PONDICHEBRY. 233 PONIATOWSKI. they purchased Karikal from the King of Taiijore; and in 1752 Yanaon was ceded to them. Uupleix (q.v. ) was Governor of Pondieherry when war broke out between France and Eng- land in India. In 1746 La Bourdonnais took Madras. In 174S Admiral Boscawen besieged Pondicherry, but two months later was com- pelled to raise the siege. In the same year occurred the Peace of Aix-la-Chapelle; but it did not put an end to hostilities in India till some time later. In 1757 war recommenced. In 1758 Lallv became Governor-General of the French possessions in India and attacked the English settlement of Fort Saint David, which surren- dered, and was totally destroyed. In 1761 Eyre Coote took Pondicherrj-. By the Peace of Paris (1763). Pondicherrj' was restored to the French with reduced territory, as well as ilahe, Karikal, and Chandernagar. Pondicherr.y was again taken by the English under Sir Hector Monro in 1788, and restored in 1783. In 1793 the English re- possessed themselves of it, but the Treaty of Amiens in 1802 again restored it, though only till the following vear. From this time it was held by the English till, by the treaties of 1814 and 1S15, it was for the last time restored to France. Consult Quennefer, SouKCnirs de Pondi- chery (Lyons. 1SS2). PONDICHERRY VXTLTtTRE. A small black-'eared' vulture {Otogyjjs calrus) of In- dia. Burma, and Siam. Avhich is especially char- acterized by the nakedness of the inside of the tliighs. It is nowhere numerous, and is called by the Hindoos 'king ^iilture.' on account of its domineering manners. It nests in trees, adding year after year to the old structure until an enormous mass results. See Plate of VuLTt^ES. POND LILY. See Water Lilt. PON'DOLAND. A mountainous and fertile district of Lape Colony, situated on the south- eastern coast, and covering an area of over 4000 square miles (Map: Cape Colony, X 7). It was acquired by Great Britain in 1S84. being the last remaining portion of independent Kaf- fraria, and was annexed to Cape Colony in 1894. Population, about 200,000. POND-SNAIL. A snail of the pulmonale family Liniiueidie. which inhabit the fresh wa- ters of temperate regions. All are vegetable- eaters and seek their food beneath the water. They lay their eggs in clusters surrounded by a clear gelatin-like substance, and attached to plants and other objects beneath the water. The typical pond-snails are those of the genus Lim- ntea. which have thin, horny shells forming a slender spiral with a large aperture, not pro- tected by an operculum. When the ponds are frozen or dry up. they bur- themselves in the mud, and become dormant until released. The largest species (Limncrn stnfiimlis) is scattered abundant- ly over most of the Northern Hemisphere, and may become two inches in length. Many other species are known in Xorth America, most of them less than an inch long. A smaller, less dra^vn■out shell, differing from Limnoea primarily in the fact that it is sinistral, while the shells of Limnsa follow the ordinary method of turning from left to righ*, is that of the genus Physa. It is more south- erly in its distribution than Limna^a. but several species are found throughout the United States, one of which {Physa heterostropha) is exceeding- ly abundant. ( See Pins.i. ) Another prominent genus, with a large number of familiar species, is Plaiiorbis, so called because its shell is coiled in a flat spiral like a roll of tape ; none exceed three-fourths of an inch in diameter. Among other genera may be mentioned Ancylus and A POND-SNAIL iLimnxa). Gundlachia, which are shaped nearly like lim- pets, and have similar habits, although they inhabit fresh water alone, and are not larger than grains of rice. All the pond-snails are infested with parasites, and certain of them regularly form the hosts of the liver-flukes of the genus Distoma during one stage of their development. Pond-snails are not only interest- ing objects in an aquarium, but of much utility in keeping the glass free from confervoid growths, which they constantly feed upon. Consult : Cooke, "Shells," vol. iii. of Camhridge yatural Bis- iory (London, 1898): Binney. Land and Fresh- Water Shells of yorth America. Part ii. (Smithsonian Institution, Washington, 1865). See PULMONATA ; Sx.II.. PONEVYEZH, p6'na-^■yezh'. A town in the Government of Ko-no. Russia, situated 70 miles north-northeast of Kovno (Map: Russia, B 3). It has a real.schule, and extensive manufactures of yeast, flour, tobacco, and spirits. Its trade in flax and flaxseed is also important. Population, 13.044. mostly Jews. PONIATOWSKI, po'nyu-tov'ske. The name of a Poli-ih family of Italian origin, descended from the family of the Torelli. A member of this family settled in Poland, and assumed the name of Poniatowski from his wife's estate of Ponia- tow. The most notable members of the family were: Pbixce St.^xislas Poxi.towski (1077- 17621, who joined Charles XII. of Sweden in sup- porting Stanislas Leszczjnski. He fought at Poltava (1709), and as the representative of Charles XII. at Constantinople induced the Porte to declare war against Russia. He subsequently held high places at the Court of Augustus III. of Poland. His son Stanislas ascended the throne of Poland. (See Staxisl.s II.) Another son, Andreas, became the father of the most distin- guished meml)er of the family. .Toskpit Axtoxt, Prixce Poxi.towski, the celebrated Polish com- mander in the army of Xapoleon. The latter was born at Warsaw, ilay 7, 1762, and at the age of sixteen entered the Austrian army, with which he made the Turkisli campaign of 1787. In 1792 he returned to Poland, and was named
