POSSET ' 



the first century of the Christian 

 era, and the New Testament 

 records many miraculous cures of 

 " men possessed by demons." 



There has been much discussion 

 in recent times as to whether the 

 belief in demoniac possession is 

 a superstition the survival of 

 " animism " which is a character- 

 istic of every form of primitive 

 religion or whether it represents 

 an objective realitv. In view of the 

 light which has been thrown by 

 modern psychology on " dual 

 personality " and " the divided 

 self," the problem cannot be 

 summarily dismissed. R. L. 

 Stevenson's story of Dr. Jekyll 

 and Mr. Hyde rests on the basis of 

 psychological fact. If it can be 

 proved that it is possible for one 

 personality to dominate and con- 

 trol another, the possibility of 

 spirit-possession must be con- 

 ceded, provided that the existence 

 of evil spirits can be proved. See 

 Demonology ; consult also Demon 

 Possession and Allied Themes, 

 J. L. Nevins, 1895. 



Posset (origin doubtful, perhaps 

 from Fr. pusoid, posset ; cf. Welsh 

 posel, curdled milk). Beverage 

 made of milk curdled with white 

 wine, ale, lime-juice, or vinegar, 

 and sweetened. It is drunk usually 

 at bed-time as a cure for coughs 

 or colds. The milk is brought to 

 boiling point, and the acidulous 

 liquor added. As treacle is used 

 it is often called treacle-posset. 



Possets, Pic DBS. Lofty peak 

 of the central Pyrenees, in the 

 prov. of Huesca, Spain. Its height 

 is 11,046 ft. 



Possibility. In English law, an 

 estate in possibility is one which is 

 to come into possession upon the 

 happening of an event which may 

 or may not happen, e.g. a gift of 

 land to A if he survives X. An 

 estate limited by way of a possi- 

 bility upon a possibility is bad in 

 law, as being too remote and un- 

 certain. Thus, gift of a remainder 

 to A's son John, when he has no 

 son of that name, is bad ab initio. 

 For, first, there is only a possibility 

 of his having a son, and a further 

 possibility that he shall have a son 

 named John. So that even if he 

 should afterwards have a son, and 

 call him John, the latter would 

 take nothing. 



Post, DIE, OR THE POST. Ger- 

 man newspaper. Founded in 1866, 

 and published in Berlin every day 

 hi the week, it was for some time 

 before the Great War inspired by 

 the German foreign office. A 

 champion of the party calling them 

 selves Free Conservatives, with 

 von Zedlitz as a regular contribu- 

 tor, it vigorously upheld the views 

 of the war lords. 



6286 



Postage Stamp. Small paper 

 label, of various face values, sold 

 by the post office to be affixed to 

 letters or parcels sent by post, in 

 proof that the cost of conveyance 

 has been paid. Adhesive postage 

 stamps were invented by J. Chal- 

 mers, of Dundee, in 1834, and 

 came into 'official use in the U.K. 

 in 1841, hi succession to the 

 Mulready envelope. The earliest 

 types were printed in solid sheets 

 and had to be cut out for use, 

 the perforations being introduced 

 later. Postage stamps vary in- 

 finitely in design, colour, and 



, POSTCHAISE 



countries which for international 

 postal purposes agree from time to 

 time to arrangements for the 

 interchange and carriage of mails. 

 With headquarters at Berne, 

 Switzerland, the union fixes the 

 rates to be charged, and, gener- 

 ally, encourages the quick and 

 easy conveyance of postal matter 

 between its members. With few ex- 

 ceptions every civilized country 

 now belongs to the union, which, 

 as the International Postal Union, 

 came into force July 1, 1875. 

 Arrangements are modified, if 

 necessary, by congresses held every 



watermark. As a rule they bear five years in various capitals, the 

 the effigy of the ruling sovereign first post-war meeting having 

 or some symbolic emblem. Special 



stamps are often of elaborate 

 design, some of the best printing 

 being done in France, while sur- 

 charges of all kinds are also used 

 for particular reasons e.g. for local 

 use, or when a territory changes 

 hands. See Mulready, W. ; Post 

 Office ; Stamp Collecting. 



Postal District. Area circum- 

 scribed in connexion with the 

 postal service, especially of large 

 cities, to facilitate transmission of 

 letters and parcels. The system of 

 numbered districts has been suc- 

 cessfully employed in Berlin, 

 Paris, and other capitals for many 

 years, but in London the postal 

 districts, until 1917, were denoted 

 by points of the compass. London 

 is now sub-divided into 112 num- 

 bered districts under the old 

 divisions, e.g. E.C.I, N.W.3, etc., 

 and if these details are given on 

 the envelope the business of sort- 

 ing is much simplified. The change 

 was made during the Great War, 

 when many skilled sorters were 

 diverted from their ordinary work. 



Postal Order. Money voucher 

 issued by the British Post Office. 

 These orders are for sums between 

 6d. and 21s., the charge varying 

 from Id. to 2d. Sums other than 

 those containing even sixpences can 

 be made up to the required amount 

 by adding postage stamps. For 

 safety an order 

 can be crossed, 1 

 or the name of \ 

 the person to 

 whom it is sent 

 and that of a par- 

 ticular post office 

 filled hi. Other- 

 wise the orders 

 can be cashed at 

 any money order 

 office. They are 

 also issued at 

 many British 

 post offices 

 abroad. 



Postal Union, 

 UNIVERSAL. Com- 

 bination of 



taken place hi Madrid, Oct., 1920. 



Post Card. Piece of pasteboard 

 used for correspondence through 

 the post office (q.v.). In the 

 United Kingdom post cards were 

 first issued in 1870, with the object 

 of enabling correspondents to 

 transmit a message or greeting in 

 brief form. They were originally 

 supplied through the post office 

 with a stamp already printed 

 thereon and cost d. When printed 

 unofficially and sold at any station- 

 ers for ^d., they became popular. 



The development of the picture 

 post CK,Td(q.v. ) was due to the initial 

 popularity of the d. post card. 

 Plain cards must not exceed 5 by 

 34 ins. maximum size, the minimum 

 being 4 by 2 J ins. Reply post cards 

 are sold at post offices, and are 

 available for transmission to the 

 country of origin, and to that 

 country alone, and bear the words 

 " Post Card, Great Britain and Ire- 

 land " and " Reply," price 3d. Post- 

 cards were used on an enormous 

 scale for commercial purposes, the 

 back being occupied by printed 

 matter. In 1918 the postage on 

 private correspondence post cards 

 was raised to Id. and in 1920 to 

 l|d., but was reduced to Id. by the 

 Budget of 1922. 



Postchaise. A light, four- 

 wheeled, closed vehicle for travel- 

 lers, said to have been introduced 



Postchaise of English construction, as used in early 19th 

 century 



