POTOMAC GROUP 



6295 



POTSHERD 



Potomac Group. In geology, 

 a series of deposits of the Lower 

 Cretaceous and Jurassic period, 

 found in N. America. Rocks of this 

 group consist chiefly of sands, 

 gravels, and clays, and are a source 

 of glass sand and iron ores. They 

 are typical in New Jersey up the 

 Mississipi valley to Tennessee, etc. 



Potosi OE CERRO Rico DB 

 Poxosf . Mountain, dept., and town 

 of Bolivia. The mt. rears to an alt. 

 of 15,290 ft., is snow-capped, and is 

 the site of one of the richest silver 

 mines known. The Cerro is 18 m. 

 in circumference, and the borings 

 and shafts made in the mt. sides in 

 search of silver exceed 5,000. It is 

 estimated that the total yield of 

 silver has exceeded in value 

 500.000,000. The dept. occupies 

 the S. W. of the country and adjoins 

 Chile on the W. and Argentina on 

 the S. It is crossed in the middle by 

 the Cordillera de los Frailes, E. of 

 which the dist. drains to the Pilco- 

 mayo ; in the W. is the extensive 

 Salar de Uyuni. The surface is 

 generally mountainous, but it con- 

 tains the extensive salt swamp 

 known as Salinas Grandes. It 

 yields silver, gold, copper, and tin. 

 Its area is 45,000 sq. m. Pop. 

 400,000. 



The town of Potosi, one of the 

 highest inhabited places in the 

 world, stands at 13,600 ft. alt. on 

 the side of the mt. ; much of it is 

 in ruins, having been, in part, de- 

 serted. It contains the government 

 mint, and a large granite-built 

 cathedral. In the 17th century 

 the city had a pop. of 150,000. 

 Pop. 25,000. See. Bolivia. 



Pot-pourri (Fr., rotten pot.). 

 French translation of olla podrida 

 (g-v.), the name of a Spanish dish, 

 made up of different kinds of meat 

 and vegetables, minced and stewed. 

 It has come to be used for any com- 

 position, literary or musical, put 

 together without regard to order 

 and with no particular connexion 

 between the parts. The name 

 is in common use for a mixture 

 of dried rose petals, lavender, 

 and spice kept for its fragrance in 

 china jars. 



Potsdam. Town of Prussia, 

 Germany. It stands on an island 

 in the Havel, 16 m. from Berlin, 

 on the main rly. line to Magdeburg, 

 and is also served by steamers. 

 Around are a number of lakes 

 formed by the Havel. It has some 

 manufactures, including textiles, 

 chemicals, and optical instruments, 

 but is chiefly known for its palaces, 

 until 1918 the residences of the 

 Hohenzollern family. 



The first palace was erected 

 overlooking the Havel about 1660, 

 and was afterwards improved by 

 Frederick the Great and other 

 kings. Outside the town, in a 

 large park, is the small palace of 

 Sans Souci built by Frederick the 

 Great, who also built at the other 

 end of the park a newer palace, an 

 enormous brick edifice. He also 

 extended the park and laid it out 

 in the French style ; in it are an 

 orangery and a model of a 

 Pompeian villa. The palaces have 

 also memorials of Voltaire. There 

 are several other palaces. The 

 churches include S. Nicholas, the 

 garrison church, wherein Frederick 



the Great was buried, and the 

 peace church built 1845-50, at- 

 tached to it being the royal 

 mausoleum. Other public build- 

 ings are the town hall and the 

 theatre. There are large squares 

 and pleasure-grounds. The Bran- 

 denburg Gate resembles a Roman 

 triumphal arch. Potsdam is the 

 capital of the province of Branden- 

 burg and until 1918 was a military 

 centre. Originally a village on the 

 Havel, it was made a town in the 

 14th century. Pop. 62,000. 



Potsdam Sandstone. In geo- 

 logy, name given to rocks of the 

 Upper Cambrian. So called from 

 their typical formation at Potsdam, 

 New York, they consist of red or 

 yellow sandstones, and are exten- 

 sively used as building stones. 

 They are found on the edge of the 

 Adirondacks, in Virginia, Michigan, 

 and Wisconsin. See Cambrian. 



Potsherd. Fragment of an 

 earthenware pot, or any broken 

 piece of earthenware. In archaeo- 

 logical exploration such sherds are 

 of great importance, often enabling 

 the successive layers in ancient 

 sctliemf-nts to IK' 

 identified. A W. 

 Asian ruin-mound 

 may exhibit neo- 

 lithic sherds at the 

 base and Byzantine 

 or Arab pottery on 

 the surface, with 

 several civilizations 

 between. Old foun- 

 dations beneath 

 London may prove 

 to be Romano- 

 Britishj Saxon, 



Potsdam, Germany. 1. New Palace, built 1763-69. 2. Town Hall, built in 1754. 3. Brandenburg Gate, celebrating 

 the victories of Frederick the Great, built in 1770. 4. Palace of Sans Souci. 5. Town Palace, rebuilt in 1751 



