Polarity
Polarity Signifies, In General, A Disposition In A Body Or In An Elementary Molecule Of A Body To Place Its Mathematical Axis In Some Particular Direction ; Frequently Also It Denotes In A Body The Existence, Either Naturally Or Induced, Of Two Points Possessing Con Trary Properties. If Iron-filings Be ...
Polarization Of Light
Polarization Of Light Is A Peculiar Affection Of That Agent To Which The Term Has Been Applied Because A Ray Of Polarized Light Possesses Properties Which Have Relation To Two Opposite Directions In A To The Ray. We Shall First Describe Some Of The Circumstances Under Which Polarized Light Is ...
Police
Police Is That Department Of Government Which Has For Its Object To Secure The Safety, Peace, And Convenience Of The Community. We Have Hero To Do With This Its Primary Object, Namely, The Prevention Of Crime And The Pursuit Of Offenders ; But Besides This The Police System Is Subservient ...
Political E Onomy
Political E Onomy Is The Name Given To A Department Of Knowledge The Limits Of Which Are Not Yet Accurately Defined. The Word Economy, Applied To Domestic Concerns, Means The Art Of Well Administering The Private Affairs Of A Tardily, Of Regulating Its Expen Diture According To Its Income, And ...
Pollards
Pollards Are Trees Which Lune Had Their Tops Repeatedly Cut Off For The Sake Of The Faggot-wood, Which I. Used For Burning And Heating Bakers' Ovens. The Appearance Of An Old Pollard May, In Particular Situations, Be Thought Picturesque, But Nothing Can Be More Unsightly In A Landscape Than Rows ...
Polvglotts
Po'lvglotts Oroiteryitturra, From Toxin, Much, Many, And Aasterra, A Tongue), Books In Several Languages. The Application Of The Word Is Restricted To The Bible, Which Being A Collection Of Books Written By Various Persons, At Various Times, And On Various Subjects, Is Called Biblia (books), And A Polyglott Bible Is ...
Polychromy
Polychromy, A Modern Term (from The Greek Swath And Xpiaaa) Used To Express The Ancient Practice Of Colouring Statues And The Exteriors Of Buildings. Among The Earliest Civilised Nations It Was A Universal Onstom To Decorate Not Only Their Temples And Palaces With Colours, But The Statues With Which They ...
Polygamy
Poly'gamy Is The Name Of The Custom According To Which A Moan May Have More Than One Lawful Wife At A Time, Which Custom Prevails In Several Tanintries. Polygamy Has Existed In Aaia From Time Immemorial, Tender The Obi Religions, And Mohammed:miens Adopted And Confirmed The Custom. Montesquieu Pretends That ...
Polygon
Polygon And Polyhedron. The Word Polygon Means Figure Of Several Angles, And Polyhedron Means Solid Of Several Faces : The First Is Used For A Plane Bounded By Straight Lines, The Second For A Solid Bounded By Planes. We Shall In This Article State The General Properties Of Both Kinds ...
Polygons Regular Figures
Regular Figures, Polygons, Solids, Polyhedrons. We Have Here To Add To What Is Said In Polygon And Polrusratos All That Concerns The Regular Figures Or Solids, Not As To Their General Properties, But As To The Proportions Of Their Parts And The Mode Of Describing Them. We Shall Take First ...
Pomerania
Pomerania (pommern), A Province Of Prussia, Is Situated Between 52° And 54° N. Lat, 12° 30' And 18° E. Long. It Is Bounded N. By The Baltic, K By West Prussia, S. By Brandenburg, And W. By Meckleu Burg. It Is A Long Tract Of Coast, Extending 200 Miles Along ...
Pompeii
Pompeii, An Ancient Town Of Campania, Situated About 13 Miles S.e. From Naples, In A Plain At The Foot Of Vesuvius, Through Which Runs The Little River Sarno. The Town Appears To Have Been Once Close To The Sea, And Much Resorted To As A Bathing-place By The Wealthy Citizens ...
Pondichlrry
Pondichlrry, A Considerable Town On The Sea-coast Of The Carnatic, In The Principal Seat Of The French Power In The East Indies, Is In 11° 57' N. Lat., 79° 54' E. Long., 85 Miles S. By W. From Madras. The First Commercial Expedition Of The French Which Succeeded In Reaching ...
Pontefract
Pontefract, West Riding Of Yorkshire, A Municipal And Parlia Mentary Borough And Market-town, In The Parish Of Pontefract, Is Situated Near The Confluence Of The Rivers Aire And Calder, In 53° 42 N. Lat., 1° 19' W. Long., Distant 24 Miles S.s.w. From York, 177 Miles N.n.w. From London By ...
Pontifex
Po'ntifex Was The Name By Which The Romans Designated The Members Of The Most Illustrious Of Their Great Colleges Of Priests, And Is Supposed To Have Been Derived From The Sacrifices Having Been Performed On A Bridge Connecting The City On Both Sides Of The Tiber. The Pontiffs Are Said ...
Pontus
Pontus, A Country Of Asia Minor, Derived Its Name From The Expression On The Pontus Euxinue' (iv Mime), And Was Used Rather As A Political Than A Geographical Division Of The Country. Under Mithridatee The Great It Included The Whole Of Pephlagonia And Part Of Bithynia • But The Name ...
Poole
Poole, Dorsetshire, A Sea-port, A Market-town, A Municipal And Parliamentary Borough, A County In Itself, And The Seat Of A Poor-law Union, Is Situated On The South Coast, In 50°42'n. Lat., 1° 59' W. Long., Distant 31 Miles E. From Dorchester, 106 Miles S.w. From London By Road, And 123 ...
Poor Laws
Poor Laws. According To Dr. Johnson The Term Pauper Means A Poor Person ' • One Who Receives Alms. The Term, However, Mr. Glen Says, Is Hardly Known To The Law, And Very Rarely Occurs In Any Of The Statutes Relating To The Relief Of The Poor. The Word "poor" ...
Pope Gregory I
Gregory I., (pope), Styled The Great, Was Born About 550, Of A Noble Roman Family. He Distinguished Himself For His Learning, And Was Made Prefect Of Rome In 573. His Ascetic Turn Of Mind Made Him Give Up That Office And Retire To A Monastery, From Which He Was Recalled ...
Pope Joan
Joan, Pope, A Supposed Individual Of The Female Sex, Who Is Placed By Several Chroniclers In The Aeries Of Popes Between Leo Iv. And Benedict About 853-55. The First Who Mentions The Story Is Marianus Scotus, A Monk Of The Abbey Of Fulda, Who Died At Mainz In 1086, And ...
Porch
Porch (from The Latin Portielu), A General Term For Any Projection Forming A Covered Space Immediately Before The Entrance To A Building, Open In Front, And More Or Less Enclosed At Its Aides. The Distinction Between A Porch And A Portico Is, That, However Important It May Be As A ...
Poris31
Poris31 (iaptapa). An Intermediate Class Of Propositions, Between Problems And Theorems, Was, As We Are Informed By Pappus, Distin Guished By The Ancient Geometers Under The Name Of Porisms. Unfor Tunately, However, The Only Notices Of Them By The Ancients Themselves, Which Are Found In Their Remaining Works, Occnr In ...
Porrigo
Porrigo, Ringworm, Is A Pustular And Contagious Disease Of The Scalp, Or, In Some Rare Cases, Of Other Parts Where There Is Much Hair. Biett Describes Two Varieties Of It Under The Names Of P. Farosa And I'. Stutalata. Dr. Within Described Many More Varieties, But He Included In This ...
Portarlingto
Portarlingto.', Ireland, • Market-town And Parliamentary Borough. Chiefly In Queen's And Partly In King's County, In Situated In 53' 9' N. Let., 7' 12' W. Long., Let Miles N.n.e. From Maryborough, And 414 Miles S.s.w. From Dublin By The Great Southern And Westeru Railway. The Population In ]851 Was 2728. ...
Portico
Portico. Originally Applied Without Distinction To Colonnades And Covered Ambulatories, The Term Is Now Limited To Signify A Sheltered Space Enclosed By Colunme At The Entrance To A Building ; And Unless Otherwise Expressed, Roofed With A Pediment, Like The End Or Front Of A Grecian Temple. The Term Therefore, ...
Portrait
Portrait (portrait, French ; Ritratto, Italian ; Bildniss, German; Imago, Latin; Greek). A Portrait, Strictly Speaking, Signifies The Likeness Of Anything Whatever, Whether Animate Or Inanimate, Either Drawn Or Coloured Upon A Flat Surface : In A More Restricted Sense It Signifies A Drawing Or A Painting Representing The Likeness ...
Portsea
Portsea. (ponsestoteru.] I'oittsea Island, Hampshire, The Peninsula On Which Are Situ Ated The Towns Of Portsmouth And Portsea, And Which Gives Mime To A Poor-law Union. The Island Is Described Under Portsmouth. Porters Island L'oor-law Union Contains The Parishes Of Portsmouth And Porteca, With An Area Of 7063 Acres, And ...
Poseidon
Poseidon (hocreldap), One Of The Deities Of The Greek Olympus. The Attributes Of The Itouutn Neptune. Or Neptinnnua, Are Nearly The Same As Those Of The Greek Poseidon. Poseidon Was The Son Of Kudos And Rhea, And The Brother Of Zeus And Hera, And Appears To Have Been One Of ...
Poseidonia Piestum
Piestum, Poseido'nia, An Ancient Town Of Lucania, About 4 Milei S.e. From The Mouth Of The Silarus, Near The Coast Of The Gulf Of Paestum, Now The Gulf Of Salerno. The Surrounding Country, Which Is Low And Marshy, Lies Between The Sea And An Offset Of Mount Alburnns, Which Divides ...
Posen
Posen (posnanie), A Government Of Prussia, Was Formerly A Part Of The Kingdom Of Poland. On The First Partition Of Poland In 1772, The Part Of Poseu To The North Of The Netzc, And Ou The Second Parti Tion In 1793, The Remaining Part, Fell To The Share Of Prussia; ...
Positive Philosophy
Philosophy, Positive. The Distinction Of Philosophy As Positive And Negative, Was Adopted By The German School. Thus Kant's Kritik Der Reinen Vernunft,' His Prolegomena Zu Eines Jeden Ktinftigen Metaphysik,' Aud His' Kritik Der Urtheilskraft,' Are Regarded As Forming A Sort Of Prima L'hilosophia. Preparatory To A Positive Or Formal And ...
Possession
Possession. In Endeavouring To Explain The Legal Meaning Of This Term, We Shall Commence With The Following Extracts From Savigny's Work On The Bight Of Possession ('das Hecht Des Besitzeii,' Giessen, 1827.) " All The Definitions Of Possession Are Founded On One Common Notion. By The Notion Of Possession Of ...
Possible
Possible And Impossible. The First Of These Words Is Of Little Interest, Except As The Contradictory Of The Second. The Word Im Possible Is Used In Common Life To Signify Highly Improbable, Or Utterly Incredible. In This Sense The Impossible Of Yesterday Is The Possible Of To-day. It Is Also ...
Post Obit Bond
Post-obit Bond (post Obitam, Lat.), A Bond Given For The Pur Pose Of Securing A Sum Of Money, The Condition Of Which Is, That The Money Shall Be Paid On The Death Of Some Person. Post-office.—history. Correspondence Is The Offspring Of Ad Vanced Civilisation. When The State Of Society In ...
Posting
Posting, From The French "poste," Derived From The Low Latin Word " Posta " (ducange, In Verbo), Is So Called From Horses Being Placed At Certain Stations Or Poste, Where They May Be Hired By Individuals At Their Pleasure. The Application Of The Words" Post " And " Postmaster " ...
Potassium K
Potassium (k). This Metal Was Discovered In 1807 By Sir Humphry Davy. Most Of Its Compounds Had Been Known For Years Prior To That Date, And That The Basis Of Them Was A Metal, That They Were In Fact Compounds Of A Metallic Oxide, Had Long Been Suspected. In That ...
Potato
Potato (setanues Taberoeum, Lin.). The Circumstances Which Led To The Introduction Of This Valuable Vegetable Into The System Of British Husbandry May Be Thus Succinctly Stated :— Queen Elisabeth, In 15s4, Granted A Patent "for Discovering And Planting New Countries Not Possessed By Christians ;" And Under This Sanction Some ...
Potosi
Potosi, A Town In South America, In The Republic Of Bolivia And In The Department Of Potosi, Is Built On The South-western Declivity Of The Cerro De Potosi, In 19° 36' S. Lat., 65° 20' W. Long., At Au Elevation Of 13,265 Feet Above The Level Of The Sea. The ...
Potsdam
Potsdam, The Capital Of The Circle Of Potsdam, In The Government Of Brandenburg, In Prussia, Is Situated On An Island In The Havel, At The Point Where That River Is Joined By The Nuthe, 10 Miles By Railway S. W. From Berlin, And Has About 40,000 Inhabitants. It Is, Next ...
Pottery
Pottery. The Word Pottery, Derived From The French Pole/4e, The Latin Poteri Um, And The Greek Poterion, Or Drinking.ve.ssel, Has Been Applied To All Descriptions Of Dried Or Baked Clay. The Worker Or Manufacturer Is Styled Potter, And The Place Or Establishment Where Made, Pottery ; Besides Which, The Term ...