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POCKET

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Originally appearing in Volume V21, Page 873 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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POCKET , a small bag, particularly a bag-like receptacle either fastened to or inserted in an See also:

article of clothing. As a measure of capacity " pocket" is now only used for hops; it equals 168 lb. The word appears in See also:Mid. Eng. as poket, and is taken from a See also:Norman diminutive of O. Fr. poke, pouque, mod. poche, cf. " pouch." The See also:form " poke " is now only used dialectically, or in such proverbial sayings as a " See also:pig in a poke," and possibly in the " poke-See also:bonnet," the See also:coal-See also:scuttle bonnet fashionable during the first See also:part of the 19th See also:century, and now worn by the See also:female members of the Salvation See also:Army; more probably the name of the bonnet is connected with " poke," to thrust forward, dig. The origin of this is obscure. Dutch has poken, gook, a See also:dagger; See also:Swedish pdk, a stick. POCKET-See also:GOPHER (i.e. pouched See also:rat), the name of a See also:group of, chiefly See also:North, See also:American rat-like rodents, characterized by the See also:possession of large cheek-pouches, the openings of which are See also:external to the mouth; while their inner See also:surface is lined with See also:fur. The cheek-See also:teeth, which comprise two pairs of premolars and three of molars in each See also:jaw, are in the form of See also:simple prisms of See also:enamel, which do not develop roots. The fore and See also:hind limbs are of approximately equal length, but the second and third front-claws are greatly enlarged, and all the claws are furnished at the See also:base with bristles. The eyes are small, and the external ears rudimentary.

Pocket-gophers, which typify a See also:

family, the Geomyidae, spend the whole of their See also:time underground, and are specially organized for such a mode of existence, their powerful claws being adapted for digging, while the bristles on the toes prevent the See also:earth from passing between them. The upper incisor teeth are employed to loosen the ground, like a See also:fork; and the little rodents are able to move both backwards and forwards in their runs. The cheek-pouches are employed solely in carrying See also:food, which consists largely of roots. In the typical genus Geomys the upper incisors are grooved, but in the allied Thomomys they are smooth. The See also:common pocket-gopher, Geomys bursarius, of the See also:Mississippi Valley See also:measures about 8 in. in length, with a tail of between 2 and 3 in.; its See also:colour being rufous See also:brown and greyish beneath. A well-known representative of the second genus is Thomomys talpoides, which is considerably smaller than the former. To the See also:farmer and the gardener pocket-gophers are an unmitigated source of annoyance. (See See also:RODENTIA.) POCKET-See also:MOUSE, the name of a number of small See also:jerboa-like, chiefly North, American rodents belonging to the family Geemyidae, and constituting the genus Perognathus and Heteromys. They are nearly allied to the American See also:kangaroo-rats (see KANGAROO-RAT), but differ in having rooted molar teeth. The typical pocket-mouse P. fasciatus, which is a native of See also:Montana, See also:Missouri, and See also:Wyoming, is a sandy-coloured rodent marked with See also:black lines above and with See also:white beneath, and measuring about 6 in. in length, this length being equally divided between the See also:head and See also:body and the tail.

End of Article: POCKET

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