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 PONTMARTIN POODLE in the work. A part of the Appian way was restored, the road was continued across the marshes, and the canal attributed to Augustus was again opened under the name of Linea Pia. It has been found almost impossible, however, to reclaim the waste land, although there is a small portion under cultivation, and large pastures abound, where horses, cattle, and buffaloes graze. PO.vni.ilM'l, Armand Augustin Joseph Marie de, a French author, born in Avignon, July 16, 1811. He studied at the college Saint Louis in Paris, and early became known for his ultra- montane and controversial zeal as a writer for the Revue des Deux Mondes. His various se- ries of Causeries litter aires and Causeries du Samedi comprise 19 volumes (1854-'74). He also published Contes et nouvelles (1853), the best being Aurelie ; Lefond de la coupe (1855) ; and several novels, including Memoires cTun notaire (3 vols., 1849 ; new ed., 1869), and La Jin du proces (1855 ; new ed., 1869). In 1872 appeared his Le filleul de Beaumarchais. His reputation rests on his critical writings. PONTOISE (anc. Briva Isarce), a town of France, in the department of Seine-et-Oise, at the junction of the Oise and the Viosne, 18 m. N. W. of Paris; pop. in 1872, 6,480. It is built in the shape of an amphitheatre extending from the Oise to the top of a rocky eminence, and contains handsome public buildings and a pub- lic park. An annual fair is held here Nov. 11 -13, on a plain near the bank of the Oise. There is a trade in grain, flour, and cattle. Chemical products and hosiery are made. Pontoise was formerly fortified, and was the capital of the Vexin Francais, with counts of its own. It was often the residence of the Oapetian kings. During the mediaeval wars it was twice taken by the English. POiYTOPPIDAN, Erik, a Danish author, born in Aarhuus, Aug. 24, 1698, died in Bergen, Norway, Dec. 20, 1764. He graduated in di- vinity at the university of Copenhagen, -be- came professor of theology there in 1738, and bishop of Bergen in 1747. In 1730 he pub- lished a description of the geography, natural history, antiquities, &c., of Denmark, under the title of Theatrum Danice Veteris et Moder- nce, and afterward treated the same subjects more fully in his Danske Atlas, eller Kongeri- get Dcenemarlc (7 vols. 4to, Copenhagen, 1763- '74). Among his other works are: Gesta et Vestigia Danorum extra Daniam (3 vols., Leip- sic, 1740-'41); Annales Ecclesm Danicce (4 vols., 1741-'52) ; Glossnrium Norvegicum (Ber- gen, 1749) ; and Detforste Fors&g paa Norges naturlige Historic (1752), which has been trans- lated into English. He was the first to give an account of the kraken. PONTORMO, II (JACOPO CARKTJCCI), an Italian painter, born at Pontormo, Tuscany, in 1493, died in 1558. A pupil of Andrea del Sarto, he won the commendations of Michel Angelo and Raphael, whereupon his master from jeal- ousy expelled him from his studio. But he did not fulfil the hopes of his admirers, and left but few historical pictures, the most valu- able of which is the " Visitation of our Lady," in the Annunziata at Florence. In portraiture his works rank as masterpieces. PONTOTOC, a N. county of Mississippi, wa- tered by the Tallahatchee and Yalabusha and branches of the Tombigbee river ; area, about 600 sq. m. ; pop. in 1870, 12,525, of whom 3,012 were colored. It has an undulating sur- face and fertile soil. The chief productions in 1870 were 13,057 bushels of wheat, 371,719 of Indian corn, 31,408 of sweet potatoes, 4,524 bales of cotton, and 16,923 gallons of molasses. There were 2,229 horses, 1,533 mules and asses, 4,151 milch cows, 892 working oxen. 4,791 other cattle, 6,999 sheep, and 23,525 swine. Capital, Pontotoc. PONTUS, an ancient division of Asia Minor, so named from its situation on the S. shore of the Pontus Euxinus, bounded N. E. by Colchis, S. E. and S. by Armenia Minor, Cappadocia, and Galatia, and W. by the river Halys, which separated it from Paphlagonia. The Iris and the Thermodon flowed through it into the Eux- ine. Among its towns were Trapezus (Tre- bizond), Cerasus, Cotyora, Polemonium, and Amisus, all on the coast. It was mountainous in the east, where the Chalybes had famous iron mines, and very fertile in the west and along the coast. The fruit of Pontus was re- nowned. It was the home of the Amazons, was visited by the Argonauts, and Greek colo- nies were established upon its coast as early as the 7th century B. C. Originally and under the Persians it formed part of Cappadocia. In the early part of the 4th century B. C. Ario- barzanes, the son of Mithridates, a Cappado- cian satrap, rebelled, and made himself king of the coastland, which was henceforward des- ignated as Pontus by Greek writers. In the reign of his son Mithridates the kingdom ac- quired political importance, and after the death of Alexander secured its independence. Un- der Mithridates the Great (VI., 120-63 B. C.) it was subdued by the Romans and dismem- bered (see MITHRIDATES), the eastern part be- ing given again to its earlier savage owners, and the western annexed to Bithynia. A por- tion was subsequently made a sovereignty un- der Polemo, and the whole became a Roman province, A. D. 67. It is now embraced in the Turkish vilayets of Trebizond and Sivas. PONTUS EUXINUS. See BLACK SEA. POODLE (canis aquaticus), the barbet 01 water dog. It has a high and round he* large cavity for the brain, expanded front sinuses, long ears, compact body, and rath- er short legs. The hair is long, curly, blacl white, or the two mixed, sometimes with fous marks. The large variety stands 18 20 in. high at the shoulders, and has coai curled hair, often shaved to represent a min- iature lion; the muzzle is short and promi- nent, and the tail is rather short and some- what erect. It has long been known to fish-