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relationship," brothers with their wives, and sisters with their | husbands, possessing each other in common." There also, especially in the case of chiefs and chieftainesses, brothers and sisters sometimes intermarried.. But these customs did not prevail in other groups. It is almost certain that they did not prevail in Hawaii in early times, but that they were the result of that deterioration in the race which their traditions and many of their customs indicate.1 Women have always occupied a relatively high position among the Polynesians. In most groups they have great influence and are treated with much respect. In some cases they take hereditary titles and hold high offices. As among their congeners in Madagascar, so also in parts of Polynesia, there may be a queen or a chieftainess in her own right; and a woman in high position will command as much respect, and will exercise as great authority, as a man would in the same position. Everywhere infanticide prevailed; in some of the smaller islands it was regulated by law in order to prevent over-population. It was also a very common practice to destroy the foetus, but parents were affectionate towards their children. The practice of adopting children was, and still is, common. Often there is an exchange made between members of the same clan; but sometimes there is adoption from without. Tattooing generally prevailed among the men, different patterns being followed in different groups of islands. In some a larger portion of the body is tattooed than in others. A youth was considered to be in his minority until he was tattooed, and in former times he would have no chance of marrying until he had, by submitting to this process, proved himself to be a man. Puberty in the other sex was generally marked by feasting, or some other demonstration, among the female friends. Old age is generally honoured. Often an inferior chief will give up his title to a younger man, yet he himself will lose but little by so doing. The neglect of aged persons is extremely rare. Property belonging to a clan is held in common. Each clan usually possesses land, and over this no one member has an exclusive right, but all have an equal right to use it. The chief or recognized head of the clan or section alone can properly dispose of it or assign its use for a time to an outsider; and even he is expected to obtain the consent of the heads of families before he alienates the property. Thus land is handed down through successive generations under the nominal control of the recognized head of the clan. Changes have been made in many islands in this respect; but there can be little reason to doubt that the joint ownership of property in clans was common among the entire race in former times.

In early times the head of each clan was supreme among his own people, but in all matters he had associated with him the principal men or heads of families in the clan. Their united authority extended over all the members and the possessions of the clan, and they were independent of every other clan. There are in some places vestiges of this primitive state of society still remaining; the transition to a limited or to a despotic monarchy may be traced by means of the ancient legends in some islands, and in others it is a matter of recent history. One clan being more numerous and stronger than another, and its chief being ambitious, it is easy to see how by conquering a neighbouring clan he increased the importance of his clan and extended his own power. In some of the islands this transition process has hardly yet developed into an absolute monarchy. We may even see two or three stages of the progress. In one instance a certain clan has the right to nominate the principal chief over an entire district; though it is known as the ruling clan, its rule is mainly confined to this nomination, and to decision for or against war. In all other respects the district enjoys the privilege of self-government. In another case the nominal king over a district, or over an entire island, can be elected only from among the members of a certain clan, the monarchy being elective within that alone; but this king has little authority. In other cases a more despotic monarchy has grown up-the prowess of one man leading to the subjugation of other clans. Even in this case the chiefs or 'Morgan has founded one of his forms of family-the consanguine on the supposed existence in former times among the Malays and Polynesians of the custom of intermarriage of brothers and sisters, own and collateral, in a group." All the evidence he finds in support of this is (1) the existence of the custom above mentioned in Hawaii; and (2) the absence of special terms for the relationship of uncle, aunt and cousin, this indicating, he thinks, that these were regarded as fathers, mothers, brothers and sisters. He admits that "the usages with respect to marriage which prevailed when the system was formed may not prevail at the present time." But he adds, "To sustain the deduction it is not necessary that they should (Ancient Society, p. 408). Morgan has given special terms for grandfather and grandmother, because it would prove too much to show that the people had no grandfathers, &c. But these terms are used for ancestors of any generation.. The terms used for grandchildren, in like manner, are used for any generation of descendants. He says (p. 406) the terms of husband and wife are used in common by a group of sisters or brothers, but the fact is that the words used for husband and wife in Hawaii simply mean male and female. In Some islands there are terms used for wife in the most strict sense. The word wife is not used more exclusively among us than among some Polynesian people.

heads of clans sometimes still hold their property and rule over their
own people, only rendering a kind of feudal service and paying
tribute to the king.
The Polynesians are exceedingly fond of rank and of titles. Much
deference is paid to chiefs and to persons of rank; and special
terms are generally employed in addressing these. Every part of a
chief's body and all his belongings have names different from those
employed for common people. The grade of rank which a person
occupies will often be indicated by the language in which he is
addressed. Thus, in Samoa there are four different terms for to
come: sau is for a common man; maliu mai is a respectful term
for a person without a title; susu mai for a titled chief; and afio
mai for a member of the royal family. In addressing chicís, or
others to whom one wishes to be respectful, the singular number
of the personal pronoun is rarely used; the dual is employed instead,
the dual of dignity or of respect.

Offices and titles are seldom hereditary in our sense of the term, as descending from father to son. They are rather elective within the limits of the clan, or the division of a clan. A common practice is for the holder of a high title to nominate a successor; and his nomination is generally confirmed by the chiefs, or heads of households, with whom the right of election rests. In ancient times the authority of a high chief or king did not usually extend to any details of government. But in Hawaii there are traditions of a wise king who interested himself in promoting the social well-being of the people, and made good laws for their guidance. Usually all matters affecting a district or an island were settled by the chiefs of the district, while those of a single village were settled by a council consisting of the chiefs and heads of households in the village. In some islands each clan, or each village, would feel itself at liberty to make war on another clan or village without consulting the views of any higher authority. Indeed the rule was for each clan or district to settle its own affairs. In the case of offences against individuals, either the person injured, or another member of his clan, would avenge the injury done. For most offences there was some generally recognized punishment-such as death for murder or adultery; but often vengeance would fall upon another person instead of the wrongdoer. In avenging wrong, a member of the village or of the clan to which the offender belonged, would serve equally well to satisfy their ideas of justice if the culprit himself could not be easily reached. Sometimes all the members of the family, or of a village, to which a culprit belonged would flee from their homes and take refuge in another village, or seek the protection of a powerful chief. In some places, in cases of crime, the members of the family or village would convey the culprit bound-sometimes even carrying him like a pig that is to be killed-and place him with apologies before those against whom he had transgressed. The ignominy of such a proceeding was generally considered sufficient atonement for the gravest offences. There were slaves in many islands, either persons conquered in war, or those who had been condemned to lose their personal liberty on account of evil conduct. Pottery was not manufactured by the Polynesians: a fact which, it has been argued, goes far to prove the remoteness of the Polynesian migration from the Malay Archipelago, where there is not a single tribe which does not possess the art. It may, however, be that, moving among small coral islands for scores of generations and thus without materials, they lost the art. Those of them who possessed pottery obtained it from the Papuans. In most of their manufactures they were, however, in advance of the Papuans. They made use of the vegetable fibres abounding in the islands, the women manufacturing cloth, chiefly from the bark of the paper mulberry (Morus papyrifera), but also in some islands from the bark of the bread-fruit tree and the hibiscus. This in former times furnished them with most of their clothing. They also made various kinds of mats, baskets and fans from the leaves of the pan. danus, the bark of the hibiscus, from species of böhmeria or other Urticaceous plants. Some of their mats are very beautifully made, and in some islands they are the most valuable property the people possess. The people also use the various fibre-producing plants for the manufacture of ropes, coarse string and fine cord, and for making fishing nets. The nets are often very large, and are netted with a needle and mesh as in hand-netting among ourselves.

The Polynesians, who have always been entirely without metals, usually confined to certain families. The large canoes in which they are clever workers in wood. Canoe and house building are trades formerly made long voyages are no longer built, but various kinds of smaller canoes are made, from the commonest, which is simply a hollowed-out tree cut into form, to the finely shaped one built upon a keel, the joints of the various pieces being nicely fitted, and the whole stitched together with cord made from the husk of coconuts. Some of the larger canoes are ornamented with rude carving; and in some islands they are somewhat elaborately decorated with inlaid mother-of-pearl. The houses are generally well and elaborately made, but nearly all the ornamentation is put on the inside of

the roof.

They manufacture several wooden utensils for household use,

"See a remarkable example in Fornander's Account of the Polynesian Race, ü. 89.

such as dishes or deep bowls, head-rests and stools. Having no metal or other vessels in which to boil water, all cooking is done by baking, generally in holes in the ground. They also make wooden gongs, or drums. They used to make wooden fishhooks, clubs, spears and bows. They still make wooden fishspears and carved and inlaid combs. They employ the bamboo for making druins and flutes. Formerly knives were made of bamboo, which is still sometimes used for that purpose. In the manufacture of these things they employed adzes made of stone, shell or hard wood, and a wooden drill pointed with stone, shell or bone. They made mother-of-pearl fishhooks, and they still use a part of those old hooks-or artificial bait-in combination with steel hooks, the native-made portion being generally shaped like a small fish. For water-vessels, &c., they employ gourds and large coco-nut shells, in preparing which they pour in water and allow the pulp or the kernel to decay, so that it may be removed without breaking the rind or shell. Their drinking cups are made of half a coco-nut shell. Sharks' teeth, shells and bamboo were formerly generally used as cutting instruments for shaving and surgical operations. They employ vegetable dyes for painting their bark-cloth, calabashes, &c. In some islands they also use a red earth for this purpose. Their cloth is generally ornamented with geometrical patterns. Any drawings of animals, &c., which they make are exceedingly inartistic, and no attempt is made at perspective. Their musical instruments are few and rude -consisting of the drums and flutes already mentioned, and shell trumpets.

The Polynesians were all polytheists. Without doubt many of their gods are deified men; but it is clear that some are the forces of Nature personified, while others appear to represent human passions which have become identified with particular persons who have an existence in their historical myths. But the conception which they had of Tangaloa (Taaroa and Kanaloa in some islands) is of a higher order. Among the Tahitians he was regarded as "the first and principal god, uncreated and existing from the beginning, or from the time he emerged from po, or the world of darkness." "He was said to be the father of all the gods, and creator of all things, yet was scarcely reckoned an object of worship." Dr Turner says, "the unrestricted, or unconditioned, may fairly be regarded as the name of this Samoan Jupiter."

The worship of certain of the great gods was common to all the people in a group of islands. Others were gods of villages or of families, while others were gods of individuals. The gods of clans were probably the spirits of the ancestors in their own line. In some islands, when the birth of a child was expected, the aid of the gods of the family was invoked, beginning with the god of the father. The god prayed to at the instant of birth became the god of the child. In other places the name of the child's god was declared when the umbilical cord was severed. The gods were supposed to dwell in various animals, in trees, or even in inanimate objects, as a stone, a shell, &c. In some islands idols bearing more or less resemblance to the human shape were made. But in all cases the material objects were regarded simply as the abodes of the immaterial spirits

of the gods.

Their temples were either national, for a single village, or for the god of a family. They were sometimes large stone enclosures (marae), sometimes a grove, or a house. The principal priests were a particular order, the priesthood being hereditary. In some cases, however, the father of a family was priest in his own household and presented offerings and prayers to the family god.

In some islands human sacrifices were of frequent occurrence; in others they were offered only on very rare and exceptional occasions, when the demand was made by the priests for something specially valuable. The usual offerings to the gods were food. The system of taboo was connected with their religious rites. There were two ways by which things might become taboo: (1) by contact with anything belonging to the god, as his visible representation or his priest. Probably it was thought that a portion of the sacred essence of the god, or of a sacred person, was directly communicable to objects which they touched. (2) Things were made taboo by being dedicated to the god; and it is this form of taboo which is still kept up. If, e.g., any one wishes to preserve his coco-nuts from being taken, he will put something upon the trees to indicate that they are sacred or dedicated. They cannot then be used until the taboo is removed. Disease and death were often connected with the violation of taboo, Disease was the offended gods thus punishing the offenders. generally attributed to the anger of the gods. Hence offerings, &c., were made to appease their anger. The first-fruits of a crop were usually dedicated to the gods to prevent them from being angry; and new canoes, fishing-nets, &c., were dedicated by prayers and offerings, in order that the gods might be propitious to their owners in their use.

The following books may be consulted on this subject: Rev. W. W. Gill's Myths and Songs from the South Pacific; Dr Turner's Samoa; and Mr Shortland's Maori Religion and Mythology; Sir George Grey, Polynesian Mythology..

2

Polynesian Researches i. 323.

Tahitian Dictionary.

• Samoa, p. 52.

The Polynesians invariably believe in the existence of the spirit of man after the death of the body. Their traditions on the condi tion of the dead vary considerably in different groups; yet there is a general agreement upon main points. Death is caused by the departure of the spirit from the body. The region of the dead is subterranean. When the spirit leaves the body it is conveyed by waiting spirits to the abode of spirits. In most islands the place of descent is known. It is generally towards the west. In some traditions there is a distinction between chief and common people in the spirit world. In others all are much alike in condition. Some traditions indicate a marked distinction between the spirits of warriors and those of others: the former go to a place where they are happy and are immortal, while the latter are devoured by the gods and are annihilated. In some, however, the spirits are said to live again after being eaten. Some speak of the abode of spirits as being in darkness; but usually the condition of things is similar to that which exists upon earth. Amongst all the people it is believed that the spirits of the dead are able to revisit the scenes of their earthly life. The visits are generally made in the night, and are often greatly dreaded, especially when there may be any supposed reason for spite on the part of the dead towards living relatives. Some writers have connected Polynesian cannibalism with religion. In the Cook and Society Islands, when a human being was offered as a sacrifice, the priest presented an eye of the victim to the king, who either ate it or pretended to do so. Probably the earliest human sacrifices were the bodies of enemies slain in battle. it was supposed by some that the spirits of the dead were eaten by the gods, the bodies of those slain in battle may have been eaten by their victors in triumph. Mr Shortland appears to think that cannibalism among the Maories of New Zealand may have thus originated. Among the Polynesians generally it appears to have been the practice at times to eat a portion of a slain enemy to make his degradation the greater. But where cannibalism was practised as a means of subsistence, it probably originated in times of actual want, such as may have occurred during the long voyages of the people.

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The Polynesian race has been continuously, and in some places rapidly, decreasing since their first contact with Europeans. Doubts have been thrown on the current statements regarding the rate of decrease, which some good authorities believe to be not so great as is commonly represented. They hold that former estimates of the number of inhabitants in the various insular groups were mere guesswork. Thus it is pointed out that Cook's estimate of 240,000 for the Society Archipelago (Tahiti) was at the time reduced by his associate, Forster, to 150,000, so that the 300,000 credited by him to the Sandwich Islands should also be heavily discounted. That is probably true, and it may be admitted that, as a rule, the early calculations erred on the side of excess. But when full allowance is made for all such exaggerations, the following facts will show that the decrease has been excessive. The Tahitians, 150,000 in 1774, fell from 17,000 in 1880 to 10,300 in 1899; and in this group, while the pure stock appears to be dying out, there is a small increase amongst the half-breeds. When New Zealand was occupied (1840) the Maori were said to number 120,000, and were doubtfully stated to be still 56,000 in 1857; since then the returns of the 1881 and 1891 censuses gave 44,000 and 40,000 respectively. During the last two decades of the 19th century the decrease has been from 30,000 to 17,500 in Tonga; from 11,500 to 8400 in the Cook group; from 8000 to 3600 in Wallis; from 1600 to 100 in Manahiki; from 1400 to 1000 in Tubuai; and from 600 to 100 in Easter Island. A general decline seems thus to be placed beyond doubt, though it may be questioned whether it is to be attributed to a decayed vitality, as some hold, or to external causes, as is the more general opinion. The prevalence of elephantiasis and the occurrence of leprosy, for instance, in Hawaii, would seem to point at least in some places to a racial taint, due perhaps to the unbridled licentiousness of past generations. On the other hand, such a decrease as has occurred in Tahiti and Tonga, can be accounted for only by an accumulation of outward causes, such as wars, massacres, and raidings for the Australian and South American labour markets before this traffic was suppressed or regulated. Other

destructive agencies were epidemics, such especially as measles and small-pox, which swept away 30,000 Fijians in 1875; the introduction of strong drinks, including, besides vile spirits, a most pernicious concoction brewed in Tahiti from oranges; • Maori Religion and Mythology, p. 26.

the too sudden adoption of European clothing, rendering the body supersensitive to changes of temperature; lastly, the action of over-zealous missionaries in suppressing the dances, merrymaking and free joyous life of pagan times, and the preaching of a sombre type of Christianity, with deadening effects on the buoyant temperament of these children of Nature. Most of these abuses have been checked or removed, and the results may perhaps be detected in a less accelerated rate of decline, which no longer proceeds in geometric proportion, and seems even almost arrested in some places, as in Samoa and New Zealand. If such be indeed the case, perhaps the noblest of all primitive races may yet be saved from what at one time seemed inevitable extinction; and the Maori, the Samoans, and Tahitians may, like the Hawaiians, take their place beside the Europeans as free citizens of the various states of which they are now subjects.

AUTHORITIES.-Jean L. A. de Quatrefages, Les Polynésiens et leur migrations (Paris, 1866); G. Turner, Nineteen Years in Polynesia (London, 1861); Pierre Adolphe Lesson, Les Polynésiens, leur origine, &c. (Paris, 1880-1884); Henri Mager, Le Monde polynésien (Paris, 1902); Maximilien Albert H. A. Le Grand, Au pays des Canaques (Paris, 1893); Sir George Grey, Polynesian Mythology (London, 1855); T. A. Moerenhout, Voyages aux iles du Grand Océan, &c. (Paris, 1837); Abraham Fornander, An Account of the Polynesian Race (1878). The account given above reproduces the main descriptive passages in the Rev. S. J. Whitmee's article in the 9th ed. of the Ency. Brit.

POLYP, the name given by zoologists to the form of animal especially characteristic of the subphylum Cnidaria of the Coelentera (q.v.). In the subdivision Anthozoa, comprising the sea-anemones and corals, the individual is always a polyp; in the Hydrozoa, however, the individual may be either a polyp or a medusa (q.v.).

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VA good example of a polyp may be seen in a common sea-anemone or in the well-known fresh-water polyp, Hydra (fig. 1). The body may be roughly compared in structure to a sac, the wall of which is composed of two layers of cells. The outer layer is known technically as the ectoderm, the inner layer as the endoderm. Between ectoderm and endoderm is a supporting layer of structrudong tureless gelatinous substance termed mesogloea, secreted by the cell-layers of the body-wall; the mesogloea may be a very thin layer, or may reach a fair thickness, 19 and then sometimes contains te skeletal elements formed by cells which have migrated into it from the ectoderm. The sac-like body built up in this way is attached bas a my usually to some firm object in amcigilor by its blind end, and bears ein exob bigun qd 18 sorolat the upper end the mouth FIG. 1-Hydra viridis, the tresh surrounded by a circle of water polyp. The animal is attached tentacles. Each tentacle is to the stem of a plant, and is represented with the base of attachment a glove-finger-like outpushuppermost; the mouth, not actually ing of the whole wall of the seen in the drawing, is at the lower sac and contains typically extremity of the body, surrounded a prolongation of its internal by the circle of tentacles. oo, Ovary; cavity, so that primarily the le, testis. do jon quodt „ersdaera

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tentacles are hollow; but in some cases the tentacle may become solid by obliteration of its cavity. The tentacles are organs which serve both for the tactile sense and for the capture of food. By means of the stinging nettle-cells or nematocysts with which the tentacles are thickly covered, living organisms of various kinds are firmly held and at the same time paralysed or killed, and by means of longitudinal muscular fibrils formed from the cells of the ectoderm the

tentacles are contracted and convey the food to the mouth. By means of circularly disposed muscular fibrils formed from the endoderm the tentacles can be protracted or thrust out after contraction. By muscle-fibres belonging to the same two systems the whole body may be retracted or protruded. We can distinguish therefore in the body of a polyp the column, circular or oval in section, forming the trunk, resting on a base or foot and surmounted by the crown of tentacles, which enclose an area termed the peristome, in the centre of which again is the mouth. As a rule there is no other opening to the body except the mouth, but in some cases excretory pores are known to occur in the foot, and pores may occur at the tips of the tentacles. Thus it is seen that a polyp is an animal of very simple structure.

The name polyp was given to these organisms from their supposed resemblance to an octopus (Fr. poulpe), with its circle of writhing arms round the mouth. This comparison, though far-fetched, is certainly more reasonable than the common coral-insects" applied to the polyps which form coral. It cannot be too emphatically stated that a coral-polyp is as far removed in organization from either an octopus or an insect as it is from man himself.

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The external form of the polyp varies greatly in different cases. In the first place the column may be long and slender, or may be, on the contrary, so short in the vertical direction that the body becomes disk-like. The tentacles may number many hundreds or may be very few, in rare cases only one or two, or even absent altogether; they may be long and filamentous, or short and reduced to mere knobs or warts; they may be simple and unbranched, or they may be feathery in pattern. All these types are well illustrated by different species of British seaanemones. The mouth may be level with the surface of the peristome, or may be projecting and trumpet-shaped. As regards internal structure, polyps exhibit two well-marked types of organization, each characteristic of one of the two classes, Hydrozoa and Anthozoa.

It is an almost universal attribute of polyps to possess the to possess power of reproducing themselves non-sexually by the method of budding. This mode of reproduction may be combined with sexual reproductiveness, or may be the sole method by which the polyp produces offspring, in which case the polyp is entirely without sexual organs. In many cases the buds formed do not separate from the parent but remain in continuity with it, thus forming colonies or stocks, which may reach a great size and contain a vast number of individuals. Slight differences in the method of budding produce great variations in the form of the colonies, which may be distinguished in a general way as spreading, massive or arborescent. The reef-building corals are polyp-colonies, strengthened by the formation of a firm skeleton. For further details of colonyformation the reader is referred to the articles ANTHOZOA and HYDROMEDUSAE.

For figures of polyps see P. Gosse, A History of the British SeaAnemones and Corals (London, 1860); A. Andres, "Le Attinie," in Fauna and Flora des Golfes von Neapel, ix. 1 (Leipzig, 1884); G. J. Allman, A Monograph of the Gymnoblastic or Tubularian Hydroids (Ray Society, 1871-1872). (E. A. M.)

POLYPERCHON (incorrectly Polysperchon), one of Alexander's generals, and the successor of Antipater as regent in Macedonia in 319 B.C. He was driven out by Cassander in 317 B.C. (See PHOCION.)

POLYPHEMUS, in Greek mythology, the most famous of the Cyclopes, son of Poseidon and the nymph Thoösa. He dwelt in a cave in the south-west corner of Sicily, and was the owner of large flocks and herds. He was of gigantic stature, with one eye in the middle of his forehead, a consumer of human flesh, without respect for the laws of god or man. Odysseus, having been cast ashore on the coast of Sicily, fell into the hands of Polyphemus, who shut him up with twelve of his companions in his cave, and blocked the entrance with an enormous rock, Odysseus at length succeeded in making the giant drunk, blinded him by plunging a burning stake into his eye while he lay asleep, and with six of his friends (the others having been

devoured by Polyphemus) made his escape by clinging to the bellies of the sheep let out to pasture. Euripides in the Cyclops essentially follows the Homeric account. A later story associates Polyphemus with Galatea (see Acıs).

Homer, Odyssey, ix.; Ovid, Metam. xiii. 749: Theocritus xi. See W. Grimm, Die Sage von Polyphem. (1857); G. R. Holland, in Leipsiger Studien (1884), vii. 139-312.

POLYPODIUM, in botany, a large genus of true ferns (q.v.), widely distributed throughout the world, but specially developed in the tropics. The name is derived from Gr. Toλús, many, and Tódov, a little foot, on account of the foot-like appearance of the rhizome and its branches. The species differ greatly in size and general appearance and in the character of the frond; the sori or groups of spore-cases (sporangia) are borne on the back of the leaf, are globose and naked, that is, are not covered with a membrane (indusium) (see fig. 1). The common polypody (fig. 2) (P. vulgare) is widely diffused in the British Isles, where it is found on walls, banks, trees, &c.; the creeping, densely-scaly rootstock bears deeply pinnately cut fronds, the fertile ones bearing on the back the bright. yellow naked groups of sporangia (sori). It is also known as adder's foot, golden maidenhair and wood-fern, and is the oakfern of the old herbals.

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membrane. A polypus or polypoid tumour may belong to any variety of tumour, either simple or malignant. The most common variety is a polypus of the nose of simple character and easily removed. Polypi are also met with in the ear, larynx, uterus, bladder, vagina, and rectum. (See TUMOUR.)

POLYTECHNIC (Gr. Toλús, many, and Texm, an art), term which may be held to designate any institution formed with a view to encourage or to illustrate various arts and sciences. It has, however, been used with different applications in several European countries. In France the first école polytechnique was founded by the National Convention at the end of the 18th century, as a practical protest against the almost, exclusive devotion to literary and abstract studies in the places of higher learning. The institution is described as one "où l'on instruit les jeunes gens, destinés à entrer dans les écoles spéciales d'artillerie, du génie, des mines, des ponts et chaussées, créé en 1794 sous le nom d'école centrale des travaux publiques, et en 1795 sous celui qu'elle porte aujourd'hui " (Littré). In Germany there are nine technical colleges which, in like manner, have a special and industrial rather than a general educational purpose. In Switzerland the principal educational institution, which is not maintained or administered by the communal authorities, but is non-local and provided by the Federal government, is the Polytechnikum at Zurich. In all the important towns of the Federation there are trade and technical schools of a more or less special character, adapted to the local industries; e.g. schools for silk-weaving, wood-carving, watchmaking, or agriculture. But the Zurich Polytechnikum has a wider and more comprehensive range of work. It is a college designed to give instruction and practical training in those sciences which stand in the closest relation to manufactures and commerce and to skilled industry in general and its work is of university rank.

To the English public the word polytechnic has only recently become familiar, in connexion with some London institutions of an exceptional character. In the reign of William The First IV. there was an institution in London called after Polytechnics the name of his consort-" The Adelaide Gallery "» In England. -and devoted rather to the display of new scientific inventions and curiosities than to research or to the teaching of science. It enjoyed an ephemeral popularity, and was soon imitated by an institution called the Polytechnic in Regent Street, with a somewhat more pretentious programme, a divingbell, electrical and mechanical apparatus, besides occasional illustrated lectures of a popular and more or less recreative character. In the popular mind this institution is inseparably associated with "Professor" Pepper, the author of The Boy's Playbook of Science and of Pepper's Ghost. Both of these institutions, after a few years of success, failed financially; and in 1880 Mr Quintin Hogg, an active and generous philanthropist, purchased the disused building in Regent Street, and reopened it on an altered basis, though still retaining the name of Polytechnic, to which, however, he gave a new significance. He had during sixteen years been singularly successful in gathering together young shopmen and artisans in London in the evenings and on Sunday for religious and social intercourse, and in acquiring their confidence. But by rapid degrees his enterprise, which began as an evangelistic effort, developed into an educational institution of a novel and comprehensive char acter, with classes for the serious study of science, art, and literature, a gymnasium, library, reading circles, laboratories for physics and chemistry, conversation and debating clubs, organized country excursions, swimming, rowing, and natural history societies, a savings bank, and choral singing, besides religious services, open to all the members, though not obligatory for any. The founder, who from the first took the closest personal interest in the students, well describes his own aims: "What we wanted to develop our institute into was a

There are a large number of varieties, differing chiefly in the form and division of the pinnae; var. cambricum (originally found in Wales) has the pinnae themselves deeply cut into narrow segments; var. cornubiense is a very elegant plant with finely-divided fronds; var. cristatum is a handsome variety with fronds forking at the apex and the tips of all the pinnae crested and curled. P. dryopteris, generally known as oakfern, is a very graceful plant with delicate fronds, 6 to 12 in. long, the three main branches of which are themselves pinnately divided; it is found in dry, shady places in mountain districts in Great Britain, but is very rare in Ireland. P. phegopteris (beechfern) is a graceful species with a black, slender root-stock, from which the pinnate fronds rise on long stalks, generally about 12 in. long, including the stalk; it is characterized by having the lower pinnae of the frond deflexed; it is generally distributed in Britain, though not common. Many other species from different parts of the world are known in green-place which should recognize that God had given man more than house cultivation.

POLYPUS, a term signifying a tumour which is attached by a narrow neck to the walls of a cavity lined with mucous

one side to his character, and where we could gratify any reasonable taste, whether athletic, intellectual, spiritual or social. The success of this effort was remarkable. In the first winter

Later

of this

6800 members joined, paying fees of 3s. per term, or 10s. 6d. per year; and the members steadily increased, until in 1900 they reached a total of 15,000 The average daily attendance is 4000; six hundred classes in different grades and subjects are held weekly; and upwards of forty clubs and societies have been formed in connexion with the recreative and social departments. The precedent thus established by private initiative has since been followed in the formation of the public institutions which, under the name of "Polytechnics," have become Institutions so prominent and have exercised such beneficent influence among the working population of London. Class- The principal resources for the foundation and maintenance of these institutions have been derived from two funds-that administered under the City Parochial Charities Act of 1883, and that furnished by the London County Council, at first under the terms of the Local Taxation (Customs and Excise) Act of 1890, and the Technical Instruction Act 1889, but since the 1st of May 1904 under the Education Act 1902, as applied to London by the act of 1903. More detailed reference to these two acts seems to be necessary in this place. The royal commission of inquiry into the parochial charities of London was appointed in 1878, mainly at the instance of Mr James Bryce, and under the presidency of The City Parochial the Duke of Northumberland. Its report appeared Charities in 1880, giving particulars of the income of the Act. parishes, and revealing the fact that the funds had largely outgrown the original purposes of the endowments, which were ill adapted to the modern needs of the class for whose benefit they were intended. The act of parliament of 1883 was designed to give effect to the recommendations of the commissioners. It provided that while five of the largest parishes were to retain the management of their own charitable funds, the endowments of the remaining 107 parishes in the city should be administered by a corporate body, to be entitled "the Trustees of the London Parochial Charities" (otherwise known in relation to the polytechnics as "the Central Governing Body"), this body to include five nominees of the Crown and four of the corporation of London. The remaining members were to be chosen under a subsequent scheme of the charity commission, which added four nominees of the London County Council, two of the Ecclesiastical Commissioners, and one each appointed by the university of London, University College, King's College, the City and Guilds institute, and the governing bodies of the Bishopsgate and the Cripplegate foundations. For the purpose of framing the scheme, a special commissioner, Mr James Anstie, Q.C., was temporarily attached to the charity commission, and it thus became the duty of the commission to prepare a statement of the charity property possessed by the 107 parishes, distinguishing between the secular and the ecclesiastical parts of the endowments. The annual income derived from the ecclesiastical fund was £35,000, and that from the secular portion of the fund £50,000. The scheme assigned capital grants amounting to £155,000 to the provision of open spaces, and £149,500 to various institutions, including free libraries in Bishopsgate and Cripplegate, the People's Palace, the Regent Street and Northampton Institutes, and the Victoria Hall. A capital sum of £49,355 out of the ecclesiastical fund was devoted to the repair of city churches; and the balance of the annual income of this fund, after allowances for certain vested interests, was directed to be paid to the Ecclesiastical Commissioners. This balance has varied by slight increases from year to year, and amounted in 1906 to £20,875. The remaining fund thus set free for secular purposes was by the scheme largely devoted to the erection and maintenance of polytechnic institutions, or "industrial institutes," as they were at first called. It was the opinion of Mr Anstie and his fellow-commissioners that in this way it would be possible to meet one of the most urgent of the intellectual needs of the metropolis, and to render service nearly akin to the original purposes of the obsolete charitable endowments. For the year 1906-1907 the grants made to the polytechnics and kindred institutions (the Working Men's College, College for Working

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39 Women, &c.) by the Central Governing Body amounted to £39,140, and the total amount contributed by the Central Governing Body since its creation amounts to £543,000. The general scope and aims of the institutions thus contemplated by the commissioners are defined in the general regulations for the management of an industrial institute," which are appended as a schedule to the several schemes, and which run as follows:

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A Typical Scheme under the

Act.

The object of this institution is the promotion of the industrial skill, general knowledge, health and well-being of young men and women belonging to the poorer classes by the following means:i. Instruction in

a. The general rules and principles of the arts and sciences applicable to any handicraft, trade or business.

b. The practical application of such general rules and principles in any handicraft trade or business. c. Branches or details of any handicraft, trade or business, facilities for acquiring the knowledge of which cannot usually be obtained in the workshop or other place of business. The classes and lectures shall not be designed or arranged so as to be in substitution for the practical experience of the workshop or place of business, but so as to be supplementary thereto. ii. Instruction suitable for persons intending to emigrate. science, language, literature and general knowledge as may be iii. Instruction in such other branches and subjects of art, approved by the governing body.

iv. Public lectures or courses of lectures, musical and other entertainments and exhibitions. other bodily exercises. v. Instruction and practice in gymnastics, drill, swimming and

vi. Facilities for the formation and meeting of clubs and societies. vii. A library, museum and reading room or rooms.

Within the limits prescribed, the governing body may from time buildings and grounds, including workshops and laboratories suitto time, out of the funds at their disposal, provide and maintain able for all the purposes herein specified, and the necessary furniture, fittings, apparatus, models and books, and may provide or receive by gift or on loan works of art or scientific construction, or objects of interest and curiosity, for the purpose of the institute, and for purpose of temporary exhibition.

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Other provisions in the scheme require: (1) that the educational benefits of the institute shall be available for both sexes equally, but that common rooms, refreshment rooms, gymnasia and swimming-baths may be established separately, under such suitable arrangements as may be approved by the governing body; (2) that the fees and subscriptions shall be so fixed as to place the benefits of the institute within the reach of the poorer classes; (3) that no intoxicating liquors, smoking or gambling shall be allowed in any part of the building; (4) that the buildings, ground and premises shall not be used for any political, denominational or sectarian purpose, although this rule shall not be deemed to prohibit the discussion of political subjects in any debating society approved by the governing body; (5) that no person under the age of sixteen or above twenty-five shall be admitted to membership except on special grounds, and that the number thus specially admitted shall not exceed 5% of the total number of members.

Council.

These and the like provisions have formed the common basis for all the metropolitan polytechnics. In 1890 a large sum was placed by the Local Taxation (Customs and The TechExcise) Act at the disposal of the county and countypical Board borough councils for the general purposes of tech-of the nical education, and in 1893 the London County London Council determined to devote a considerable portion County of this revenue to the further development and sustentation of polytechnics. While the funds granted by the Central Governing Body may be employed in aid of the social and recreative as well as the educational purposes of the various institutes, it is a statutory obligation that the sums contributed by the London County Council should be applied to educational work only.

Dr William Garnett, the educational adviser of the London County Council, has, in a published lecture delivered before the international congress on technical education in June 1897, thus described the conditions under which the council offers financial help to the London polytechnics:

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