P O R 



POINT, in Geography, a townfhip of Northumberland 

 county, in Pennfylvania, having 431 perfons. 



POINTE Colpe'e, a county and parifh of New 

 Orleans, containing 4539 perfons. 



POIRET. See Theosophists. 



POISON, col. 3, 1. 15 from bottom, for verus r. 

 berus. 



POLAND, col. 9, 1. 31, add— From a ftatiftical ac- 

 count of Poland, publilhed at Warfaw, it appears, that 

 this kingdom in its prefent ftate contains 1291 fquare miles, 

 (of 15 to a degree,) 481 towns, 22,694 villages, and a 

 population of 2,732,324 perfons, of whom 219,244 are 

 Jews. 



Poland, in America, col. 2, 1. 2, r. 850. Add — 

 Alfo, a townfhip of the county of Trumbull, in Ohio, with 

 S27 inhabitants. 



POLARITY of Light. See Light. 



POLARIZATION, in Optics, a term which has been 

 lately applied to that change which takes place in the direc- 

 tion of rays that pafs through certain cryftals, and which 

 derives this appellation from its analogy to magnetic phe- 

 nornena. It was firft fuggefted by the modifications of 

 light dilco\ered by M. Malus (fee Light), and has fince 

 been inveftigated with equal ingenuity and diligence by 

 Dr. Brewfter. For his numerous communications on 

 this fubjeft to the Royal Society, he was honoured with the 

 Copleyan medal. 



POLASKI, in Geography, a county of Georgia, con- 

 taining 2091 inhabitants, of whom 528 were flaves in 

 1810. 



POLE, 1. 2, add — the fourth fon of the countefs of 

 Salifbury, who was crm l!y and unjuftly beheaded by 

 Henry VIII., and whofe lather, the duke of Florence, was 

 drowned in a butt of malmfey by his fon. 



POLOPHILUS, CoucAL, in Ornithology, a genus of 

 birds of the order Picas ; the charafters of which are, beak 

 ftrong, flightly incurvated, noftrils ftraight, elongated, feet 

 fimple, two toes pointing forward, the exterior being the 

 largeft, two toes turning backwards, the interior furnifhed 

 with a very long claw. The Coucals, fo firft called by 

 Vaillant, form a moft beautiful tribe of birds. They refide 

 in woods, feed on infefts and fruits, and conftruA their 

 nefts in trees, and (contrary to the manners of cuckoos) 

 bring up their yoimg, from which circumllance their generic 

 name is derived. Shaw. 



POLYPTERUS, in Ichthyology, a genus of the abdo- 

 minal fidies ; the charafter of which is, that the gill-mem- 

 brane is fingle-rayed, and the dorfal iins numerous. This 

 fifh conftitutes a new and rem.arkable genus, and was firft 

 fcientifically defcribed by M. E. Geoffroy, who confidered it 

 as forming a connefting link between the offeous and the car- 

 tilaginous fifhes. It Teems moft nearly allied to the genus 

 Efox. It is known to the Egyptians by the name of 

 Bichir, among whom it is rare, and fuppofed in general to 

 inhabit the depths of the Nile among the foft mud. Its 

 flefti is white and favoury, though it is hardly poflible to 

 open its fkin with a knife ; and therefore the fifti is firft 

 boiled, and its (Itin drawn off whole. Its fpecific name is 

 " Niloticus," and it is charafterifed as the green P., 

 with the abdomen fpotted with black. Shaw. 



PONT-VOLANT, Me the defcription, and let 

 reference remain. 



PORANTHERA, in Botany, from Tro^r,;, a pore, 

 a:9r.^x, an anther. — Rudge Tr. of Linn. Soc. v. 10. 

 — Clafs and order, Pentanilria Trtgynia. Nat. Ord. 



Eff. Ch. Involucrum of eight leaves, many-flowered. 

 Perianth none. Petals five. Anthers of four cells, each 



the 



and 

 302. 



FOR 



with a terminal orifice. Capfules ? three, with numerous 

 feeds. 



I. P. erlcifolia. Rudge as above, t. 22. f. 2. Native 



of New South Wales. Dr. White. A very extraordi- 

 nary little plant. Stem branched, round, leafy, four to 

 fix inches high. Leaves fcattered, numerous, linear, glau- 

 cous. Floivcrs corymbofe, minute, white. _ The dried 

 fpecimens refemble fome fmall kind of Lepidium. 



PORCELAIN, col. 24, 1. 31, r. in a melted ftate. 



PoRCELAix Jafper. See Mineralogy, Addenda. 



PORCELIA, in Botany, fo called by Ruiz and Pavon, 

 in honour of Don Antonio Porcel, a Spaniard, whom they 

 celebrate, in the higheft terms, as a promoter of botanical 

 purfuits. Our reafons for adopting this name, in pre- 

 ference to any other, for the genus we are about to de- 

 fcribe, may be found under the article Asimina. That 

 we prefume to confider the Afimina and Porcelia of De 

 Candolle as one and the fame genus, may require a ftill 

 further apology, and we ftiall prefently give it, as far as 

 we are able. — " Ruiz et Pavon Fl. Peruv. v. i. 144. 

 Prodr. 84. t. 16. DunalAnonac. 85." De Cand. Syft. 

 V. I. 480. " Perf. Syn. v. 2. 95." Purfti 383. (Afi- 

 mina ; Adanf. Fam. v. 2. 365. Dnnal Anonac. 81. 

 De Cand. Syft. v. I. 478. Orchidocarpum ; Mich. Bo- 

 real. -Amer. v. I. 329. Annonas fpec. Linn. Jufl". Gen. 

 Willd. Ait. &c.)— clafs and order, Polyandria Polygynia. 

 Nat. Ord. Coadunatis, Linn. Anonie, Juft. Anonacea, 

 De Cand. 



Gen. Ch. Cal. Perianth inferior, of one leaf, in three 

 deep, equal, ovate, concave, permanent fegmcnts. Cor. 

 Petals fix, unequal, in two rov\S, feflile, ovate -oblong, fpread- 

 ing, coriaceous ; the three innermoft either larger or fmaller 

 than the reft. Stam. Filaments fcarcely any ; anthers very 

 numerous, nearly feflile on the convex receptacle, oblong, 

 burfting at each fide. Pijl. Germens from three to fix, 

 ovate-oblong, feffile ; ftyles none ; ftigmas obtufe. Peric. 

 Berries as many as the germens, feffile, crowded, ovate 

 or nearly cylindrical, more or lefs fucculent, of one cell. 

 Seeds numerous, elliptic -oblong, ranged tranfverfely in a 

 fingle or double row, inferted into the inner margin. 



Eft". Ch. Calyx inferior, deeply three-clett. Petals 

 fix, ovate-oblong, fpreading, in a double row, unequal. 

 Germens oblong. Stigmas feflile, obtufe. Berries feffile, 

 of one cell, with many feeds. 



A fhrubby or arborefcent genus, with oblong, undivided, 

 deciduous leaves, and axillary, nearly folitary_;?o'a'i'/-j-, either 

 feflile or ftalked, in fome inftances expanded before the 

 foliage. All the fpecies are natives of the cooler parts of 

 America. The able profefTor De Candolle feparates AJi- 

 mina of Adanfon from Porcelia of the Fl. Peruv., the latter 

 having its three inner petals rather the largeft, the fruit more 

 cylindrical and coriaceous, the feeds in a double row. In 

 AJimina the three outer petals are much the largeft, and 

 the fruit more ovate. Butihe feeds are Ukewife in a double 

 row in one fpecies at leaft of this genus, the triloba, as De 

 Candolle, on the authority of Ehret, admits ; and the com- ' 

 parative fize of the inner and outer petals, different in different 

 fpecies of AJimina, can hardly be much relied on, nor is 

 this admitted by De Candolle among his moft elTential 

 charafters, p. 465. The more or lefs cylindrical or ovate 

 form of the fruit will not, furely, be infifted on ; nor can 

 that of the original Porcelia differ eflcntially in fubftance 

 from the others, being like them fucculent and eatable. 



I. P. nitidifolia. Sliining-leaved Porcelia. " Fl. Perrv. 

 v. I. 144." De Cand. n. i.— Leaves ovato-lanceolate, 

 pointed, fmooth' on both fides. Flower-ftalks aggre- 

 gate. Inner petals rather the largeft. — Native of naoun- 



tainous 



