Politics

Pollen

Tories. The former are distinctively ily. The pollack belongs to the same advocates of progressive reform, and are genus as the whiting (M. vulgaris); the subclassed as Whigs or Radicals, accord- members of this genus possessing three ing as their views are moderate or ad- dorsal fins and two anals. The lower vanced. The Irish question has for the jaw is longer than the upper jaw, and present created two other parties by a the tail is forked, but not very deeply. division on different lines, Home Rulers It inhabits the Atlantic Ocean, and is and Unionists, that is, those advocating common on all the British coasts, as well an Irish legislature for home affairs, and those opposing this view. French political parties are broadly divided into Republicans and Reactionaries, both of which are subdivided into numerous antagonistic sections, the latter including Bonapartists and Monarchists, or those who favor a restoration of the old monarchy. In German politics there are the Ultramontanes, the Conservatives, the Reichspartei or Imperialists, the National Liberals, the Progressists, the Social as on the shores of Norway. The northDemocrats, the Volkspartei or Democrats,

etc.

Politics (pol'i-tiks), in its widest extent, is both the science and the art of government, or the science whose subject is the regulation of man in all his relations as the member of a state, and the application of this science. In other words, it is the theory and the practice of obtaining the ends of civil society as perfectly as possible. In common parlance we understand by the politics of a country the course of its government, more particularly as respects its relations with foreign nations. Poliziano. See Politian.

ern coasts of Britain appear to be those
on which these fishes are most abundant.

The pollacks are gregarious in habits.
and swim in shoals. They bite keenly at
either bait or fly, and afford good eating.
Called in Scotland Lythe.
Pollan (pol'an), the fresh-water her-
ring' (Coregonus Pollan), a
species of fishes belonging to the Sal-
monidae. It is an Irish species, and is
found in Lough Erne, Lough Neagh, and
Lough Derg. It is generally about 9 or
10 inches in length. There is a Scotch
species in Loch Lomond known as the
Powan; another in Lochmaben, the Ven-
dace.

a

Pollanarrua (pol-la-na-ru'a), Polk (pok), JAMES KNOX, president ruined city and forof the United States from 1845- merly capital of Ceylon, situated about 49, was born in 1795 in North Carolina; 60 miles N. E. of Candy. There are died at Nashville in 1849. He studied numerous large stone figures of Buddha, law and entered Congress as representa- and remains of temples and other buildtive of Tennessee in 1825. He was Speaker of the House of Representatives from 1835 to 1839, when he was elected Governor of Tennessee, but was defeated for this office in 1841. His advocacy of the annexation of Texas led to his nomination by the Democratic party for the Presidency in 1844, Henry Clay being the Whig candidate. The contest was a very close one, but Polk was elected. The annexation of Texas, the Mexican war, the acquisition of Upper California and New Mexico, and the settlement of the Oregon boundary were the chief events of his term of office.

Polka (pol'ka), a species of dance of Bohemian origin, but now universally popular, the music to which is intime, with the third quaver accented. There are three steps in each bar, the fourth beat being always a rest. Pollack (pol'ak): Merlangus pollachius), a fish of the cod fam

ings. It flourished from the eighth to
the beginning of the thirteenth century.
Called also Topare.
Pollard (pol'ard), the name given to
a tree the head of which has
been lopped off about 8 or 10 feet from
the ground, in order to induce it to send
out bushy shoots, which are cut period-
ically for basket-making, fuel, fencing,
or other purposes.
Pollen (pol'en), the male element in
flowering plants; the fine dust
or powder which by contact with the
stigma effects the fecundation of the
seeds. To the naked eye it appears to
be a very fine powder, and is usually in-
closed in the cells of the anther; but
when examined with the microscope it is
found to consist of hollow cases, usually
spheroidal, filled with a fluid in which are
suspended drops of oil from the 20,000th
to the 30,000th of an inch in diameter,
and grains of starch five or six times as

An incident in an International Polo Match between England and America. The rider at the right of the picture has just struck the ball. In the center of the

picture the rider in the dark shirt is "riding off" the player in the white shirt to keep him from aiding his team-mate.

Pollen Grain of Picea Excelsa.

A, Commencement of germination. B, Further stage, showing pollen-tube. C, more advanced

stage.

nified).

Polo

He was educated at Glasgow University,
studied divinity, and was licensed as a
preacher by the Associate Presbytery of
Edinburgh in the spring of 1827. He is
the author of a series of Tales of the
Covenanters, and a blank verse poem, The
Course of Time, which in spite of many
faults has enjoyed a wonderful popular-
ity both in Britain and America. He
died of pulmonary disease soon after the
publication of his poem.
Pollokshaws (pol-luk-shaz'), a town
of Scotland, county of
Renfrew, a little to the southwest of
Glasgow, on the White Cart. The inhab-
itants are principally employed in the
manufacture of cotton fabrics, iron-found-
ing, engineering, papermaking, etc. Pop.
11,183.

Poll-tax (pol'taks), a tax levied per

head in proportion to the rank or fortune of the individual; a capitation tax. This tax was first levied in

England in 1377 and 1380, to defray the expenses of the French war; its collection in 1381 led to the insurrection of Wat Tyler. In the United States a pollfrom the pollen-grains adhering to the tax (varying from 25 cts. to $3 annually) stigma, and penetrate through the tissues is levied in about half the states, as a until they reach the requirement for the suffrage. ovary. The cut shows Pollux. See Castor and Pollux. the pollen-grains of (1) manna-ash Pollux (pol'luks), JULIUS, a Greek Pollen Grains (mag. (Fraxinus ornus), sophist and grammarian, born (2) clove (Caryo- at Naucratis, Egypt, about the year 135 phylus aromaticus), A.D. He went to Rome during the reign of Marcus Aurelius, who appointed him one of the preceptors of his son Commodus. He wrote several works, all of which have perished except his Onomasticon, dedicated to Commodus, and therefore published before 177. This work is of great value in the study of Greek antiquity. Polo (po'lō), a game at ball resembling hockey. The players are mounted on ponies, and wield a 'mallet 4 feet 4 inches in length (a hickory rod with a mallethead at the end). It is played by sides, and the object is to drive the ball from the center of the ground through either of the goals, the side gaining the most goals being the winner. Polo,

(3) strong-scented lettuce (Lactuca vi-
rōsa).
Pollenza (pol-yen 'thå), a town of
Spain, in the island of Ma-
jorca, 28 miles northeast of Palma. It
has a fine Jesuit college, partly ruinous;
and manufactures of linen and woolen
cloth. Pop. 8368.
Pollio (polli-o), CAIUS ASINIUS, a
Roman of plebeian family, born
B.C. 76; died A.D. 4. He took a promi-
nent part in the civil war, and accom-
panied Julius Cæsar to Pharsalia, and
then to the African and Spanish wars.
After obtaining the consulship he com-
manded in Illyria and Dalmatia, and for
his victories was honored with a triumph
B.C. 39. He afterwards devoted most of
his time to literary pursuits, but acted
both as a senator and an advocate. His
works, consisting of speeches, tragedies,
and a history of the civil war in seven-
teen books, have all been lost. He was
the friend of Virgil and Horace, and
founded the first public library in Rome.
Pollok (pol'lok), ROBERT, a Scottish

GASPAR GIL, a Spanish poet,

born at Valencia about 1517; died in 1572. His reputation was established by his Diana Enamorada, a pastoral romance, partly in prose and partly in verse. Cervantes excepts the Diana of Polo from his list (in Don Quixote) of works condemned to be burned. It has been translated into French, English and

poet, was born at Muirhouse, Latin.

MARCO, a Venetian traveler, was

in the parish of Eaglesham, Renfrewshire, Polo, born about the year 1256. His

in 1799; died at Southampton in 1827.

Polonaise

Polyandria

father, Nicolo, was the son of Andrea researches which led to the discovery of Polo, a patrician of Venice. Shortly be- radium. So named from Poland, her nafore Marco's birth, Nicolo with his tive country. brother Matteo set out on a mercantile Polotzk (polotsk), a town in Rusexpedition, and ultimately arrived at sia, government of Vitebsk, Kemenfu, on the frontiers of China, at the confluence of the Polotka and the where they were favorably received by Dwina. The most remarkable edifices Kubilai, the grand-khan of the Mongols. are a dilapidated castle built by Stephen In 1266 the khan sent the brothers on a Bathory, King of Poland, in the sixteenth mission to the pope, and they arrived in century, and the old Jesuit convent and Venice in 1269. Two years later they college. It has an increasing trade, espeagain set out for the East, this time cially with Riga, in corn, flax, linseed, accompanied by the young Marco. After etc., and tanning is carried on to some reaching the court of Kubilai, Marco extent. A battle took place here between rapidly learned the language and customs the Russians and the French in 1812, in of the Mongols, and became a favorite which the latter were defeated. Pop. with the khan, who employed him on 20,751.

various missions to the neighboring Poltava (pål-tä'vå), or PULTAWA, a princes. Soon afterwards he was made government of Russia, governor of Yang-tchou, in Eastern bounded by Czernigov, Kharkov, EkateChina, an appointment he held for three rinoslav, Kherson and Kiev; area, 19,265 years. In 1292 the three Polos accom- sq. miles. It consists of an extensive and panied an escort of a Mongolian princess to Persia. After arriving at Teheran they heard of Kubilai's death, and resolved to return home. They reached Venice in 1295. In the following year Marco Polo took part in the naval battle of Curzola, in which he was taken prisoner. During his captivity he dictated to a fellow-prisoner, Rustichello or Rusticiano of Pisa, an account of all his travels, which was finished in 1298. After his liberation he returned to Venice, where he died in 1323. His book · known as the Book of Marco Polocreated an immense sensation among the scholars of his time, and was regarded by many as pure fiction. It made known to Europeans the existence of many nations of which they were formerly totally ignorant, and created a passion for voyages of discovery. It has gone through

somewhat monotonous flat, watered by several tributaries of the Dnieper. It is one of the most fertile and best cultivated portions of the Russian Empire, and grows large quantities of grain. Live stock and bee rearing are important branches of the rural economy. Both manufactures and trade are of very limited extent. Education is much neglected. Pop. 3,312,400.- POLTAVA, the capital, at the confluence of the Poltava with the Worskla, has straight and broad streets, a cathedral, important educational institutions, etc. As a place of trade Poltava derives importance from the great fair held on July 20th each year. Wool is the great staple of trade. Horses, cattle. and sheep are likewise bought and sold in great numbers. It contains a monument to Peter the Great, who here defeated Charles XII in 1709. Pop. 53,060.

numerous editions in the various Euro- Polyadelphia (pol-i-a-del'fi-a), the

pean languages, but the best is that of Col. (Sir Henry) Yule, accompanied with a great amount of learned elucidation and illustration. It was originally writ

ten in French, but Latin and Italian

MSS. of it are more common. Polonaise (po-lu-nāz'; Italian, Polacca) is a Polish national dance, which has been imitated, but with much variation, by other nations. The Polonaise, in music, is a movement of three crotchets in a bar, characterized by a seeming irregularity of rhythm, produced by the syncopation of the last note in a bar with the first note of the bar following, in the upper part or melody, while the normal time is preserved in the bass.

name given by Linnæus to the eighteenth class of his sexual system, in allusion to the stamens being collected into several parcels.

Polyandria (pol-i-an'dri-a) or POLYANDRY (Greek polys, many, and aner, andros, a man) denotes the custom of one woman having several husbands (generally brothers) at one time. This system prevailed among the Celts of Britain in Cæsar's time, and occurs yet in Southern India, in Tibet, among the Eskimo, the Aleutians, some tribes of American Indians, and in the South Seas. The practice is believed to have had its origin in unfertile regions in an endeavor to check the undue pressure of population on the means of sub

Polonium (pō-lō'ni-um), the name sistence. given a radio-active sub- Polyandria, given by Linnæus to a

stance discovered by Madame Curie in the

in botany, the name