Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume XIII.djvu/653

 PODLACHIA duced Matthias Corvinus, king of Hungary, to take up arms against Podiebrad, his father-in- law, and the Catholics of Bohemia were also excited to insurrection. Podiebrad recalled the exiled heretics, suppressed the domestic insur- rection, drove back the Hungarians who had invaded his territory, and negotiated an armis- tice with Matthias in April, 1469. Matthias soon broke his agreement, and was chosen king of Bohemia by a mock diet held at Olmtitz ; but Podiebrad succeeded in having Ladislas, eldest son of Casimir IV., king of Poland, of the house of Jagellon, chosen as his successor. The war continued until an armistice was agreed upon in July, 1470 ; and on Podiebrjid's death in 1471 he was succeeded by Ladislas, while his two sons, Victorin and Henry, became Bohemian nobles. See Jordan, Das Konigihum Georges von Podiebrad (Leipsic, 1861). PODLACHIA (Pol. Podlesie). See SIEDLCE. PODOLIA, formerly a province of Poland, and now a government of Russia, bordering on Volhynia, Kiev, Kherson, Bessarabia, and Austrian Galicia; area, 16,224 sq. m. ; pop. in 1870, 1,933,188. Kamenetz, or Kamieniec, the capital, is the only town of importance. An offset of the Carpathian mountains enters Podolia from Galicia and traverses it in a S. E. direction, but in no part exceeds 500 ft. above the sea. The surface in other direc- tions is flat, with a general slope S. E. The principal rivers are the Dniester and Bog ; the former constitutes the S. W. boundary, and the latter rises on the N. frontier and flows S. E. There are no large lakes, but small ones are numerous in the western part. The most valuable minerals are saltpetre, lime- stone, and alabaster. The climate is mild, and the soil particularly fertile. Grain, potatoes, hemp, flax, and tobacco are raised in abun- dance ; and vines and mulberries succeed well. Large numbers of horses and cattle are reared. The inhabitants belong chiefly to the Greek church, but there are considerable numbers of Roman Catholics (12 per cent.) and Jews (11 per cent.), and some Protestants and Mo- hammedans. There are few schools. Podolia became a province of Russia by the second partition of Poland (1793). PODOPHYLLUM (Gr. TTOVC, a foot, and (pMov, a leaf, its leaves bearing some resemblance to the foot of some web-footed animal), the bo- tanical name of a plant of the order lerleri- dacece, generally called May apple or mandrake, but in some localities known as wild lemon, Indian apple, and raccoon berry. It is a per- ennial herb, with a brownish creeping root- stock several feet long and about one fourth of an inch thick ; from this arise both flower- less and flowering stems about a foot high, the flowerless bearing a single round seven- to nine- lobed leaf, fixed to the stalk by its centre and 6 in. or more across ; leaves of this kind are called peltate, and the name of the species, P. peltatum, is due to this character. The flow- ering stems fork above, and bear two one- POE 633 sided leaves with the stalk fixed near the inner edge ; from the fork there hangs a white nod- ding flower, about 2 in. broad; it has three green bractlets at base, and six sepals, all of which fall early ; the obovate petals are six to nine, in two or three series ; the stamens twice as many as the petals ; the pistil consists of an egg-shaped ovary with a sessile stigma, and be- comes in fruit a pulpy berry one or two inches long, ovoid, and of a lemon-yellow color with some brownish spots ; the numerous seeds are enclosed in a pulp, and the fruit, while it is much liked by some, is to others unpleasant. Our species is found in rich woodlands and marshy grounds from Canada to Louisiana; only one other species is known, which is a native of the Himalaya mountains. Its chief importance is as a drug, its use having rapidly increased with the last 20 years. The dried root has a narcotic and disagreeable odor and Mandrake or May Apple (Podophyllum peltatum). an acrid, nauseous taste. It is a powerful pur- gative, in the dose of 20 grains. The resin of podophyllum, or podophylline as it is often incorrectly called, when prepared by precipi- tating a concentrated tincture with water, is a brownish powder, and is comparatively pure. The officinal resin consists of two parts, one soluble and the other insoluble in ether. It is much used in medicine as a cathartic, in the dose of from a quarter of a grain to one grain. In larger doses it is apt to produce nausea and vomiting. It exerts its action principally on the upper part of the small intestines, and is thought by many to promote the action of the liver. It is used chiefly in derangements of the latter organ and in habitual constipation. POE, Edgar Allan, an American author, born in Boston, Jan. 19, 1809, died in Baltimore, Oct. 7, 1849. His father was the son of a dis- tinguished officer in the revolutionary army, and was educated for the law ; but becoming enamored of a beautiful English actress named Elizabeth Arnold, he married her, abandoned