Pollock

3777

Polonium

delivered a course of lectures at Columbia
University, New York, under the title 'The
Genius of the Common Law.'

Pollock, Cbanning (1880- ), Ameri-
can author and dramatist, was born in Wash-
ington, D. C. From 1898 to 1900 he wrote
dramatic criticisms for Washington papers,
from 1900 to 1906 acted as a general press
representative for different producers, and
from 1905 to 1919 was dramatic critic for
the Smart Set and the Green Book. He dram-
atized The Pit (1900); The Traitor (1908);
The Inner Shrine (1909). His original p]ays
include: A Game of Hearts (1903); The
Great Adventurer (1905); The Beauty Shop
(1913); A Perfect Lady (1914); The Crowd-
ed Hour (1918); Roads of Destiny (1918);
The Fool (1922) ; The Enemy (1925); and
Mr. Moneypenny (1928). He collaborated in
the production of numerous musical comedies
and has written Stage Stories (1899), Behold
the Man (1901), The Footlights—Fore and
Aft (1911); Synthetic Gentleman (1934)-

Poll Tax, a tax levied on persons, so much
per head. It was levied on strangers resident
in ancient Athens and on certain undesirable
members of the community. In England a
poll tax levied in the reign of Richard n.
gave rise (1381) to the insurrection of Wat
Tyler. This form of taxation is employed in
about half the States of the United States as
an adjunct to the general property tax, or as
a qualification for voting.

Pollux—j8 Geminorum, a solar star of 1.2
magnitude, marking the head of the more
easterly of the Heavenly Twins. It is fifty-
one light years distant, is sixty-three times
more luminous than the sun, and travels with
a tangential speed of 28^2 miles a second.

Polo, a game played with a small wooden
ball and long flexible mallets, the players be-
ing mounted on ponies. It is played on a
level field 900 by 450 ft., with goal posts
at each end. The players on each side, usu-
ally four in number, mounted on specially
trained ponies and provided with wooden
mallets, line up opposite each other in the
center of the field. The object of the game;
as in football, hockey, and similar games, is
to send the ball across the enemy's goal line
The duties of the players are as follows: The
'back/ or No. 4, is to hit the ball well up into
the game, to make long shots at the goal
and, when opportunity occurs, to make runs
His chief occupation is freeing himself from
the close attention he will receive from No. i
of the opposing team. The duties of No. 3
are to prevent his back from being hustled

to hustle the enemy's No. 2, and to hold
himself in readiness to take the back's place
when he is making a run. No. z should be
the most active and most aggressive player,
the fastest and most accurate hitting man on
the team, acting entirely on the defensive.
STo. i is placed so as to worry his opponents,
and in this he is materially aided by his
privilege of playing offside.

The game of polo seems to date back as far
as 600 B.C. and to be of Persian origin. It
;raveled from Persia to Turkey, and also to
Tibet, Kashmir, and Bengal, where it became
the chief sport of the English residents and
planters. The game, at first called 'hockey on
horseback/ was brought to England by the
officers of the Tenth Hussars in 1869. Seven
years later it was introduced into America.
In 1886 a cup was presented to English and
American polo players by the Westchester
Polo Club of Newport, R. I. Since that time
international matches have been frequent.

Polo, Marco (1254-1323), Italian travel-
ler, was born in Venice. His father, Nicolo,
and his uncle, Maffeo, were merchants who
had traveled in the East and been received
by Kublai, the great Mongol khan of Cathay
(China). In 1271 they undertook another
journey} taking young Marco with them. By
the spring of 1275 they were again at the
court of Kublai, who appointed Marco to a
governorship. The party remained in the
East till 1292, and in 1295 once more reached
Venice. In 1298 Marco commanded a vessel
in the war against Genoa and was captured
by the enemy in a sea fight. During his cap-
tivity he dictated the account of his travels
(in French) to a fellow prisoner, Rusticiano
or Rustichello of Pisa. He was released in
1299, became a member of the Grand Council
of Venice, and died there. Polo tells graphi-
cally of the geography, peoples, ethnography,
manners, and customs of various parts of
Asia as he himself observed them. Consult
the admirable Book of Sir Marco Polo edited
by Sir Henry Yule.

Polonaise, a Polish national dance, of slow
movement in three-quarter time, made up oi
a march or promenade. The name is applied
also to the music for such a dance which is
written in a peculiar rhythm used by many
composers, but especially elaborated by
Chopin.

Polonium (Po), a metallic element occur-
ring in pitchblende, and resembling bismuth
in its properties, discovered by Mme. Curie
in 1898. The activity of the metal is i-iooo
part of the initial in five years* time. It ap*