porch, porche

[Fr. porche, from Lat. porticum, acc us. of porticus =a gallery, a porch, from porta a gate, a door; Sp. & Ital. portico.] 1. A covered entrance to a building; a covered approach or vestibule to a doorway. When a row of columns is added it becomes a portico (q. v.). In some old churches the porches are of two stories, the upper being termed a parvis (q. v.). "Nothing now remains standing but the beautiful porch at the Earl of Pembroke's." -Walpole : Anecdotes of Painting, vol. i., ch. iv. *2. A covered walk, a portico. "Repair to Pompey's porch, where you shall find us." Shakesp.: Julius Cæsar, i. 3. The Porch : The School of the Stoics, so called because Zeno, the philosopher and founder of the sect, gave his lectures in the A then i an picture gallery, called the stoa poikile , or painted porch. "The succe ors of So crates formed societies which lasted several centuries: the Academy, the Porch , the Garden." Seeley : Ecce Homo . porch-post support, subst . A casting placed between the foot of a post and the floor of a porch, to prevent decay of the two at that point. IMG:content-1340.png:[blocks in formation] pör'-çine, a. [Lat. porcinus, from porcus =a pig.] each other's attracting or repelling forces; and [PORK.J 1. Of or pertaining to swine. 2. Resembling a pig; hog-like. "Their physiognomy is canine, vulpine, caprine, por. cine."-Gauden: Life of Bp. Brown rigg, p. 236. pör'-cu-lą, subst. (Lat. porculus, dim in. from porcus a swine.] Zool.: A genus of Suide, with one species Por cula salvania , the Pigmy Hog (q.v.). Dental formula, 1.8, C., M.. Canines small, straight, scarcely cutting, not ordinarily exserted; the fourth toe on all the feet small and unequal, tail very short. In these particulars its approaches the Peccary. ( Jerdon .) por-cu-pine, *poork-poynt, *per-poynt, *porke-pyn, *por-poynte, *por-pyn, *pork-pen, *por-pen-tine, *por-pint, *porke-spick, subst . [O. Fr. porcespin =the pig with spines, from porc (Lat. porcus )=a pig; O. Fr. espin , espine (Fr.épine; Lat.spina )=a spine; Sp. puerco espin ; Port. porco espinho ; Ital. porco spinoso ; cf. Fr. porc épic =the pig with spikes; Ger. stachelschwein =thorn-swine; Sw. pinsvin ; Dan. pindsviin =pin-swine.] ame for any individual 1. Zool.: The popular name of the genus Hystrix or the family Hystricide (divided into two groups, Hystricina and Syne the rin a, or two sub-families, Hystricinæ and Sphingurinse, the first group or sub-family containing the Old World, or True, Porcupines, and the second those peculiar to the New). The Common Porcupine ( Hystrix cristata ) may be taken as a type of the True Porcupine. It is found in the south of Europe, and the north and west of Africa, is about twenty-eight inches long, exclusive of the tail, about four inches. It is somewhat heavily built, with ters, and under surface are clothed with short obtuse head and short limbs. The head, fore quar spines intermixed with hairs, crest on head and neck, hind quarters covered with long sharp spines, ringed with black and white, and erectile at will. They are but loosely attached to the skin and readily fall out, a circumstance which probably gave rise to the belief that the animal was able to project them at an enemy. It is a purely vegetable feeder, and lives in holes in the rock, and burrows in the ground. The Hairy-nosed Porcupine is H. leucura (or hirsutirostris ) from Syria, Asia Minor, and India; and the Brush-tailed Porcupines belong to the genus Atherura. They have long tails, tipped TRICHYS, TREE-PORCUPINE. with peculiar flattened spines. [SYNE THE RIN A, 2. Bot .: (1) Chœtaria hystrix; (2) Hordeum hys trix. IMG:content-1341.png:[blocks in formation] sensible pores, constituting actual cavities acro which the molecular forces cannot act. ( Ganot.) 4. Zool. (pl.): The smaller of the two kinds of holes in the ti ue of sponges. Called also Inhalant apertures. pore-capsule, s. Bot.: A capsule which dehisces by pores at or near its apex.