Programme Music
Programme Music, A Nickname Which Is The Only Cur Rent Term For Instrumental Music Without Words But Descriptive Of Non-musical Ideas. Musical Sounds Lend Themselves To Descrip Tive Purposes With Fatal Ease. A Chromatic Scale May Suggest The Whistling Of The Wind Or The Serenades Of Cats. Reiterated Staccato Notes ...
Progressive Party
Progressive Party. The Title Progressive Party Has Been Taken Twice In The United States By Third-party Movements, First In The Presidential Campaign Of 1912 And Again In The Progressive Party Movement Of 1912 Was Heralded By The "insurgent" Outbreak Among Republican Members Of Congress In 191o, Which Succeeded In Reducing ...
Prohibition
Prohibition As A Legislative Method To Regulate And Con Trol The Liquor Traffic Has Such Varied And Extended Application As To Make Its Other Uses In Legal Terminology Of Minor Consequence. It Was, When Nationally Adopted, No New Principle, But One That Had Been Used For More Than 75 Years ...
Prohibition In Law
Prohibition In Law, A Term Meaning The Action Of Forbidding Or Preventing By An Order, A Decree, Etc. As De Fined By Blackstone, Prohibition Is "a Writ Directed To The Judge And Parties Of A Suit In Any Inferior Court, Commanding Them To Cease From The Prosecution Thereof, Upon A ...
Projective Geometry
Projective Geometry. Projective Geometry Is A Branch Of Mathematics Which Originated In The Study Of Projec Tions As Applied To Problems Of Perspective In The Drawing Of Pictures And In Optical Instruments. These Practical Applications Are Now Studied Under The Captions Of Descriptive Geometry (see Descriptive Geometry) And Geometrical Optics ...
Prologue
Prologue, A Prefatory Piece Of Writing, Usually Composed To Introduce A Drama. The Greek Rp6xoyos, Included The Modern Meaning, But Was Of Wider Significance, Embracing Any Kind Of Preface. In Attic Drama, A Character, Often A Deity, Stood Forward Or Appeared From A Machine Before The Action Of The Play ...
Prometheus
Prometheus, Son Of The Titan Iapetus By The Sea-nymph Clymene Or By Themis (occasionally Other Parents Are Named). He Was The Friend And Benefactor Of Mankind. He Defended Men Against Zeus, Who, According To A Widely Diffused Mythical Theory, Desired Either To Destroy The Human Race And Supplant It By ...
Proms
Proms, A District In The Pegu Division Of Lower Burma, With An Area Of 2,938 Sq.m. And A Pop. (1931) Of 410,651. It Occupies The Breadth Of The Valley Of The Irrawaddy, Between Thayetmyo District On The North And Henzada And Tharrawaddy Districts On The South, And Originally Extended To ...
Pronunciation
Pronunciation. By Means Of His Organs Of Speech Man Has At His Disposal, For The Purpose Of Speech, Certain Devices. He Can Make A Great Variety Of Sounds, And, Subject To The Limitations Imposed Upon Him By The Physical Structure Of His Speech Apparatus, He Is Able To Modify These ...
Proof Spirit
Proof Spirit. The Term Applied To Standard Mixtures Of Alcohol And Water Which Form The Basis Of Charge Of Customs And Excise Duties In Britain And Elsewhere. The Spirits Act Of 1816 (great Britain) In Legalising Sikes' Hydrometer For Revenue Purposes Gave For The First Time A Legal Definition Of ...
Propaganda
Propaganda. The Purpose Of Propaganda Is To Influ Ence Opinion And Conduct. Between The Purpose Itself And The Methods Employed To Attain It A Distinction Should Be Made, And Also Between The Original Meaning Of "propaganda" And The Mean Ing Which The Word Has Gradually Acquired. Since The World War, ...
Prophet
Prophet Or Pockrns) , A Greek Word Used In The Greek Old Testament To Translate The Hebrew Nabi Tl`3.1 And Consequently Adopted Into Other European Languages. In Classical Greek It De Noted One Who, Uttering Or Interpreting An Oracle, Was Believed To Speak Not His Own Thoughts But A Revelation ...
Prophets In The Christian
Prophets In The Christian Church In The Nascent Organization Of The Christian Communities (acts Xi. 27, Eph. Iv. Ii, I. Cor. Xii. 28) Prophets Are Mentioned, Ranking Next To The Apostles. Sometimes Itinerant, Sometimes Settled In One Locality, They Were The Evangelists Of The Early Church, Credited With A Direct ...
Proportional Representation
Proportional Representation, An Electoral Arrangement Designed To Secure That The Representative Assembly Shall Be An Exact Reflection, A "snapshot," Of The Voting Strength Of Parties Among The Electorate. The Case For The System Is Funda Mentally The Case For Representative Government. Every Trace Of Opinion, Be It Ever So Small, ...
Propylaea
Propylaea, The Name Given To A Porch Or Gate-house, At The Entrance Of A Sacred Or Other Enclosure In Greece; These Usually Consisted, In Their Simplest Form, Of A Porch Supported By Columns Both Without And Within The Actual Gate. The Name Is Especially Given To The Great Entrance Hall ...
Prose
Prose, The Plain Speech Of Mankind, When Written Or Corn Posed Without Reference To The Rules Of Verse. It Has Been Usual To Distinguish Prose Very Definitely From Poetry (q.v.). Ronsard Said That To Him Prose And Poetry Were "mortal Enemies." But "poetry" Is A More Or Less Metaphysical Term, ...
Prospecting
Prospecting, Whether It Be The Search For Minerals By A Lone Prospector, Or By Two Or More Prospectors, Or By An Or Ganized Party Of Trained Men In A More Or Less Unknown Region, Or By An Operating Company In Its Producing Property At Depth, Is How Our Mineral Deposits ...
Prosper Of Aquitaine Or
Prosper Of Aquitaine Or Prosper Tiro (c. 390- C. 465), Christian Writer And Disciple Of St. Augustine, Was A Na Tive Of Aquitaine, And Seems To Have Been Educated At Marseilles. In 431 He Appeared In Rome To Interview Pope Celestine Re Garding The Teachings Of St. Augustine And Then ...
Prostitution
Prostitution, A Word Which May Best Be Defined As Promiscuous Unchastity For Gain. In German Law It Is Described As Gewerbsmassige Unzucht. It Has Always Been Distinguished In Law And Custom From Concubinage, Which Is An Inferior State Of Marriage, And From Adultery And Other Irregular Sexual Relations, In Which ...
Protection
Protection. By Protection In The Restricted Sense Is Meant The Use By The Government Of Special Forms Of Regulation Or Restraint, Particularly Import Duties And Analogous Fiscal Expe Dients, In Order To Encourage Or To Maintain Essential Industries Which Are Endangered By Foreign Competition. What Industries Are Essential Must Be ...
Protectorate
Protectorate, In International Law, Now A Common Term To Describe The Relation Between Two States, One Of Which Exercises Control, Great Or Small, Direct Or Indirect, Over The Other. It Is Significant Of The Rare Use Of The Term Until Recent Times That The Word Does Not Occur In Sir ...
Proteins
Proteins Are Highly Complex Substances Found In All Living Cells, In Blood And In Materials Elaborated For The Development Of The Young Animal Or Plant, Such As Milk, Eggs And Seeds. The Word Is Derived From The Greek 7rpcyros, Meaning First, Because Proteins Are Apparently Of First Importance In Respect ...
Protestant
Protestant, The Generic Name For An Adherent Of Those Churches Which Base Their Teaching On The Principles Of The Reformation. The Name Is Derived From The Formal Protestatio Handed In By The Evangelical States Of The Empire, Including Some Of The More Important Princes And Imperial Cities, Against The Recess ...
Protestant Episcopal Church
Protestant Episcopal Church, In The United States Of America Is Spiritually The Direct Descendant Of The Church Of England, And Is A Part Of The Anglican Communion. From The Church Of England The Protestant Episcopal Church Inherits Its Faith, Its Liturgy And Its Spiritual Traditions, Though It Is Entirely Independent ...
Proteus Or Lai
Proteus Or ()lai, A Blind, Water-breathing, Tailed Amphi Bian, Inhabiting The Limestone Caves To The East Of The Adriatic. It Is A Small Eel-like Animal, With Minute Limbs, The Anterior Pair Hav Ing Three Toes On Each, The Posterior Two, A Narrow Head, With Flat Truncate Snout, Minute Rudimentary Eyes ...
Protocol
Protocol, In Diplomacy, The Name Given To A Variety Of Written Instruments. The French Word Protocole Is Derived From The Late Latin Protocollum, From The Greek First, And Koxxelp To Glue, I.e., Originally The First Sheet Of A Papyrus Roll. The Protocollunc Under The Late Roman Empire Was A Volume ...
Protogenes
Protogenes, A Greek Painter, Born In Caunus, On The Coast Of Caria, But Resident In Rhodes During The Latter Half Of The 4th Century B.c. He Was Celebrated For The Minute And Laborious Finish Which He Bestowed On His Pictures, Both In Drawing And In Colour. Apelles, His Great Rival, ...
Protophyta
Protophyta. The Designation Protophyta ("first Plants") Is Applied To All Simple One- And Several-celled Organisms That Obtain Their Nourishment After The Manner Of A Plant. Such Forms Probably Afford A Fairly Accurate Picture Of What The Early Stages In The Evolution Of The Vegetable Kingdom Were Like. The Simpler Algae ...
Protoplasm
Protoplasm, Defined By Huxley As "the Physical Basis Of Life," Is The Essential Material Of Which Living Creatures Are Corn Posed. A Typical Multicellular Organism Can Be Analysed Into Component Organs, Which Are Built Up Of Diverse Tissues, In Turn Consisting Of Cells. In Pursuing The Analysis The Biologist Reaches, ...
Protozoa
Protozoa. The Forms Of Life Included Under The Name Protozoa Are Enormously Varied. The Separation Of The Group From The Metazoa (higher Animals), Plants And Bacteria, Is Based To Some Extent On Convenience In Classification, But It Does Rest On Certain Definite Characters Which Distinguish The Protozoa From The Three ...
Provencal Language And Literature
Provencal Language And Literature. The Term Provencal Is Employed In Two Different Meanings. (i) Lato Sensu, It Embraces All Idioms Of Latin Origin Spoken In Southern France Over A Zone Extending South Of A Line Which Starts At The Mouth Of The Gironde, Passes Through Bordeaux, Libourne, Mussidan, Pengueux, Nontron, ...
Provence
Provence, A Province In The South-east Of Ancient France, Bounded On The North By The Dauphine, On The East By The Alps And Italy, On The West By The Rhone, And On The South By The Mediterranean Sea. About 600 B.c., According To Tradition, Some Traders From Phocaea Founded The ...
Providence
Providence, The Capital And Largest City Of Rhode Island, U.s.a., A Port Of Entry And The County Seat Of Providence County; At The Head Of Providence River (the North Arm Of Narragansett Bay), 27 M. From The Atlantic Ocean, 45 M. S.s.w. Of Boston And 185 M. E.n.e. Of New ...
Province
Province, A Term Applied In Ancient Rome (lat. Provin Cia) To The Sphere Of Duty Assigned To One Of The Higher Magis Trates, The Consuls And Praetors (qq.v.). Only Those Magistrates Who Had Military Power (imperiurn) Had A Province. When The Province Of A Quaestor Is Mentioned It Refers To ...
Provins
Provins, A Town Of Northern France, Capital Of An Arron Dissement Of The Department Of Seine-et-marne, At The Junction Of The Durtain With The Voulzie (an Affluent Of The Seine), 59 M. E.s.e. Of Paris By Rail. Pop. (1931) 7,457. Provins Began To Figure In History In The 9th Century. ...
Provision
Provision, In Ecclesiastical Law Signifies The Act By Which An Office Or Benefice Is Conferred By A Person Having Competent Authority For The Purpose; And The Word Is Specially Used Of Ap Pointments Made By The Pope In Derogation Of The Rights Of Ecclesiastical Patrons. Innocent Iii. (1198-1216) Seems To ...
Provisional Order
Provisional Order, In Great Britain, A Direction By A Government Department Sanctioning (usually At The Instance Of A Local Authority Or Public Undertaking) Some Project Otherwise Unattainable Without Private Bill Legislation, E.g., The Compulsory Taking Of Land Or The Building Of A Tramway. Originally The Order Is "provisional" Because Subject ...
Provost
Provost, A Title Attached To Various Ecclesiastical And Secu Lar Offices. In Ecclesiastical Usage The Word Praepositus Was At First Applied By The Church Fathers To Any Ecclesiastical Ruler Or Dig Nitary. It Early, However, Gained A More Specific Sense As Applied To The Official Next In Dignity To The ...
Prussia
Prussia, A Former German Kingdom, Now The Largest, Most Populous And Important State Of The German Reich. It Is Bounded On The North By The Baltic, Mecklenburg, Denmark And The North Sea, On The East By The Frontiers Of The Republics Of Lithuania And Poland, On The South By Czechoslovakia, ...