Rep 031 R4.3 V. PORCELAIN PORPHYRIUS. Porcelain. See POTTERY. Por'celain, Japanese. The exhibit of rare porcelain at the Centennial Exposition, 1876, brought to light many interesting facts concerning the native mineral materials from which J. P. goods are made, and their skill in the manufacture. Only one of the Idzumi-Tama minerals examined bears the least resemblance to clay. The peculiar Japanese kilns are always built on the slope of a hill, 4 to 20 in a set. Ideas of higher ceramic art were imported into Japan from China and Corea about 300 yrs. ago. Gorodayu Shonshi first made porcelain 1580. The "Satsuma " ware was originated by Corean prisoners about 1592. Porch, a building forming an inclosure or protection for a doorway. Every one knows how much this beautiful feature is now used, and how efficient it is as a protection from the wind and weather. In Elizabethan and mediæval architecture the P. was also very common in domestic architecture. churches it was almost universal in England. In France many splendid Ps. or portals remain, and they are among the most beautiful specimens of mediaval art. In England wooden Ps. of picturesque structure, In Porch. are very common in ancient parish churches. Porcu'na, an ancient and picturesque Span. town, in the prov. of Jaen; pop. 7,645. 2065 of the body, chiefly as perspiration. There are about 7,000,000 Ps. in an ordinary sized man. Each P. is about in. in 1.; 8,528 Ps. have been counted on 1 sq. in. of the palm of the hand. There are 175,000 in. of Ps.-i. e., 145,833 ft., 48,600 yds., nearly 28 m. of this drainage in a human body. Por'gy, an Amer. fish, common to New York and its vicinity, as well as to other points of the Amer. coast, family Sparride. It is a very abundant, cheap fish, and is much prized for its savory flesh. Porif'era, or Sponges, many-celled animals with tissues arranged in three layers, without a true digestive cavity; the soft parts supported usually by calcareous or siliceous spicules. The body-mass is permeated by microscopic ciliated passages opening into minute chambers lined by ciliated monad-like cells. There is no true mouth-opening, but usually an irregular system of inhalent pores opening into the digestive cell-lined chambers or passages through which the food is introduced in currents of sea-water. Sponges grow from eggs. Of the marketable sponges there are six species, with numerous varieties. They are available for use in bathing from being simply fibrous, having no hard, siliceous spicules. The Mediterranean sponges are the best, while our West Indian kinds are coarser and less durable. Po'rism, a kind of geometric proposition in high favor among ancient Greek mathematicians, but of which the notices that have come down to us are so few and meager that till lately mathematicians were not agreed about what a P. really was. As defined by Playfair, "a P. is a proposition affirming the possibility of finding such conditions as will render a certain problem indeterminate, or capable of innumerable solutions." Pork, the flesh of swine, forms a very large portion of the animal food of most nations, although it is not the most nutritive, as will be seen by the following comparison of the four principal kinds of flesh-food: Veal. Beef. Mineral Gelatine. Matter. Fibrine and Fat. Water. 4.5 7.5 Porcupine, a genus of mammalia, of the order Rodentia, and family Hystricide. This family is remarkably characterized by an armature of spines, which, like those of the hedgehogs, are, as to their structure, merely thick and strong hairs. The Hystricide are plantigrade; the fore feet have four toes and a rudimentary thumb, the hind feet have five toes. Their general aspect is heavy and pig-like, and they have a grunting voice. The muzzle is broad and blunt; the ears short It has qualities, however, which especially fit it for man's use; and rounded; the incisors smooth and large, two above and its fatness makes it a very heat-giving food for cold and temtwo below; the molars eight above and eight below. The perate climates, while it surpasses all other kinds of animal Porcupine. name P. is derived from the Lat. porcus, " swine," and spina, "a thorn." The Common P. is a native of the S. of Europe, of many parts of Asia, and of the most parts of Africa. The spines or quills of the P. are used for various purposes, and have a certain commercial value. It is chiefly sought on account of them, although its flesh is eaten, and was brought to the market of ancient Rome. Pordeno'ne, a town of Venetia, Italy, in the prov. of Udine. The site is supposed to be that of the Portus Naonis of the Romans. Pop. 8,269. Pore, an opening or narrow passage in any solid substance, more especially in the glands and skins of animals. They serve the purpose of throwing off the waste or effete portions 131 83073 food in the case with which it may be preserved by salting and drying. Hence the trade in P. is considerable in all countries where it is used, but especially so in Am. and Great Britain, particularly the former country, where vast quantities are cured for the supply of ships, for home use, and for exportation. Poros'ity. By this term we express the experimental fact that no kind of matter completely fills the space it occupies; in other words, that all bodies are full of minute cavities or interstices, such as are illustrated on a large scale by a sponge. On the atomic theory, it is obvious that this must be the case if the atoms of matter are spherical, or, indeed, if they have any form save one or two special ones, such as cubes or rhombic dodecahedrons. It is commonly asserted that all bodies must be porous, because they are compressible; but this is a great mistake, since we have no reason to believe that matter is not per se compressible, independently of the existence of interstices. Porphyr'ius, one of that series of ancient philosophers to whom is due the reformation of the Greek philosophy known as Neoplatonism, was probably b. at Batanea, in Syria, in the yr. 233 A.D. His original name was Malchus, the Greek form of the Syro-Phoenician Melech, or king. The name by which he is known in history is P. He is said by Socrates the historian, and by St. Augustine, to have been originally a Christian. It was at Rome, however, whither he repaired soon after 260, that he entered upon what must be regarded as, histor. ically considered, the career of his life. Here he became a scholar of the Neoplatonist Plotinus. After six yrs.' residence 2066 PORPHYRY-PORT CHESTER. in Rome he went to Sicily, where he wrote his once cele- (1) a P. in a harbor where ships are admitted to embark or brated treatise in 15 books against the Christians, now discharge cargoes, or for other purposes-a free P. being one known only from the replies which it elicited, having been in which the embarkation and discharge can be conducted burned by order of the Emperor Theodosius. D. 305. without the payment of customs or P. dues. (2) A P. of Porphyry, a term originally confined to an Egyptian rock Entry is a P. where a custom-house is established for the legal used in sculpture, and known now as Rosso antico. The term entry of merchandise. (3) A P. in a ship's side is the aper is not now, however, used to denote any particular rock, but ture for admitting light and air, or for pointing a gun through. is applied to any rock which, like the Rosso antico, has a (See PORTHOLES.) P. is also the nautical name for the left homogeneous earthy or compact base, through which are scat-hand side, when looking toward the bow of a ship—i. e., tered distinct crystals of one or more minerals of contempo- looking forward. The term was a few yrs. ago wisely subrary origin with the base. Thus, gray volcanic trachyte often stituted for Larboard. abounds in crystals of glassy feldspar, forming a trachytic P.; or crystals of feldspar, quartz, or calcareous spar, disseminated through a base of greenstone, form a greenstone P. In the same way, there are pitchstone P., claystone P., etc. Por poise, a genus of Cetacea, of the family Delphinida, having a form similar to the dolphins, but the muzzle short, uniformly convex, and without a beak; a dorsal fin; the teeth very numerous, simple, and equal. The Common P. is the most plentiful of the Cetacea on Porpoise. the British coasts, abounding particularly on the W. coast of Ireland and of Scotland. It is found also on all the coasts of Europe from the Mediterranean N., on the coast of the U. S., and in the Arctic regions. It is one of the smallest of the Cetacea, its 1. sometimes not exceeding 4 ft., although individuals occur of 6 or even 8 ft. in 1. The P. is gregarious, and large numbers are often seen together, sometimes swimming in file, when their backs, appearing above the surface of the water, are apt to suggest the idea of a great sea-serpent; sometimes gamboling, either in fine weather or when a storm is approaching, or even in the midst of a storm. The P. feeds on fish, which its teeth are admirably adapted to catch, and herds of Ps. often pursue vast shoals of herring, mackerel, etc., into bays and estuaries. The P. sometimes ascends rivers, apparently in pursuit of salmon, as far as the water is brackish, and is not unfrequently itself caught on such occasions. Por pora, (NICOLO,) a celebrated singing-master and composer; flourished 1686-1767. Porrel'la, an Ital. town, in the prov. of Bologna; pop. 3,500. Porsen'na, or Por'sena, (LARS or LARTH,) (Lar, in Etruscan, means "lord or "prince,") in the early and uncertain history of Rome, appears as a powerful king of Clusium in Etruria. The sepulcher of P. at Clusium is described by Varro, but his description is not credible. The ancient legend has been magnificently rendered in modern verse by Macaulay in his Lays of Ancient Rome. Por'son, (RICHARD,) the greatest Greek scholar England has ever produced, b. on Christmas, 1759, at East Ruston, Norfolk. For four yrs. he contributed to Maty's Review, his first critique being on Schultz's Eschylus, and his finest on Brunck's Aristophanes. He also opened a correspondence with Prof. Ruhnken. He was appointed to the regius professorship of Greek in the University of Cambridge-an office, indeed, only worth £40 a yr.; yet so splendid was his learning, so admirable his taste, so vigorous and epigrammatic his style of criticism, that he might easily have succeeded in gaining a handsome income. But already "two devils had him in their gripe "-procrastination and a raging thirst for drink-and they held him firm to the end of his melancholy The only thing he ever did in connection with his Greek professorship was to deliver a prælectio so excellent that it has been said if he had passed from verbal to æsthetic criticism he would have surpassed all his countrymen in that career. too. In 1794 he edited the plays of Eschylus for the Foulis Press, Glasgow, and between 1797 and 1801 four of Euripides, the Hecuba, the Orestes, the Phanissa, and the Medea. He also collated the Harleian MS. of the Odyssey for the Grenville Homer. He died of apoplexy 1808, in the 49th yr. of his age, and was buried with great pomp in the chapel of Trinity Coll., Cambridge. P.'s rage for drink was fearful. His thirst was so outrageous that he cannot be considered a mere willful drunkard; one must believe that he was driven into his excesses by some unknown disease of his constitution. (See POLYDIPSIA.) P.'s memory was as amazing as his thirst. The anecdotes told by his biographers almost surpass belief, yet are thoroughly authenticated. His critical acumen has never been matched in England. Portadella, (GIAMBATTISTA,) a so-called prophet, scientist, and academician; also the inventor of the camera obscura; b. in Naples 1540, d. 1615. Portadown', a market and manufacturing town of the county of Armagh, Ulster, Ireland; pop. 6,735. Por'tage, a city of Columbia Co., Wis. It is in the center of an extensive canal and R.R. traffic, has nine churches, three banks, five newspapers, two grain-elevators, iron-works, tanneries, and manufactures of clothing, shoes, etc. Pop. 5,143. Portal, the recess of a large doorway, such as the entrance to a church. See PORCH. Portale'gre, a Port. town, in the prov. of Alemtejo; pop. 6,000. Portalis, (JEAN ÉTIENNE MARIE,) a Fr. statesman, b. 1745, d. 1807. He was an advocate at Aix, published a celebrated memorial On the Validity of Protestant Marriages in France, (1770,) successfully conducted famous suits against Mirabeau and Beaumarchais, was imprisoned in 1794, and in 1795 was elected to the Council of the Ancients. He was proscribed in 1797, and after returning in 1800 co-operated in preparing the new civil code. In 1801, as director of public worship, he was the principal author of the concordat and the organic articles, and aided in organizing the remodeled French Church. In 1803 he became senator, and in 1804 minister of the interior and religion. Portalis, Count, (JOSEPH MARIE,) son of above, b. 1778, d. 1858. He held various important offices. Under Louis Philippe he was Vice-Pres. of the Chamber of Peers, and under Napoleon III. a senator. Portamento, a musical term used for the sustaining of the voice in passing from one note to another. Port Angeles, a city of Clallam Co., Wash., situated on the Straits of Juan de Fuca, 60 m. from the ocean, on the Amer. side opposite Victoria, British Columbia. The harbor was discovered by the Spanish explorers of the 16th c. during a storm, and named by them Puerto de Los Angeles, ("Port of the Angels.") The town was settled in 1857 while still unsurveyed. In 1863 the U. S. government took possession of the place and laid out a town site, buying the improvements of the squatters. The custom-house was moved to the place from Port Townsend, and during the following yr. a town sprang up as large as any then on the Sound. In 1883 it showed signs of awakening, and by 1886 there were two hotels, a store, and six dwellings in the town. From this on the improvement was marked, and now there are 3,000 people in the vicinity, many business houses of different kinds, five hotels, the U. S. Signal Office, and over 200 buildings. The harbor is one of the finest on the Pacific coast. Port Arms, in Musketry Drill, is derived from portare, "to carry," and applies to a motion in which the fire-arm is brought to a slanting position in front of the body, lock to the front, the barrel crossing opposite the front of the left shoulder. Port-au-Prince, a city, cap. of the republic of Hayti, at the head of the Bay of Gonaives, on the W. coast of the island; lat. 18° 33′ N., long. 72° 21′ W.; pop. about 21,000. It is ill-kept and dilapidated. The roadstead is small and shallow. The climate is hot, moist, and unhealthy for for. eigners. It has considerable commerce. Port Blair, the great penal colony of British India, where are collected the dregs of the Indian Empire. Far out in the Bay of Bengal, on the island of South Andaman, live 12,000 deported Hindus and Mohammedans. No walls surround their settlement. They work in the fields and forests and sleep in wooden barracks, but so well are the shores guarded that there have been no escapes by water for nine yrs., and if the prisoners flee into the forest they either perish of starvation or are captured and brought back by the fierce natives, who are handsomely rewarded for every escaped prisoner they bring to the convict camp. Port Ches'ter, a village of Westchester Co., N. Y., on the New York, New Haven, and Hartford R.R., 25 m. from New York. It is a charming suburb of the metropolis, and Port, in naval language, has at least three significations: has several thriving manufactures. Pop. 5,274. PORT COLBORNE-PORT HURON, Port Colborne, a thriving city and port in Welland Co., Ontario, on Lake Erie, at the mouth of the Welland Canal, and on the Grand Trunk R.R., 20 m. from Buffalo. Here is a grain-elevator with a capacity of 6,000 bushels per hour. Pop. 1,500. Portcullis, a frame of wood strengthened with iron, in the form of a grating, and sliding in vertical grooves in the jams of the entrance gate of a fortified place, in order to defend the gate in case of assault. The vertical bars were pointed with iron below, and struck on the ground when the grating was dropped, so as to injure whatever it fell upon. Port Depos'it, the county seat of Cecil Co., Md., on the E. bank of the Susquehanna, and on the Philadelphia, Wilmington, and Bal Portcullis. timore R.R.; pop. 1,908. There is a large trade in lumber and grain shipments. Porte, Ot'toman Porte, or Sublime Porte, the court of the Sultan of Turkey at Constantinople, so named from the custom of administering justice in the high gate, or portal, of the imperial palace. Port Elizabeth, an important sea-port of South Africa, commercial cap. of the E. province of the British Colony of the Cape of Good Hope. The town was founded in 1820, and the last census showed the pop. of the municipality of P. E. to be 15,926. Por'ter, a kind of malt liquor which came into use in London in 1722. Por'ter, (ALBERT G.,) Amer. statesman; b. 1824; member of Congress from Ind. two terms; comptroller currency 1878; Gov. Ind. 1881-85; U. S. minister to Italy 1889-92; d. 1897. Por'ter, (ALEXANDER J.,) statesman; U. S. senator from La. 1834-37; b. in Ireland 1786, d. 1844. Por'ter, (ANDREW,) soldier and patriot; Brig.-Gen. of Pa. State Militia 1800; surveyor-general 1809; served during the Revolutionary War, etc.; b. in Pa. 1743, d. 1813. Por'ter, (ANNA MARIA,) sister of JANE P., b. about 1781, d. 1832. She published two collections of Artless Tales, (1793 and 1795,) Walsh Colville, (1797,) The Hungarian Brothers, (1807,) Don Sebastian, (1809,) The Recluse of Norway, (1814,) The Fast of St. Magdalen, (1821,) and other works. Por'ter, (AUGUSTUS,) statesman; Mayor of Detroit 1818; afterward U.S. senator from Mich. ; b. in N. Y. 1798, d. 1872. Por'ter, (DAVID, U.S.N.,) a gallant naval officer who served from 1798-1826; did good service on board of the Constellation 1799; at Tripoli 1801-6; in West Indies 1824, and commanded the Mexican navy 1826; b. in Boston 1780, d. at Para 1843. Por'ter, (DAVID D.,) admiral of the Amer. navy, son of Commodore DAVID P., who commanded the frigate Essex in the War of 1812; b. in Philadelphia about 1813; entered the navy as midshipman in 1829; served under Commodores Biddle and Pattison; passed his examination in 1835; was employed from 1836 to 1841 in the survey of the coast of the U. S.; in 1841 appointed as lieutenant to the frigate Congress, and employed four yrs. on the Mediterranean and Brazil stations; in 1845 was transferred to the National Observatory at Washington, and during the Mexican War to the naval rendezvous at New Orleans; again to the coast survey, and from 1849 to 1853 engaged in command of the Calif. mail steamers. At the commencement of the civil war he was appointed, with the rank of commander, to the steam sloop-of-war Powhatan; distinguished himself in the capture of New Orleans, and commanded the gun-boat and mortar flotilla which co-operated with the squadron of Admiral Farragut in the first attack on Vicksburg. In the fall of 1862 he was placed in command of all the naval forces on the W. rivers above New Orleans, with the rank of rear-admiral, when his ability as a commander was demonstrated in many ways. At the termination of the war he was appointed superintendent and president ex officio of the U. S. Naval Academy, Annapolis. He was made viceadmiral in 1866, and in 1870 he became admiral. D. 1891. Porter, (DAVID R.,) statesman; Gov. of Pa. 1839-45; b. in Pa. 1788, d. 1867. Por'ter, (EBENEZER, D.D.,) educator; Pres. of Andover Theological Seminary; b. in Conn. 1772, d. 1834. Porter, (Firz-JOHN,) b. in N. H. 1822; was graduated at West Point 1845; served in the Mexican War, and made brevet captain and major for gallantry at Molino del Rey and 2067 Chapultepec. In 1861 was appointed Col. of the 15th U. S. Infantry, displaying great gallantry at Cold Harbor, Malvern Hill, Antietam, and Mechanicsville. For an alleged disobedience at the second battle of Bull Run, Aug. 29, P. was courtmartialed, and on Jan. 21, 1863, was cashiered. In 1878 a trial was granted, and the court recommended that the former sentence be reversed, and that he be restored to his former rank in the army, but no decisive action was taken. In 1882 President Authur remitted so much of the penalty as prohibited him from holding office. New evidence came to light, Gen. Grant affirming that P. had been unjustly treated, and a bill was introduced in Congress providing for his reinstatement. In 1886 the bill passed both Houses, and became a law by the signature of the President. Por'ter, (GEORGE B.,) statesman; Gov. of Mich. Ter. 1831; b. in Pa. 1790, d. 1834. Por'ter, (HORACE,) military secretary to President Grant 1869-73; became manager of the Pullman Palace Car Company; U. S. embassador to France 1897; b. in Pa. 1837. Por'ter, (JAMES DAVIS,) statesman, b. in Tenn. 1828; member of the Legislature of Tenn. 1859-60; Gov. 1875-78; U. S. minister to Chili 1895. Por'ter, (JAMES M.,) lawyer and educator, b. in Pa. 1793; served in the War of 1812; member of the Pa. Constitutional Convention 1838; was one of the founders of Lafayette Coll. at Easton, and Pres. Board of Trustees 25 yrs.; d. 1862. Por'ter, (JANE,) an Eng. novelist, b. 1776, d. 1850. Her first novel was Thaddeus of Warsaw, which was translated into several languages. In 1809 she published The Scottish Chiefs, which was also very popular. The Pastor's Fireside, Duke Christian of Luneburgh, The Field of Forty Footsteps, and Sir Edward Seward's Diary (1831) are her other most important works. In 1841 she visited St. Petersburg with her brother, Sir Robert Ker P. Por'ter, (JOHN ADDISON, M.A., M.D.,) an Amer. analytical chemist of note, b. at Catskill, N. Y., 1822, d. at New Haven 1866. Por'ter, (MOSES,) a Revolutionary officer, distinguished at Fort George 1813; b. at Danvers, Mass., 1755, d. at Cambridge 1822. Por'ter, (NOAH, D.D., LL.D.,) an eminent Amer. scholar and divine; having first filled several important educational positions, was elected Pres. of Yale Coll. in 1871; resigned 1885; b. 1811, d. 1892. Por'ter, (PETER B., U.S.A.,) an Amer. soldier and general; rendered important military service during the War of 1812-15, and was appointed Sec. of War in 1828; b. 1773, d. 1844. Por'ter, (THOMAS,) patriot, b. at Cornwall, Conn., 1734, d. 1833; took an active part in Revolutionary affairs, and was father of REV. EBENEZER PORTER, (q. v.) Por'ter, (WILLIAM D., U.S.N.,) a gallant naval officer and commodore, b. in La. 1810, d. 1864. Por'ter, (WILLIAM T.,) b. in Vt. 1806; was successively a teacher and a journeyman printer, which latter vocation he followed for some yrs. in New York; established the Constellation, afterward merged into the Spirit of the Times; in 1856, in connection with George Wilkes, founded Porter's Spirit of Times, which he conducted till his death, in 1858. Port'fire, a sort of slow-match for firing guns. It consists of a paper tube from 16 to 20 in. in l., filled with a composition thus proportioned: saltpeter 666 parts, sulphur 222 parts, mealed gunpowder 112 parts. The composition is rammed with force into the paper barrel, and then, when ignited, it burns for a considerable period. Port Glasgow, a sea-port of the county of Renfrew, Scotland; pop. 7,288. Port holes are embrasures or openings in the side of a ship of war to enable the guns to be ranged in battery. The P. are ordinarily square, of size sufficient to enable the guns to be pointed at a considerable angle. In stormy weather the ports are closed, the guns being run in. When the guns are run out, and no fighting is anticipated, half-ports are employed to keep the water out. Port Hope, a town, port of entry, and the cap. of Dur ham Co., Ontario, Canada, on the N. shore of Lake Ontario, 63 m. by rail E. by N. of Toronto; pop. 5,042. It has a fine harbor, considerable trade in grain and lumber, and a num. ber of manufactories. Port Hud'son, a village of La., on the Mississippi River, noted as the scene of important military events during the civil war. Much cotton is shipped here. Pop. 1,500. Port Hu'ron, the cap. of St. Clair Co., Mich., a port-of entry on the St. Clair River, where it enters Lake Huron, is 2068 PORTICI PORTO MAURIZIO. on the Grand Trunk R.R., and is the E. terminus of the Chicago and Lake Huron R.R.; pop. 13,543. It is an important commercial and industrial center; has 13 churches, five banks, ship-yards, flouring-mills, grain-elevators, eight newspapers, and extensive car and repair shops belonging to R.RS. Por'tici, a town of Italy, 5 m. S.-E. of Naples, on the Gulf of Naples and on the slope of Mount Vesuvius near the site of Herculaneum; pop. 11,792. It has large fisheries, and manufactories of ribbon. The bay of P. is one of the finest in Italy. Por'tico, a covered space with a roof supported by columns. It is usually attached to an important building, but sometimes detached, as a shady walk. A P. is called tetrastyle, hexastyle, octostyle, and decastyle, according as it has four, six, eight, or ten columns in front. Por'tier, (MICHAEL,) R. C. Bishop of Mobile 1826; b. in France 1795, d. 1859. Por'tion, though not a legal term, is often used in the law of intestacy and legacies, and means a sum of money given to child in discharge of Portico. the obligaion incumbent on a parent; and from the circumstances of its being often given at marriage it is called a marriage P. It Port Jer'vis, a town of Orange Co., N. Y., on the Delaware River, Erie R.R., and Delaware and Hudson Canal. is an important point in R.R. and canal traffic, has seven churches, two banks, iron-foundries, glass and glove factories, repair-shops, etc., and five newspapers. Pop. 9,327. Port Ken'nedy, a village of Montgomery Co., Pa., on the Schuylkill River and the Philadelphia and Reading R.R.; pop. 516. Portland, a city and sea-port of Cumberland Co., Me., situated on an arm of the S.-W. side of Casco Bay, lat. 43° 30' N., long. 70° 15′ W., 105 m. N.-E. of Boston. It is beautifully situated on a peninsula 3 m. 1. by m. w., with broad shaded streets and handsome public and private edifices. Among the former is a fire-proof iron and granite building for the U. S. courts and custom-house; a city hall of olive-colored freestone, 150 by 232 ft.; public halls and libraries, charitable and mechanics' associations, Athenæum, hall and cabinets, Society of Natural History, public schools, several newspapers and 27 churches. P. is the largest city of Me. The harbor is one of the best on the Atlantic coast; the city is regularly laid out and well built; many of the streets are remarkably handsome. Besides having many facilities for ocean commerce, P. is the terminus of various R.Rs. The principal articles of manufacture are boots and shoes, moccasins, refined sugar, rolling-mill and foundry products, machinery, locomotives, engines and boilers, kerosene, matches, hydraulic cement pipe, kerosene burners and chemicals, leather, varnish, paints, soap, carriages and sleighs, edge tools, jewelry, and stone ware. The canning of corn and lobsters is extensively carried on. Ship-building is an important industry of the vicinity. Pop. 36,425. Port land, the chief city of Ore., cap. of Multnomah Co., and a port of entry, on the W. bank of the Willamette River, 12 m. above its mouth in the Columbia, 122 m. by river from the Pacific Ocean, and 530 m. N. of San Francisco. It is the head of ship navigation, and is built on a plateau rising gradually from the river. The streets are regularly laid out, and except in the business portion are shaded with maples. P. is the N. terminus of the Oregon Central R.R., and is connected by two ferries from the village of East Portland, on the opposite bank of the Willamette, the N. terminus of the Oregon and California R.R. Its trade and commerce are increasing rapidly, the chief articles of shipment being wheat, flour, salmon, and lumber. Its foreign commerce has mostly grown up since 1868. There are sev. eral iron-foundries, saw and planing mills, breweries, and manufactories of carriages, boots and shoes, furniture, etc. In East Portland is the State hospital for the insane. P. was laid out in 1845, and became a city in 1851. In 1873 a conflagration destroyed more than $1,000,000 worth of property. Pop. (1890) 46,385, est. (1897) 72,000. Port land, a village of Middlesex Co., Conn.; pop. 4,687. It has large quarries and machine-shops. Port land, a suburb of St. John, New Brunswick, where there is a rich graphite mine; pop. 15,226. Port'land Beds, a division of the upper oolites, occurring between the Purbeck Beds and the Kimmeridge Clay, and so named because the rocks of the group form the promontory of the Isle of Portland. They consist of beds of hard oolitic limestone and freestone, interstratified with clays, and resting on light-colored sands which contain marine fossils. The corals found in the sands are often flints, the original structure being beautifully preserved in the converted into hard silex. The beds may be traced from the Isle of Portland, capping the oolitic hills as far as Oxfordshire. The fossils are chiefly mollusca and fish, with a few reptiles. Portland Isle, a rocky peninsula projecting into the English Channel from the shore of Dorsetshire, 17 m. W.-S.-W. of St. Alban's Head. It is 9 m. in circumference, is composed of oolitic limestone, and slopes S., with an even sur. face, from the h. of 490 ft. to that of 30 ft. above sea-level. Portland Castle, in the N. of the isle, is a ponderous building erected by Henry VIII. as a protection for this part of the coast in 1520. Pop. 9,907. Port'land Stone. This celebrated building-stone, of which many of the principal buildings of London, including St. Paul's Cathedral, Somerset House, and many of the churches are constructed, is the oolitic limestone of Dorsetshire, constituting geologically the Portland and Purbeck Beds. The quarries are chiefly located in the islands of Portland and Purbeck, and in the Vale of Wardour. Portland Vase, a beautiful cinerary urn of transparent dark blue glass found about the middle of the 16th c. in a marble sarcophagus near Rome. It was at first deposited in the Barberini Palace at Rome, (and hence often called the Barberini Vase;) it then became (1770) the property, by purchase, of Sir William Hamilton, from whose possession it passed into that of the Duchess of Portland. In 1810 the Duke The Portland Vase. of Portland, one of the trustees of the British Museum, allowed it to be placed in that institution, retaining his right over it as his own property. In 1845 a miscreant named William Lloyd, apparently from an insane love of mischief or a diseased ambition for notoriety, dashed this valuable relic to pieces with a stone Owing to the defective state of the law, only a slight punish ment could be inflicted; but an act was immediately passed making such an offense punishable with imprisonment for two yrs., and one, two, or three public or private whippings. The pieces of the fractured vase were carefully gathered up, and afterward united in a very complete manner; and thus repaired it still exists in the museum, but is not shown to the public. Port Louis, the cap. and the principal port of the British colony of Mauritius; pop. 74,525. Port Mahon, (Span. Puerto Mahon,) the cap. of the island of Minorca, 2 m. from the mouth of a bay; pop. about 12,000. The city is of modern construction, and contains some fine public buildings. The bay, one of the finest harbors in the Mediterranean, extends about 5 m. inland. P. M. is a naval station, and has salt-works and establishments for preserving oysters. Porto Alegre, a maritime city of Brazil, cap. of the prov. of São Pedro, on the Rio Jacuhy, near its mouth, 710 m. S.-W. of Rio de Janiero; pop. about 25,000. It is regularly laid out, and has fine shops, a beautiful harbor, and picturesque environs. Three lines of steamers are owned here. Por'to Bello, a parliamentary burgh and watering-place, occupies a plain on the S. bank of the Frith of Forth, in the county of Edinburgh, Scotland; pop. 8,181. Por'to Bello, a sea-port of the United States of Colombia, on the N. coast of the isthmus, and 40 m. N. of the city of Panama; pop. about 3,500. It was a strongly fortified place, and though repeatedly surprised by buccaneers, it was flourish ing for about two centuries until 1739, when it was captured and dismantled by Admiral Vernon. Porto Ferra'jo, a town of Italy, cap. of the island of Elba; pop. 4,091. It is strongly fortified and well built, and has a good harbor. The principal export is iron. Por'to Maggio're, an Ital. town, in the prov. of Ferrara; pop. 15,150. Por'to Mauri'zio, a prov. of northern Italy, in Liguria, bordering on France and the Mediterranean; area 467 sq. m., pop. 127,053. Although very mountainous, it is fertile, but the sea winds injure agriculture. Most of the district of San Remo is covered by the Maritime Alps. Its cap. is Porto Maurizio. |