Mfl 



POIT1KKS 



POKBB-DBA WINGS 



whole life was devoted to the prosecution of scien- 

 tilic research, ami the fruits of his pen number 

 about 300 Memoirs, inserted in the publications 

 of tlie Ecole Poly technique, of tin- Academy of 

 Sciences, and other scientific journals. Of the 

 separate treatises published by l'oi<-snn the best 

 known is the Traits de Mf antique (2 vls. 1833); 

 others were on capillary action, the mathemati- 

 cal theory of heat, the motion of projectiles, 

 and, lastly, the celebrated work .s'r rinrarialiilitt. 

 ties moyetis Munreniciits lies grand* Axes PlanH- 

 aires. Poisson is fairly considered one of the chief 

 founders of the science of mathematical physics. 



I'oi Hers, the capital of the French department 

 of Vienne, occupies the summit and slopes of a 

 little eminence, round whose base How the Clain 

 and the Boivre, 61 miles SSW. of Tours. Before 

 the revolution it had an immense number of reli- 

 gious edifices, which even yet are sufficiently numer- 

 ous. The most interesting are the little Temple de 

 St Jean, originally a baptistery of the 6th or 7th 

 century ; the abbey church of St Uadegonde, with 

 the saint's cenotaph, much visited by pilgrims ; 

 and the noble cathedral of St Pierre (Iliil l.'itli 

 century), in which, or in the older edifice that 

 occupied its site, twenty-three councils were held 

 the first in the 4th, ami the last in the loth 

 century. Other edifices are the Palais-de- Justice 

 (the palace formerly of the Counts of Poitou) and 

 the H6tel-de-Ville (1876). A university, founded 

 by Charles VII. in 1431, is now represented by a 

 school of law, with faculties also of science and 

 literature. There are besides a public library of 

 30,(MM) volumes and 400 MSS., a museum, and 

 several learned societies, including one for studying 

 the antii|iiities of western France (1834). Pop. 

 (lN7-.ii -'s.'Jt;; (1891) 37,497. Poitiers, the 

 JMM0MMN of the Komans, derives its present 

 name (earlier Poictiers) from the Pictavi or Pic- 

 tones. In and around it are numerous Celtic and 

 Roman remains, a dolmen, Itaths, some fragments 

 of a huge amphitheatre, &c. ; and here in 1882 the 

 remains of a whole Gallo- Roman town were dis- 

 covered, with temple, baths, and streets, spread 

 over 14 acres. In the vicinity Alaric II., the Visi- 

 goth, was defeated ami -Iain by Clovis in .MI; ; and 

 somewhere between Poitiers and Tours Charles 

 Martel won his great victory in 732 over the Sara- 

 cens under Abd-ur-Rahman. Later still (on 19th 

 September 1356), at a spot ."> miles north of Poitiers, 

 Edward the Black Prince, with some 12,000 or 

 14,000 Englishmen and Caseous, defeated 60,000 

 of the troops of King John of France, killing 1 1 ,000 

 and taking more than 2000 prisoners, among these 

 the monarch himself ami one of his sons. St 

 Hilary (q.v.) was the first bishop of Poitiers, which 

 long was capital of the province of Poitou. From 

 this town the ancient family took its name to 

 which Diana of Poitiers (q.v.) belonged. 



I'oiloil. a former province of south-western 

 France, coincident with the present department* 

 of Deux Sevres, Vendee, and Vienne. It was 

 divided into Upper and Lower I'oiton, and had for iUt 

 capital Poitiers. It* early history is the same as that 

 oi AquitAiiia (q.v.). Poitou became a posses-ion 

 of the English crown when Eleanor, Countess of 

 Poitou ana Duchess of Aquitaine, married (1152) 

 Henry of Anjou (see MKNKV II). Philip Augustus 

 reconquered it in I'J05. In 1360 it reverted to Kng- 

 land, but nine years later was retaken by Charles V. 

 See Auber, Hisloirr tie Poitou (1886-88). 



Poke (Phytolacca decandra), an American 

 branching herb, with racemes of white flowers and 

 deep-purple berries (Inkberries or Pigeon berries). 

 See also HELLEBORE. 



I'oker, a round game at cards (developed from 

 the older game of brag). Each player has live cards 



dealt him. A sum called \\wnnli- i- detiosited by 

 the oldest hand. The players then look at their 

 hands, each in order after the ante saying whether 

 he will play or pass. If he passes he throws down 

 his cards and stakes nothing. If he plays he has to 

 chip to fill i.e. to stake a sum equal to twice the 

 ante; the amount chipped by the ante, if he play-, or 

 iiinf.'fs good the ante, is only equal to hi- first stake. 

 Each player in rotation may then discard any of 

 his cards and receive from the dealer an Mm! 

 number of Mid* from the top of the pack, but no 

 one is obliged to discard any. When all have 

 filled, each player in order must either raise his 

 stake or go out of the game, forfeiting what he has 

 already staked. The raise is generally limited, 

 but any less sum than the limit may be staked. 

 Siih.-c<|iient players must either see the raise 

 i.e. make the sum next staked equal to that of 

 the last raiser or go better i.e. raise higher, or 

 go out of the game. The raising, seeing, going 

 better, or going out, as the case may be, con- 

 tinues until either all the players but one have 

 gone out (when the one left in' takes the pool ), or 

 until all the stakes of all the players left in 

 are equal, no one going better. Then a call is 

 declared. The player to the left of the one who 

 compelled a call has then to show, face upwards, 

 the iR-st combination he holds which ha.s a poker 

 value. The subsequent players in order either 

 show anything they have better, or throw down 

 their hands. The best poker hand takes the pool. 

 In case of absolute equality the pool is divided. 

 The value of the hands is as follows, beginning 

 with the best : (1) Straight Jfn.ik, sequence of li\e 

 cards of the same suit; ('2) Fours, lour caul- of 

 the same rank, accompanied by any other curd ; 



(3) I- /ill, three cards of the same rank, and a pair : 



(4) Flush, live cards of the same suit, not in 

 sequence; (5) Straight, sequence of five cards not 

 all of the same suit; (6) Triplets, three cards 

 of the same rank, not accompanied by a pair; 

 (7) Two jiairs ; (8) One jiair; (9) HifHMt run!. 

 The cards rank as at whist (ace highest), except 

 in the case of straights, when ace may lie highest 

 or lowest i.e. ace, king, queen, kna\e, ten, or 

 live, four, three, two, ace form the highest and 

 lowest straights respectively. If more than one 

 player holds a straight flush the sequence headed 

 by the highest card wins ; the same as between 

 two straight-. Similarly, the highest fours win, 

 or the highest triplets in triplet hands ; in the 

 cose of fulls, the holder of the highest triplets 

 wins. As Uet\\een two flushes, the highest card 

 wins; if these tie, the next highest, and so on. 

 If two players each hold two pairs, the highest pair 

 wins; if the two pairs tie, the remaining highest 

 card wins; with one p:iir. the same. It none of 

 the players remaining in the game hold any of 

 the aliovc combinations, each shows his highest 

 card ; if there is a tie, the next highest, and so mi. 

 There are numerous varieties in the way of play 

 ing, for which treatises on poker should be con 

 suited. The alxive describes the simplest form of 

 limn- I'nkrr, the game most commonly played. 

 See books by Keller (New York, 1887) and (juern- 

 dale (1889). 



Poker-drawings, the name given to designs 



(after well known pictures generally) burnt, into 

 lime-tree or other wood with 'pokers,' which 

 rather resembled plumliers' soldering irons. The 

 chief 'poker,' 'pyrotechnic,' or ' pyrographic' artists 

 were John Cnnch (1751-1823), Smith of Skipton, 

 and I)r (Jrilliths, the master of I'niversity Coll' 

 for whose chape] he executed an altar-piece after 

 Carlo Dolce. At Knowsley are two poker drawings 

 ascribed to Salvator Rosa. A similar process, for 

 adorning .-hip.- cabins, table- tops, &c., was patented 

 in 1865. 



