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 The foundation of the city dates from 1547, two years after the first discovery of silver on the cerro by an Indian herder named Gualci. Charles V. conferred upon it the title of “villa imperial.” From 1545 to 1800 the crown tax of one-fifth upon the mineral product amounted to £32,600,000, showing an acknowledged output of £163,000,000. The actual output, however, must have been much greater, as Spain was flooded with contraband silver, and there was a large trade in it at La Plata ports, whence it was taken to Brazil and Portugal. The total output to 1864 has been estimated at more than £400,000,000, but the annual output at the beginning of the 20th century barely exceeded 400,000 ozs. The struggle for independence began in Potosi on the 9th of November 1810, but the Spanish forces succeeded in retaining possession down to 1822.

POTOTAN, a town of the province of Iloilo, island of Panay, Philippine Islands, on the Jalaur river, about 17 m. N. of Iloilo. Pop. (1903), 37,373, including the population of Dingle (12,129) and Mina (4280), annexed after the census was taken. There is a fine church in the old town and a large stone church in Dingle; in the old town are several other buildings of masonry and some beautiful “fire” trees for shade. The principal industries are the cultivation of sugar-cane, Indian corn, rice, tobacco and hemp, and the raising of cattle, carabaos, sheep and horses.

POTSDAM, a town of Germany, the administrative capital of the Prussian province of Brandenburg, and one of the principal residences of the German Emperor, beautifully situated on the river Havel, 16 m. S.W. of Berlin, on the main line of railway to Magdeburg. Pop. (1905), 61,414. It is also connected with the capital by two local lines and by a steamboat service through the chain of lakes formed by the river. The greater part of the town lies on the right bank of the Havel and is connected with the Teltow suburb on the opposite bank by a long bridge (Lange Brücke). At the north end of this bridge rises the royal palace, a large quadrangular building of the 17th century, with a colonnade, chiefly interesting for the numerous relics it contains of Frederick the Great, who made it his favourite residence. At the south-eastern corner of the palace, close to the bridge, is the tree under which petitioners waited for the answer to their grievances, which Frederick the Great gave from an opposite window. It also contains reminiscences of Voltaire, who resided here for several years. The principal churches are the Nikolaikirche; the Church of the Holy Ghost, built in 1728; the garrison church, containing the remains of Frederick the Great and his father, Frederick William I.; and the Friedenskirche, or Church of Peace, erected by Frederick William IV. in 1845–1850. To the Friedenskirche is attached a mausoleum built after the model of a chapel at Innichen in Tirol, in which are buried Emperor Frederick III. and his consort, the Princess Royal of Great Britain, and two of their children who died in infancy. Among other conspicuous buildings are the large barracks and other military establishments; the town hall; and the Brandenburg gate, in the style of a Roman triumphal arch. The town has fine statues of several of the Prussian kings, including Frederick the Great. The Lustgarten, the Wilhelmsplatz and the Plantage are open spaces laid out as pleasure-grounds and adorned with statues and busts. In spite of its somewhat sleepy appearance, Potsdam has manufactures of silk goods, chemicals, furniture, chocolate, tobacco and optical instruments. Market-gardening affords occupation to many of the inhabitants, and the cultivation of winter violets is a specialty. The Havel is well stocked with fish. On a wooded eminence to the south of the town lies the observatory with extensive premises.

 POTSDAM, a village of St Lawrence county, New York, U.S.A., in the township of Potsdam, on the Raquette river, about 68 m. N.E. of Watertown. Pop. of the village (1905) 4162; (1910) 4036; of the township (1905) 8992; (1910) 8725. The village is served by the New York Central & Hudson River railway. It has a public library and is the seat of a state Normal School (1869), an outgrowth of St Lawrence Academy (founded in 1810 by Benjamin Raymond and maintained by him until 1816, when it was incorporated); of the Thomas S. Clarkson Memorial School of Technology (1896), founded by his sisters in honour of Thomas Streatfield Clarkson (1837–1894); and of the Crane Normal Institute of Music. The village has a considerable trade in dairy products. In the neighbourhood are extensive quarries of the well-known “Potsdam sandstone,” the uppermost division of the Cambrian system, described as a “fine-grained sandstone cemented with silica,” and very durable. The House of Parliament at Quebec, All Saints Cathedral at Albany, New York, and many other public edifices were built of this stone.

The “Ten Towns” of St Lawrence county, including the township of Potsdam, were sold by the state in 1787. The first settlement was made on the Raquette river, close to the present village, in 1803; the township was incorporated in ISO6 and the village in 1831. Potsdam was named after Potsdam in Prussia because of the occurrence in each locality of reddish sandstone.

POTT, AUGUST FRIEDRICH (1802–1887), German philologist, was born at Nettelrede, Hanover, on the 14th of November 1802. He studied in Göttingen, and in 1825 became schoolmaster at Celle, Hanover; but after two years removed to Berlin, where he became privatdozent at the university. He studied comparative philology, and in 1883 was made professor at Halle, where he lived till his death on the 5th of July 1887. His Etymologische Forschungen (1834–1836) entitled him to rank as Bopp's foremost disciple in the Indo-Germanic science of language. Pott also devoted much attention to the origins of the gipsies.

POTT, PERCIVALL (1714–1788), English surgeon, was born in London on the 6th of January 1714. He served his apprenticeship with Edward Nourse, assistant surgeon to St Bartholomew's Hospital, and in 1736 was admitted to the Barbers