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Rh PUENTEAREAS, a town of north-western Spain in the province of Pontevedra; on the Tuy-Santiago de Compostella railway and on the river Tea, a right-hand tributary of the Miño. Pop. (1900), 13,452. Puenteareas is the chief town of a fertile hilly region, which produces wine, grain and fruit, and contains many cattle farms. The industries of the town itself are porcelain manufactures, tanning and distilling. Close by are the ruins of the castle of Sobroso, which played an important part in the medieval civil wars.

 PUENTE GENIL, or, a town of southern Spain, in the province of Cordova; on the right bank of the river Genil or Jenil, a tributary of the Guadalquivir. Pop. (1900), 12,956. Puente Genil is on the Cordova-Malaga railway, and is the starting-point of the line to Linares. A bridge across the Genil, from which the name of the town is derived, joins the lower part of Puente Genil with the higher, which is built on rising ground extending to the olive groves above. There are several convents, schools for primary and higher education, hospitals, a municipal library and a theatre. The principal industry is the manufacture of olive oil. There are also flour-mills and linen factories. The alhondiga or permanent market is always well stocked with grain, vegetables and livestock.

PUERPERAL FEVER (Lat. puerpera, from puer, child, and parere, to bring forth), the name given to the varieties of general infection, long regarded as a specific disease (" child-bed fever," " lying-in fever "), to which women are subject after parturition, owing to the genital tract being peculiarly exposed, in septic surroundings, to the invasion of pathogenic bacteria (see ). Owing largely to the labours of (q.v.) the grave mortality formerly attending this condition has been enormously reduced; and the necessity of rigid cleanliness in the treatment of lying-in cases is fully recognized. When unhappily this is not the case, and infection takes place, its complications must be treated according to the circumstances, antiseptic douching being employed, or preferably curetting the endometrium with a sharp curette and swabbing with disinfectant solution. In definitely septicaemia cases antistreptococcic serum may be useful.

 PUERTO CABELLO, a city and port of Venezuela, in the state of Carabobo, 20 m. N. by W. of Valencia, the capital of the state. Pop. (1891), 10,145. Puerto Cabello has railway connexions with Valencia and Caracas. It stands on a small peninsula which partly shelters a large bay, called “ Golfo Triste,” by the early Spanish navigators. After La Guayra the harbour is the principal port of Venezuela, and it is provided with mole, wharves, railway communication with the interior, and other facilities for the handling of merchandise and produce. The town and harbour were strongly fortified in colonial times, but the port defences were greatly damaged in 1902 in a bombardment by some German vessels of the allied blockading fleet. Among the exports are coffee, cacao, dyewoods, hides, skins, and copper ores. Puerto Cabello suffered much in the War of Independence, changing hands several times and remaining in the possession of Spain down to 1823.

 PUERTO CORTES ( or ), a seaport on the Atlantic coast of Honduras; in 15° 51' N. and 87° 56' W., at the northern terminus of the transcontinental railway from Fonseca Bay, and near the mouth of the river Chamalecon. Pop. (1905), about 2500. The harbour, an inlet of the Gulf of Honduras, is deep, spacious and secure, and there is a railway pier at which vessels can load and discharge. The exports include bananas, coffee, cabinet woods, rubber, sarsaparilla, livestock, deer skins and gold. The harbour was discovered in 1527 by Gonzalo d'Avila, and the town was founded a few years later by order of Hernando Cortes, from whom it derives its name.

PUERTO DE SANTA MARIA, a seaport of southern Spain, in the province of Cadiz, on the right bank of the river Guadalete, with a station on the railway from Cadiz to Seville. Pop. (1900), 20,120. Puerto de Santa Maria, commonly called “ El Puerto,” is probably the Menesthei Portus of Ptolemy. Its most important industry is the wine trade; there are also glass, liqueur, alcohol, starch and soap manufactures. The principal buildings are a Moorish citadel, a Gothic church founded in the 13th century, a Jesuit college, and a bull-ring which accommodates 12,000 spectators. The town is noted for its bull-fights, that given here in honour of Wellington being the subject of the considerably idealized description in Byron's Childe Harold.

PUERTO PRÍNCIPE (officially, ), a city and the capital of the province of Camagüey in east-central Cuba, about 528 m. E.S.E. of Havana. Pop. (1899), 25,102; (1907), 29,616. In addition to the axis-railway of the island, which connects it with Havana and Santiago, the city has Connexion by a branch line with Nuevitas. Puerto Príncipe lies on a broad plain about equally distant from the north and south coasts of the island, and between two small rivers, the Tinima and Hatibonica. In appearance it is one of the most ancient of Cuban towns. Many of the churches, convents and other ecclesiastical establishments were built in the second half of the 18th century, some in the first half; and some parts of the original cathedral of 1617 have probably survived later alterations and additions. Some of the bridges, too, built in the 18th century, are picturesque. The city hall was begun in 1733. There is a provincial institute for secondary education. The city is the seat of a court of appeal. Puerto Principe is connected by railway, 47 m. long, with its port, Nuevitas (pop. in 1907, 4386), which is on the north side of the island and has a spacious land-locked bay of good depth, approached through a break in the off-lying coral keys and ~a narrow canyon entrance. About 50 m. south of Puerto Principe is Santa Cruz del Sur (pop. in 1907, 1640) on the south coast. Cabinet woods, fruit, tobacco, sugar, wax, honey and cattle products are the leading exports. In 1514 Diego Velasquez founded, on Nuevitas Bay (then known as the Puerto del Principe), a settlement that was moved in 1515 or 1516 to the site of the present city of Puerto Principe (or Santa Maria del Puerto del Principe). From very early times the surrounding plains were given over to horse and cattle-raising. As early as the beginning of the 17th century Havana depended on this supply to furnish the fleets of royal ships which monopolized trade between Spain and America. From very early times, too, a. prosperous clandestine trade was maintained with Providence, the Bahamas, and especially with Curaçoa and Tamaica (after its capture by the English in 1655). After the capital, Puerto Príncipe was the richest prize of the island when it was captured and plundered in 1668 by a force of Frenchmen and Englishmen under Henry Morgan, the buccaneer. In the 18th century land grants and illicit trade led to serious disturbances. In 1775 Nuevitas was resettled, and in 1780 was made a legal (habilitado) port. After the cession of Santo Domingo to France in 1800, the Real Audiencia, the supreme court of the Spanish West Indies, was removed to Puerto Principe. A superior audiencia was created for Havana in 1838, but the older court continued to exist throughout the Spanish period. Puerto Príncipe boasts of being the most Creole of Cuban cities. It was prominent in the war of 1868–78 and in the disaffection preceding and following it.

PUERTO REAL, a seaport of southern Spain, in the province of Cadiz; on the north shore of the inner arm of the Bay of Cadiz and on the Seville-Cadiz railway. Pop. (1900), 10,535. Puerto Real (Port Royal) is the Portus Gaditanus of the Romans, and is probably the most ancient trading-station on the Bay of Cadiz. It owes its modern name to the fact that it was rebuilt in 1488 by Ferdinand and Isabella. The port has good quays, a dry dock of the Spanish Transatlantic Company, connected with their important works, and safe anchorage close to the wharves for the largest steamers. The town has fine squares, and broad, well-built streets, a handsome town-hall, many schools, a bull-ring, several convents, and a 16th-century Gothic parish church, with three naves and a remarkable atrium. There is an active trade in wine and oils; other industries are the construction and repairing of ships, and the production of salt.

 PUFENDORF, SAMUEL (1632–1694), German jurist, was born at Chemnitz, Saxony, on the 8th of January 1632. His father was a Lutheran pastor, and he himself was destined for the ministry. Educated at Grimma, he was sent to study theology