Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume XIII.djvu/651

PO or may follow an attack of acute pneumonia. The patient gradually loses flesh and strength ; there is cough with trifling expectoration and no haemoptysis, and slight but irregular fever. The physical signs are dulness on percussion over the affected part, with feeble, harsh, or bronchial respiration, and increased vocal fre- mitus. When it affects the upper lobe of the lung, the diagnosis between chronic pneumo- nia and phthisis is very difficult. The disease is generally fatal. PO (anc. Padus and Eridanus), a river of N". Italy, having its source in Piedmont, in two springs about 6,000 ft. above the sea, near lat. 44 40' 1ST., Ion. 7 E., on the E. side of Monte Yiso, one of the Cottian Alps. It flows E. in a winding and irregular course for about 450 m. across the whole breadth of northern Italy, and enters the Adriatic by a delta, the most important branches of which are the Po della Maestra, Po di Volano, and Po di Primaro, be- tween lat. 44 35' and 45 K, and Ion. 11 55' and 12 30' E. It receives a great number of tributaries both from the Alps and the Apen- nines. The most important of the former are the Dora Riparia, Clusone, Sangone, Stura, Dora Baltea, Sesia, Tanaro (from the south), Ticino, Olona, Adda, Oglio, and Mincio ; and of the latter, the Scrivia, Trebbia, Nura, Ta- ro, Parma, Enza, Secchia, Panaro, and Reno. About 50 towns of considerable size are situ- ated on its banks or those of its tributaries. Boats can ascend to within 60 m. of its source, but the current is so rapid as to render navi- gation difficult. Destructive -floods are liable to happen at all seasons, and the flat country along its lower course renders artificial em- bankments necessary. Below Piacenza dikes have been formed, but extensive inundations occasionally happen. The bed of the Po is continually raised by its deposits, and this ren- ders necessary a corresponding increase in the embankments, so that in many places the sur- face of the river is from 15 to 20 ft. higher than the adjacent country. The breadth of the Po from the Ticino to the delta varies from 400 to 600 yards, and the depth from 12 to 36 ft. Its basin includes an area of about 40,000 sq. m., and comprises the whole of Piedmont and Lombardy, parts of southern or Italian Tyrol, western Venetia, and the Swiss canton of Ti- cino, a part of the canton of Orisons, the for- mer duchies of Parma and Modena, the terri- tories of Bologna, Ferrara, and Ravenna, and a small part of Tuscany. Fish abound, inclu- ding salmon, shad, and sturgeon. POACHING. See GAME LAWS. POCAHONTAS. I. An E. county of West Vir- ginia, intersected by Greenbrier river; area, 710 sq. m. ; pop. in 1870, 4,069, of whom 259 were colored. It has an elevated and moun- tainous surface, being traversed by the Green- brier range toward the west, and bounded S. E. by a main range of the Alleghanies, which separates it from Virginia. A large portion of the land is infertile. The chief productions POCAHONTAS 631 in 1870 were 14,901 bushels of wheat, 6,334 of rye, 46,512 of Indian corn, 22,343 of oats 65,740 Ibs. of butter, 24,137 of wool, and 4,797 tons of hay. There were 1,815 horses, 2,440 milch cows, 5,742 other cattle, 10,824 sheep, and 2,789 swine. Capital, Huntersville. II. A JS". W. county of Iowa, drained by Liz- ard and other small rivers ; area, 625 sq. m. ; pop. in 1870, 1,446. Its surface is rolling, and the soil fertile. It is traversed in the 8. part by the Iowa division of the Illinois Central railroad. The chief productions in 1870 were 18,413 bushels of wheat, 32,860 of Indian corn, 11,015 of oats, 39,265 Ibs. of butter, and 4,864 tons of hay. There were 374 horses, 596 milch cows, 1,280 other cattle, and 803 swine. Capital, Rolfe. POCAHONTAS, an Indian woman of Virginia, daughter of the chief Powhatan, born about 1595, died in Gravesend, England, in March, 1617. She was remarkable for her friendship for the English colonists, a striking evidence of which is said to have been given when she was about 12 years old. Capt. John Smith was taken prisoner, and it was decided to put him to death. His head was laid upon a stone, and the savages were brandishing their clubs preparatory to dashing out his brains, when Pocahontas threw herself upon the captive's body, and her intercession with her father saved his life. Recent researches discredit this story. When Smith returned to Jamestown, he sent presents to Pocahontas and her fa- ther ; and after this, according to Smith's nar- rative, Pocahontas " with her wild train visit- ed Jamestown as freely as her father's habita- tion." In 1609 she passed through the wood in the night to inform Smith of a plot formed by her father to destroy him. In 1612 she was living in the territory of the Indian chief Japazaws. Capt. Samuel Argall bribed Japa- zaws to betray her into his hands, and began to treat with Powhatan for her restitution, but they were unable to agree. While she was on shipboard an attachment sprang up between her and an Englishman named John Rolfe, and the consent of Sir Thomas Dale and of her father having been gained, they were mar- ried at Jamestown in April, 1613. A peace of many years' duration between the English and the Indians was the consequence of this union. Before her marriage she was baptized, receiv- ing the name of Rebecca. In 1616 she accom- panied Dale to England, where she was an ob- ject of great interest to all classes of people, and was presented at court. When Smith vis- ited her in London, after saluting him she turned away her face and hid it in her hands, and remained in this position for two or three hours. She had been taught to believe that he was dead, and there is no doubt that her hus- band was a party to the deception, he probably thinking she would never marry him while Smith was living. Pocahontas prepared to leave England with regret, but she suddenly died as she was on the point of embarking.