POISON IVY 



4722 



POLAND 



that his mouth is free from sores or cuts. Tin 

 poison should be at once spit out, and tho 

 mouth should be thorough 1 L In all 



cases of poisoning summon a physician imme- 

 diately, no matter what home measures are 

 taken. 



POISON IVY. See subhead in article IVY. 



POISONOUS, poi'z'nu*. PLANTS are, gen- 

 erally speaking, those which are injurious in 

 their effects, either when touched or when 

 eaten. No sharp distinction can be drawn be- 

 tween poisonous and nonpoisonous species, 

 however, as many plants which are harmful to 

 some persons can be eaten by others without 

 ill effects; others are poisonous in the native 

 condition, but are harmless when cooked. The 

 poisonous principle may be found in the seeds, 

 foliape, fruit, roots or tubers. 



ndard medicines are prepared from 

 plants generally regarded as poisonous. Poison 

 ivy and poison sumac are among the most com- 

 mon of those plants poisonous when touched, 

 though not all persons are affected by them. 

 Belladonna, or deadly nightshade, is a flowering 

 herb poisonous in all its parts, but highly 

 valued for medicinal purposes. It belongs to 

 the nightshades, a large family of plants con- 

 taining many poisonous species. The jimson 

 weed is a highly poisonous member of this 

 family, and another representative is the to- 

 bacco plant. The family also contains such 

 useful species as the potato and tomato, but 

 the foliage and other green parts of the edible 

 species often contain poisonous juices. The 

 mushroom group includes both edible and poi- 

 sonous species. A plant very harmful to cat- 

 tle is the loco weed. 



ilt "Thirty Poisonous Plants of the United 

 States," in Fanners' Bulletin No. 86, prepared by 

 the United States Department of Agriculture. 



Related Subjectn. The reader is referred to 

 the following articles in these volumes : 

 Aconite Ivy 



Belladonna Loco Weed 



Digitalis Mushrooms 



Hellebore Sumac 



Hemlock 



POITIERS, pwahtya', one of the oldest 

 towns of Western France, is associated with 

 two famous battles. Near this town the Sara- 

 cens were defeated by Charles Martel in 732, 

 and in 1356, the French under King John II 

 were routed by the Black Prince (see EDWARD, 

 THE BLACK PRINCE; HUNDRED YEARS' WAR). 

 The town, now the capital of the depart- 

 ment of Vienne, is built on a peninsula at 

 the junction of the Clain and the Boivre rivers, 



tifty-eight miles southwest of Tours. Its nar- 

 row, crooked streets and picturesque houses, 

 with their many historic or romantic associa- 

 tions, are typically medieval. Poitiers con- 

 tains the oldest Christian church in France 

 Saint Jean's and many other interesting 

 churches and cathedrals. Among its antiqui- 

 ties are the ruins of Roman baths and the 

 tombs of early Christian martyrs. During the 

 Middle Ages, the town w r as the seat of govern- 

 ment of the powerful counts of Poitiers and the 

 royal dukes of Aquitaine. Their magnificent 

 old palace is now the Palais de Justice, or 

 courthouse. Population in 1911, 41,242. 



POKE 'WEED, a tall, branching herb bearing 

 white flowers and deep purple, juicy berries. 

 A native of North America, it flourishes in 

 waste places and along roadsides from Ontario 

 to Florida and west to Texas and Minnesota. 

 The stem grows from four to ten feet high, and 

 in the fall, when the leaves are red and the 

 berries ripe, the plant has a brilliant appear- 

 ance. The berries are used to color wines, and 

 when dried, together with the poisonous roots, 

 they are put into medicines used in the treat- 

 ment of skin and blood diseases and to relieve 

 pain and inflammation. In some localities the 

 young shoots are boiled and served like as- 

 paragus. Other names for the plant are garget, 

 pigeon berry and inkberry weed. 



PO'LAND, a former kingdom of Europe 

 which because of its position has been the un- 

 fortunate victim of the strong nations which 

 surround it. Between 1772 and 1795 it was de- 

 spoiled by Prussia, Russia and Austria and 

 divided among those nations, who retained pos- 

 session of their respective areas until near the 

 close of the War of the Nations (which see). 

 At the time of her greatest prosperity Poland 

 had an area of 350,000 square miles and a 

 population of over 11,000,000 most of whom 

 were Slavs, with natural leanings towards the 

 Russian people. In the final division of the 

 kingdom Russia secured by far the largest 

 share (see map, opposite). 



Poland emerged from the war in 1919 an 

 independent state and a republic, with practi- 

 cally all of its old-time territory returned to it. 

 Behind it is the moral support of all the nations 

 allied against the former Germanic powers. 



History. During the early period of its ex- 

 istence the country was divided into small com- 

 munities under the reign of Mieczyslaw I (962- 

 992). These communities were united into the 

 semblance of a nation. Mieczyslaw was a vas- 

 sal of the German emperor, and he renounced 



