PURVEYANCE, ROYAL. In English law, the former right or prerogative of the Crown to demand supplies and services at the lowest price, to be fixed by appraisers, usually those chosen by the royal purveyors, or officers employed in procuring the royal supplies. This was one of the oldest of the royal prerogatives, and gave rise to endless abuses and complaints until it was finally abolished in 1660, when Charles II. was restored to the throne. Those upon whom the purveyors made a demand had no choice but to sell their goods or services, and usually re ceived their inadequate pay in tallies which entitled the recipients to deduct the amount from future taxes, which latter fact was a hardship in itself. Little is known of the early history of the practice, but the abuses arising from it be came so serious that the petitions and laws against it became very numerous as early as the 13th and 14th centuries, and the practice is pro hibited to the royal bailiffs and constables in Magna Charta. Later legislation against these abuses occur in the ordinances of 1311 abolishing it, the law of 1322 repealing these ordinances, and the laws of 1362 limiting purveyance to the per sonal wants of the king and queen. Consult: Stubbs, Constitutional History (Oxford, 1878) ; Hallam, Constitutional History (1827).
PUS (Lat., white viscous matter from a sore). A well-known product of inflammation. It oc curs as a thick yellow creamy fluid, differing from all other morbid exudations in containing a large number of corpuscles, having a soft and fatty feeling when rubbed between the fingers, a peculiar odor, usually an alkaline reaction, and a specific gravity of about 1.032. Like the blood,
it consists of certain definite microscopic ele ments, and of an intercellular fluid or serum in which they swim. The microscopic elements are: (1) The pus-corpuscles, which, both in their microscopical and chemical relations, seem to be identical with the lymph-corpuscles, or colorless blood-cells; in diameter, they range from 0.004 to 0.005 of a line, and each corpuscle consists of a cell-wall, which often appears granular, of viscid transparent contents, and of a nucleus which is adherent to the cell-wall, and which can be ren dered much more apparent by the addition of acetic acid; (2) molecular granules; and (3) fat-globules. The serum of pus is perfectly clear, of a slightly yellow color, and coagulates on beat ing into a thick white mass.
The chemical constituents of pus are water (varying from 769 to 907 in 1000 parts), albu men (from 44 to 180), fats (from 9 to 25), ex tractive matter (from 19 to 29), and inorganic salts (from 6 to 13) ; in addition to which, mu cin, pyin, glyein, urea, etc., are occasionally pres ent. Of the inorganic or mineral constituents, the soluble salts are to the insoluble in the ratio of S to 1 and the chloride of sodium (the chief of the soluble salts) is three times as abundant as in the serum of the blood. See INFLAIIIIA TION ; SUPPURATION.