POMO. 227 POMPANO. idencc, with brush shelters in the summer. Evorythiiif: eatable, even to an Indian, was in- cluded in their commissary. They had a system of dual chieftainship, with rather elaborate mar- riage ceremonies, and usually burned their dead. A secret society of the Pomo had branches in nearly every village; its members, in horrible dis- guise, at frequent intervals made the rounds of the dwellings to terrorize the women by their uncouth appearance and antics, the belief being that for the time being the ]icrformers were the incarnations of the tribal demons. Like most of the northern California tribes, they had a thanksgiving dance after an almndant acorn crop. Their fame rests chiefly upon the baskets woven by their women. Almost all of their household utensils were of basketwork. and the art sur- vives in almost its old-time perfection among the remnant ^till living near Ukiah. POMCERIUM, or POMEKIUM (Lat., space behind the wall, from post, after, behind + munis, mocrus, wall). A space about the walls of ancient Rome, marked oil' by cippi and kept vacant as sacred ground. Its limits were fir.st extended by Sulla, and later by several of the emperors, when the bounds of the Empire were increased. POMOLOGY (from Lat. pomum, apple, pome -)- Gk. -/oj (o, -tof/jn, account, from ?J}i:ii legein, to say). The study or cultivation of fruits, par- ticularly those belonging to the apple family. This restricted meaning is not now adhered to, and the term is often used synonymously with fruit culture, and made to include all fruits. See Fbuits, Cultivated; Horticulture. POMO'NA (Lat.; connected with pomum, apple, pome). An ancient Latin or Italian goddess of the fruit, especially of gardens. Her early prominence is shown by the existence of a flamcii Pomonalis, at the foot of the list of ftamines (see Flamens), and the presence of a sacred grove, the Pomonnl, near the road to Ostia. It is, however, still doubtful whether these in- dications speak for a Pomona or a Pomonus, as a god of that name is found among the t'mbrians, or possibly for a pair of divinities, such as is 1 not uncommon in the early Roman religion. In I the lat^r Roman poets, especially Ovid, Pomona appears in various legends. Thus she is the wife of the mythical king and prophet, Picus, who was changed by the jealous Circe to a woodpecker. More famous is Ovid's tale of the fair but cold nymph Pomona, who. absorbed in the care of her trees, disdained all other love, till Vertumnus, the 'transformer' who ripens the fruits, after vainly wooing her in many forms, finally ap- proached her as an old woman, who won her favor and told her many stories of the fate of those who had despised love. Even then she remained inditrerent to the suit of Vertumnus till the god assumed the form of a youth of perfect beauty, when she yielded and from that time the lovers were inseparable. POMONA, or Mainland. The largest of the Orkney Islands (q.v.). POMONA. A city in Los Angeles County, Cal., .'!.'! miles east of Los Angeles, on the South- ern Pacific, the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe, and the San Pedro. Los Angeles and Salt Lake railroads (Map: California, E4). Situated in the San Gabriel Valley, it is a beautiful town. attractive as a place of residence and as a health resort, and also noted as the centre of extensive fruit-growing interests, especially the culture ot oranges. At Clareniont, in the vicinity, is Pomona College ( Congregational ) , opened in 1888. Gancsha Park commands a magnificent view of the country, and also of the .sea, .some fifty miles distant. There is a public library. Pomona was settled in 1875 and incorporated in 1887. Its government is vested in a board of five trustees, who, with most of the administrative oflicers, are elected by the people. Population, in 181(0, 30.34: in 1900, 5526. POMPADO'UR, poN'pi'i'door', Jeanne Antoi- nette P0IS.SON, Manpiise de (1721-04). A mis- tress of Louis XV. of France. She was born in Paris, December 29, 1721, of obscure parents, bearing the name of Poisson. Lenonnant de Tournehem, a rich farmer-general, was supposed to be her father, however, and he saw that she was well educated and well provided for. She , excelled in music, elocution, and drawing; but what charmed the brilliant society that fre- quented the salons of the rich financier was the perfect grace and beauty of her figure, and the exquisite art with which she was dressed. A crowd of suitors sought her in marriage, liut in 1741 she became the wife of De Tournehem's nephew, Lenonnant d'Etioles. In 1745 Mme. d'Etioles, who had attracted the favorable notice of the King, was in.stalled in the palace of Ver- sailles; soon after she was ennobled by the title of Marquise de Pompadour, and long ruled the King, first as mistress and afterwivrds as an in- dispensable purveyor of diversions. The King believed her extremely clever, and after he had lost his first passion for her as his mistress was glad to avail himself of her services as his chief political adviser. In fact, for nearly twenty years her influence was predominant in all im- portant affairs of State. The choice of ministers, of ambassadors, of generals, dei)ended on 'la Pompadour' and her favorite minions. The Aus- trian Prime Minister. Kaunitz, even induced Maria Theresa to sacrifice her pride to the exi- gencies of her position, and the Empress-Queen wrote the royal mistress a letter in which she addressed her as ma cousdnc. Largely through the influence of the Marquise of Pompadour w'as that diplomatic revolution efTected which in the Seven Years' War ranged France on the side of her hereditary enemy, Austria. ( See Kaltnitz. ) She made and unmacfe ministers, and Choiseu!- Amboise (q.v.) owed his influence to her support. She was a bitter enemy of the Jesuits and re- sponsible to a great degree for their expulsion from France. She was also noted for her patron- age of artists and literary men. She was in re- ceipt of an income of 1,500,000 francs a year, and had apartments at Paris, Versailles, and Fon- tainebleau. She died at Versailles, April 15. 1764. Consult: Goncourt, Madame de Pompa- dour (Paris. 1887) ; Pavlovski. La marquise de Pompadour (ib., 1888) ; Dietrick, Lcs mattresses de Louis XV. (Vienna, 1881) : Sainte-Beuve, Causeries du lundi (vol. xi.) : Fleury, Louis XV. iiitime (Paris, 1899) ; and De Caranian, Tm fa- mine de la marquise de Pompadour (ib.. 1900) : also her Corrcspondance, edited by Malassi( Paris, 1878). POM'PANO (Sp. pampano, young vine-ten- dril), or Palometa. A fish of southern waters
