Chapter Populares to Porpus of P by Webster's Dictionary (1913 Edition)

a younger son, if born after the accession of his father to the throne, was preferred to an elder son who was not so born. Sir T. Palgrave.

Porphyry
(Por"phy*ry) n.; pl. Porphyries [F. porphyre, L. porphyrites, fr. Gr. like purple, fr. purple. See Purple.] (Geol.) A term used somewhat loosely to designate a rock consisting of a fine-grained base (usually feldspathic) through which crystals, as of feldspar or quartz, are disseminated. There are red, purple, and green varieties, which are highly esteemed as marbles.

Porphyry shell (Zoöl.), a handsome marine gastropod shell having a dark red or brown polished surface, marked with light spots, like porphyry.

Porpita
(||Por"pi*ta) n. [NL., from Gr. brooch.] (Zoöl.) A genus of bright-colored Siphonophora found floating in the warmer parts of the ocean. The individuals are round and disk-shaped, with a large zooid in the center of the under side, surrounded by smaller nutritive and reproductive zooids, and by slender dactylozooids near the margin. The disk contains a central float, or pneumatocyst.

Porpoise
(Por"poise) n. [OE. porpeys, OF. porpeis, literally, hog fish, from L. porcus swine + piscis fish. See Pork, and Fish.]

1. (Zoöl.) Any small cetacean of the genus Phocæna, especially P. communis, or P. phocæna, of Europe, and the closely allied American species The color is dusky or blackish above, paler beneath. They are closely allied to the dolphins, but have a shorter snout. Called also harbor porpoise, herring hag, puffing pig, and snuffer.

2. (Zoöl.) A true dolphin (Delphinus); — often so called by sailors.

Skunk porpoise, or Bay porpoise (Zoöl.), a North American porpoise (Lagenorhynchus acutus), larger than the common species, and with broad stripes of white and yellow on the sides. See Illustration in Appendix.

Porporino
(||Por`po*ri"no) n. [It.] A composition of quicksilver, tin, and sulphur, forming a yellow powder, sometimes used by mediæval artists, for the sake of economy, instead of gold. Fairholt.

Porpus
(Por"pus) n. A porpoise. [Obs.] Swift.