Pottery

3809

Poultry

moulding, drying, and firing. The care of
preparation increases as the grade of the ware
rises, and in glazed wares a second firing is
also necessary if the body must be burned be-
fore the glaze is applied.

Firing is the final and most important step
in the making of pottery for on it depends
much of the quality of the resulting object.
Pottery kilns are .of three general classes: bis-
cuit, glost, and enamel. The biscuit kilns are
those in which the clay is changed to 'biscuit.'
They reach a very high temperature, from 2,-
ooo to 2,500° F. The glost or glazing kiln is
similar in construction to the biscuit kiln, but
usually smaller and the heat is less intense.
Whiteware and porcelain are often elaborate-
ly decorated, either under or over the glaze,
but the style of decoration most often seen is
printwork. Modern ceramics, from 1935 to
1937, has been confined for the most part to
work on china. The Japanese have repro-
duced many of the old shapes and patterns
still popular in cheap wares, and American
producers of quality china have put on the
market fine earthenware, and porcelain dish-
es with decorations simple even to the point
of austerity.

It is notable that porcelain has a hard-
ness most easily discernible. The modern
china contains bone ash, ironstone and feld-
spar (introduced by Spode).

A name of great importance in American
ceramics today is that of the Walter S.
Lenox organization which still carries on
the traditions of the Mintons, Spodes and
others renowned in American pottery.

Figurines are popular for decoration to-
day. Ceramists are using a wider range of
animals than ever before and the classes of
human figures and groups are nearly end-
less including the interpretive element of
humor and the visible influence of athletics.
These figurines are sculptured in metal, wood,
plaster and porcelain glazed as finely as
china.

Some of the outstanding ceramists are:
Wayland Gregory and Genevieve Thomas;
and prominent among the Germans is Ru-
dolph Struck.

Gayety and abundant decorative sense—
typical of modern things originating on the
European continent—make it comparatively
easy to identify the influence of Austrian and
French artists on many of the modern Ameri-
can figurines. There are, however, many in
the American field today whose art is alive
with a freshness and an originality that
tna'ke it really important and individual.

Pottstown, buruimh. Pennsylvania, in
Montgomery cu., on the Schuylkill River, 40
m. n.\v. of Philadelphia. It is an important
manufacturing center, the production of iron
and steel ccoods being especially large. Other
products are agricultural implements, silk,
hosiery and bricks; p. 24,530.

Pottsville, city, Pennsylvania, county seat
of Schuylkill co., on the Schuylkill River. In-
dustries include the manufacture of structur-
al steel, iron, lumber, furniture, shoes, tex-
tiles, and clothing. The district contains ex-
tensive deposits of anthracite; p. 20,194.

Poughkeepsie, city. New York, county
seat of Dutchess co., on the e. bank of the
Hudson River, 75 m. n. of New York City.
It is the seat of Yassar College. There are
manufactures of mowing and reaping ma-
chines, cream separators, horseshoes, knit
goods, underwear, shoes, shirts, cigars, auto-
mobile accessories, hardwear, trousers, dyes,
cough drops, chairs, buttons, etc.; p. 40478.

Poulsen, Valdemar (1869-1942), Danish
inventor. He devised (1900) the telegraphone,
an apparatus for magnetically recording tele-
phone conversations and discovered the Poul-
sen arc and the Poulsen wave upon which
the Poulsen system of wireless telegraphy
is based. See WIRELESS TELEGRAPHY.

Poulson, Niels (1843-1911), manufactur-
er and philanthropist, was born in Denmark,
and went to America, where he formed a
partnership with Charles M. Eger, and in 1897
the firm was incorporated as the Hecla Iron
Works. He gave $100,000 for the purpose
of exchanging lectures and students between
the United States and Scandinavia. His for-
tune of $500,000 was left to the same cause.

Poultice, or Cataplasm, any soft, moist
pultaceous mass employed for the external ap-
plication of moist heat to the body. The effect
of a poultice is to produce dilatation of the
blood-vessels where it is applied, and so to
relieve congestion, pressure, and pain.

Poultry and Poultry Farming. The word
poultry is a general term for that group of
domestic birds which includes the ordinary
domestic fowl, the turkey, guinea fowl, pea-
fowl, pheasant, duck, and goose. It does not
include pigeons or cage birds. The birds of
the poultry group are of economic value for
their flesh and eggs, which are among the
most valuable of foods. The most important
of the birds of the poultry group, economic-
ally, is the ordinary domestic fowl, or chicken.
Domestic Fowl.—The most popular general
purpose breeds of domestic fowl, i.e., breeds
which are adapted both to egg production