POUNDAGE Poundage. An ancient ad valorem duty of five per cent., payable on all foreign goods imported into the kingdom, and occasionally on exports. It has been held that these duties were paid, time out of mind, on the plea that the king was by these means compensated for the cost of keeping up harbours and havens, and of defending merchants from pirates, and that the payment is part of the common law. This tax is, however, known to have had its origin in an Act of the first Parliament of Edward I. Poundage was at first granted for a limited period, then for the life of the king, generally among the Acts of the monarch's first parliament. The parliaments of Charles I. refused to make the grant, but those of his three legal successors were more complaisant. The need of providing larger means for the public service led the parliaments of Anne to mortgage this custom for the payment of the public debt, and poundage has been lost in the general imposition of customs duties. Poupart's Ligament. The tendinous attachment of the external oblique muscle of the abdomen to the superior and anterior spinous process of the os ilium and os pubis. Fourpoint (Fr.). In ancient armour, the quilted coat, worn next the body, otherwise often known as the gambeson or doublet. Sometimes an outer pourpoint was worn between the surcoat and the body armour. Pourpresture or Purpresture. In Law, an ancient term to denote anything done to the injury of the king's tenants, by way of nuisance or hurt to the king's highways or demesnes, by enclosing, &c. Pourpresture may also be by tenant against lord of the fee, or by one neighbour against another. Poursuivant. [PURSUIVANT.] Powder Hose. A tube of strong linen, about an inch in diameter, filled with powder, and used for firing military mines. relation aman = Power. In Algebra, this word denotes the product arising from the continued multiplication of equal numbers or quantities. Thus a, aa, aaa, which for brevity are written a, a2, a3, denote respectively the first, second, and third powers of a. The small numbers in the above abbreviated expressions are termed the indices or exponents of the several powers. Powers of the same quantity are multiplied by adding, and divided by subtracting their exponents. Assuming the am+n to hold for all values of m and n, we are led to the conception of negative and fractional powers. The first are the reciprocals of the corresponding positive powers, thus a-2and the second are roots of a2; powers or powers of roots; thus a3 = 3a2 =(a)2. Since aTMao = a + =am, we learn that must be regarded as a general symbol for unity whatever value a may have. POWER. In Law, an authority given to a person enabling him to do some act with respect to property of which he is not the owner or not the absolute owner. Thus, for example, 1 POYNING'S LAW in an ordinary strict settlement of real property, it is usual to insert powers for the tenant for life to grant leases and to give a jointure to his wife or portions for his children, and for trustees to sell the property, or manage it during minorities and the like; and corresponding powers of investment, of appointing funds to particular children, of advancement and maintenance of minors, &c., are usually inserted in settlements of personal property. Again, in a mortgage the mortgagee has usually a power of sale to enable him to realise his security. Powers for the most part are strictly construed, and the courts are very vigilant in preventing their use for any purpose but that for which in the particular case they were intended; as, for instance, if a man having a power to ap point a fund among his children appoints it to one of them upon an understanding that he himself is to derive some private advantage, the appointment will be bad. There are many technical divisions of powers as they arise at common law, or under the Statute of Uses or some other statute, or are mere equitable authorities, affecting property vested in trustees or mortgagees, and the learning with respect to them forms one of the principal branches of Property Law. The introduction of lengthy powers is one of the principal causes of the bulk of English legal instruments, but this again arises from the great unwillingness always shown by the courts to extend by implication the authority over property of one not absolute owner of it to any cases not expressly provided for, so that it becomes necessary to provide by an appropriate clause for every occasion which is considered at all likely to arise. Some efforts have been recently made by the legislature (stats. 19 & 20 Vict. c. 120, 23 & 24 Vict. c. 145, &c.) to provide that certain powers should in specified cases be implied as of course. POWER. In Mechanics, this term denotes a force which being applied to a machine tends to produce motion. A mechanical power denotes one of the six simple machines; viz. the lever, the inclined plane, the screw, the wheel and axle, the wedge, and the pulley. Power of Attorney. In Law, an instrument by which a party empowers another to perform certain acts for him, either generally, or for a particular purpose; such as to accept and negotiate letters of exchange, to receive dividends, &c. An instrument by which a party authorises his attorney to appear and plead for him is termed a WARRANT OF ATTORNEY. Powers, Great, of Europe. In the language of modern diplomacy, Great Britain, France, Austria, Russia, and Prussia, are so called. Power-loom. [WEAVING.] Poyning's Law, otherwise called the Statute of Drogheda. An enactment of the Irish parliament in 1495. It contains a variety of provisions to restrain the lawlessness of the Anglo-Irish within the pale (for to no others could it immediately extend), and to confirm the royal sovereignty. The article by which it is POZZUOLANA principally known provided that no parliament should in future be holden in Ireland till the king's lieutenant had certified to the king under the great seal the causes and considerations, and all such acts as ought to be passed thereon, and such be affirmed by the king and his council, and his license to hold a parliament be obtained. Any parliament holden contrary to this form and provision should be deemed void. Thus by securing the initiative power to the English council, a bridle was placed in the mouth of every Irish parliament. (Hallam.) A practice, however, grew up afterwards of framing bills in either house of the Irish parliament under the denomination of heads for a bill or bills, by which the provisions of Poyning's law were in some measure evaded. (Goldwin Smith, Irish History and Character.) Pozzuolana. Fine volcanic ashes mixed with about one fifth part of oxide of iron and a little lime form a natural hydraulic cement, which hardens under water and answers the purpose of Roman cement. It is much used in Italy instead of mortar, and has received its name owing to the fact of its being shipped from Pozzuoli. [CEMENTS; MORTAR.] Praam. A sort of lighter used in Holland and the Baltic. Practical Geology. [ECONOMIC GEOLOGY.] Practice (Fr. pratique, Span. practica, from Gr. πpaкTIKÓS). A rule in Arithmetic for expeditiously solving questions in proportion; or, rather, for abridging the operation of multiplying quantities expressed in different denominations, as pounds, shillings, and pence; yards, feet, and inches, &c. Præcordia (Lat. from præ, and cor, the heart). The fore part of the chest. PRÆNOMEN prætorian præfect, præfectus prætorio, commanded the PRÆTORIAN COHORTS. This officer, after the appointment of Sejanus by Tiberius, stood to the emperors in a relation not unlike that of the magister equitum to the DICTATOR, or of a Turkish vizir to the sultan. This office was not always held by military men, Ulpian, Papinian, and other lawyers having been numbered among the prætorian præfects. (3) The office of præfectus annonæ, or præfect of the provinces, was an extraordinary magistracy, filled only during times of scarcity. But after the fall of the republic, Augustus made the office permanent. In addition to these there were (4) the præfectus aquarum, an officer charged with the regulation of the water supply for the city; (5) the præfectus ærarii [ERARIUM], and (6) the præfectus vigilum, or commander of the Roman night-watch; with some others. The title of præfect was also given to the governor of Egypt, the governors of the other imperial provinces being called legati Cæsaris, selected either from persons who had been consuls or prætors, or from the senators, while the governor of Egypt was of equestrian rank. Præfloration (Lat. præfloreo, to blossom before the time). In Botany, the arrangement of the parts of the flower before expansion. Præfoliation (Lat. præ, before; folium, a leaf). In Botany, the arrangement of the leaves in a leaf-bud. Præmolar (Lat. præ, before, and molaris, grinding tooth). In Anatomy, the name of those permanent teeth in the Diphyodont mammals that displace and succeed the deciduous teeth vertically: they are situated before the molars; and, being in many cases of more simple structure, they have been termed false molars, and in Human Anatomy bicuspides. The præmolars never exceed four in number on each side of both jaws. Fræmonstratensians. TENSIANS.] [PREMONSTRA The Præfect (Lat. præfectus). The title of several Roman functionaries. Of these the most important were: (1) præfectus urbi, the præfect or warden of the city, originally called Custos Urbis. This officer possessed the imperium in the city during the absence of the consuls; but the institution of the office of Præmorse (Lat. præmorsus, part. of præprætor urbanus left no room for his functions. mordeo, to bite). In Botany, a term applied The conservative spirit of the Romans, how-to parts which terminate abruptly in a rugged ever, still induced them to appoint a præfectus irregular manner, as if bitten off. urbi for the time during which the consuls Præmunire. In Law, a name given to a were absent from Rome to celebrate the feria species of offence, in the nature of a contempt, Latina; but this officer had no right of con- against the king and his government. voking or of speaking in the senate, and it name is derived from the words præmoneri, or became a nominal distinction conferred on præmuniri facias, which are used in the beginyoung men of illustrious families. The office ing of the writ preparatory to the prosecution to which Augustus appointed Maecenas was of the offence: 'Cause A. B. to be forewarned very different from this, being a regular and that he appear before us,' &c. The first stapermanent magistracy invested with all neces-tute of præmunire was passed in the reign of sary powers for maintaining peace and order in the city. Under this præfect was a force of milites stationarii, or city police; and the powers of the office were gradually so far extended that at last there was no appeal from his sentence except to the princeps himself, whereas the præfectus urbi was empowered to hear appeals against any other city magistrates, and even against the governors of provinces. (2) The Edward I. to restrain the encroachments of the Romish clergy: and several subsequent statutes before the Reformation have extended the number of penal acts under this title. By still later statutes, acts of a very miscellaneous character have been rendered liable to the penalties of præmunire, as a refusal to take the oaths of allegiance and supremacy, &c. Prænomen. [COGNOMEN; NAME.] PRÆRAPHAELITE Præraphaelite. In Painting, an illogical term lately introduced to signify a modern revival, with certain modifications, of the highly finished but crude and tasteless sentimental art of the fifteenth century, before the time of Raphael; an art which is characterised more by its defects than by its perfections. Its character is referred to in the Italian expression QUATTROCENTISMO. Prætexta. [TOGA.] Prætor. The Roman consuls were originally known by this name (Cic. De Leg. iii. 3), which simply signified priority. According to Livy, the office specially distinguished by this name was instituted B.C. 366, when, after the Licinian Rogations, L. Sextius had been elected the first plebeian consul. The patres refused to ratify his election, unless a prætor and two curule ædiles were elected out of their own body. (Sir G. C. Lewis On the Credibility of Early Roman History, vol. ii. 377, 396.) Part of the functions of the prætor was to administer justice between Roman citizens; in B. c. 246 another prætor, called peregrinus, was appointed to judge in suits between Roman citizens and foreigners; after which time the former prætor received the epithet urbanus. The two prætors determined their offices by lot. So long as the Roman empire was confined to Italy, the number of prætors did not exceed two; but on the reduction of Sicily and Sardinia to the form of provinces, two more were added to govern them, and again two more were created on the subjection of Spain to the Roman yoke. Under the emperors the powers of the prætors were reduced, but the office itself existed to a late period of the empire. (Niebuhr's Roman History.) PRANGOS bands were deprived of all their privileges by Diocletian, who replaced them by other troops, and they were finally abolished by Constantine. Prætorium (Lat.). That part of a Roman camp in which the general's tent stood, and where he took the auspices. It was raised a few feet above the level of the rest of the camp. Of the four gates of the Roman camp, that which lay next the enemy was called the prætorian gate. Pragmatic Sanction, more correctly Pragmatic Rescript. A term of which the use seems to have originated in the Byzantine empire, signifying a public and solemn constitution or decree pronounced by a prince; distinguished from the simple rescript, which was a declaration of law in answer to a ques tion propounded on behalf of an individual. In European history several important treaties are called by the name Pragmatic Sanction; among which the principal are: 1. The ordinance of Charles VII. of France in 1438, which constituted the foundation of the liberties of the Gallican church. 2. Charles VI., emperor of Germany, being without male descendants, endeavoured by an instrument termed the Pragmatic Sanction to secure the succession to his female heirs; which caused the Bavarian war of succession, 1740. 3. The law of succession to the kingdom of Naples, when ceded by Charles II. of Spain, in 1759, to his third son and his posterity. Prairie (Fr.). A term in common use for the vast plains or savannahs of the Mississippi and Missouri. [SAVANNAHS.] Prakrit. By this name are known certain dialects in India, which acquired greater prominence as the older Sanscrit passed gradually out of use. These dialects first assumed a literary position in the Sanscrit plays, where female characters both high and low are introduced as speaking Prakrit, instead of the Sanscrit employed by kings, noblemen, and priests.' From the Prakrit the modern vernaculars of India have branched off, just as the modern Romance languages have sprung immediately from the old Italian dialects, which preserved the power of growth denied to the Latin as to all other literary languages. (Max Müller, Lect. on Language, 2nd series, p. 38.) Pramantha. [PROMETHEUS.] Prætorian Cohorts. A body of troops among the Romans, distinguished from the rest of the army by double pay and superior privileges, first instituted by Augustus, and called by that name in imitation of the select band which attended a Roman general in battle. At their first institution the cohorts were nine in number, three being stationed at Rome, and the rest in the adjacent towns of Italy; they consisted of Italian soldiers only. Tiberius assembled them all at Rome, and placed them in a permanent camp; a measure which, while it answered the purpose of keeping the citizens in awe, proved dangerous Prangos (its Tartar name). A Persian and sometimes destructive to his successors. genus of Umbelliferous herbs, one of which, The emperor Severus disarmed the old guards, the Hay plant of Thibet, was some years ago and established the prætorian cohorts on a new greatly lauded as a forage plant, various atfooting, increasing their number, and filling tempts being made to introduce it among the them entirely with troops draughted from the agricultural plants of this country, but witharmies of the northern frontier. The com-out success. Its high reputation appears to mand of these troops was vested in an officer have been undeserved, for although extremely called the prætorian prefect, who, as the valuable in the cold and arid regions of Thibet, government gradually degenerated into a mili-where it is indigenous, and where forage of a tary despotism, rose from the station of simple better quality is not obtainable, it is not so captain of the guards not only to be the head much esteemed in Kashmir and other more of the army, but of the provinces, and even of fertile countries, where grass-pasture exists. the law. In every department of administra- It was first discovered by Mr. Moorcroft durtion he represented the person and exercised ing his travels in Thibet, and was spoken of by the authority of the emperor. The prætorian him as being extensively employed as winter PRASE fodder for sheep, goats, and frequently for neat cattle, producing fatness in a very short time, and destroying the liver-fluke, so fatal to sheep. The late Dr. Royle was of opinion that this plant was probably the kind of Silphium mentioned by Arrian in his account of the wars of Alexander. In this part of the Caucasus' (the modern Hindu Koosh) nothing grows except pines and silphium; but the country was populous, and fed many sheep and cattle, for the sheep are very fond of the silphium. If a sheep should perceive the silphium from a distance, it runs to it and feeds on the flower, and digs up the root and eats that also.' Prase or Prasem (Gr. πрáσov, a leek). A dark leek-green variety of Quartz, the colour of which is caused by an admixture of Hornblende. It is found at the iron mines of Breitenbrunn in Saxony, in the Harz, and in fine crystals at the Cedar Mountain in South Africa. Praseolite (Gr. #paσov, and Aleos, stone; from its colour). An altered form of Iolite, which occurs in rounded rhombic prisms with four, six, eight, or twelve sides, having a basal cleavage and a lamellar structure, at Bräkke, near Brevig, in Norway, in quartz-veins traversing gneiss. Prasochrome. Carbonate of lime coloured by oxide of chrome, forming a dull green incrustation on the island of Scyro, in the Grecian Archipelago. Pratique (Fr.). A limited quarantine which the captain of a vessel is considered to have performed when he has convinced the authorities of a port that his ship is free from infectious disease. Praxeans. An Asiatic sect of the second century; so called from their founder, Praxeas. The distinguishing characteristics of this sect were their denial of plurality of Persons in the Godhead, and their belief that it was the Father himself who suffered on the cross. The Monarchians, Sabellians, and Patripassians adopted these sentiments. Pre-Adamites (Lat. prior to Adam). The legendary traditions of the East speak of nations and empires subsisting before the creation of Adam, and of a line of kings who ruled over them. The subject has been taken up, in modern times, by Isaac Lapeyrère, in his work Præadamite, 1655, wherein he endeavours to show, by deduction from Romans v. 12, &c., that Adam was the ancestor of the Jews only, the Gentiles being descended from a long anterior creation. Pre-emption, Right of (Lat. præ, before, and emptio, a purchasing). It is sometimes directed by an Act of Parliament or other legal instrument that property for sale shall be offered in the first instance to some particular person, in which case he is said to have an option or right of pre-emption. Pre-existence. In Philosophy, the existence of anything before another; commonly used for the existence of the human soul, in some former condition, before it became con PRECEDENCY nected with its present body. It was the doctrine of the Pythagorean school, and connected with their peculiar tenet of METEMPSYCHOSIS. It was also the doctrine of Plato, who lays much stress on the rapidity of learning in early childhood, which he explains as an effort of reminiscence (avάurnois), not acquisition. Others have enlisted into the service those peculiar sensations which are sometimes raised by sights or sounds though seen or heard, as our reason would persuade us, for the first time, as if we are conscious of some prior familiarity with them. This poetical, rather than philosophical view of the subject, is beautifully illustrated in a well-known ode of Wordsworth. Preamble (Lat. præambulare, to go before). The introduction or prefatory part of an Act of Parliament, explaining the reasons for its being passed. In railway bills, and other private bills of a similar nature, the preamble always contains distinct statements that it would be expedient that the objects of the bill should be effected, and that such purposes cannot be effected without the authority of parliament; and when any such bill is referred to a committee of either house, the first duty cast on its promoters is to prove the preamble, i.e. to establish the truth of these statements. After the promoters and opponents of the bill and their witnesses have been heard upon these points, the question is put to the committee that the preamble has been proved,' which is resolved in the affirmative or negative as the case may be, and the result of this question decides whether the bill is to proceed further or not. In Public General Acts the preamble is of little importance, and is now usually much curtailed or altogether omitted. Prebend (Lat. præbenda). The share of the estate of a cathedral or collegiate church received by a prebendary. To all such churches there are several prebendaries attached, who reside and officiate in rotation. Precedency (Lat. precedo, I go first). The relative rank of men and women in the etiquette of society; strictly it means the order in which they follow one another in a state procession, which it is part of the Office of Heralds' duty to ascertain and preserve. The following are the degrees of precedency commonly recognised in England among men: 1. The sovereign. 2. The prince of Wales. 3. The queen's consort. 4. The queen dowager. 5. The princes of the blood according to seniority. 6. The sovereign's uncles. 7. Cousins of the sovereign. 8. Husbands of princesses. 9. The archbishop of Canterbury. 10. The lord high chancellor. 11. The archbishop of York. 12. Lord high treasurer. 13. Lord president of the privy council. 14. Lord privy seal. 15. Lord high constable. 16. Earl marshal. 17. Lord high admiral. 18. Lord steward of the household. 19. Lord chamberlain of the household. (The last five, however, take precedence only of all their degree: i. e. if dukes, they precede all dukes; if marquises, all mar PRECEDENTS PRECESSION OF EQUINOXES quises, &c.) 20. Dukes. 21. Marquises. | courts of equity as in those of common law. A 22. Dukes' eldest sons. 23. Earls. 24. Marquises' eldest sons. 25. Dukes' younger sons. 26. Viscounts. 27. Earls' eldest sons. 28. Marquises' younger sons. 29, 30, 31. The bishops of London, Durham, and Winchester. 32. Other bishops, according to priority of consecration. 33. Barons. 34. Speaker of the House of Commons. 35. Viscounts' eldest sons. 36. Earls' younger sons. 37. Barons' eldest sons. 38. Knights of the Garter. 39. Privy councillors. 40. Chancellor of the Exchequer. 41. Chancellor of the duchy of Lancaster. 42. Lord chief justice of Q.B. 43. Master of the Rolls. 44. Lord chief justice of C.P. 45. Lord chief baron of the Exchequer. 46. Lords justices of appeal, according to priority of appointment. 47. Vice-chancellors, ditto. 48. Puisne judges and barons of superior courts, and judge of Probate Court, ditto. 49. Knights bannerets made by the sovereign in person. 50. Viscounts' younger sons. 51. Barons' younger sons. 52. Baronets. 53. Bannerets not made by the sovereign in person. 54. Knights grand cross of the Bath. 55. Knights grand crosses of St. Michael and St. George. 56. Knights commanders of the Bath. 57. Knights commanders of St. Michael and St. George. 58. Knights bachelors. 59. Companions of the Bath. 60. Companions of St. Michael and St. George. 61. Eldest sons of the younger sons of peers. 62. Baronets' eldest sons. 63. Knights of the Garter's eldest sons. 64. Bannerets' eldest sons. 65. Knights of the Bath's eldest sons. 66. Knights' eldest sons. 67. Baronets' younger sons. 68. Esquires of the king's body. 69. Gentlemen of the privy chamber. 70. Esquires of the knights of the Bath. 71. Esquires by creation. 72. Esquires by office or commission. 73. Younger sons of knights of the Garter. 74. Younger sons of bannerets. 75. Younger sons of knights of the Bath. 76. Younger sons of knights bachelors. 77. Gentlemen entitled to bear arms. 78. Clergymen not dignitaries. 79. Barristers at law. 80. Officers in the army and navy not esquires by commission. 81. Citizens, burgesses, &c. Precedents. In Law, precedents are decided cases, followed as authorities in courts of justice. Precedents, strictly speaking, are binding on tribunals only when they are in the shape of actual judicial decisions of the point in question. What English lawyers term an extrajudicial opinion-i. e. the opinion of a judge pronounced where it was not called for to decide the issue-can have authority only from the character of the individual judge, and not as a precedent. When the principles of equity were as yet unsettled, it was held by many that precedents were inapplicable in that branch of law; as its very name seemed to imply that each case should be governed by the judge's opinion of its individual merits. But Lord Keeper Bridgman, among others, seriously refuted this supposition; and precedents have long been of as much authority in form of an instrument or a pleading, from which others corresponding in circumstances may be copied, is also termed a precedent. Precentor (Lat. præcentor). The leader of a choir. In most cathedrals of old foundation in England the precentor ranked next to the dean. In the more modern foundations the precentor is usually a minor canon. Preceptories. In the Middle Ages, a kind of benefices so called as being held by the more eminent Knights Templars, whom tho grand master created and styled Præceptores Templi. Of these preceptories, sixteen are recorded as belonging to the Templars in England (Mon. Ang.); but it is thought by some writers that these places were merely cells, subordinate to their head-quarters, the Temple in London. [COMMANDERY.] Precession of the Equinoxes. A term used in Astronomy to denote a small annual variation in the position of the line in which the planes of the ecliptic and equator intersect each other, in consequence of which the sun returns to the same equinoctial point before completing his apparent revolution with respect to the fixed stars. The longitude of a star is counted on the ecliptic eastward from the first point of Aries, or the vernal equinox. If the line of the equinoxes, therefore, maintained always the same position with respect to the celestial sphere, the longitude of the stars would be invariable. But on comparing the actual state of the heavens with the observations recorded by ancient astronomers, it is found that the longitudes of all the stars have considerably increased, and all to the same degree; so that the celestial sphere appears to turn round the axis of the ecliptic with a slow motion from west to east, or in the same direction as the sun in his annual revolution. The phenomena, however, will be in all respects the same, if, instead of supposing the whole firmament to advance in the order of the signs, we suppose the axis of the earth's equator to have a slow motion about the axis of the ecliptic in the opposite direction. This will give to the line of intersection of the two planes (which is the line of the equinoxes) a retrograde motion from east to west, in consequence of which the sun, whose motion is from west to east, arrives at the equinoctial points sooner than if they remained at rest; and therefore the equinoxes, and the seasons which depend on them, come round before the sun has completed an entire circuit of the sphere. On this account the motion has been called the precession of the equinoxes. Although the existence of the precessional motion of the equinoctial points was known at an early period in the history of astronomy, the imperfection of instruments prior to the sixteenth century did not permit of observations being made with sufficient accuracy to determine its precise rate, which must therefore be deduced from comparisons of the longitude of the same star calculated from modern |