PORCUPINE-FISH. 257 POBISM. where in the tropics, and often taken in Florida, where its Spanish name is 'erizo.' ( See Plate of Plectognath Fishes.) It reaches a length of about three feet. Another smaller and darker species of these fish is Diodon holacanthus, also well kno^Ti. An allied species, Chyloiiit/ctcrus iichocpfi, only six to ten inches long, and very abun<laut in the bays and lagoons from Virginia to Florida, swells up when touched after the manner of the Northern puffers. It is greenish in color, with the abdomen paler, the back and sides marked by round black spots and parallel black stripes. Its common names are 'burr-fish,' 'rabbit-fish,' and 'swelled toad.' Several other species of the same genus exist in the tropics. PORCUPINE WOOD. The wood of a palm. See Coco.vxrx. POR'DAGE, .JOHX (1607-81). An English mystic. He was born in London, and was a minister in the Church of England from 164-1 to his death. During the Commonwealth his advo- cacy of the views of .Jacob Boehme led to his sus- pension ( 16.55) , but he was reinstated at the Res- toration. In 1663 he joined Jane Lead (q.v. ), and with her established the short-lived Phila- delphian Society, which was intended to imite the followers of Boehme and win the world for peace. A number of his works were published posthumously, and several were translated into German or Latin. PORDENONE, por'da-no'na. A to-ivn in the Province of Tdine. Italy, on the Xoncello, 29 miles southwest of Udine (Map: Ital}', G 2). Ruins of its old walls and of an ancient castle still remain. There are manufactures of cotton, linen, and silk fabrics, paper, and earthenware, and a trade in wine and grain. The site is sup- posed to be that of the Partus Xaonis of the Ro- mans. Population (commune), in 1901, 12,482. PORDENONE, Giovanni Antonio da (1483- 1539). A Venetian painter of the High Renais- sance. He is sometimes wrongly called Licinio. His family name was Sacchi, and he usually called himself Pordenone, after his native town in Friuli. He studied at L'dine, and was engaged in painting in the churches of Friuli as early as 1.504. Although he lived mostly in Pordenone. he received many commissions in other cities, and at Venice he learned to imitate Giorgione, the lead- ing influence which governed his style after 1.513. In 1520 he assisted in the decorations of the ca- thedral at Cremona, and in 1528 was employed by the Council at Venice to paint a large picture for the great hall — a commission at first as* signed to Titian, who had long delayed the work. He settled definitely at Venice in 1535, having been previously knighted by the King of Hun- gary, and assumed the name of Regillo. At the invitation of the Duke. Pordenone. in 1538. went to Ferrara, where he died suddenly in January, 1539. His most important work are frescoes, although he executed many altar-pieces. Most of his paint- ings have suffered much from age and restoration, but the altar-piece in Sant' Elemosinario. Venice, still retains some of its richness and beautiful coloring. The chief work of his youth is the frescoes in the Church of San Salvatore in Castel Cotalto. and the finest are those in the Malchios- tro Chapel of the cathedral at Treviso. dated 1520. His best oil paintings are the "Glory of Saint Lorenzj Giustiniani." and a "Madonna," in the Venice Academy. Although not ranking with the greatest Venetian masters, Pordenone was the only decorative painter of the school, and the most dramatic of its masters. PORE. See Skin. POREL, po'rel', IVIadame. A French actress. See Rej.xe. !Madame. PORFIRIO DIAZ, por-fe're-6 de'as, Ciudad. A town of ilexico. See Ciud-d Porfibio Diaz. PORGY or PORGEE (corrupted from Ameri- can Indian mischcuppauog, or from Lat. parjrus, pager, from Gk. waypos, pcif/ros, sea -bream). Any of several fishes of the family SparidiE. They are carnivorous shore-fishes of the tropical seas, abimdant in American and European waters, and excellent food fishes. The common American porgy {Stentotoiniis chrysops) is more commonly known as 'scup' (q.v. ) along the Atlantic coast of the United States, and several allied species occur about Florida and the West Indies, and are marketed locally. The European 'red-porgy' (Pagriis pagrus) , known in the Mediterranean as 'besugo' and 'pargo Colorado,' attains a length of about two feet, and is common on the European coasts, and also in the Gulf of Mexico and south- ward, where it is highl.y valued. On the Pacific CALIFOHNIAN Pi' tiichtbys &rgyrosomus). Coast the name is given to one of the Californian surf-fishes (q.v.), otherwise known as 'white perch' {Danialiclithy.i iirgyrosoinus) . Consult Kingsley, Standard Natural History, vol. iii. (Boston, 1885). PORIF'ERA (Neo-Lat. nom. pi., from Lat. poms, Gk. 7r6pos, pore, passage + Lat. ferre, to bear). The second or next to the lowest phylum of animals — the sponges; also its single constitu- ent class. See Sponge. PORISM (from vopiafw,, porisma, corollary, from TTopl'(av, porixin, to bring about, deduce, from iripos, jioros. passage ; connected with Lat. pcrilus., skilled, OChurch Slav, periti, to fly, Skt. par, to cross over, Goth., OHG., AS. faran, Ger. fahren, Eng. fare). A kind of geometric prop- osition common in Greek mathematics. The word seems to have been loosely employed, Pro- clus (q.v.) telling us that it is used in geometry to designate either a corollary or a pi'oposition which partakes of the nature of both a theorem and a problem. The most ancient tradition divides propositions into theorems, problems, and porisms, according as it is required to demon- strate, to do, or to find. Thus, "To construct an equilateral triangle on a given line" is a prob- lem : "To find the centre of a given circle" is a porism. The term porism was also used by Dio- phantus with reference to certain propositions in arithmetic. Consult: Chasles, Les trois livres de porismes d'Euclide (Paris, 1860) ; Chasles,
