POLYP
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POLYTECHNIC SCHOOLS
ical dependencies of the adjoining Asiatic and American continents. These Polynesian islands — also called South Sea islands — are distributed over a vast area, nearly 11,000,000 square miles, but the extent of dry land is less than 200,000 square miles; while the population probably is less than 1,500,000. Polynesia comprises the three broad divisions of Micronesia, Melanesia and East Polynesia, and each is subdivided into several secondary groups. Micronesia lies on the extreme northwest, almost entirely north of the equator, and consists almost exclusively of small volcanoes and atolls, forming the five archipelagoes of Pelew, the Marianas, the Carolines, Marshall and Gilbert. The area of the islands in Micronesia is only a little over 1,000 square miles; the population is estimated at about 100,000. Melanesia lies in the extreme west, south of the equator, and consists mainly of coral and volcanic islands, disposed in parallel lines from northwest to southeast, forming the eleven archipelagoes of the Admiralty, Bismarck, D'Entrecasteaux, Louisiade, Solomon, Santa Cruz, Banks, New Hebrides, New Caledonia, Loyalty and Fiji, all inhabited by the Melanesian or dark-brown, oceanic race. The land-area of Melanesia is estimated at about 65,000 square miles and the population at about 410,000. East Polynesia, the third and largest division, lies on both sides of the equator, and consists of the twelve archipelagoes of Hawaii, Phcenix, Ellice, Tokelau, Samoa, Tonga, Kermadec, Austral, Cook (Hervey), Tahiti (Society), Tuamotu (Low), Marquesas and New Zealand, besides numerous islets, as Norfolk, Chatham, Easter and others. This division is the special domain of the brown race, commonly called Polynesians in a special sense. Although the Polynesian islands are spread over so large an area, there is great uniformity of climate among them, except in New Zealand. The mean temperature is about 70°, both in Hawaii and New Caledonia (about the two tropics), with an extreme range from 50° to 90°. For more than a century the oceanic peoples have been in contact with Europeans and Americans, and many of the Polynesians, as well as many of the Melanesians, profess some form of Christianity, the first mission being that to Tahiti in 1797 by the London Missionary Society. But this contact appears to have caused a remarkable decrease of the population. The population of Hawaii has fallen from 300,000 in 1797 to 29,787 (the part-Hawaiians numbering 7,843), and a similar falling off has occurred in other islands. Everywhere the pure Polynesian race seems to disappear. This result is due in part to the introduction of alcoholic drinks, in part to the changes of habits, dress etc. introduced by the missionaries, but mainly to the ravages of disease. See Fornander's Account of the Polynesian Race.
See, also, such articles as ALEUTIAN ISLANDS, VAN DIEMEN'S LAND and other articles in alphabetical arrangement.
Polyp (pol'ip), the individual feeding-animal in a colony of hydroids. The body is tubular, surmounted by a disc which is surrounded by tentacles. The disc is also perforated in the center by a mouth. The fresh-water hydra is an example of a single polyp. The name also applies to individual coral animals. See HYDRA and HYDROZOA.
Polypetalous (pol'i-pet' al-us) Flowers, those in which the individual petals are separate and distinct. The contrasting term is sympetalous (which see). Polypetalous flowers are thought to be more primitive than those which are sympetalous. Common illustrations are the buttercups, roses etc.
Polyphemus (pol't-fe'mus), in classical mythology, the son of Poseidon and the nymph ThoOsa. He was a shepherd of immense size, and had only one eye in the center of his forehead. When Ulysses landed on Sicily, he and his companions were seized by Polyphemus and confined in a cave. After the huge cannibal had eaten six of his twelve companions, Ulysses (q. v.) intoxicated him and put out his eye with a burning pole, thereby escaping from the cave.
Pol'ytech'nic Schools, also called schools of technology or technical institutes, appear to lie between industrial schools (q. v.) and the professional schools of universities. They devote comparatively little time to the humanities, but much to modern languages, mathematics and science, as well as engineering and other semiindustrial, semipro-fessional branches. The first school of the kind was established at Paris in 1794, under the name of the School of Public Works. This Polytechnic School, as it is now called, is the school in which France trains artillery officers and engineers, directors of roads and bridges, telegraph officers and, in fact, all officials who need to know something of the higher branches of technical science. In London the Polytechnics at Regent St., Langham Place, Balderton St. and Oxford St. are aided by the County Council. London also has a City Polytechnic with branches at Birkbeck College, Chacicery Lane, and the City of London College at Moorfields. The Regent Street Polytechnic offers courses which may be regarded as representative of schools of technology, e. g., in art, book-keeping, business training, chemistry, civil service, cookery, dresscutting, elocution, first aid to the injured, harmony, Italian, landsurveying, the mandolin and guitar, metal-plate work, millinery, photography, the piano, physical culture, physiology and hygiene, the poetry of Robert Browning, shorthand and typewriting, solo singing, theory of music, the violin etc. The Northampton Institute is more nearly professional and more strictly technological in character. It has departments devoted to
