POD 



331 



POL 



species bearing a similar fruit : 

 podophyllum, n., the dried 

 underground stem of the P. pelt- 

 atum, known also as the American 

 May Apple, or Mandrake : podo- 

 phyllin, n., pod'-o-filf-lin, a resin 

 extracted from P. peltatum, also 

 called * vegetable mercury ' from 

 its influence on the liver. 

 podosperm, n., p8d'-d-sperm (Gr. 

 podes, ropes at the corners of a 

 sail ; sperma, seed), in bot., the 

 filament or thread by which the 

 ovule adheres to the placenta ; 

 the funiculus. 



Podostemaceae, n. plu., ptid'o- 

 8tem-a f 'S$'e (Gr. podes, ropes at 

 the corners of a sail ; stgmma, a 

 garland or wreath), the Podo- 

 stemon family, an Ord. of aquatic 

 plants which flower and ripen 

 their seed under water, and their 

 ashes furnish salt : Podostemon, 

 n., ptid'd'Stem'on, a genus of 

 floating plants, with the habit of 

 Liverworts or Scale Mosses, 

 poephaga, n., pd-ef'-ag-d (Gr. 

 poe, grass, herbage ; phago, I 

 eat), in zoo/., a group of the 

 Marsupials. 

 pogon, n., pog'tin (Gr. pogon), in 



bot., a beard. 



Pogostemon, n. , pdg'-d'Stem'd'n 

 (Gr. pogon, a beard ; stemon, the 

 thread or warp of a web, a stamen), 

 a genus of plants, Ord. Labiatse : 

 Pogostemon suavis, swatf-is (L. 

 sudvis, sweet, pleasant) ; also P. 

 Patchouly, pat'-tshdl-i (native 

 name), the Patchouly plant of 

 the East Indies, used as a per- 

 fume, and yields a volatile oil of 

 a yellowish green colour. 

 polarity, n., p6l-ar<$'ti (L. polus, 

 the end of an axis ; Gr. polos, 

 a pivot on which anything turns), 

 that property of bodies, or par- 

 ticles of all kinds of matter, 

 whicli causes them, when at 

 liberty to move freely, to arrange 

 themselves in certain determinate 

 directions to point, as it were, to 

 given poles. 



Polemoniacese, n. plu. , 

 i-d'se-e (L. polemonm, Gr. pott- 

 momon, Greek Valerian said to 

 be from Gr. pol&mds, war, as 

 kings quarrelled and made war 

 for the honour of the discovery of 

 its virtues), the Phlox family, 

 an Order of plants, many of 

 which have showy flowers, and 

 are commonly cultivated : Pole- 

 monium, n., pol'e'mdn'i'tim, a 

 genus of plants : Polemonium 

 coeruleum, sZT-ul'-e-tim (L. ccer- 

 tilZus, dark-blue, cerulean), Greek 

 Valerian, or Jacob's Ladder, has 

 bitter properties, esteemed by 

 Russians as useful in hydrophobia 

 when its leaves are applied as 

 poultices. 



pollen, n., pol'-ttn (L. pollen, fine 

 flour), in bot., the fecundating 

 or fertilising powder contained 

 in the anthers of flowers, and 

 afterwards dispersed on the 

 stigma : pollen cells, the cavities 

 of anthers : pollen tubes, the 

 thread - like tubular processes 

 developed from the pollen grains 

 after they have become attached 

 to the stigma : pollen mass, or 

 pollinia, n., pol-lm'-i-a, an ag- 

 glutinated mass of pollen, occur- 

 ring in some orders of plants, as 

 in Orchids : pollination, n. , pol'- 

 lin-d'shun, the conveyance of 

 the pollen from the anthers to 

 the stigma in Angiosperms, or to 

 the nucleus in Gymnosperms : 

 pollinodium, n., p8l'lm>6d'>i-um 

 (Gr. eidos, resemblance), another 

 name for the * Antheridium, ' which 

 see. 



pollex, n. , pMtt&c* (L. pollex, the 

 thumb), the thumb in man ; the 

 innermost of the five normal 

 digits of the anterior limb of the 

 higher vertebrates. 

 polyadelphous, a., p&l'U'&d'&lfl'&s 

 (Gr. polus, many ; adelphos, a 

 brother), in bot., having stamens 

 united by their filaments so as to 

 form more than two bundles ; 

 having stamens in many bundles. 



