POS 5 



the relations that have place between the 

 position of the different parts of a geo- 

 metrical figure with regard to each other, 

 has been named the geometry of position, 



and was first treated of by Carnot. 3. 



In painting, placing the model in the best 

 way to suit the view of the artist. 



POS'ITIVE, Lat. positivus. A term of re- 

 lation, sometimes opposed to negative, as, 

 (1). Positive quantity, an algebraical quan- 

 tity affected by the sign +, being affirma- 

 tive or additive; (2.) Positive degree, the 

 state of an adjective which denotes the 

 simple or absolute quality, without com- 

 parison or relation to increase or diminu- 

 tion ; (3.) Positive electricity, in the Frank- 

 linian theory all bodies supposed to 

 contain more than their natural quantity 

 of the electric agency are said to be 

 positively electrified, and those which 

 have been deprived of some part of their 

 electricity are said to be negatively elec- 

 trified. Bodies electrified in these two 

 different states attract each other, but 

 bodies positively electrified repel other 

 positively electrified bodies, and so of 

 negatively electrified bodies. As the 

 friction of glass and resin communicates 

 to these substances a state of activity 

 with regard to other bodies similar in the 

 two cases, but opposite in their nature, 

 the terms vitreous and resinous have been 

 used in the same senses as positive and 

 negative. 



POS'SE COMITA'TUS. The power of the 

 county, which the sheriff is empowered 

 to raise in case of riot, said to be all 

 knights and other men, above the age of 

 fifteen, able to travel within the county. 



POSSES'SIVE, Lat. possessitw. In Eng- 

 lish grammar, the genitive is termed the 

 possessive case, as denoting possession ; as, 

 John's book. 



POST. 1. Any piece of timber when 

 used in an upright position, as a king- 

 post. 2. A military station. Detach- 

 ments placed in front of an army are 

 termed out-posts, and those on the wings 

 are posts of honour, as being most exposed. 

 3. See MAIL. 



POST DISSEI'SIN. In law, a writ for him 

 who, having recovered by pr<tcipe quod 

 reddat, upon default of reddition, is again 

 disseised by the former disseisor. 



POST DISSEI'SOR. A person who disseizes 

 another of lands which he had before re- 

 covered of the same person. 



POS'TEA (Latin). The record or return 

 of the proceedings by nisi prius into the 

 Court of Common Pleas, after a verdict. 



POST ENTKY. "When goods are weighed 

 or measured, and the merchant has got 

 an account thereof at the Custom-House, 

 and finds his entry (already made) too 

 small, he must make a post or additional 

 tntry for the surplusage, in the same 

 m-nuer ac the first was done. 



2 POS 



POS'TERX (old French). 1. A small door 



or gate at the back of a building. 2. 



In fortification, a small gate usually in the 

 angle of the flank of a bastion, or in that 

 of the curtain, or near the orillon, de- 

 scending into the ditch : called also the 

 sally-port. 



POST-FAC'TO LAW. A law made after the 

 act is committed. 



POST FINE. In English law, a fine due 

 to the sovereign by prerogative, after a 

 licentiaconcordandi, given in fine of lands 

 and tenements : called also king's silver. 



POSTI'LUM. In architecture, the portico 

 at the back of a temple. 



POSTLIM'IN* , from post, undlimtyi, the 

 end. Postliminium was the term used by 

 the Romans to signify the return of a per- 

 son to his own country, who had gone to 

 sojourn in a foreign country, or had been 

 banished or taken by the enemy. In the 

 modern law of nations, the right of post- 

 liminy is that by virtue of which persons 

 and thinsrs taken by an enemy in war are 

 restored to their former state, when com- 

 ing again under the power of the nation 

 to which they belonged. The sovereign of 

 a country is bound to protect the persons 

 and property of his subjects, and a sub- 

 ject who has suffered the loss of his pro- 

 perty by the violence of war, on being 

 restored to his country can claim to be 

 re-established in all his rights, and to re- 

 cover his property. But this right does 

 not extend, in all cases, to personal effects 

 or moveables, on account of the difficulty 

 of ascertaining their identity. 



POST'MASTER. An officer having the 

 direction and superintendence of a post- 

 office. The postmaster-general is the chief 

 officer of the post-office department, and 

 makes all contracts for the conveyance of 

 the public mails, receives and is account- 

 able for the moneys arising from the post- 

 age of letters, pays expenses, and super 

 intends the whole. 



POST-NOTE. A bank-note intended to- 

 be transmitted by the public mail and 

 made payable to order. 



POST-OBIT, Lat. after death. In law, a 

 bond for securing a sum of money on the 

 death of an individual. 



POST-OF'FICE. An establishment for the 

 reception, conveyance, and delivery of 

 letters. The post-office is perhaps one 

 of the most beneficial institutions which 

 a country can possess, and the framers 

 and supporters of the Post Office Act 

 (1839), which has transfused into that of 

 this country both efficiency and economy, 

 deserve the lasting gratitude of the na- 

 tion for this one measure alone. 



POSTSCE'NIUM. In architecture, the back 

 part of a theatre behind the scenes. 



POS'TULATE, Lat postulatum, from pos- 

 tiilo, to demand. A position asuumed 

 without proof, or one which is conttiderea 



