80 



Corporations formerly put limits to the 

 increase of the industrious popu- 

 lation, 74 



Imprudent struggle to establish manu- 

 factures has called into existence 

 a population which cannot find 

 employment, ib. 



Wretchedness of those who bring up a 

 family while living on a pension, 

 75 



Sufferings which the population en- 



INDEX. 



dure when the demand for labour 

 diminishes, 75 



Misery of the savage is not equal to 

 that of the poor man without em- 

 ployment in civilized society, ib. 



Grand cause of the diminution of la- 

 bour is the loss of liberty, ib. 



Diminution of the demand for labour 

 by the substitution of machines 

 for men, ib. 



A discovery in mechanics is useful, 

 only in so far as it extends the 

 market for the thing produced, 

 76 



The saving to the consumer is fre- 

 quently for htm an imperceptible 

 quantity, whilst the diminution of 

 labour may be immense, ib. 



The saving of workmen on the stock- 

 ing tiade causes the dismissal of 



99^000 workmen in the 100,000, 

 whilst the saving of the consumer 

 employs not more than 20'J of 

 them, 76 



The employment of machines dimi- 

 nishes the consumption by annihi- 

 lating one class of consumers, ib. 



Many simultaneous discoveries in me- 

 chanics might reduce the popula- 

 tion to despair, 77 



POL 

 Polo.Marco POLO-MARCO, or MARK PAUL. See the article 



B GEOGRAPHY, Vol. X. p. 143. 



Polynesia. POLYBIUS, a celebrated Greek historian, was born 

 """V"" ^ at Megalopolis, in Arcadia, about the year 203 before 

 Christ. He was the son of Lycortas, a praetor of the 

 Achean republic. Having been educated as a statesman 

 and a soldier, he was one of the deputies sent to ne- 

 gociate with Ptolemy Epiphanes. He obtained great 

 distinction while fighting against the Romans in Ma- 

 cedonia, and, when Perseus had been conquered, he 

 was taken to Rome as a prisoner of war. His bravery 

 raid learning were, fortunately for himself, well known 

 and highly appreciated, and he received great kind- 

 ness from Scipio and Fabius. After seventeen years 

 absence from his native country, he was permitted to 

 return with his fellow prisoners ; but, dreading to wit- 

 ness the humiliation of his native land, he accompanied 

 Scipio Emilianus into Africa, and was present at the 

 taking of Carthage and Numantia. Upon the death of 

 Scipio he returned to Megalopolis, where he spent the 

 remainder of his life, amidst the gratitude and esteem 

 of his countrymen. In consequence of a fall from his 

 horse, he died at the age of eighty-two. 



A great part of the leisure of Polybius was occupied 

 in the composition of a history, commencing at the 

 second Punic war, and terminating with the subversion 

 of the Macedonian kingdom, a space of fifty-three 

 years. It was contained in thirty-eight books; and 

 two introductory ones, containing an epitome of Ro- 

 man history, from the taking of Rome by the Gauls. 

 The first five books only of this work remain entire, 

 with large fragments of the next twelve. Though the 

 style is not good, the work has been admired for its 

 accuracy and fidelity. The best editions are, that of 

 Casaubon, Paris, 1609, folio ; of Gronovius, 3 vols. 8vo. 

 Amsterdam, 16?0 ; and of Schweighaeuser, 7 vols. 8vo. 

 Leipsic, 1785. 



POLYGAMY, from iro*vf,many, and yapta, to marry, 

 is the name used to designate the custom of marrying 

 more than one wife. This custom is prohibited in all 

 Christian countries. It was permitted among the Jews ; 

 and it exists among the Mahometans and all the various 

 religious sects that have prevailed in Asia. 

 POLYGON. See GEOMETRY. 

 POLYGRAPH, from irobvf, many, and y^xQu, to 

 write, is the name given to a machine for taking seve- 

 ral copies of a piece of writing at once. 



POLYNESIA is a name given by various authors, 

 and adopted by Pinkerton, to the extensive tract of 

 Asiatic Islands in the Pacific Ocean lying between the 

 meridians of 130 east and 120 west long, and between 

 25 north and S% south lat. These islands may be ar- 

 ranged as follows : 



IN THE NORTHERN HEMISPHERE. 



1 . The Peletv Islands, already described in this work, 

 Vol. XVI. p. 350. 



POM 



2. The Ladrones, or Marian hle&, described in Vol. 

 XII. p. 498. 



3. The Caroline Inlands, or New Philippine Islands. 

 These islands, discovered by the Spaniards in 161 6, 

 were named after their sovereign Charles II. They are v 

 about 150 in number, and very populous, with the ex- 

 ception of three, which are uninhabited. Hogolen is 

 the largest, being about 90 miles long, and 40 broad. 

 Yap, on the western extremity of the chain, is only 

 about one-third of this size. An account of these 

 islands, and of the inhabitants by Cantova, will be 

 found in the Histoire Generate des Voyages, torn. XV. 

 p. 81. 



4. The^Sandtvich Islands, see Vol. XVII. 



IN THE SOUTHERN HEMISPHERE. 



1. The Marquesas, described in this work, Vol. XIII. 

 p. 317. 



2. The Society Islands, see Vol. XVIII. 



3. The Friendly Islands, described in this work, Vol. 

 IX. p. 754. 



POLYTHEISM. See MYSTERY and MYTHOLOGY. 

 POMEGRANATE. See HORTICULTURE, Vol. XI. 

 p. 227- 



POMERANIA, See PRUSSIA and SWEDEN. 

 POMONA ISLAND. Seethe articleORKNEY ISLANDS, 

 Vol. XVI. p. 2. 



POMPEII, or Pompeium, an ancient city of Naples, 

 is said to have derived its name from the triumphant 

 pomp in which Hercules led his captives along the 

 coast after he conquered Spain. It was partly destroy- 

 ed by an earthquake in A. D. 63, and afterwards re- 

 built ; but in A. D. 79. it was completely buried by 

 another eruption from Mount Vesuvius, and the same 

 one which destroyed Herculaneum. 



Till the middle of the 18th century the very name 

 of the town had been almost forgotten ; but a spirit of 

 research having been at that time excited respecting 

 Herculaneum and Pompeii, great and curious disco- 

 veries have been made respecting both these ancient 

 towns. 



As Pompeii seems to have been destroyed by a 

 shower of ashes, the excavations were more easily ef- 

 fected than at Herculaneum, which was covered with 

 lava, and consequently a greater progress has been 

 made in clearing out the public buildings. 



On entering the city, the attention of the traveller is 

 first arrested by the remains of ancient barracks, which 

 had been the quarters of a legion of Roman soldiers. 

 Behind these barracks are two theatres, one small, and 

 supposed to have been covered, and the other large ; 

 but both of them were lined with marble, finely paved, 

 and every way highly finished. They were nearly en- 

 tire when they were first discovered j but though all 

 their decorations have been removed, they still retain 

 their characteristic features. Their form is exactly the 

 same as that of the Teatro Olimpico of Palladio at Ve- 



Poly the- 

 ism 

 II 

 Pompeii. 



