PORTUGUESE LANGUAGE, ETC.-POSSESSION OF PROPERTY. 2071 Po'rus, a king of India, who reigned over the country around the Hydaspes when India was invaded by Alexander the Great, 326, B.C. He was treated with kindness by Alexander, but put to death by Eudemus after Alexander's de Po'ry, (JOHN,) colonist; secretary to the Va. colony 1619-21; one of Hakluyt's assistants in his great geograph. ical enterprise; b. 1570, d. 1635. tion was proclaimed in place of the old absolute monarchy. Po'sen, a prov. of Prussia, bounded N. by Pomerania and eastern Prussia, E. by Poland, S. by Silesia, and W. by Brandenburg and Pomerania; area 11,330 sq. m., pop. 1,751,642. It is divided into the two governmental districts of Posen and Bromberg, and the principal towns are Posen, Bromberg, Lissu, Rawitsch, and Gnesen. The principal river is the Wartha, which traverses P. from E. to W., and is navigable throughout the greater part of its course, as is also the smaller Netze. The country is almost every-where level, and its surface extensively covered with bogs, ponds, and small lakes. Po'sen, the chief town of the prov. of Posen, and a Prussian fortress of the first rank, is situated on the low and sandy banks of the Wartha, nearly 150 m. E. of Berlin; pop. 69,631. P., which ranks as one of the most ancient cities of Poland, became the seat of a Christian bishop in the 10th c. Po'sey, (THOMAS,) statesman; commanded in several battles of the Revolution, was present at Yorktown, and in 1812-13 was U. S. senator from La., becoming Gov. of Indiana Ter. 1813, and Agent for Indian Affairs 1816; b. in Va. 1750, d. 1818. Posi'tion-angle, in Astron., the direction of the line connecting any two neighboring points of the heavens as referred to the meridian through one of them. It is used to express the direction between the components of double or multiple stars, or the position upon the limb of the sun or moon at which the contact-points of an eclipse or occultation will occur. In these latter cases the direction is measured from the center of the sun or moon. In all cases the angle Portuguese Language and Literature. The Portuguese, like every other branch of the Romance family of languages, has grown out of a local form of the Lingua Romana Rustica, which in course of time had ingrafted upon it Posil'ipo, a mountain on the N.-W. of Naples, known as many elements of the Arabic from the Saracen invaders of the Grotta di P., through which the road from Naples to Pozthe country, and numerous verbal and idiomatic character-zuoli passes. The grotto is in some places 70 ft. h. and 21 ft. istics of the Frankish and Celtic dialects, which were intro- w., and is 2,244 ft. l. It is very ancient. Seneca mentions duced with the Burgundian founders of the Portuguese mon-it as the Crypta Neapolitana. Above the E. archway of the archy. The earlier forms of Portuguese bore close affinity grotto is the so-called "Tomb of Virgil." At the base of the with the Galician, and although, in course of time, it pre-hill of P. anciently stood the poet's villa, in which he comsented a strong resemblance to its sister language, the Cas- posed the Eclogues and Georgics, if not also the Eneid. tilian, in as far as both possessed numerous words of identical origin, it differed so widely from the latter in regard to grammatical structure as almost to merit the designation of an original tongue. The antipathy existing between the Portuguese and Spaniards, and the consequent strenuous efforts of their best writers to keep their language distinct, and to resist the introduction of further Castilian elements, had the effect of making Portuguese still more dissimilar from the sister tongues of the Peninsula, and the result is the produc-is measured from the N. point, or the N. direction of the tion of a language differing from pure Spanish in having an meridian, round by the way of the E. to the direction in quesexcess of nasal sounds and fewer gutturals, with a softening tion. Consequently, the angles are reckoned from 0° to 360°. or lisping of the consonants, and a deepening of the vowels, Positiones Mediæ, ("Mean Places,") is a part of the which render it the softest, but least harmonious, and the Latin title of a considerable number of star catalogues, and feeblest of all the Romance tongues. The earliest specimens the name by which some of them are referred to in connecof genuine Portuguese belong to the beginning of the 13th c., tion with the author's name. When no name is given in and consist, for the most part, of collections or books of connection with the term it is supposed to refer to the elder songs, (Cancioneiros,) which, both in regard to form and Struve's P. M., or mean places, determined by him with the rhythm, resembled the troubadour or minnisongs of the Dorpat meridian-circle for all the double-stars of his celesame period. Of these the oldest is the Cancioneiro del Rei brated catalogue, the Mensura Micrometrica. In this con. Dom Diniz, or Book of Songs by King Diniz, who had long nection it may be well to state that the Greek capital letter been regarded by the Portuguese as their earliest poet, but is universally used by astronomers to refer to the stars of whose poems were supposed to be lost, till they were dis- the Mensura Micrometrica, and likewise the combination Σ covered, some yrs. since, in MS. in the library of the Vatican, (P. M.) is frequently employed in quoting the positions of and published at Paris and Lisbon in 1847. Later, abundant Struve's P. M. of the same stars. Also O 2 is used to denote verse continued to be written, and in the 16th c. pastoral the double-star catalogue of his son OTTO STRUVE, (q. v.) poetry, romances, and epics flourished most brilliantly. Of these last the most remarkable was The Lusiad of Camoens, which appeared in 1572. This poem treats of the discovery of the sea route to East India by Vasco da Gama, and occasion is taken to narrate at some length the history of Portugal. This great poem inspired many unsuccessful imitations. In the 18th c. the influence of the French literature reached Portugal, but it produced no work of real importance, and since then the country has followed, but at a distance, the varying currents which have reached it from other lands. At no time has a national drama really flourished. Portuguese Man-of-war, the popular name of the PHYSALIA, (q. v.) Portula ceæ, a natural order of exogenous plants, nearly allied to Caryophyllacea, from which it differs chiefly in the generally perigynous stamens, the calyx consisting of two sepals which are united at the base, and the capsule frequently opening transversely. The species are not very numerous; they are much diffused over the world, and are shrubby or herbaceous, generally succulent, mostly growing in dry places. The flowers are often large and beautiful, but ephemeral. The foliage, sometimes used as salad, is bland and insipid. Pos'itivism, a system of philosophy originated by Au guste Comte, and which deals only with positives, or things which are capable of being affirmed as realities. It excludes from philosophy every thing but the natural phenomena or properties of knowable things, together with their invariable relations of co-existence and succession as occurring in time and space. Posological Table, a table of doses of the articles composing the materia medica. Pos'se Comita'tus means the whole force of the county, consisting of knights and men above the age of 15, with constables, who attend the orders of the sheriff to assist in enforcing process or quelling riots. Justices of the peace can also, if apprehensive of an organized resistance, command the services of the P. C., and it is the sheriff's duty to raise the necessary number of men. But practically, in modern times, constables and special constables are all the assistance given or required. Posses'sion of Prop'erty, in point of law, is the most intimate relation that can subsist between the owner and his property. Strictly speaking, the idea of property consists merely of a certain relation between a human being and a portion of external nature, whereby he appropriates to 2072 POSTAGE STAMPS-POST-OFFICE. himself all the ordinary uses of which such external nature is capable. If it is land, he reaps the fruits, and excludes ail other persons from interfering with his operations; if it is a chattel, he keeps it under his exclusive control. Possession, therefore, is nothing but the legal result of the relation of property. Post'age Stamps. The system of prepaying postage by means of small adhesive labels sold to the public by the government was first advocated by Rowland Hill in 1837, and was adopted by the British Post-office in 1840. They were introduced into the U. S. in 1847. The first adhesive stamp issued by Great Britain consisted of a profile of the queen, with the word "Postage" above and the value below. The German states seem to have a preference for numerals of value surrounded by inscriptions. Many countries have adopted the national arms as the principal design of their P. S. More varieties of P. S. have been issued, and a greater number have been in use at one time, in the U. S. than in any other country; the whole number issued is about 200, of which 127 have been in use at one time. The collecting of P. S. as objects of curiosity, called Philately, has been extensively pursued by many; there are books upon it, and special periodicals in various countries and languages. See POST-OFFICE. Poste Restante, (Fr. "to remain at the post-office till called for,") a usual mode of addressing letters to persons who are merely traveling in, or passing through, a country in which they have no fixed residence. Post'ern, in Fortification, a small doorway communicating usually through the flank of a bastion between the fort and the ditch. Its object is to afford unseen egress to troops marched out to relieve sentries on the external works, and to make sallies. Post'humous Child, one born after its father's death, or taken from the dead body of its mother, is considered in law as born at the death of its parent, and thus eligible for the inheritance of land and personal estate. Post'ing, the forwarding of passengers from place to place by means of relays of horses. The application of the same words-post and postmaster-to the transmission of letters and to the stations where post-horses are kept is, both on the continent of Europe and in Britain, a source of ambiguity. P. was long in Britain, as it is yet in most parts of the Continent, a government monopoly. Postique, an ornament in sculpture, marble, etc., applied or added after the work is otherwise finished. Postlim'iny, a law term signifying return from capture and restoration to political rights. The law was originally Roman, and has not much application in modern times. Post'master-Gen ́eral, in the U. S. and in England the name of the cabinet officer who presides over the Post-office Department of the government, and who controls the postal service of the country. See POST-OFFICE. Post-mill, a form of wind-mill that rests on a vertical axis firmly fastened to the ground, and capable of being turned by a lever as the direction of the wind varies. Post-mor'tem, (Lat. "after death,") as a P. examination, (see NECROPSY,) or P. wounds, a variety of poisoned wounds, arising from the inoculation of a virus derived from the dead bodies of men or animals. Post-mill. Post-nup'tial Con'tract means, in Scotch law, an agreement, or, as it is called in England, a settlement, made between husband and wife after the marriage has taken place, with a view to affect the property of the parties, and generally to make provision for the wife and children. Post-o'bit, a bond of security given by heirs and others entitled to reversionary interests, whereby, in consideration of a sum of money presently advanced, the debtor binds himself to pay a much larger sum after the death of some person or himself. Whenever, as is not unusual, the payment is uncertain, and depends on the obliger outliving somebody else, very high interest is required, or, rather, a very much larger sum is agreed to be repaid than what is advanced. Post-of'fice, a place for the reception of letters and the management of the various departments connected with their dispatch and conveyance. The name originated in the posts placed at intervals along the roads of the Roman Empire, where couriers were kept in readiness to bear dispatches and intelligence; but the posts of ancient times were never used for the conveyance of private correspondenee. The first letter-post seems to have been established in the Hanse towns in the early part of the 13th c. A line of letter-posts fol lowed, connecting Austria with Lombardy, in the reign of the Emperor Maximilian, which are said to have been organized by the princes of Thurn and Taxis; and the representatives of the same house established another line of posts from Vienna to Brussels, connecting the most distant parts of the dominions of Charles V. This family continue to the present day to hold certain rights with regard to the German postal system, their posts being entirely distinct from those established by the crown, and sometimes in rivalry to them. In England, in early times, both public and private letters were sent by messengers, who, in the reign of Henry III., wore the royal livery. They had to provide themselves with horses until the reign of Edward Ì., when posts were established where horses were to be had for hire. Edward IV., when engaged in war with Scotland, had dispatches conveyed to his camp with great speed by means of a system of relays of horses, which, however, fell into disuse on the restoration of peace. Camden mentions the office of "Master of the Postes" as existing in 1581, but the duties of that officer were probably connected exclusively with the supply of posthorses. The posts were meant for the conveyance of government dispatches alone, and it was only by degrees that permission was extended to private individuals to make use of them. A foreign post for the conveyance of letters between London and the Continent seems to have been established by foreign merchants in the 15th c.; and certain disputes which arose between the Flemings and Italians, regarding the right of appointing a postmaster, and were referred to the privy council, led to the institution of a “chief postmaster," who should have charge both of the English and the foreign post. In 1524 the French posts were permitted to carry other letters than those of the king and nobles. In Peru, in 1527, the Spanish invaders found a regular system of posts in operation. The complete organization of a system of postal communica tion in England did not take place till the reign of James I., who, soon after his accession, constituted the office of postmaster of England for foreign parts, and appointed Matthew Le Quester the first postmaster. In 1644 Edmund Prideaux was appointed master of the posts, and first established a weekly conveyance of letters into all parts of the kingdom. In 1656 an act was passed to settle the postage of England, Scotland, and Ireland. The postage on a single letter varied from 2d. for 7 m. and under to 14d. for more than 300 m. These rates were not materially changed till 1840, and operated as an almost prohibitory tariff on letters through the mails. The franking privilege, which at an early period had been granted to members of Parliament and officers of the government, was much abused. Fast mail coaches were introduced in 1784. In 1837 Rowland Hill published a pamphlet on P. reform; his plan was adopted by Parliament in 1839, and went into operation in 1840 under the supervision of its originator. Its principal provisions were the reduction of all inland postage to a uniform rate, 1d. for a single half ounce; the entire abolition of the franking priv. ilege; the dispatch of the mails at more frequent periods; and increased speed in the delivery of letters. To these were subsequently added payment by stamps and prepay. Hill's system led to a marked increase in the amount of mail matter transmitted and in the revenues of the govern. ment. The head of the British P. department is the postmaster-general, who is always a peer of the realm and gener ally a cabinet minister. The Amer. P. is one of our earliest institutions, and was provided for by legislation in Mass. 1639, and in Va. 1657. A monthly post from New York to Boston was established 1672. Benjamin Franklin was the first U. S. Postmaster-Gen., the establishment of a general P. being one of the first acts of the Continental Congress. For many yrs. the high rates of postage not only prevented much letterwriting, but also caused the sending of letters chiefly by private hand or by express. But since 1845 the introduction of cheap postage has completely revolutionized our system. Nearly 1,000,000,000 letters and circulars, besides newspa pers and magazines, are distributed annually through 60,000 offices in the U. S. In 150 towns and cities delivery is free and self-sustaining. The increase of the service for the fiscal yr. ending 1890 was nine per cent.; our postage is two cents per ounce on letters, one cent for two ounces on circulars, and one cent per pound for newspapers. Owing to the cheap rate of postage on the latter, and the long routes over which the P. must transport mail matter, this branch of the service is not self-supporting. A method of taking the mails from a crane on which they are hung without stopping the trains, the sorting of letters en route, etc., has greatly shortened the ment. POST-OFFICE INSURANCE-POTATO DISEASE. time of delivery between the large Eastern and Western cities. A system of registration of letters exists in the U. S. P., and also a money-order system. Post-office Insur'ance is a valuable addition to the many useful services which the British postal establishment has been enabled to render within the last few yrs. Bookpost, sample-post, money-orders, and postal savings-banks, all additions to the original letter-post and newspaper-post, have been found to work so satisfactorily that the English legislature has been encouraged to intrust to the same organization a new system of insuring lives and annuities-specially intended to foster provident habits among persons whose savings can be but small. 2073 The method now usually adopted consists in the distillation of a mixture of carbonate of P. and charcoal at a white heat in an iron retort. See APPENDIX, p. 2970. Pota'to, one of the most important of cultivated plants, and in universal cultivation in the temperate parts of the globe. It is a perennial, having herbaceous stems, 1 to 3 ft. h., without thorns or prickles; pinnate leaves, with two or more pair of leaflets and an odd one, the leaflets entire at the margin; flowers about 1 in. or 1 in. in w., the wheelshaped corolla being white or purple, and more or less veined; followed by globular, purplish fruit, of the size of ordinary gooseberries; the roots producing tubers. The herbage has a slightly narcotic smell, although cattle do not refuse to eat Post'ulate. This word occurs in Geom., and signifies a little of it, and the tender tops are used in some countries something that is demanded, and must be granted before the like spinach. The tubers are, however, the only valuable part demonstrations of the science can be wrought out. The Ps. of the plant. The P. is a native of mountainous districts of of Euclid have reference to certain constructions indispensa- tropical and subtropical Am., probably from Chili to Mexico; ble to the reasoning. They are these three: "A straight line but there is difficulty in deciding where it is really indigenous, may be drawn from one point to another," "a line already and where it has spread after being introduced by man. The drawn may be produced," and "a circle may be described P. has been cultivated in Am., and its tubers used for food, from a given center, with a given radius." The P. is some- from times long anterior to the discovery of Am. by Eurothing different from the axiom. An axiom is a general and peans. It seems to have been first brought to Europe by the fundamental principle, such as no one can deny, and serving Spaniards from the neighborhood of Quito, in the beginning as the ultimate foundation of deductive inferences, as, for ex- of the 16th c., and spread from Spain into the Netherlands, ample, "things equal to the same thing are equal to one an- Burgundy, and Italy, but only to be cultivated in a few garother." But in philosophy the P. takes a much wider sweep, dens as a curiosity, and not for general use as an article of and expresses the most fundamental concessions implied in all food. It long received throughout almost all European reasoning, being prerequisite in order to the establishment of countries the same name with the Batatas, or Sweet P., the axioms themselves. Thus, it is a P. necessary to reason- which is the plant or tuber meant by English writers down to ing and discussion that a reasoner shall be consistent with the middle of the 17th c. in their use of the name P. It himself that he shall not affirm a thing one minute and deny appears to have been brought to Ireland from Va. by Hawkit the next. The so-called Laws of Thought-Identity, Contra-ins, a slave-trader, in 1565, and to England by Sir Francis diction, and Excluded Middle-are so many forms of the P. Drake, in 1585, without attracting much notice till it was a of consistency. These laws are tantamount to demanding third time imported from Am. by Sir Walter Raleigh. The that the same thing shall not be maintained in one form and P. is of great importance as affording food both for human denied in another. If we say this room is hot, we must not at beings and for cattle; and, next to the principal cereals, is the same time say that it is not hot. So the ordinary law of the most valuable of all plants for human food. It is also the syllogism, "Whatever is true of all the members of a used for various purposes in the arts. No food-plant is more class is true of each," is not so much an axiom as a P. of widely diffused; it is cultivated in subtropical countries and consistency; we must be prepared to repeat individually the struggles for existence in gardens even within the arctic statements that we have affirmed collectively. circle, yielding small and watery tubers; although the effects of late spring or early autumnal frosts upon its foliage often prove that it is a plant properly belonging to a climate milder than that of most parts of Britain. Humboldt calculates that the same extent of ground which would produce 30 lbs. of wheat would produce 1,000 lbs. of Ps. But Ps. are not nearly so nutritious as wheat and the constant employment of them as the chief article of food is not favorable to the development of the physical powers, and is consequently in its protracted influence unfavorable to mental energy. New varieties of P. are produced from seed; but Ps. are ordinarily propagated by planting the tubers, or cuttings of the tubers, each containing an eye or bud. Ps. are planted in drills, made either by the spade or plow, or in lazy beds, which are always made by the spade, and are beds in which the sets of Ps. are covered over with earth dug out of the furrows, which serve, although imperfectly, for drains in undrained land. The P. is subject to a number of diseases, of which the most important is the P. disease, or P. murrain. Before it began to prevail the chief diseases affecting the P. were those called curl, scab, dry-rot, and wet-rot. Of all these diseases it would seem that one principal cause, however, combined with other causes, is the exhaustion of the vegetative powers of the plant from frequent propagation by tubers or cuttings of tubers. But, besides its value as a culinary vegetable, the P. is important in other respects. Its starch is very easily separated, and is in large proportions; hence it is cheaper than any other kind. It is manufactured on a very large scale both in this country and on the continent of Europe. See infra. Postula'tion, in Canon Law, means a presentation or recommendation addressed to the superior, to whom the right of appointment to any dignity belongs, in favor of one who has not a strict title to the appointment. It is one of the forms of proposing to the pope persons nominated, but not, strictly speaking, elected to a bishopric. Post'ural, (Lat. pono, "I place,") relating or pertaining to posture or position, as "P. treatment "-the treatment by position-of a fractured limb, for example. Post'ures, the name given to the attitude observed in worship, whether private or public, but especially the latter. They are the natural expressions of the feeling which accompanies or characterizes the particular devotion in which they are employed, and are used by suppliants to man as well as to God. Four P. are found to have been used by the ancient Christians in their prayer-the standing, the kneeling, the bowing or inclined, and the prostrate. The prostrate P. was the attitude of the deepest humiliation. Potamogal'idæ, a family of mammals, somewhat otterlike in form, a single species of which is found in certain African rivers; it feeds on insects, and is most nearly allied to the Centelide. Pot'ash, or Pearl-ash. The chief source of this important article is Canada, where it is derived from the vast quantities of wood cut down and burned in clearing the forests for culture, and also from the branches of the trees felled for timber. The ashes, mixed with a small quantity of quicklime, are put into large wooden cisterns and covered with water. The whole is well stirred up and allowed to settle; the next day the clear liquor is drawn off and evaporated to dryness in iron pots, whence it is called P. When a sufficient quantity is got to fill a cask of 5 cwt. it is fused at a red heat, and poured into the cask. The mass when cold is colored gray externally, but when broken shows a pinkish tint internally. It is very deliquescent, and consequently the casks require to be nearly air-tight. Pota'to-bug, or Colora'do Bee'tle, a yellow beetle about in. in I., with 10 longitudinal black stripes upon its back, and very destructive to the potato vine. Pota'to Disease, or Pota'to Mur'rain. No subject connected with agriculture or with botany has given rise, within so short a time, Potas'sium, one of the alkaline metals. The following to so extensive a literature as this. It has are its chief characteristics: It is of a bluish-white color, been treated in books and pamphlets and and presents a strong metallic luster. Its affinity for oxygen magazines and periodicals of every kind. The Colorado Potais so great that on exposure to the air it immediately be- terrible famines caused by the failure of the comes covered with a film of oxide. When heated it burns potato crop in Ireland and in other countries, with a violet flame. P. does not occur in the native state, particularly in 1846 and 1847, concentrated upon it the attenand can only be obtained by the reduction of its oxide, potash. I tion of the whole civilized world; and yet it remains very to Beetle. 2074 POTATO-FLY-POTSTONE. obscure. The P. D. seems to have been at first confounded corps, the 1st, 2d, 3d, 4th, 5th, 6th, 9th, 11th, 12th, 18th, with dry-rot and wet-rot, which appeared a number of yrs. 19th Artillery Corps, Cavalry Corps, and Signal Corps, and before it to a formidable extent, although not to be compared The P. D. was first observed in Ger to it in their ravages. many, and first assumed a very serious character near Liege in 1842. In 1844 it broke out in Canada, and all at once proved very destructive. In 1845 it was first noticed in England, and first in the Isle of Wight. During that yr. its ravages were considerable in the British Islands, but much greater in the yr. following, when the Irish famine was the consequence, and in the same yr. it prevailed very extensively over almost all parts of Europe. Pota'to-fly, a dipterous insect of the same genus with the beet-fly, cabbage-fly, turnip-fly, etc. In its perfect state it is very like the house-fly. Potchin'ky, a town of European Russia, in the Govt. of Nijni-Novgorod; pop. 7,777. Potem'kin, (GREGORY ALEXANDROVITCH,) the most celebrated of the Czarina Catharine II.'s favorites, was b. near Smolensk 1736. Happening to attract the notice of the czarina by his noble appearance and handsome athletic figure, he was forthwith (1762) attached to her household, and appointed colonel and gentleman of the bedchamber. After a time (1774) he superseded Gregory Orlov in the good graces of the czarina, and became her favorite and avowed lover. He knew well how to flatter her vanity, rouse her fears, and make her believe that he alone could protect her from the numerous conspiracies which were being formed against her. Catharine submitted to all his caprices, consulted him in every thing, and was in almost all cases guided by his advice. P. was consequently, from 1770 till the yr. of his death, the true representative of the Russian policy in Europe; and Frederick the Great, of Prussia, and even the haughty Hapsburgs, Maria Theresa and Joseph II., cringed at his feet and, at the demand of the czarina loaded him with titles and honors; though, much to his chagrin, he failed to obtain the English order of the Garter and the French one of the Holy Spirit. D. 1791. Po'tent, Cross, in Her., a cross crutch-shaped at each extremity. It is also called a Jerusalem cross, from its occurrence in the insignia of the Christian kingdom of Jerusalem, which are, Argent a cross potent between four crosslets or. Po'tent Coun'ter-potent, one of the heraldic furs, in which the field is filled with crutch-shaped figures alternately of metal and color, those of opposite tinctures being placed base against base, and point against point. The metals are understood to be argent and azure, unless they be specially blazoned otherwise. Poten'tée, an heraldic line of division which takes the form of the outline of a succession of crutch-shaped fig ures. Potentilla, a genus of plants of the natural order Rosacece, sub-order Potentillea, differing from Fragaria in the fruit having a dry instead of a succulent receptacle. The species are very numerous, natives chiefly of N. temperate regions, and some of them of the coldest N.; most of them perennial herbaceous plants, with yellow, white, red, or purple flowers, and pinnate, digitate, or ternate leaves. They are often called CINQUEFOIL, (Fr. "five-leaved,") and some of the species are favorite garden flowers. A few are natives of Britain; one of the rarest of which is a shrubby species, forming a large bush, with pinnate leaves, and a profusion of yellow flowers, often planted in shrubberies. Pot-herbs are not, as might be supposed from the name, the vegetables chiefly used for culinary purposes as supplying articles of food, but rather those which are of secondary importance, and valuable chiefly for flavoring, as parsley, fennel, etc. Pot-met'al, an alloy of lead and copper, obtained by throwing lumps of copper into red-hot melted lead. It is of a gray color, brittle and granular. Poto'mac, a river of the U. S., formed by two branches, which rise in the Alleghany Mountains and unite 20 m. S.-E. of Cumberland, Md., from which point the river flows past Washington in a south-easterly course, and falls into Chesapeake Bay, 75 m. from the ocean, where it is from 6 to 8 m. w. Poto'mac, Society of the Army of the, was organized in New York, July 5, 1869, and has held annual reunions since that date. All officers and soldiers who served in the Army of the Potomac and in the 10th and 18th Army Corps, Army of the James, are eligible to membership. The officers are a president, one vice-president from each army Badge of the Society of the Army of the Potomac. from the general staff; a treasurer, recording secretary, and corresponding secretary. Potoroo', or Kangaroo' Rat, a genus of marsupial quadrupeds, of the family Macropidae, differing from kangaroos chiefly in having distinct canine teeth in the upper jaw. The first pair of incisors in the upper jaw are also longer and larger than the others. The molars decrease in size backward; and when not worn present four blunt tubercles. The fore-limbs are proportionally longer, the hinder limbs less powerful, than in the kangaroos. The general form and habits are similar; there is the same sitting on the hind-feet with help of the tail for support, and a somewhat similar hopping, but not nearly an equal power of vigorous leaping. Poto'si, one of the richest mining towns of S. Am.; capital of a dept. of the same name; pop. 26,000. Pot-pourri, in French, the name of a mixture of sweet scented materials, chiefly flowers. The principal ingredients are rose-petals, lavender flowers and stalks, violets, jessamine flowers, woodruff leaves, cloves, orris-root, pimento, musk, sandal-wood raspings, cedar-shavings, etc. But it also signifies a dish of different sorts of viands, and corresponds in this sense to the Hotch-potch of Scotland and the Olla-podrida of Spain. Pot-pourri, in Mus., a selection of favorite pieces strung together without much arrangement, so as to form a sort of medley. Pots'dam, a city in the Prussian prov. of Brandenburg, and next to Berlin the handsomest and best-built town in Prussia, is situated on an island at the point of junction between the small stream of the Nuthe and the river Havel, 16 m. S.-W. of Berlin; pop. 54,161. P. is the usual summer residence of the royal family of Prussia, and seat of the imperial court. Among the churches the most noteworthy are the Garnisonskirche, with a tower 400 ft. h., a fine chime of bells, and a noble marble pulpit, below which rest the remains of Friedrich Wilhelm I. and Friedrich II., and St. Nicolai's, lately rebuilt after the model of the Pantheon at Paris. It is the site of one of the most important of the new astronomical observatories, the Astrophysikalisches Observatorium, of recent foundation, and which is given up wholly to investigations in the line of the so-called "new" astronomy. See ASTRONOMY. Pots'dam, a twp. and village in N. Y., on Racket River, St. Lawrence Co., in the N. portion of the State, between Lakes Ontario and Champlain. There are quarries of sandstone, mills, and factories on the falls of the river, a railway connecting it with Watertown, a bank, etc. Pop. 3,961. Pots'dam Sand'stone, a member of the Lower Silurian, first discovered in Potsdam, where it is 300 ft. in thickness. Pot'stone, the Lapis Ollaris of the ancient Romans, a variety of Talc, or rather a mineral formed by a mixture of tale with chlorite, etc.; it is generally of a grayish-green color, sometimes dark green; it occurs massive, or in granular con cretions; it is soft and easily cut when newly dug up, greasy to the touch, and infusible even before the blowpipe; it becomes hard after exposure to the air; it is made into pots POTT-POTTERY. and other household utensils which communicate no bad taste to any thing contained in them, and when greasy are cleaned by the fire. It was well known to the ancients, and Pliny describes the manner of making vessels of it. Pott, (AUGUST FRIEDRICH,) a distinguished philologist, b. at Nettelrede 1802. The foundation of his reputation was laid by his Etymologische Forshungen. His Die Quinare und Vigesimale Zählmethode and Die Personennamen are admirable treatises, containing an overwhelming mass of information; d. 1887. Pot'ter, (ALONZO, D.D., LL.D.,) an Amer. prelate; P. E. Bishop of Pa. 1845; was one of the founders of the Episcopal Hospital and Divinity School at Philadelphia; b. in N. Y. 1800, d. 1865. Pot'ter, (CHANDLER E.,) editor of several agricultural mag. azines and other periodicals, and president of the New Hampshire Historical Society 1855-57; b. in N. H. 1807, d. 1868. Pot'ter, (ELISHA R.,) an Amer. jurist; Associate Justice of the State Supreme Court of R. I.; was b. at Kingston, R. I., June 20, 1811; was for several yrs. a member of the State House of Representatives; State Adjutant-Gen. 1835 and 1836, and a Whig member of the 28th Congress; State Commissioner of Public Schools 1849-54; elected associate justice 1868; d. 1882. Pot'ter, (HORATIO, D.D., LL.D., D.C.L., Oxon.,) an Amer. divine, b. 1802, d. 1887. He was made P. E. Bishop of the Diocese of N. Y. from 1854 to 1883, in which yr. he retired from the active duties of the office, his nephew, the Rev. HENRY C. P., D.D., being made assistant bishop. At the decease of his uncle the latter became bishop. Pot'ter, (JOHN, D.D.,) an Eng. scholar and divine, b. 1674. He was appointed chaplain to Queen Anne in 1706, Prof. of Divinity at Oxford in 1708, Bishop of Oxford in 1715, and finally, in 1737, Archbishop of Canterbury. D. 1747. P.'s principal work is his Archæologia Græca. Pot'ter, (PAUL,) one of the most distinguished masters of the Dutch school, b. at Enkhuyzen in 1625. He left Amsterdam and established himself at The Hague; in 1652, however, he returned to Amsterdam, at the solicitation of the burgomaster Tulp, who commissioned him to paint a great number of works; but his health, which was delicate, gave way under constant application at his easel, and he died before he had completed his 29th yr., 1654. His cattle-pieces are more highly valued than pictures of that class by any other master. Pot'ter, (ROBERT B.,) son of Bishop ALONZO P.; served as a volunteer officer in nine of the bloodiest battles of the civil war, and was wounded at Petersburg and elsewhere; b. 1829, d. 1887. Pot'ter's Clay, or Fig'uline, a kind of clay, either slaty and massive, or more generally earthy; yellow, yellowish-white, gray, or sometimes greenish; adhering strongly to the tongue, and forming a paste with water. The earthy variety is sometimes very loose, sometimes almost solid. It is used in potteries for the manufacture of earthenware; the different varieties of it being adapted to different kinds of earthenware. Houses are built in Egypt of pots of this material. Pot'tery. The facility of shaping a piece of soft clay into definite form is so great that we need not wonder that the art of the potter is among the most ancient known to man. When a boy thrusts his thumb into a lump of clay to make a candle-stick he virtually becomes a potter; and as clay is to be met with in some form or other in most countries, the potter's art must have risen almost spontaneously. Some of the paintings and bass-reliefs on the tombs at Thebes show that the mode of making vessels in clay in use among the ancient Egyptians was very much like the simpler forms of the potter's art at the present day. After Europe began to emerge from the dark period of the Middle Ages different countries gradually associated themselves with the production of various kinds of P., many of which remain in repute to the present day. The Moors of Spain showed their skill in enameled earthenware tiles; Della Robbia, Giorgio di Gubbio, and Fontana produced beautiful specimens of P. in Italy; Palissy did the same in France; and later, Josiah Wedgwood completely revolutionized the art in England. P. may be conveniently divided into two classes of baked stoneware-Porcelain, consisting of a fusible earthy mixture along with an infusible, which, when combined, are suscepti 2075 ble of becoming semi-vitrified and translucent in the kiln (see PORCELAIN and PALISSY ;) and Pottery, properly so called, which consists of an infusible mixture of earth, which is refractory in the kiln, and continues opaque. There are many kinds of P. noticed in this work under their particular names. (See MAJOLICA, WEDGWOOD WARE, etc.) "Faience" and "Rafaelle Ware " are terms applied in art to the fine P. of the 16th and 17th c., consisting of a common earthenware ground, covered with glaze, and enameled with painted designs. In the U. S. the materials for many sorts of ware are good and abundant; but owing to the cheapness and perfection of the P. imported from Europe our domestic manufacture has made only moderate progress, being generally confined to the production of common earthenware and porcelain. Of late, however, some attempts have been made; porcelain of fair quality has been produced in some establishments, and it is easy to foresee that the time is not far distant when Amer. industry will compete successfully with the products of the Old World. The most important manufactories are located in the States of N. J., N. Y., O., and Ill. Though the various kinds of P. and porcelain differ from each other in the details of their manufacture, yet there are certain general principles and processes which are common to them all. The ingredients for P. comprise various kinds of clay, combined with other substances, according to the ware to be produced, alumina and silica being the main bases. Potash is useful as another ingredient for hard porcelain, soda for soft porcelain, baryta for stoneware; while common porcelain, encaustic tiles, crucibles, earthenware, etc., result from certain admixtures of lime and oxide of iron with the two bases. Generally speaking, the more alumina, the harder the ware; the more silica, the softer the ware; the latter is less dense, and bears less heat than the former. Both in materials and granular structure porcelain is about midway between P. and glass. The first process in manufacture consists in preparing the slip. name "slip" is given to the mixture of ingredients, whether for porcelain or for P., brought to a creamy liquid state. If flint is one of the ingredients, the flints are burned for many hours, broken into small fragments by stampers, ground into powder, and passed through sifters. Any other stony materials, such as feldspar and broken earthenware, are in like manner ground and reduced in water to a creamy liquid. The clays-blue, brown, yellow, white, as the case may beare blunged, i. e., worked about with water till they form a smooth pulp; if very stiff, they require to be cut and intermixed in a pug-mill before being plunged. The flinty cream and the clay are then mixed and passed through sieves to render the mixture as fine and as smooth as possible. This The |