POLYNESIA 



Thebes, in the course of which the 

 two brothers met in single combat 

 and were both killed. Antigone had 

 Polyneices' body buried with due 

 honours, in defiance of the orders of 

 the king of Thebes, and was put to 

 death. (See Antigone. Pron. Polly - 

 m-seez. 



Polynesia (Gr. polys, many; 

 nesos, island). Term applied to the 

 most easterly of the islands of the 

 Pacific Ocean. Their limits are 

 approximately the tropics of Cancer 

 and Capricorn on the N. and S. and 

 meridian 180 on the W. Hawaii is 

 in the track of the N.E. trade 

 winds in summer and the S.W. 

 winds in the winter ; the islands S. 

 of the equator are crossed by the 

 S.E. trade winds. Except Hawaii, 

 which are large volcanic islands 

 fringed by coral reefs, they are 

 small in size and, in many cases, 

 coralline in formation. The vol- 

 canic islands are forested, but the 

 others are rather bare. Coconuts 

 are produced, and copra forms the 

 chief article of island trade, which 

 largely centres in Auckland and 

 Sydney. Sugar and fruit are grown 

 on the larger islands. Politically, 

 the Hawaiian islands, S. Samoa, 

 and the Baker and Howland islands 

 belong to the U.S.A. ; the Society 

 and Tubuai groups, and the E. 

 Marquesas are French ; N.W. 

 Samoa is under the mandate of 

 New Zealand ; Fiji, the Phoenix, 

 and Tokelau or Union groups are 

 British ; and the Hervey or Cook 

 and the Manahiki islands are de- 

 pendencies of New Zealand. See 

 Pacific Ocean. 



Polynesian. Term denoting the 

 aboriginal population of the Pacific 

 islands S. and E. of the Micronesian 

 and Melanesian groups. Estimated 

 at 200,000, their ambit lies within 

 a triangle whose corners are New 

 Zealand, Hawaii, and Easter Island, 

 including the Tonga, Samoa, Cook, 

 Tahiti, Paumotu, and Marquesas 

 archipelagos. 



Native traditions point to a 

 migration from the Ganges basin, 

 after 450 B.C., of a caucasoid 

 people who, reaching Java shortly 

 before our era, acquired seaman- 

 ship, and replaced rice by bread 

 fruit in their dietary. By A.D. 450 

 they were established in Samoa, 

 two centuries later in Hawaii and 

 the Marquesas, and by 850 in 

 Tahiti and New Zealand, although 

 the present Maoris did not arrive 

 until 1350. These migrations 

 occurred in double canoes and 

 single outriggers, with triangular 

 mat-sails. Melanesian and other 

 elements, ancient and recent, are 

 discernible, the result of ethnic and 

 cultural admixture with previous 

 comers. These predominate in 

 Fiji, which subsequently experi- 



6237 



enced Polynesian influence from the 

 Tonga or Friendly Islands. 



Polynesians are usually lithe 

 and active, averaging 5 ft. 8 ins. in 

 height ; olive-brown and longish- 

 headed, they have oval faces and 

 wavy hair, and are cheerful and 

 dignified. Megalithic monuments 

 here and there denote independent 

 streams of influence. Hunting and 

 the bow-and-arrow necessarily fell 

 into disuse, but fishing was highly 

 developed. Cannibalism and in- 

 fanticide formerly prevailed. The 

 staple foods are taro root, sweet po- 

 tato, yam, coconut, bread fruit, and 

 banana. Pottery, unknown except 

 through Fijian contact in Tonga, 

 was replaced by gourds and carved 

 wood bowls, cooking being effected 

 by hot stones. In the absence of 

 metals, implements were of shell, 

 wood, or stone. Bark-cloth, tapa, 

 was made from the paper-mul- 

 berry, and mats from plaited 

 strips of pandanus and other 

 leaves. Featherwork excelled in 

 Hawaii. Tattooing of the limbs of 

 both sexes was formerly effected 

 by bone implements with serrated 

 edges. In the Tonga group nose- 

 flattening was practised. 



Society was based upon noble, 

 free, and servile classes, the last 

 representing the indigenous popu- 

 lations. The prerogatives of the 

 nobles were guarded by a taboo 

 system, maintained by a priest- 

 hood, which also practised divina- 

 tion and ordeals. Pantomimic 

 dancing survives in such forms as 

 the Samoan siwa, or sitting dance, 

 and the Hawaiian hula. The copi- 

 ous mythology includes tales of 

 cosmic deities and culture-heroes, 

 with creation legends emanating 

 from the Indian cradleland. The 

 Polynesian dialects form a sub- 

 family of the Austronesian division 

 of the Austric family of languages. 

 A Pan-Pacific congress met at 

 Honolulu in 1920, to plan a syste- 

 matic inquiry into the origin, mi- 

 grations, and culture of the Poly- 

 nesian peoples. See Areois ; Eth- 

 nology ; Kanaka ; Maori ; Taboo ; 

 consult also Maori and Polynesian, 

 G. M. Brown, 1907 ; Hawaiki, 

 S. P. Smith, 3rd ed. 1910 ; The 

 Islanders of the Pacific, T. R. St. 

 Johnston, 1921. 



Polyp (Fr. poulpe, octopus). 

 Name vaguely applied to an animal 

 of the phylum Coelenterata (q.v.). 

 It takes the form of a hollow tube- 

 like bag containing only one in- 

 ternal body cavity or set of cavi- 

 ties, which communicates with the 

 exterior only by the mouth. The 

 common hydra (q.v.) of British 

 ponds is a familiar example. 



Polyperehon OR POLYSPERCHON. 

 One of the generals of Philip of 

 Macedon and Alexander the Great. 



POLYPHEMUS 



Nominated governor of the Mace- 

 donian empire by Antipater, 319, 

 he found himself opposed by the 

 latter's son Cassander, and others. 

 Twice obliged to leave Macedonia, 

 Polyperehon attempted to form an 

 independent kingdom in Pelo- 

 ponnesus. Having espoused the 

 cause of Heracles, the son of Alex- 

 ander, he afterwards put him to 

 death at the instigation of Cas- 

 sander, who entered into negotia- 

 tions with him. Cassander after- 

 wards failed to carry out the terms 

 of the agreement, and Polyperehon, 

 his reputation ruined by the 

 murder of Heracles, spent the 

 remainder of his life in Locris. 



Polyphase. In electricity, term 

 applied to alternating electric 

 currents, in which two or more 

 phases overlap. A single-phase 

 generator sends out periodic pul- 

 sations of current, which reverse 

 their character every half period. 

 Represented graphically, the cur- 

 rent appears as a sinuous line re- 

 peatedly crossing a zero line, the 

 " waves " on both sides having the 

 same shape. Twice every alterna- 

 tion the current-flow in the circuit 

 is at zero. 



A polyphase generator is so 

 wound that it is in effect two or 

 more generators combined, all 

 producing alternate currents of the 

 same periodicity or frequency, but 

 out of step with one another. A 

 three-phase alternator, for ex- 

 ample, sends out three distinct 

 series of pulsations into three 

 separate conductors, A, B, C, each 

 carrying a single-phase current. 

 The crests of the waves in B and C 

 are formed respectively one-third 

 and two-thirds of a period after 

 those in A. Consequently a motor 

 suitably wound to use the current 

 of the three conductors will run 

 very steadily, being, in effect, 

 three motors with armatures assist- 

 ing one another to pass the no- 

 flow points. Two-phase and three- 

 phase currents are most widely 

 employed in the distribution of 

 electrical power. 



Polyphemus. In Greek mytho- 

 logy, one of the Cyclopes, a race 

 of giants. The son of Poseidon 

 and Thoosa, daughter of the sea- 

 deity Phorcys, he dwelt on the 

 coast of Trinacria (Sicily), where 

 he kept his flocks. In the course 

 of his wanderings, Odysseus and 

 his comrades sought refuge in the 

 cave of Polyphemus, who killed 

 and ate some of the companions 

 of the hero. When the giant had 

 gone to sleep, however, Odysseus 

 destroyed the sight of his one eye 

 by piercing it with a burning pole, 

 and escaped from the cave with 

 the remainder of his comrades. 

 See Cyclopes. 



