POR 
ease of surprise, when the gates could not 
be shut. 
PORTER, a kind of malt liquor, which 
differs from ale and pale beer in its being 
made with high-dried malt. 
PORTGREVE, or Portgrave, an- 
ciently the principal magistrate in ports and 
other maritime towns. The w'ord is formed 
from the Saxon “ port,” and “ geref,” a 
governor. It is sometimes also written 
“ portreve.” It is said by Camden, that 
the chief magistrate of London was an- 
ciently called port-greve, which was ex- 
changed by Richard I. for two bailiffs ; and 
these again gave place, in the reign of King 
'John, to a mayor, who was an annually 
elected magistrate. 
PORTICO, in architecture, a kind of 
gallery on the ground, supported by co- 
lumns, where people walk under covert. 
PORTLAND-STONE, is a dull whitish 
species of stone, much used in buildings ;• 
it is composed of a coarse grit, cemented 
together by an earthy spar: it will not 
strike fire with steel, but makes a violent 
effervescence with nitric acid. 
Portland mse, a celebrated funeral vase 
which was long in the possession of the Babe- 
rini family ; but which was some years since 
purchased for 1000 guineas by the Duke of 
Portland, from whom it has derived its pre- 
sent name. Its height is about ten inehes, 
and its diameter, where broadest, six. 
There are a variety of figures upon it, of 
most exquisite workmanship, in bas relief, 
of white opaque glass, raised on a ground of 
deep blue glass, which appears black, ex- 
cept when held against the light. It ap- 
pears to have been the work of many years, 
and there are antiquarians who date its pro- 
duction several centuries before the Chiis- 
tian era ; since, as has been said, sculpture 
was declining in excellence in the time of 
Alexander tlie Great. Respecting tlie pur- 
pose of this vase, and what the figures on 
it were meant to represent, there have been 
a variety of conjectures. We shall, there- 
fore, give a shoit account of the several 
figures, vvithout noticing any of the theo- 
ries or conjectures that havf been made 
about them. In one compartment three ex- 
quisite figures are placed onaruined column, 
the capital of which is fallen, and lies at 
their feet among other disjointed stones : 
they sit under a tree on loose piles of stone. 
The middle figure is a female in a reclining 
and dying attitxide, with an inverted torch 
in her left hand, the elbow of which sup- 
POR 
ports her as she sinks, while the right hand 
is laised and thrown over her drooping 
head. The figure on her right hand is a 
man, and that on the left a woman, both 
supporting themselves on their arms, and 
apparently thinking intensely. Their backs 
are to the dying figure, and their faces are 
turned to her, but without an attempt to 
assist her. On another compartment of the 
vase is a figure coming through a portal, 
and going down with great timidity into a 
darker region, where he is received by a 
beautiful female, who stretches forth her 
hand to help him : between her knees is a 
large and playful serpent. She sits with her 
feet towards an aged figure, having one foot 
sunk into the earth, and the other raised on 
a column, with his chin resting on his hand. 
Above the female figure is a Cupid preced- 
ing the first figure, and beckoning him to 
advance. This first figure holds a cloak or 
garment, which he seems anxious to bring 
with him, but which adheres to the side of 
the portal through which he has passed. In 
this compartment there are two trees, one 
of which bends over the female figure, and 
the other over the aged one. On the bot- 
tom of the vase there is another figure on a 
larger scale than the one we have already 
mentioned, but not so well finished nor go 
elevated. This figure jioints with its finger 
to its mouth. The dress appears to he cu- 
rious and cumbersome, and above there is 
the foliage of a tree. On the head of the 
figure there is a Phrygian cap ; it is not 
easy to say whether this figure be male or 
female. On the handles of the vase are 
represented two aged heads with the ears of 
a quadruped, and from the middle of the 
forehead rises a kind of tree without leavfes ; 
these figures are, in all probability, mere 
ornaments, and have no connection with 
the rest of the figures, or the story repre- 
sented on the vase. 
PORTLANDIA, in botany, so named 
in honour of the Duchess of Portland, a 
genus of the Pentandria Monogynia class 
and order. Natural order of Riibiacere, 
Jussieu. Essential character : corolla club, 
funnel-shaped; anthers longitudinal; cap- 
sule five-cornered, obtuse, two-ielled, two- 
valved, many-seeded, crowned with a five- 
leaved calyx. There are four species. 
PORTMANTEAU, a cloak bag of cloth, 
leather, &c. in w hich the cloak, linen, and 
other habiliments of travellers are disposed 
and laid on the horse’s crupper. The same 
name is also given to a piece of joiners’ 
work fastened to the wall in a vyardrobe, 
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