Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 16.djvu/371

* POTAWATAMI. 315 POTENTILLA. Potawatami of Huron, iIiolii.i;au, 80; scattering in Oklahoma, Wisconsin, Indiana, etc., perhaps 200; Walpole Island and Aux Sables, Ontario, mixed Potawatami and Ojibwa, 200. POT-BOUILLE, p6'bJR5e'y'. One of Zola's Eougon-ilacquart series of novels (1883), a satire on the corrupt commercial bourgeoisie of Paris. POTCHEFSTROOM, poch'ef-strom. A town in. the southern part of the Transvaal Colony, South Africa, 105 miles southwest of Pretoria. (Map: Transvaal Colony, D 5). Population, about 5000. POTEKHIN, p6t-yeK'in, Alexei Axtipo- viTcii (1829 — ). A Russian dramatist and novelist. He was born at Kineshma, in Kos- troma, studied at Jaroslav, and settled in Saint Petersburg. As a novelist he is a realist of much the same school as Pisemsky and espe- cially able in his portrayal of dismal village life. His earlier works on the drama were slow in getting to the stage, as they were blocked by the censors for their attacks on present condi- tions. They include: The Voice of the People Xot ihe Voice of God (1853) ; lU-Gotten Gains Do Xot Prosper (1854) ; Tinsel (1858) ; The Seu- ered Limb (1865) ; and A Vacant Place (1870). His novels and talcs of peasant life include: The Poor yobles (1859) ; For Money, a storj' of fac- tories; The Sick Woman (1876); Under the Hpell of Money (1876); Before the Community (1877) ; Younr/ Inclinations (1879) ; and Village Vampires (1880). POTEM'KIN, Russ. pron. pot-yam'kln, Gregob Alexaxdrovitch, Prince of Taurida (1736-91). A Russian politician, born in the Government of Smolensk. He was educated at Warsaw and became an ensign in the Imperial Horse Guards. He won the favor of the Empress Catharine II. (q.v.), and in 1762 he was made an officer of her household, succeeding in time Orloff as the recognized favorite of the Empress. When, in his turn, he was superseded as a lover, he retained his ascendency in affairs of State, being made general-in-ehief of the army, field-marshal, and governor of important provinces. As the principal representative of the Russian foreign policy, his influence was courted by the foreign rulers, and, in spite of a lack of the real gifts of statesmanship, he displayed a certain amount of skill in the conduct of affairs. He zealously furthered the process of southern expansion at the expense of the Turks, was instrumental in annexing the Crimea to Russia (1783). and for this service received the title of Prince of Taurida together with the governorship of the newly ac- quired territory. He devoted himself to the economic development of the southern provinces of Russia, founded the towns of Kherson, Kertch, Nikolaev, and Sebastopol, and strengthened Rus- sia's power in the Black Sea. It is told, as an illustration of the methods by which he preserved the Imperial favor, that in 1787. when (Catharine visited his government, he caused a large number of villages to be constructed along her route, with hirelings to play the part of con- tented peasants and well-fed citizens, all of which pleased her Majesty and brought Potenikin in- creased honors. He died near Xikolayev, in Bes- sarabia, during the course of Catharine's second war against the Turks. October 16, 1791. Consult: De Cerenville, Vie du Prince Potem- VoL. XVI.— 21. kin (Paris, 1808; ; Saint Jean (Potemkin's sec- retary), Lehensheschreihung des Gregor Alexa}^- drovitsch Potemkin des Tauriers, edited by Roth- ermel (Karlsruhe, 1888) ; and lives in Russiau by Levshin (2 vols.. Saint Petersburg, 1808) and Bruckner (1892). POTENT. The name of a fur ased in her- aldry (q.v.). POTENTIAL (OF. potential, potentiel, Fr. potentiel, from Lat. potentia, power, from jiosse, to be able). A mathematical term used to ex- press that property of a field of force (see Force) which determines in which direction mo- tion will take place if there are no restraints. In an electrical field of force the potential at a point is defined as the work required to carry a particle with a unit positive charge up to that point from an infinite distance away. If left to itself a positive charge will, therefore, always move from points of high to those of low poten- tials. In a magnetic field of force, the potential at a point is defined as the work required to bring up from an infinite distance to that point a unit north pole. If free to move, a north pole of a magnet will move from points of high to those of low potential. In a gravitational field of force, the potential at a point is defined as the work required to bring up to that point from an infinite distance a unit mass of matter. Portions of matter, if free to move, do so from points of high to those of low potential. In the application of thermodynamics to chem- ical phenomena a potential is such a function of the variable qualities that for all allowable changes it has the lowest possible value — it is a minimum. POTENTIAL ENERGY. See Mechanics. POTENTILLA (Xeo-Lat., from Lat. potens, powerful ; so called on account of properties as- cribed to it in medioeval medicine), Cixquefoil. A genus of numerous species of mostly per- ennial herbs of the natural order Rosa- ceae, widely distrib- uted in the Xorthern Hemisphere. The genus differs from Fragaria (strawberry), which it otherwise resembles, in having dry instead of succulent receptacles of the fruit. The flow- ers are yellow, white, red, or purple, the leaves pinnate, digi- tate, or tcrnate. One species (Pofe;ifi;?a fru- ticosa) often planted in shrubberies is abun- dant in Xorth Amer- ica from Pennsylvania to Iowa and north- ward, and forms a profusion of yellow flowers. Potentilla Anserina, silverweed, a Euro- pean species also common in America, has creep- ing stems, yellow flowers, beautifully silky and silvery leaves, and edible parenipflavored roots, which are much relished by swine and were for- merlv used as human food. There are a score or r SHRrBBT CIXQCEFOrL {Potentilla trntieosa).