POI 



POL 



small proportion in bulk and weight 

 to the flesh, the bone l)cing only re- 

 quired as a support to the tlesh. 



"A full, clear, calm, and prominent 

 eye is another poi/U to be considered, 

 because it is a nice indication of good 

 breeding. It is always attendant on 

 fine bone. 



"The state of the skin is the next 

 point to be ascertained. The skin 

 aflbrds what is technically and em- 

 phatically called the touch, a criterion 

 second to none in judging of the feed- 

 ing properties of an ox. The touch 

 may be good or bad, fine or harsh, 

 or, as it is often termed, hard or mel- 

 low. A perfect touch will be found 

 Avith a thick, loose skin, floating, as 

 it were, on a layer of soft fat, yield- 

 ing to the least pressure, and sprmg- 

 ing back towards the fingers like a 

 piece of soft, thick chamois leather, 

 and covered with thick, glossy, soft 

 hair." 



POINTS OF SUPPORT. The 

 foundations, walls, orpillars of a build- 

 ing, whereon the superstructure is 

 founded. 



POINTS OF THE COMPASS. 

 See Compass. 



POISON FANGS. The hollow 

 teeth in the upper jaws of vipers, rat- 

 tlesnakes, &c., through which their 

 poison is discharged into the wounds 

 they make. Only such snakes as 

 have poison fangs are venomous. 



POISON OAK. Rhus radicans, 

 and R. toxicodendron, the former be- 

 ing also called poison vine : it is a 

 climber, the stem throwing out an 

 abundance of black roots. The milky 

 juice is poisonous, and, to some per- 

 sons, the volatile particles thrown off 

 from the plant. They produce in- 

 flammation and swelling, resembling 

 erisypelas. Light diet, laxatives, and 

 a lotion of sugar of lead and water 

 to the part are best. 



POISONS. Bodies which disturb 

 or destroy the natural functions of 

 the body. They are narcotic, acrid 

 or septic. Many are to be met by an- 

 tidotes ; but with animals the stom- 

 ach pump is to be looked to as the 

 chief means of relief 



POITTEVIN'S MANURE. Night 

 608 



soil mixed with fine charcoal and 

 dried to powder. 12 to 25 bushels 

 are applied, with the seed, by a drill, 

 to the acre. 



POLARITY. The quality in the 

 particles of bodies of adjusting them- 

 selves in given directions, as north 

 and soutli, in the magnet. 



POLARIZATION OF LIGHT. 

 " Light which has undergone certain 

 reflections or refractions, or been 

 subjected to the action of material 

 bodies in any one of the great number 

 of ways, acquires a certain modifica- 

 tion, in consequence of which it no 

 longer presents the same phenomena 

 of reflection and transmission as 

 light which has not been subjected 

 to such action. This modification is 

 termed the polarization of light, its 

 rays being supposed, accordmg to 

 particular theoretical views, to have 

 acquired poles (like the magnet), or 

 sides with opposite properties." — 

 {Brande.) 



POLDERS. The old salt marshes 

 of Holland and Flanders. 

 POLE. A rod. 16.^ feet. 

 POLECAT. Skunkl {Felis Pu- 

 torius, Lin.) " It may be caught and 

 destroyed by a deadfall, constructed 

 in the following manner : Take a 

 square piece of wood, weighing 40 

 or 50 pounds, bore a hole in the mid- 

 dle of the upper side, and set a crook- 

 ed hook fast in it ; then set four fork- 

 ed stakes fast in the ground, and lay 

 two sticks across, on which sticks 

 lay a long staff', to hold the deadfall 

 up to tlie crook ; and under this crook 

 put a short stick, and fasten a line to 

 it ; this line must reach down to the 

 bridge below ; and this bridge you 

 must make about five or six inches 

 broad ; on both sides of this deadfall 

 place boards or pales, or edge it with 

 close rods, and make it 10 or 12 inch- 

 es high ; let the entrance be no wider 

 than the breadth of the deadfall. A 

 pigeon-house surrounded with a wet 

 ditch will tend to preserve the pi- 

 geons, for beasts of prey naturally 

 avoid water." 



POLE EML. See Ox, Diseases of. 



POLES. The ends of the wires 



proceeding from a galvanic battery ; 



