pnugues/EB7 huggingface dataset:
PORTADOWN, a thriving post-town, in the county of Armagh, Ireland, 66 miles from Dublin. It is situated on the Upper Bann, navigable here for vessels of 60 tons burden, and is by it connected with the Newry Canal. It has of late years been much improved, and its appearance is now highly respectable. The principal trade is in the agricultural produce of the surrounding country, which is forwarded to Newry by the canal, whilst the returning barges bring slates, coal, iron, &c. for the inland market. A good number of hands are employed in the linen and cotton trade. The population in 1831, amounted to 1,591∙
PORTAFERRY, a sea-port town, on the eastern shore of the entrance into Strangford Lough, county of Down, Ireland, 80 miles from Dublin. It consists of a small square, a few streets, a range of houses on the quay, and several places for public worship. The principal trade is carried on [7:18:453]with the Liverpool and Glasgow markets, for the agricultural produce of the neighbourhood. The population in 1821 was 1512, and in 1831, 2203.
PORTAL, in Architecture, a little gate where there are two gates of a different size; also a little square corner of a room cut off from the rest by the wainscot, and forming a short passage into the room. The same name is also sometimes given to a kind of arch of joiners’ work before a door.
PORTALEGRE, a city of Portugal, in the province of Alentejo, the capital of a corregimiento of the same name. It is situated on a hill about seven miles from the frontiers, and strongly fortified, being defended by a citadel and many extensive outworks. It is the see of a Bishop, who has a fine cathedral, and under his care an ecclesiastical seminary. There are in this town four parish churches, and five religions houses, with some charitable institutions. It contains 1127 dwelling-houses, with 5780 inhabitants, who make a large quantity of woollen cloth, especially such as is adapted forthetroops; and there are carried on someother branches of manufacture.
PORT ANNA MARIA, a bay or harbour on the south coast of Sir II. Mertin’s island, in the South Pacific Ocean, seven miles west of Point Mertin. Long, of the entrance 139, 39. W. Lat. 8. 30. S.
PORTARLINGTON, a borough town, situated in King’s County and Queen’s County, Leinster, Ireland. It is 44 miles from Dublin, and is situated on the river Barrow, which divides it into two parts, and it consists principally of one long street, about two miles in length. The houses are generally large, and regularly built; but the town possesses neither commerce nor manufactures, nor is it situated on any high road of communication. The prosperity of the town depends on a greater proportion of gentry residing in it, than is generally to be found in towns of its size in Ireland; and also on the reputation of its schools. There are two Protestant churches, a Methodist, and Roman Catholic chapel. The borough possessed, before the year 1784, a large property; but the corporation in that year, and in the year 1802, conveyed over to Lord Portarlington, the patron of the borough, the whole of the property, which brings yearly to the noble proprietor L.800 sterling, and forwhich he pays to the corporation the sum of L.60 late Irish currency. The borough is governed by a sovereign, two bailiffs, and a recorder, and it returns one member to parliament. The population in 1821, amounted to 2877, and in 1831, to 3091.
PORTATE, or a Cross Portate, in Heraldry, a cross which does not stand upright, as crosses generally do, but lies across the escutcheon in bend, as if it were earned on a man’s shoulder.
PORT-AU-PRINCE, the capital and seat of govern- , ment of the republic of Hayti, formerly called St. Domingo or Española, one of the West India Islands. It stands at the bottom of the large bay of the same name, in a situation so low and marshy as to render the climate very unhealthy. It is mostly built of wood; the streets are broad but unpaved; nor are any of its edifices remarkable for their architectural elegance. It contains the president’s palace, several literary and scientific institutions, a lazaretto, and some other public buildings. There is an academy for medicine, astronomy, law, literature, and other branches of knowledge; a drawing seminary, Lancasterian and primary schools, and a national library. There is also a military school, where the pupils receive instruction gratuitously; and several newspapers and periodical journals are published here. The city is supplied with water by a conduit three English miles in length. It has a spacious and secure port and roadstead, where five hundred vessels may anchor at once. It is surrounded by hills which command the town and harbour; and both the hills and the valliesare abundantly fertile. To the east is situated the noble and celebrated plain of Cul de Sac, extending from thirty to forty miles in length, by nine in breadth. It is chiefly laid out in sugar plantations, most ofwhich can bewatered in times of drought by means of canals admirably adapted for the purpose. Commerce is the principal occupation of the inhabitants of Port-au-Prince. The amount of imports may be estimated at twenty millions of francs; but the exports, consisting chiefly of coffee, cotton, Campeachy wood, sugar, and other articles, are much greater. This city was founded in the year 1745; but twenty-five years afterwards it was almost completely destroyed by an earthquake. It was rapidly rebuilt, but was nearly reduced to ruins by fire in 1791. In 1830, it again experienced several shocks of an earthquake, some of which did considerable damage. The inhabitants of the district of Port-au-Prince are estimated at about 90,000, and those of the city at about 30,000. Lat 18. 34. N. Long. 72. 27. W.
PORTCULLIS, in Fortification, is an assemblage of several large pieces of wood, joined across one another like a harrow, and each pointed with iron at the bottom. They are sometimes hung over the gate-way of old fortified towns, ready to be let down in the case of surprise, when the gates cannot be shut.
PORT-DALRYMPLE, aharbouror estuaryon thenorth coast of Van Dieman’s Land, in which the Tamar discharges itself, after receiving the North and the South Esk. At the union of the latter it is navigable for vessels of 150 tons.
PORTER, a kind of malt-liquor which differs from ale and pale beer, in its being made with high-dried malt. See Brewing.
PORTGREVE, or Portgkave, was anciently the principal magistrate in ports and other maritime towns. The word is formed from the Saxon port, a port or other town, and geref, a governor. It is sometimes also written port-reve. Camden observes, that the chief magistrate of London was anciently called portgreve ; but instead of him, Richard I. appointed two bailiffs; and soon afterwards John granted them a mayor as their yearly magistrate.
PORTICI, a palace of the king of Naples, six miles from the capital, and charmingly situated on the sea-shore, near Mount Vesuvius. It is enriched with a vast number of fine statues, and other remains of antiquity, taken out of the ruins of Herculanum. See Pompeii.
PORTICO, in Architecture, a kind of gallery formed on the ground; or a piazza encompassed with arches supported by columns, where people walk under covert. The roof is usually vaulted, but sometimes flat. The ancients called it lacunar. Though the word portico be derived from porta, a gate or door, yet it is applied to any disposition of columns which form a gallery, without any immediate relation to doors or gates.
PORT-JACKSON, a bay and English settlement on the east coast of New Holland. The two heads through which the entrance lies are distant from each other one mile and three quarters; and the heads on each side are high, steep, [7:18:455]perpendicular cliffs, between which ships may run in safety. It may be entered in all winds. Within, the port divides into two branches, the one stretching eighteen miles west, the other seven miles north-west. Both contain numerous creeks, on one of which is situated the town of Sidney, the chief town of Botany Bay. Long, of Castle Point, 151. 11.49-E. Lat.33. 51. 45.S.
PORTLAND, a town of Maine, one of the United States of North America. See Maine. Portland, an island on the coast of Dorsetshire, or rather a peninsula, since it is joined to the mainland by a lofty bank of pebbles, which runs parallel to the sea, about three miles in length. Within the beach is a small arm of the sea, called the Fleet, the passage over which, by a ferry, is the common communication with Weymouth, from which it is distant about three miles. The island is a solid mass of stone, peculiarly adapted for buildings of the first class; and the extracting it from the quarries, and placing it on vessels, form the chief employment of the inhabitants. The surface of the rock is covered with a soil, the herbage of which feeds a small race of sheep, celebrated for the delicate flavour of their flesh. Some cows are also kept, and a small part of the land yields corn, but not sufficient for the inhabitants. The parish comprehends seven hamlets. It has a church near the centre; and towards the south end is the well constructed light-house, so important to navigation. Portland road is a secure anchorage, and is defended by a small fort. Lat. of the light-house 50, 31.22. Long. 2. 26. 59∙ W. The population was in 1801, 1619; in 1811, 2079; in 1821, 2254; and in 1831, 2670.

Portland Islands, is a cluster of small islands in the Eastern Seas, to the westward of New Hanover. They were so named by Captain Cintenet in 1767. The north-east point of the most eastern isle, is in Long. 147. 18. E. Lat. 2. 36. S.

Portland Island, in the South Pacific Ocean, is situated near the east coast of New Zealand. Long. 178.12. E. Lat. 39. 25. S.

Portland vase, a celebrated funeral vase, long in possession of the Barberini family, but which was purchased for a thousand guineas by the Duke of Portland, from whom it derived its present name. Its height is about ten inches, and its diameter where broadest six. There are upon it a variety of figures of most exquisite workmanship, in bas relief, of white opaque glass raised on a ground of deep blue glass, which appears black except when held against the light. It seems to have been the work of many years, and there are antiquarians who date its production several centuries before the Christian era; since sculpture was declining in excellence even in the time of Alexander the Great-
PORT LOUIS, a fortified sea-port of France, in the department of Morbihan, and arrondisement of L’Orient. It is situated at the mouth of the river Blavet, on the bay of its own name, and is inclosed by the sea on three sides. It has a citadel of great strength, three churches, a naval hospital and exchange, 365 houses, and 3480 inhabitants. Lat. 47. 45. Long. 3. 32. W.
PORT-MACQUARIE, an inlet on the east coast of New Holland, into which falls the river Hastings. It received its present appellation from Mr. Oxley, who surveyed it in 1818. Long. 152. 53. 54. E. Lat. 31. 25. 115. S.
PORT-ROYAL, a town of the island of Jamaica. See Jamaica.
PORT-SANDWICK, a harbour of the island of Mallicollo, in the South Pacific Ocean. Long. 167. 67. E. Lat. 16. 25. S.
PORTOBELLO, a parliamentary burgh, situated on the Frith of Forth, nearly three miles from Edinburgh. The town is neatly built, and as the beach is extensive, and commodious for sea-bathing, it is consequently much frequented in the summer season as a watering-place. It is not a place of trade, but has several manufactories for making bricks, tiles, and potteries, a crystal and glass work, and one or two others of less importance. The town is governed by a provost, two baillies, and six councillors; and, with Leith and Musselburgh, it returns a member to parliament. The stationary population in 1821, amounted to 1912, and in 1831, to 3170.
PORTOBELLO, a town situated on the isthmus of Panama. See Panama.
PORTO FERRAJO, the capital of the Island of Elba, in the province of Pisa, and the duchy of Tuscany^ celebrated as the residence of Napoleon during his banishment to that island. It is situated on a tongue of land running into the sea, and forming a small bay. It is fortified, and contains two churches, an hospital, 600 houses, with 3120 inhabitants, who depend chiefly upon some salt works and the tunn; fishery. Lat. 42. ⅛∙ 6. Long. 9∙ 20. 15. E.
PORTO-NOVO, a sea-port town of the south of India, in the Carnatic. It is esteemed the safest port on the Coromandel coast. The ground is good, and vessels may anchor in six fathoms water. In August 1781, the British gained a victory here over Hyder Aly. Long. 79∙ 52.E. Lat. 11. 30. N.
PORTO SANTO. See Madeira.
PORT-PATRICK, a sea-port town and parish, on the west coast of Wigtonshire, at the distance of 133 miles from Edinburgh. It is situated on the shore of the Irish Sea, at the nearest point to Ireland, the distance being only twenty-one miles to Donaghadee∙ From this cause, as well as from being the best place for crossing between the two countries, steam packets and sailing vessels regularly sail between the two ports with the mails from Edinburgh, London, and Dublin. The town is not large, but it is beautifully situated, with a fine southern exposure, and encompassed on the other side by a ridge of small hills, which shelters it from the cold air of the sea. The climate is therefore salubrious, and on that account is much resorted to during the summer months for sea-bathing. The harbour was formerly small and inconvenient, but very extensive improvements having been carried on by the late Sir James Hunter Blair and by government, to render the harbour fit for shipments at all times of the tide, it has, especially its quay, been made one of the best in the kingdom. The chief trade arises from the importation of cattle and horses from Ireland. The population in 1821, amounted to 1818, and in 1831, to 2239∙
PORTRAIT, in Painting, the representation of a person, and especially of a face, done from the life.
PORTREE, is a small village, containing a church and a very few houses, with an excellent bay and a good harbour, in the isle of Skye.
PORTSOY, a burgh of barony and a sea-port town, in the parish of Fordyce, and county of Banff. It is situated on a point of land, jutting into a small bay, of the same name, on the Moray Frith, and consists of a few streets, irregularly built. The harbour is small, but safe, and is capable ofadmitting vessels of 150 tons. The chief trade is in linen and thread, manufactured principally for the Aberdeen, London, and Nottingham trade. Grain is also shipped from the port, and there is a considerable trade arising from the herring fishing. Portsoy is famed for the serpentine, erroneously called Portsoy marble, which is quarried to a considerable extent near the town. It is beautifully variegated, and as it is susceptible of a high polish, it is much used for ornaments. There is also found the splendid variety of flesh-coloured granite, possessing Labrador feldspar, which is nowhere else to be found, except in Arabia, where it was first discovered. The population in 1821 amounted to 1,700, and in 1831 i , the population of the parish and burgh was 3,364.
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PORTUMNA, a small market town, in the county of Galway, Ireland. It is situated within half a-mile of the river Shannon, over which there is a bridge, and consists of a long line of cabins built without any regularity. It possesses a church and a Roman Catholic chapel. It is distant from Dublin 74 miles, and had a population in 1821 of 736, and in 1831 of 1122.
POSEGA, a city of the Sclavonian provinces of the Austrian kingdom of Hungary, the capital of a circle of the same name, which extends over 990 square miles, and comprehends one city, six towns, and 254 villages, with 74,200 inhabitants. The city is on the river Orlgava, and contains 410 houses, with 4220 inhabitants, who grow tobacco and silk. Lat∙45.21. 30. Long. 17. 37. 25. E.
POSIDONIUS, a celebrated Stoic philosopher of Apa-meia in Syria, was the disciple and successor of Panaetius, (Strab∙ xiv. 655.) The exact date of his birth and death are unknown, but he flourished B. c. 78, and came to Rome B. c. 51. (Suidas.) He resided principally at the island of Rhodes, and his reputation was so high that many of the young Roman nobility attended his lectures. He was visited by Cicero, b. c. 78, (Plut. Cic. 4. Cic. n.d. 1, 3), and by Pompey, b. c. 62. (Plin. víi. and Plut. Pomp. 42.) Posidonius went to Rome on an embassy respecting the affairs of the Rhodians, (Plut. Mar. 45), and probably at this time visited Spain, (Strab. xiii. 614), Gaul, (iv. 197), and Liguria, (iii. 165;· He lived to the age of eighty-four, (Lucian, Macrob. 20), and was succeeded by his grandson Jason, (Suid.) Cicero (Div. i. 3), alludes to a work of hts on divination, in five books; but he was not merely a philosopher, he was also an astronomer and geographer, who is frequently quoted by Strabo. He made an attempt to calculate the circumference of the earth, and also the diameter of the sun. (Strab. ii. 95, 138.) He treated at considerable length the phenomena of tides, and observed that they had diurnal, monthly, and annual periods, like the moon, (138, 174.) The scattered fragments of Posidonius have been collected and published, under the title, Posidonii Ilhodii reliquiae doctrinae, collegit atque illustravit J. Bake accedit Vrytlembachii annotatio, 1810.
POSITRA, a sea-port town of Hindustan, in the province of Gujerat, and district of Okamindel. The inhabitants, like those of many others of the coast towns in India, have been long addicted to piracy; which was prosecuted with ardour, notwithstanding an agreement between the chiefs and the British to lay aside these depredations. A British force was in consequence sent against the town, which was taken, and the walls levelled with the ground. Long. 69∙ 17. E. Lat. 22. 23. N.
POSON, one of the smaller Philippine islands, near the west coast of Leyta. Long. 124. 24. E. Lat. 10. 43. N.
POSSESSION Island, in the South Pacific Ocean, discovered by Monsieur Marion in 1772. It is of a round form and mountainous. Long. 41. 40. E. Lat. 46. 30. N. There is another island of this name in the South Pacific Ocean, near the north point of New Holland. It was taken possession of by Captain Cook in the name of Great Britain. Long. 218. 21. E. Lat. 10. 33. N.
POSSESSIVE, in Grammar, a term applied to pronouns, which denote the enjoyment or possession of any thing either in particular or in common; as meus, mine; tuus, thine; swus, his own, her own, its own, or their own.
POSTERIOR, a term of relation, implying something behind, or that comes after, another. In this sense it is used in opposition to prior and anterior.
POSTERN, in fortification, a small gate, usually made in the angle of the flank of a bastion, or in that of the curtain, or near the orillon, and descending into the ditch; by which the garrison can march in and out, unperceived by the enemy, either to relieve the works, or to make sallies against an enemy. The word is also used in general for any private or back door.
POST-HORSE, a rocky inlet in the Eastern seas, near the west coast of the island of Celebes. Long. U9∙ 18. E. Lat. 5. N.
POSTHUMOUS, a child born after the death of his father, or taken out of the body of a dead mother; and hence frequently applied to the works of an author not published until after his decease.
POSTIL, a name anciently given to a note in the margin of the Bible, and afterwards to one in any other book posterior to the text.
POSTILLIONS, a chain of rocks in the Eastern Seas, about 60 miles in length from north to south. Long. 119. 18. to 119∙ 54. E. Lat. 6. 15. to 6.48. S.
POSTLIMINIUM, amongst the Romans, the return of one who had gone to sojourn elsewhere, or had been banished, or taken by an enemy of his own country or state.
POST, a word derived from the Latin positus, set or placed. It is used in several different meanings, but all of them referring either immediately or remotely to the primitive sense of position. Thus the word post signifies a stake, or piece of timber set upright; a station, particularly a military station; an office or employment; an operation in bookkeeping; a conveyance for letters or dispatches; a particular mode of travelling.
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POSTULATE, in mathematics, is described to be such an easy and self-evident supposition, that it needs no explication or illustration to render it intelligible.
POTAMON, or Potamo, was a philosopher of Alexandria. He steered a middle course between the scepticism of the Pyrrhonists and the presumption of the Dogmatists; but attached himself to none of the schools of philosophy of bis time. He was the first projector of the Eclectic sect; for though the mode of philosophising had been pretty common before, he was the first who attempted to institute a new sect on this principle. Diogenes Laertius relates, that not long betore he wrote his Lives of the Philosophers, an Eclectic sect, eκλeκτtκ17 us luptσιs, had been introduced by Potamo of Alexandria, who selected tenets from every former sect. He then proceeds to quote a few particulars of his system from his Eclectic Institutes, respecting the principles of reasoning, and certain general topics of philosophical inquiry; but from these nothing further can be learned than that Potamo endeavoured to reconcile the precepts of Plato with those of other masters.
POTASH, the lixivious ashes of certain vegetables, used in making glass, soap, and other articles. See Glass, Soap, and Chemistry. Potash was formerly considered as a simple substance; but it appears, from the discoveries of Sir II. Davy, to be a compound of a peculiar metallic substance and oxygen.
POTATOES, of the order solaneae. See Botany. It seems to be the prevalent opinion that potatoes were first introduced into Europe from America, by Sir Walter Raleigh, about 1586. Gerard, an old English botanist, mentions that he had reared seedlings of the potatoe in 1590, and that it grew as well in his garden as in its native soil, Virginia. Gerard gave to the potatoe the botanical name of solanum tuberosum, — a name adopted by Linnaeus, and which it still retains. Previously to 1684, its cultivation in England was confined to the gardens of a few of the nobility and gentry. It was then first planted in the open fields in Lancashire, a county in which it is now very extensively cultivated. In an account of the household expenses of Queen Anne, wife of James I., who died in 1618, and which is supposed to have been compiled in 1613, the price of potatoes is stated at Is. a pound.
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Potatoes were not introduced into Ireland until 1610, when a small parcel was sent by Sir Walter Raleigh to be planted on his estate in the vicinity of Youghall. There is no other instance of the cultivation of an exotic having been so rapidly extended in so short a period as has elapsed since potatoes were introduced into Ireland.

Potatoes were not raised in Scotland, except in gardens, till 1728, when they were planted in the open fields by Thomas Prentice, day-labourer at Kilsyth. Prentice died at Edinburgh so late as 1792.

It has been estimated that one acre of land will produce three times, or at least twice, as much food when growing potatoes, as when employed in the culture of wheat; consequently, where the inhabitants live upon potatoes, the population will be twice or thrice as dense as where they are fed entirely on corn. While, however, the use of the potato as a principal article of food renders population comparatively dense, it tends also to render the people habitually poor, and to multiply the chances of famine. For the cultivation of the potato see Agriculture. For the political views see M‘Culloch’s Commercial Dictionary, and his notes to Smith’s Wealth of Nations.
POTENTIA, power, that whereby a thing is capable either of acting or being acted upon.