POtriLLET. 328 POUND. elected sub-director and in 1S31 director of the Conservatoire des Arts ct Metiers. In 1849 he resigned liis various positions and devoted himself to the study of physics. Pouillet is best known as the author of a te.xt-book of physics which was translated into German by J. H. J. iliiller, and has passed through many editions; as the inven- tor of the tangent and sine galvanometers: and for his work on solar radiation, in the course of which he invented a form of pyrhelionieter which is still in use. His other work in physics was wide and included such subjects as the measurement of high and low temperatures, measurements of extremely short intervals of time, the latent heat of vapors, etc. POUILLET, EuGixE (18.3.5—). A French lawyer, born in Paris. He was admitted to the bar in ISoS, in ISOl was made secretary of the Conference des Avocats, and subsequently to the lawyer Etienne Blanc, and became known as an authority in patent and copyright law. He ap- peared in nvunerous important cases, and pub- lished a valuable series of works, including such titles as: Traits thcorique ct pratique de la propricte littfmire et artistique (2(1 ed. 1894); Traite thioriquc et pratique des dessius et marques des fabriqucs (3d ed. 1899) ; and Traite thcorique et pratique des brerets d'tncentioih (4th ed. 1899). A collection of his verse appeared in 1872, Poesies nouvelles, under the pseudonym E. Peveril. POUJOULAT, poo'zhoo'Ia', .Jeax Jo.seph Fraxcois I 1800-80). A French historian, born at La Fare ( Bouches du Rhone). He went to Paris in 1826, assisted Michaud in his Bib- liotheque des croisades, and traveled with liim in the East. In the Constituent Assembly of 1848 and the Legislative Assembly of 1849 he was a member of the Eight. His extreme royalism made him hostile alike to Louis Philippe and to Napoleon III., after whose coup d'etilt in 1851 Poujoulat retired from public life. He wrote: Corresfiondance d'Orient (1833-35, with ilich- aud) ; Histoire de Jerusalem (1840-42; 5th ed. 1865) ; nistoi?-c de la rf volution francaise (1848; Gth ed. 1877) : >^oiire>iirs d'histoire et de littira- ture (1808 and 188f)) ; and La Bedouiiie (1835), a novel crowned by the Academy. POULPE. A French name for an octopus, specifically the common species of the !Mediter- rauean (Octopus riil(iaris). The term has ])assed into literature with a rather indefinite ai)plica- tion to any cuttlefish, and sometimes even to polyps — a totally different sort of animal. The most conspicuntis case of its use and misuse was by Victor Hugo in The Toilers of the Sea, where an animal is described under this name which combines characteristics and habits so totally diverse as to make the whole story zoo- logical nonsense. POULTICE (from Lat. puis, Gk. ttAXtoi, pol- ios, porridge), or Catapl^sj[. A soft mass com- posed of substances such as slippery elm bark, meal, flaxseed, bread, herbs, or mustard, for ap- plication to the surface of the body. The mass is mixed with hot water and spread to the thickness of about half an inch upon linen, cheesecloth, or even paper. Poultices may be employed for their heat alone or as vehicles for some thera- peutic agent. In the early stages of an inflam- mation a poultice will assist nature in softening and absorbing inflammatory products, and when the inflammatory process has advanced they will hasten pus formation. Poultices of green soap are often employed before surgical operations to soften and sterilize the skin. Cold poultices, as those of cotton, steeped in water, are sometimes applied to prevent inflammation and mitigate pain. POUL'TON, EnwAED Bagxall (1856—). An English scientist, born at Reading. He w-as edu- cated at Jesus College, Oxford, in 1877-79 was demonstrator under Professor Eolleston in the anatomical department of the University ilu- seum, and from 1880 to 1889 was lecturer in nat- ural science and tutor in Keble College. He was also lecturer in natural science in Jesus College from 1880 to 1888. In 1893 he became Hope ])rofessor of zoiilogj* at Oxford. He was elected fellow of the Royal Society in 1889, was a mem- ber of its council in 1897-99, and in 1898 became a fellow of Jesus College. In 1894 he delivered at Boston, ilass., a course of Lowell lectures on '"The Meaning and L'se of the Colors of Animals." He contributed valuable papers to the Proceed- ings of the Royal Society and of the Zoological Society, to the Quarterly Journal of the Geologi- cal Society and of the Microscopical Society, and the Transactions of the Entomological So- ciety and the Linna?an Society. Among his pub- lished volumes are The Colors of Animals (1890; in the "International Scientific Series") and Charles Daririn and the Theory of Xatural Se- lection (1896). POULTRY (OF. pouleterie, from poulet, poulette, polete, Fr. poulette, pullet, fowl, diminu- tive of poule, from ML. pulla, hen, fem. of Lat. pullus, young animal, chicken; connected with Gk. TTwXos, polos, Goth, fula, OHG. folo, Ger. Fohirn, AS. fola, Eng. foal). A collective name for useful domestic birds. It is sometimes lim- ited to the domesticated gallinaceous birds — ■ chickens, peafowl, guinea-fowl, turkey, guan, and pigeon — but its ordinary use includes ducks, geese, swans, and all other birds reared for eco- nomical purposes. L'nder the influence of domes- tication the group has exhibited a great capacity for variation in externals, as color, combs, etc., and especially in size, as appears when the diminutive bantams are compared with great shanghais, and to this capacity for adaptation the usefulness of fowls is largely due. See Galli?c.e ; Fowl ; and the names of the various birds, as Duck, Turkey, etc. POUND. See Weights and Mea.sut!ES. POUND (variant of pond, from AS. rre-pyn- dan, to shut up, impound). An inclosure for the temporary confinement of stray animals. Where domestic animals stray upon the public high- ways, or upon the land of individuals, any per- son injured thereby may take possession of and 'impound' them, that is detain them in a pound imtil the owner pays him for any damage they may have caused. A pound may be one estab- lished by law, known as a public or common pound ; or where there is no public pound, a per- son on whose land cattle or other domestic beasts stray may confine them in an inclosure on his own land, with the intention of thereby impound- ing them. In the latter case, the person so con- fining the animals is responsible for them. To obtain a release of the beasts the owner must pay him for their keep, as well as for the damage they have done.
