n at Smolensk, of Polish descent; a
handsome man with a powerful physique, who attracted the attention of
Catharine II., became one of her chief favourites, and directed the
foreign policy of Russia under her for 13 years; is understood to have
been an able man, but unscrupulous (1736-1771).

POTOMAC RIVER, rising in the Alleghany Mountaine, flows 400 m.
eastward between Maryland and the Virginias into Chesapeake Bay; the
Shenandoah is the chief tributary. The river is navigable as far up as
Cumberland, and is tidal up to Washington, which is on its banks.

POTOSI (12), an important mining and commercial town of Bolivia,
situated 13,000 ft. above sea-level on the slopes of the Cerro de Potosi;
is one of the loftiest inhabited places on the globe, but a dilapidated,
squalid place. There is a cathedral, next to Lima the finest in South
America, a mint, and extensive reservoirs; the streets are steep and
without vehicles; the climate is cold, and the surrounding hillsides
barren; the industry is silver mining, but the mines are becoming
exhausted and flooded.

POTSDAM (54), 18 m. SW. of Berlin, stands on an island at the
confluence of the Nuthe and Havel, and is the capital of the Prussian
province of Brandenburg; a handsome town, with broad streets, many parks
and squares, numberless statues and fine public buildings; it is a
favourite residence of Prussian royalty, and has several royal palaces;
was the birthplace of Alexander von Humboldt; has sugar and chemical
works, and a large violet-growing industry.

POTT, AUGUST FRIEDRICH, eminent philologist, born in Hanover; wrote
on the Indo-Germanic languages, a work which ranks next in importance to
Bopp's "Comparative Grammar"; he was the author of a number of
philological papers which appeared in the learned journals of the day
(1802-1887).

POTTER, JOHN, archbishop of Canterbury, born in Yorkshire, son of a
draper, a distinguished scholar; author of "Archaeologia Graeca," a work on
the antiquities of Greece, and for long the authority on that subject
(1674-1747).

POTTER, PAUL, a great Dutch animal-painter, lived chiefly at
Amsterdam and The Hague; his most celebrated picture, life-size, is the
"Young Bull," now at The Hague (1625-1654).

POTTERIES, THE, a district in North Staffordshire, 9 m. long by 3
broad, the centre of the earthenware manufacture of England; it includes
Hanley, Burslem, Stoke-upon-Trent, &c.

POT-WALLOPERS (i. e. Pot-boilers