POL 
POL 
mining tlie meridian line, the elevation of 
the pole, and, consequently, the latitude 
of the place, &c. See Latitude. 
POLEMONIUM, in botany, a genus of 
the Pentandria Monogynia class and order. 
Natural order of Campanaceae. Polemo- 
nia, Jussieu. There are five species, chiefly 
natives of the Cape of Good Hope. 
POLEMOSCOPE, in optics, a kind of 
reflecting perspective glass invented by 
Hevelius, who commends it as useful in 
sieges, &c. for discovering what the enemy 
is doing, white the spectator lies hid behind 
an obstacle. 
POLIANTHES, in botany, a genus of 
the Hexandria Monogynia class and order. 
Natural order of Coronarias. Narcissi, 
Jussieu. Essential character: corolla fun- 
nel form, curved in, equal, filaments in- 
serted into the jaws of the corolla ; germ at 
the bottom of the corolla. There is but 
one species, viz. P. tuberosa, tuberose. 
POLICY of assurance, is the deed or 
instrument by which a contract of assur- 
ance is effected. The premium paid for the 
risk nmst foe inserted in the policy, and 
likewise the date. Policies for assurance 
against the risks of the sea are distinguished 
into valued and open policies ; in the for- 
mer the property is assured at prime cost, 
at the time of effecting the policy, in the 
latter, the value is not mentioned, but is 
left to be afterwards declared, or to be 
proved in the event of a claim. 
POLISHER, or Burnisher, among 
mechanics, an instrument for polishing and 
burnishing things proper to take a polish. 
The gilders use an iron-poli.5her to prepare 
their metals before gilding, and the blood- 
stone to give them the bright polish after 
gilding. The polisher used by the makers 
of spurs and bits, &c. is partly iron, partly 
steel, and partly wood; it consists of an 
iron-bar with a wooden handle at one end, 
and a hook at the other, to fasten it to an- 
other piece of wood held in the vice, while 
the operator is at work. In the middle of 
the bow, withinside, is what is properly 
called the polisher, being a triangular piece 
of steel with a tail, whereby it is riveted to 
the bOw. The polishers, among cutlers, 
are a kind of wooden wheels made of 
walnut-tree, about an inch thick, and of a 
diameter at pleasure, which are turned 
round by the great wheel ; upon these they 
smooth and polish their work with emery 
and putty. The polishers for glass consist 
of two pieces of wood ; the one flat, covered 
with old hat, the other long and half-round, 
fastened on the former, whose edge it ex- 
ceeds on both sides by some inches, which 
serve the workmen to take hold of, and to 
work backwards and forwards by. The 
polishers, used by spectacle-makers, are 
pieces of wood a foot long, seven or eight 
inches broad, and an inch and a half thick, 
covered with old beaver-hat, whereon they 
polish the shell and horn-frames their spec- 
tacle glasses are to be set in. 
POLISHING, in general, the operation 
of giving a gloss or lustre to certain sub- 
stances, as metals, glass, marble, &c. 
POLITICAL arithinetic is the applica- 
tion of arithmetical calculation, to political 
subjects, as the public revenues, number 
of people, extent and value of lands, taxes, 
trade, manufactures, &c. of any common- 
wealth. See Statistics. 
POLITY, or Policy, denotes the pecu- 
liar form and constitution of the government 
of any state or nation ; or, the laws, orders, 
and regulations relating thereto. 
Polity differs only from politics, as the 
theory from the practice of any art. See 
Law, Government, &c. 
Some divide polity into that which re- 
lates to the regulations respecting mer- 
cantile affairs; and to those which con- 
cern the judiciary government of the citi- 
zens : some add other branches, viz. those 
relating to ecclesiastical and military af- 
fairs. &c. 
POLL, a word used in ancient writings 
for the head : hence to poll, is either to 
vote or to enter down the names of those 
persons who give in their votes at an 
election. 
Poll money, a capitation or tax imposed 
by the authority of parliament on the 
head or person eitlier of all indifferently, 
or according to some known mark of dis- 
tinction. 
POLLEN, in botany, the fecundating or 
fertilizing dust contained within the anthers 
or tops of the stamina, and dispersed on the 
pistil when ripe, for the purpose, of impreg- 
nation. This dust is commonly of a yellow 
colour, and is very conspicuous in the tulip 
and lily. If this powder is examined by 
the microscope, it will be found to assume 
some determinate form, which often predo- 
minates, not only through the different spe- 
cies of one genus, but through all the ge- 
nera of an order. Being triturated in tlie 
stomach of bees, by whom great quantities 
are collected in the hairy brushes with 
