1769. He Became The Principal Chief Of The Allied Tribes Of The Ottawas, Ojibways And Pottawat Tomies, And It Is Thought That He Led The Otta Was At The Defeat Of General Braddock (q.v.) Near Fort ...
Pontormo
Pontormo. Jacopo Carucci (commonly Known As Jacopo Da Powroamo), Italian Painter: B. Pontormo, Near Florence, 1494; D. Florence, 1556. He Was A Pupil Of Andrea Del Sarto And Painted History And Portraits. At 13 He Was Left An Orphan And Sent To Live At Florence As A Pupil Of Leonardo ...
Pontus
Pontus, In Ancient Geography, A Country Of Northeastern Asia Minor, Originally The Part Of Cappadocia Lying Between Armenia And Col This And The Halys River; Called First Cappa Docia On The Pontus (that Is, Euxinus, Or Black Sea), And Then Simply Pontus. The Country On The East And South Is ...
Poore
Poore, Benjamin Perley, American Jour Nalist: B. Newburyport, Mass., 2 Nov. 1820; D. Washington, D. C., 30 May 1887. Placed By His Father In A Military School To Prepare For West Point He Ran Away And Apprenticed Himself To A Printer. In 1838 His Father Purchased For Him The Southern ...
Pope
Pope, John, American Soldier: B. Louis Ville, Ky., 16 March 1822; D. Sandusky, Ohio, 23 Sept. 1892. He Was Graduated From The United States Military Academy In 1842, Was Assigned To The Topographical Engineers, Served In Florida In 1842-44, In 1846 The United States Army In Mexico During Its Ad ...
Pope
Pope, Alexander, English Poet: B. In Lom Bard Street, London, 21 May 1688; D. At Twick Enham On The Thames, Middlesex, 30 May 1744. His Parents Were Roman Catholics. His Father, To Whom The Poet Ascribed A Not•yet-established Connection With The Earls Of Downe, Was A Linen-draper "who Dealt In ...
Poplar
Poplar, A Genus (populus) Of Trees Of The Family Salicacece Which Includes Only One Other Genus, Solix, The Willows. The Species, Which Probably Do Not Exceed 25, Are Widely Distributed In The Northern Hemisphere From Sub-tropical Regions To The Limits Of Vegetation Both In Latitude And Altitude. Half Of Them ...
Poplar Spring Church Pee
Poplar Spring Church (pee Bles' And Pegram's Farm, Vaughan Road), Battle Of. In Co-operation With The Movement Against Richmond From The North Side Of James River, 29 Sept. 1864 (see Fort Harrison, Barrli Or), General Grant Ordered A Movement From His Left, South Of The River, In A Northwest Direction ...
Poppy
Poppy, A Popular Name For Several Plants Of The Family Papaveracecr; For Instance, Cali Fornia Poppy (eschscholzia Californica). Horned Poppy (glaucium), Welsh Poppy (meconopsis Cambrica), Prickly Poppy (argemone Spp.), Celandine Poppy (stylopkorum Dipkyllum), Tulip Poppy (hunnemania Fumarsiefolia) And Various Species Of Genus Popover. Unless Mod Fied By Some Adjective As ...
Population
Population, Growth Of World Popu Lation From 1800 To 1919. One Of The Most Striking Facts Which We Encounter In Searching For The Causes Of The Wonderful Growth Of World Commerce In The Past Century Is The Dis Covery That World Population Has Doubled Within That Period. In All The ...
Porcelain
Porcelain. An Argillaceous Substance Characterized By Its Translucency And Vitrifica Tion; Hence The Ware Made From The Same Is Often So Termed. These Two Qualities Are Not Found Combined In Other Pottery, Earthenware Being Porous And Opaque And Stoneware Being Vitreous But Not Translucent. The Derivation Of The Word Is ...
Porch
Porch, A Covered Place Of Entrance To A Building And Differentiated From Its Principal Mass. Its Forms Are Various, Sometimes Extend Ing Above By More Than One Story, Sometimes Enclosed Save For The Doorway, Then Again Open To The Outside On Three Sides, With Its Outer Corners Supported By Columns ...
Porcupine
Porcupine, A Rodent Of The Family Hystricide. Porcupines Are Distinguished By The Peculiar Nature Of The Body-covering, Which Consists, Especially On The Back And Haunches, Of Hairs Specially Modified To Form The So-called Quills, Or Dense, Solid, Spine-like Structures. These Quills Are Intermixed With Bristles And Stiff Hairs, And In ...
Pork
Pork, The Flesh Of Swine, Is One Of The Most Important And Widely Used Species Of Ani Mal Food. Fresh Pork, Though By Some Con Sidered A Delicacy, Especially When Killed Young, Is A Much Inferior Article Of Diet To Beef Or Mutton, And Is Much Less Used. The Flesh ...
Porphyry
Porphyry Greek Philos Opher Of The Neo-platonic School, Celebrated As An Antagonist Of Christianity: B. Either At Tyre, Whence He Is Called Tyrius, Or At Batanea, The Bashan Of Scripture, A Town Of Syria, Whence He Is Also Called Bataneotes, About 233 A.n.; D. Rome, About 304. His Original Name ...
Porpoise
Porpoise. Any Small Or Moderate-sized Cetacean Is Usually Called A Porpoise, But The Name Is Applied Chiefly To Members Of The Fam Ily Delphinidcr, Belonging To The Suborder Odontoceti, Or The Toothed Whales. Its Principal Characters Are As Follows: The Anterior Pairs Of Ribs Are Joined To The Vertebrae By ...
Port Gibson
Port Gibson, Battle Of. After Much Unsuccessful Effort To Reach Vicksburg From The North, General Grant, Late In January 1863, Directed His Attention To Opening A Canal Which Had Been Begun The Year Before Across The Peninsula On The West Hank Of The Mississippi. The Canal Proving Impracticable And Other ...
Port Hudson
Port Hudson, Siege Of. Port Hudson, A Small Village Of East Baton Rouge Parish, La., On The East Bank Of The Mississippi, 135 Miles Above New Orleans, Was Occupied By The Confederates, Under General Breckinridge, After Their Defeat At Baton Rouge, 5 Aug. 1862. The Place Was In A Sharp ...
Port Huron
Port Huron, Mich., City, Port Of En Try, County-seat Of Saint Clair County, At The Mouth Of Black River, The Head Of Saint Clair River, And At The Foot Of Lake Huron, On The Grand Trunk Western, And Grand Trunk, The Detroit, Bay City And Western, And The Pere Marquette ...
Port Republic
Port Republic, Battle Of. Gen. °stonewall° Jackson Defeated General Banks At Winchester, 25 May 1862, Drove Him Across The Potomac, And Then Retreated Up The Shenandoah Valley, Slipping Between The Converging Forces Of General Fremont And Mcdowell Near Stras Burg On The 31st. Fremont Pursued By The Valley Road, And ...
Port Royal Bay
Port Royal Bay, Battle Of. As Early As June 1861 The United States Authorities, Order More Effectually To Maintain The Blockade And To Secure A Military And Naval Base Of Oper Rations On The Southern Atlantic Coast, Deter Mined To Seize A Good Port South Of Cape Hat Teras; And ...
Port Royal Ferry
Port Royal Ferry, Engagement At. After The Naval Battle Of Port Royal Bay (q.v.), 7 Nov. 1861, The Navy Explored The Various Sounds And Creeks In The Vicinity, Capturing Some Abandoned Guns. While The Navy Was Thus Em Ployed The Army Had Completed A Very Large And Strongly Intrenched Camp ...
Port Tonnage
Port Tonnage. Some Interesting Facts Are Shown As To The Relative Rank In Ton Nage Movement Of The Principal Ports Of The World, In A Table Prepared By The Bureau Of Sta Tistics Of The Department Of Commerce And Labor At Washington. The Table Is As Follows: Hongkong Would Show ...
Port Townsend
Port Townsend, Wash., City, County Seat Of Jefferson County, On Port Townsend Bay, At The Entrance To Puget Sound (q.v.), And On The Northern Pacific And The Port Town Send Southern Railroads, About 70 Miles North Of Olympia. It Has Steamer Connection With San Francisco, Alaska And Many Of The ...
Port Wines
Port Wines. The Name Of Port Wines, Or Oporto Wines, Is Given, In Commerce, To The Produce Of The Vineyards Of Portugal, The Dis Trict In Which They Are Produced Being A Rugged And Mountainous Tract That Begins About 60 Miles Above Oporto, And Extends For 30 Or 40 Miles ...
Porter
Porter, David, American Naval Officer: B. Boston, 1 Feb. 1780; D. Pera, Near Constan Tinople, Turkey, 3 March 1843. He Made Voyages In The West Indian Merchant Service, Was Twice Impressed By The British, But Escaped, And In 1798 Entered The United States Navy As A Midshipman. He Was On ...
Porter_2
Porter, David Dixon, American Naval Officer : B. Chester, Pa., 8 June 1813; D. Wash Ington, D. C., 13 Feb. 1891. He Was Son Of David Porter (q.v.). In 1826 He Entered The Service Of The Mexican Navy As Midshipman, And While Serving On Board A Vessel Employed In Damaging ...
Porter_3
Porter, Fitz-john, American Soldier, Cousin Of David Dixon Porter: B. Portsmouth, N. H., 13 June 1822; D. Morristown, N. J. 21 May 1901. He Was Graduated From The United States Military Academy In 1845, Was Assigned To The 4th Artillery, Served In The War With Mexico, And Was Brevetted Successively ...
Porter_4
Porter, Horace, American Diplomat: B. Huntington, Pa., 15 April 1837. He Studied At Harvard And Was Graduated From West Point In 1860; Served For A Short Time As Instructor There And At The Outbreak Of The Civil War Was Assigned To Duty In The Department Of The East. He Commanded ...
Porter_5
Porter, Pleasant, Creek Indian Leader: B. Near Clarksville, In The Creek Nation, 26 Sept. 1840; D. Vinita, 3 Sept. 1907. His Pater Nal Grandfather, A Native Of Pennsylvania, Was A Captain In The United States Army At The Time Of The Creek War And Showed Such Consider Ation For The ...
Porter_6
Porter, William Sydney, American Short-story Writer, Well Known Under The Nom De-plume Of •0. B. Greensboro, N. C., 1862; D. 5 June 1910. He Received An Academic Education In Texas, In Which State He Spent Some Time On A Cattle Ranch Before Beginning His Journalistic Career As Reporter On The ...
Portland
Portland, Me, The Largest City In The State, An Important Seaport And County-seat Of Cumberland County, Is Situated On Casco Bay, 106 Miles Northeast Of Boston, With Which It Is Connected By The Boston And Maine Railroad. The Maine Central And Grand Trunk Railways Connect It With The Eastern Part ...
Portland Cement
Portland Cement. Portland Cement Is The Product Obtained By Finely Pulverizing Clinker Produced By Calcining To Incipient Fusion An Intimate And Properly Proportioned Mixture Of Argillaceous And Calcareous Materials With No Additions Subsequent To Calcination Excepting Water And Calcined Or Uncalcined Gypsum. The Old Roman Cements Were Natural Cements Or ...
Porto Rico
Porto Rico, University Of, An Tion For The Promotion Of Higher Education, Created By An Act Of The Insular Legislature Which Was Approved 12 March 1903. The President Of Its Board Of Trustees Writes That One Of The First Acts Of The Canny Dur Ing The Occupation Of The Island ...
Portsmouth
Portsmouth, Portemilth, England, The Principal Naval Station Of Great Britain, A Sea Port And Municipal And Parliamentary Borough, In Hampshire, On The Southwest Extremity Of Portsea, 68 Miles Southwest Of London By Rail. The Island Of Portsea Is Bounded On The East By Langston Harbor, On The West By Portsmouth ...
Portsmouth_2
Portsmouth, Ohio, City And County-seat Of Scioto County, At The Confluence Of The Scioto And Ohio Rivers, At The Southern Terminus Of The Ohio Canal, And On The Chesapeake And Ohio, The Baltimore And Ohio, The Norfolk And West Ern, The Chesapeake And Ohio Northern And The Ohio Valley Traction ...
Portsmouth_3
Portsmouth, Va., City And County-seat Of Norfolk County, Occupies The Western Or Mainland Side Of The Harbor Of Norfolk-ports Mouth, Where The Larger Rail Systems Of The South — The Southern Railway, Atlantic Coast Line Railroad And Seaboard Air Line Railway — Have Their Deep Water Terminals; Other Lines Serving ...
Portugal
Portugal, Por'tfi-gal (pbrt. Por-too Gin, The Southwesternmost Republic Of Europe, On The Iberian Or Pyrenean Peninsula, Between Spain And The Atlantic Ocean. The Portuguese Title Is Republica Portuguese. No Natural Boundaries Separate Portugal From Spain, Eat Cept On A Small Part Of The Frontier, The Minho River Forming Part Of ...
Portuguese Guinea
Portuguese Guinea, A Northwest African Colony On The Atlantic Coast, Extending From The Cacheco River Southward To Katafine, And Eastward To Long. 13° W., Its Boundaries On All Its Land Sides, Fixed By The Convention Of 12 May 1886, Being The French Senegambian Pos Sessions. The Climate Is Very Hot ...
Poseidon
Poseidon, Pa-si'd6n, In Greek Mythology The Lord Of The Sea, Identified By The Romans With The Italian Deity Neptune. He Was A Son Of Cronus And Rhea, And Hence A Brother Of Zeus, Hades, Hera, Hestia And Demeter. His Usual Residence Was In The Depths Of The Sea Near /ega, ...
Posen
Posen, Po'zen, Germany, (1) A Fortified Town In Prussia, Capital Of The Province And Government Of The Same Name, On The River Warthe, 149 Miles East Of Berlin And 103 North Of Breslau. Fort Winiary, Adjoining The Town, Serves As The Citadel. It Is A Railway Centre, En Joying An ...
Posey
Posey, Po'zl, Alexander Lawrence, Creek Indian Educator, Journalist And Poet: B. Near Eufaula, Okla., 3 Aug. 1873; D. 27 May 1908. His Father Was A White Man Of Scotch-irish Descent, Born About 1842 In The Indian Terri Tory, Being The Child Of White Intruders In The Cherokee Nation. His Mother ...
Posey_2
Posey, Thomas, American Soldier: B. Eastern Virginia, 9 July 1750; D. Shawneetown, Ill., 19 March 1818. He Was Quartermaster In Lord Dunmore's Expedition Against The Ohio Indians And Was Engaged In The Battle At Mount Pleasant In 1774. In 1775 He Was A Member Of The Virginia Committee Of Correspondence ...
Positivism
Positivism, Piiz'ti-tiv-izm, Originally De Notes Any Theory That Takes The Affirmative Side And States Its Tenets In Positive Terms. In This Sense One Speaks Of Positive Christianity Or Positive Theology, As Synonymous With Dog Matism, Indicating Thereby That Liberal Religion Which Rejects Belief In Miracles, Or A Special Revelation, Or ...
Possession
Possession, A Legal Term, Which Has Come To Have A Larger Meaning Than In Com Mon Usage Of The Word Or The Primary Sense, From Latin Possideo — To Sit Upon. It Has Grown To Mean Something Distinct From Mere Custody. It Is Defined As The Detention And En Joyment ...
Post Office Department
Post-office Department. The Official Title Of One Of The Executive Departments Of The Government ; Established In 1794. It Is Under The Management Of The Postmaster-gen Eral, Who Since The Time Of Andrew Jackson Has Been A Member Of The President's Cabinet. He Is Appointed By The President And Confirmed ...
Post Renaissance Painting
Post-renaissance Painting, Painting As Practised In Europe After The Middle Of The 15th Century. Seventeenth Century.— The Great Color School Of Monumental And Decorative Painting Which Was The Glory Of Venice Was One Of The Last To Disappear (see Renaissance Painting). Paris Bordone (q.v.), A Pupil Of Titian, Did Little ...
Post Tertiary Periods
Post-tertiary Periods, The Last Main Division Of The Geological Record, And Which Includes All The Formations Accumulated From The Close Of The Tertiary Periods Down To The Present Day. No Sharp Line Can Be Drawn At The Top Of The Tertiary Groups Of Strata. On The Contrary, It Is Often ...
Post And Postal Service
Post And Postal Service. The Word Post Is Derived From The Latin Posilus, Meaning Because Horses Were Put Or Which The Letter Was Addressed, And Was Willing To Undertake The Delivery Of It. The Emperor Diocletian, At The End Of The 3d Century, Appears To Have Been The First To ...
Postal Money Order Service
Postal Money-order Service. A Governmental Agency, Operating Through The Post Offices, To Promote Public Convenience In Remitting Small Sums Of Money, And To Ensure Greater Security In The Transfer Of Money Through The Mails. Notwithstanding The Fact That England Has Been Successfully Operating A Money-order Serv Ice Since The Year ...
Poster Art
Poster Art. Posters Are A Modem Field For The Artist, Having Been Developed Within The Last 50 Years, Along With Advertising Art. They Are Usually Conventional In Form And Any Degree Of Exaggeration Is Permissible, If It At Tracts Attention. The Earliest Example Of The Poster Dates Back To The ...
Potash
Potash, Originally A Vegetable Alkali (so Called), Obtained By Leaching Wood-ashes, Evap Orating And Calcining, Commonly Called Car Bonate Of Potash Or Pearl-ash, Kico2. Soda And Potash Were Not Distinguished By Old-time Chemists, But In 1807 Davy Separated Them. Various Plants Take Up Potash Salts, And The Refuse Of Beet-roots ...
Potassium
Potassium (from Upot-ashes,)) Wood Ashes Being One Of The Best Known Sources Of The Carbonate Of The Metal), A Metallic Element, Many Of Whose Compounds Have Been Known From Antiquity, But Which Was First Prepared In The Metallic Form By Davy, In 1807, By The Electrolysis Of Fused Potassium Hydrate—a ...