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* PONTMARTIN. 238 PONTITS. tered journalism in 1S30, nnd later became a critic and satirist. His best worlcs were Causet-ies Utteraires (1845-51J): Cauaeries du samcdi (1857-81); iiemaiiies litleraires (18G1-G3); and i<ouvenirs d'uH vieux critiijue (1881-89). In these, in his iU'moires (1885-86), and in his many novels he showed himself a master of a brilliant style. PONTOIS, poN-'twii', Jean Felix Ho.voRf: (l,s:j7 — ). A French lawyer and author, born at Thouars. At the age "of thirty-one he was made a judge of the tribunal at Annecy and was transferred to the tribunal of Algiers in 1874, finally becoming president of the tribunal of Tunis in 1883. In 18SG he became presi- dent of the division of the Court of Appeals at NImes, holding that ofTice for three years. On his resignation he engaged in political work against the Boulangists. and publislied books and articles bearing on political topics. He was hon- ored by membership in the Legion of Honor. One of his best known works is Reforme du code d'in- stniclioii criminfUe et au code pfntil (Paris, 1871). He has published a number of other legal works, and also some dramatical works. PONTOISE, poN'twiiz'. The capital of an arrondissement in the Department of Seinc-et- Oise, France, 17 miles northwest of Paris by rail, at the conlluence of the Oise and the Viorne ( Jlap : France, J 2 ) . The town rises from the Oise in an amphitheatrical form on a hill crowned by the twelfth-century Gothic Church of Saint Maclnii. The Church of Notre Dame, the Hotel de 'ie, museum, and hospital are also notable buildings. There are remains of medi- a'val fortifications. Pontoise has a considerable commerce in grain, and manufactures mill machinery, chemicals, and hosiery. It was the Brira Imrw, a village antedating the Roman Conquest, and was destroyed by the Northmen in the ninth century. It became the capital of the Vexin Framjais, and was the frequent residence of the Capetian kings. Population, in 1901, 8180. PONTOON'. See Bridges and Docks, Mili- TAItV. PONTOPPIDAN, pun-tup'e-nan, Erik Lrn- VIGSEN ( l(i98-174) . A Danish prelate. He was born at Aarhuus. .Jutland, and studied theology as well as geography and history at the Univer- sity of Copenhagen. He was made chaplin to the King in 1735; professor of theology at Copen- hagen in 1738 ; bishop of Bergen. Norway, in 1748 ; chancellor of the University of Copenhagen in 1755. He was a learned man and the leader of the Pietists in Denmark. Among bis numerous publi- cations were: .1 History of ike Church in Den- mark (1741-47) ; A yatural History of Norway (1752-53; Eng. trans., London, 1755); and An Account of the (Icoyraphy. Natural History, aytd AntiquUies of Denmark (7 vols., 1763-81). His explanation of Luther's catechism was used as a text-book for many years in the schools of Den- mark and Norway. PONTOPPIDAN, Henkik (1857— ). A Dan- ish novelist, born in Frcdericia and educated at the LTniversity of Copenliagen. His first book, t^tiikkcde Vin'ger (1881). immediately gained for him a prominent position among the younger Danish writers and marked him as a broad and accurate observer of social and political con- ditions among the Danish peasantry. His earlier writing betrays imitation of the Norwegian nov- elist Kiellanil, bvit in Fra Hytterne (1887), Folkclirsskildringer (1888-90), and the trilogy Muld (1891), Det forjiitlede Land (1892), and Domnicns Day (1895), his originality and narra- tive power are strongly apparent. His other writings include Handinge Menighel (1883) and LandshyhiUeder (1884). PONTOR'MO, Jacopo da (properly Jacopo C'ARrcci) (1494-1557). An Italian painter of the Florentine school, called Pontormo from the place of his birth. He was the [lupil of Leonardo da Vinci, Alliertinelli, Piero di Cosmo, and finally of Andrea del Sarto. The "Visitation," in the Church of the Annunciatimi. Florence, one of his best works, is in the style of the last- named master. But he was also inlluenced at ditl'erent times by DUrer and Michelangelo. There is a "Holy Family" in the Louvre hy him, and a "Joseph and His Brethren," a better work, in the National Gallery, London. Puntor- mo's •excellent jiortraits include those of Andrea del Sarto, in the Berlin Museum ; the portrait of a boy in the National Gallery, London; and that of a gem-cutter in the Louvre, Paris. The portrait of a cardinal in the Borghese collection. Home, attributed to Raphael, is also said to be by him. PONTREMOLI, p6n-tr6m'6-lJ. A town in the Province of Massa e Carrara, Italy, situated on the southern slope of the Apennines, on the Magra, 37 miles southwest of Parma (Map: Italy. D 3). It has a cathedral and an epis- copal library. There are manufactures of silk, oil. and lime, and a trade in wine, fruit, and cattle. There are also marble quarries and mineral springs. Pontremoli was a rep'iblic in the twelfth century. Population (commune), in 1881, 12,601; in 1901, 14.194. PONTBESINA, pon'tra-ze'na. A celebrated mountain resort in the Canton of Grisons, Swit- zerland, situated at an altitude of over 5800 feet on the road to the Bernina Pass. Population, in 1900, 483, chiefly Protestants. PON'TTJS (Lat., from Gk. TUvto^, I'ontos). The ancient name of a district in the northeast of Asia Minor, bordering on the Pontus Euxinus (whence its name), and extending from the river Halys (now Kizil Irniak) in the west to the frontiers of Colchis and Armenia, a short dis- tance beyond the modern Batum, in the east. Its southern limits were the ranges of Anti-Taurus and Paryadres, so that it corresponded pretty nearly to the modern ])rovinces of Trebizond and Sivas. On the east and south Pontus is mountainous, but along the coast there arc large and fertile i)lains which in ancient times pro- duced, and indeed still produce, abundance of grain, fruits, and timber. Game, according to Strabo. who was a native of Amasia, was also plentiful. Apiculture was common, and honey and yax were among the chief articles of com- merce. Iron was the principal mineral. Besides the Halys at the ^yest. the chief rivers were the Iris and its tributary, the Lycus, and at the east the Acampsis. Small, but famous from its association with the Amazons, was the Ther- modon. Pontus was not au ethnological, but purely a geographical, division. The name does not occur before the fourth century B.C., and is not coninion