POPPY. 250 POPULATION. and the northern parts of America, has orange or yellow flowers ami is a widely distributed alpine species. The Oriental and the Iceland poppy are the best perennial species cultivated for orna- ment. The corn i)0ppy or conniion red poppy {Papavcr ffhaus) is an annual occurring as a •weed in European grain fields, especially on cal- careous soils. Its bright red Ho«ers make it very conspicuous. A large number of ornamental varieties have been developed from tliis species. The ornamental poppies grow well in any garden .soil, but they produce the best results on sandy loams. The seed is sown in spring in shallow- drills where the plants are to bloom, and are later thinned to about one foot apart. For illus- tration of California poppy, see Plates of Cali- FOHXi.v Flora and Poppy and Pepper Tree. POPPY FAMILY. An order of plants. See Papaverace.e. POPPY-SEED OIL {Oleum papaveris) . An oil obtained from the seeds of the opium poppy (see Poppy) by pressure. It is used for salads and other purposes, much the same as olive oil, to adulterate which it is often used. The seeds yield about 40 per cent, of oil. POPULAR SOVEREIGNTY, or Squatter Sovereignty. Ttrms in American history used interchangeably by many writers and having reference to the right of the inhabi- tants of a Territory to regxilate their internal affairs in their own way without the intervention of Congress. Strictly speaking, the term popular sovereignty was applicable only in the case of an organized Territory, while squatter sover- eignty applied only to an unorganized territory inlialiitcd by 'squatters.' The theory of popular sovereignty grew out of the discussions over the question as to whether slavery should be per- mitted in the territory acquired from SIcxico. The first assertion of the doctrine by a man of prominence appeared in the noted Nicholson let- ter of General Cass, December 24, 1847, in which he expressed the opinion that the people of the Territories should be left "to regulate their in- ternal concerns in their own way." The new doc- trine was accepted by the South and was quite generallv regarded with favor as being in har- mony with the American traditions of local self- government, and furthermore as relieving both Congress and the States from the responsibility of settling a vexatious qiiestion. The compromise measures of 1850, in providing for the organiza- tion of New Mexico and Utah as Territories with- out any reference to slaverv. would seem to have been the first recognition of the principle, althougli, on account of the evasive language used, it is diffi- cult to say whether popular sovereignty was a feature of the bill or hot. In the later discussions the Southern Democrats claimed that it was not, while Stephen A. Douglas, the great champion of the new theory, asserted that it was. In 18.54 the Kansas-Nebraska Bill (q.v. ) expressly adopted the principle as the basis for the government of those Territories. Shortly afterwards the South came to repudiate the doctrine of popular sove- Teigntv as dangerous to slaverv. and put forward the claim that neither Congress nor the Territo- rial aiitliorities could legislate against slavery in the Territories, but that it was their constitution- al duty to protect the right of property in slaves as leeognized by slave States. There is an ohiter dic- tum in the famous Dred Scott case (q.v.) which upholds the Southern contention as far as the na- tional Government is concerned. The contro- versy regarding the question of popular sover- eignty, as involved in the Leeompton Constitu- tion (q.v.) for Kansas, brought about a division between the Douglas Democrats of the North and the more radical Southerners, which eventually developed into the split of 18(iO. With the Civil Yar and the abolition of slav- ery the question lost its significance. POPULATION (ilL. populatio. from popu- hire, to populate, from Lat. populus, people; connected with picnus, full, and ultimately with Eng. full). The number of living human beings. This article will present the leading facts re- garding the number of human beings and the number in various classes; reserving for the article Vital Statistics the main facts regard- ing the increase in the number of human beings. The distinction between population and vital sta- tistics corresponds closely to the distinction be- tween the main sources of information, namely, the census reports and registration reports. In census reports the element of time is either dis- regarded or reduced to a minimum and an at- tempt is made to photograph certain aspects of the population as the,v were on the census day. Hegistration reports are recoids of certain de- fined events within a population group, such as births and deaths, marriages and divorces, im- migration and emigration, legal punishments for crimes, the record being made at or soon after the event recorded. Inferences regarding the increase of a population in time may be derived from comparing a series of censuses ; but the census cannot give the detailed information about increase or decrease derivable from registration reports. The population is ascertained by many methods of difi'erent degrees of accuracy. Houses are counted and multiplied by the estimated number of persons to a house. The population of school age or the number of names in a city directory is counted and the result multiplied l).v a num- ber representing the ratio that the class is be- lieved to bear to the total population. But in most cases such methods result in great uncer- tainty and error, and have gradually been super- seded in civilized countries by the slow, expen- sive, but far more accurate method of a complete count or census. At the present time two- thirds of the population of the earth has been thus counted. The extension of repre- sentative institutions has necessarily extended the census as an accurate means of counting jiopulation, for imder a representative s.ystem political power is distributed in some measure according to numbers. It is not surprising, therefore, that the United States, as a gieat modern country with representative institu- tions, was the first to count its population by a census. The population of the earth's surface at the beginning of the twentieth centurv was probably about 1.500.000.000. About nine-tenths of this population is included within the jurisdiction of eleven of the principal States of the world. The distribution in round numbers is as follows, the figures embracing all colonial possessions and dependencies of every kind (some merely nom- inal) :
