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POTTSTOWN 330 POULPE acid. Sculptures also are executed by casting in molds in various kinds of porcelain, called statuary porcelain, Parian, Carrara, etc. The most celelirated ware of different times and countries are distinguished by distinctive names; as, Majolica-ware, Sevres, Chelsea, Palissy, etc.; and of these, the latter — the work of Bernard de Palissy, who lived in the 16th century — deserves some special attention. Pa- lissy, having resolved to discover a method of enameling stoneware, suc- ceeded, after 16 years' efforts, and pro- ceeded to manufacture pottery charac- terized by a peculiar style and many singular qualities. It is not decorated with flat painting, but with figures and ornaments, which are generally pure in form, and are all executed in relief and colored. The most remarkable of the works of Palissy are his "Pieces rus- tiques," a designation given by him to dishes ornamented with fishes, snakes, frogs, crayfish, lizards, shells, and plants, quite true to nature in form and color. In the United States great progress has been made in producing fine pottery. Bennington, Vt, and Baltimore, Md., are famous for flint enameled ware, POTTSTOWN, a borough in Mont- gomery CO., Pa.; on the Schuylkill river, the Schuylkill canal, and the Pennsyl- vania, and the Philadelphia and Reading railroads; 40 miles N. W. of Philadel- phia. It is the trade center of a large agricultural region. Here are a high school, public hospital. Hill School, street railroad and electric light plants. Na- tional bank, and daily and weekly news- papers. The borough has^ rolling mills, furnaces, foundries, railroad repair shops, and manufactories of iron cast- ings, steel wheels, metallic axles, car- riages, nails, boilers, agricultural imple- ments, cigars, etc. Pop. (1910) 15,599; (1920) 17,431. POTTSVILLE, a borough and county- seat of Schuylkill co., Pa. ; on the Schuyl- kill river, and on the Philadelphia and Reading, the People's, the Pennsylvania, and the Lehigh Valley railroads; 93 miles N. W. of Philadelphia. Here are the court house and county jail, high school, public hospital, parks, street rail- roads, electric lights, waterworks. Na- tional and State hanks, and several daily and weekly newspapers. The industries include important anthracite coal mines, large steel works, planing mills, a silk mill, and the shops of the Philadelphia and Reading Coal and Iron Company. Pop. (1910) 20,236; (1920) 21,876. POUCHED MOUSE, Dipodomys, a genus of small, lean, long-tailed, agile rodents, with cheek-pouches. The best known species is D. philippii, from the waste regions of California, where it seems to find a sparse diet of seeds and roots, and in the dry season no drink but dew. POUCHED RAT, Pseudostoma ov Geomys, a genus of plump, short-tailed, hamster-like rodents, with cheek pouches which open externally and are used as receptacles for food. One of the best known species is P. or G. bursarius, sometimes called "gopher." Like the other species it is a native of North America, and inhabits the territory E. of the Rocky Mountains and W. of the Mississippi. It is a burrower like the mole, active in warm weather, hibernat- ing in the cold, sluggish above ground. Being voracious gnawers, the pouched rats do much damage to the roots of trees and crops. POUGHKEEPSIE, a city and county- seat of Dutchess co., N. Y. ; on the Hud- son river, and the Central New England, and the New York Central and Hudson River railroads; 75 miles N. of New York. It has daily steamboat connec- tion with New York and Albany. The Hudson is here crossed by a celebrated cantilever bridge which was completed in 1889 at a cost of nearly $5,000,000. It is 7,100 feet long, has three canti- levers, and rests on six massive piers. Poughkeepsie is the seat of Vassar College (q. v.). Here are Riverview Military Academy, and other private educational institutions, parks, public library, orphan asylum, Home for Old Men, Home for Old Women, General Hos* pital, Hudson River Hospital for the In- sane, court house, Home for the Friend- less, National and private banks, electric lights and street railroads, and daily and weekly periodicals. Poughkeepsie has manufactories of iron, machinery, boots and shoes, leather, carpets, glass, shirts, silk goods, clothing, flour, earthenware, drugs, etc. The city was settled by the Dutch in 1698; during the Revolution it was the capital of New York. The State convention to ratify the National Consti- tution met here in 1788. Pop. (1910) 27,936; (1920) 35,000. POULPE, a genus of Cephalopoda, of the order Dibranchiata, having eight feet or arms, nearly equal, united at the base by a membrane, and very long in propor- tion to the body. The arms_ are used for swimming in water, creeping on land, and seizing prey. Poulpes swim by con- tractions of the muscular web of the body, which extends upon the arms. Like other cephalopods, when alarmed or annoyed, they discharge an inky fluid.