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PROPREFECT, among the Romans, the prefect’s lieutenant, j■or an officer whom the prefect of the pretorium commissioned’to.do part of his duty in his place.
PROPBETOft, a Roman magistrate, who, having dischargedthe-office of pretor at home, was sent into a province to command :there with his former pretorial authority. It was also an appella-tion given to those who, without having been pretors at Rome ,were sent extraordinarily into the provinces to administer justicewith the authority of pretors.
PROPRIETARY, [ prnprietarius , Lat.] an epithet bestowedon such monks as had reserved goods and effects to themselves,notwithstanding their formal renunciation of all at the time of theirprofession. They are frequently mentioned in the Monast. An-glic . &c. and were to be very severely dealt with ; to be excoin- jmunicated, deprived of burial, &c. Addit. ad Matt. Par. j
PROPR1ETATE, PROBANDA, in law, a writ directed tothe sheriff, to make enquiry into the property of goods deslrained, !when the defendant claims it on a replevin surd; and if thereon itbe found for tire defendant, he can proceed no farther.
PROPRIETY, in grammar, is where the direct and immediatesignification of a word agrees to the thing it is applied to; inwhich sense it is used in opposition to figurative, or remote signi-fication.
PROQUESTOR, PROQUT.STOR, the questor’s lieutenant,or a person who discharged the office of questor in His stead.
PRO RATA, in commerce, a term sometimes used by mer-chants for in proportion; as each person must reap the profit orsustain the loss pro rata to his interest, that is, in proportion to his-stock.
PR© RE NATA, [Lat. i. e. for a new tiling, q. d. as occasionshewetli,] in law, a term applied to laws newly made, for someexpress purpose.
PROIL-E OS, in anatomy, the same with os occipitis.
PROROGATION, [ prnrngatin , I/at.] the act of prolonging,adjourning, or putting off to another time. Prorogation differsfrom an adjournment of parliament in this, that by prorogation thesession is ended, and such bills as passed in either house, or bothRouses, and had not the royal assent, must at the next assemblybegin again. See Parliament .
PROSCRIPTION, [ proscriptio , Lat.] a publication made in jthe name of the chief or leader of a party, whereby he promises areward to any one who shall bring him the head of oue of hisenemies.
PROSE, [ prosa , Lat.] the natural language of mankind, looseand unconftned, by poetical measures, rhymes, &c. in which senseit stands opposed to verse.
PROS EC KEN, a town of Mecklenburgli, seven miles N. ofWistnar.
PROSECUTION, in English law, is either upon a previousfinding of the fact by an inquest or grand jury ; or without it. Theformer way is either by Presentment, or Indictment. (Seethese articles.) The remaining methods of prosecution are withoutany previous finding by a jury, to fix the authoritative stamp ofverisimilitude upon the accusation.
PROSECUTOR, in law, one who pursues a cause in another’sname.
PROSELYTE, [rjotniXi/i-Sv,] a new convert; one brought overto a new opinion.
PROSE RPINACA, in botany, a genus of the trigynia order,and triaiulria class of plants; natural order, Inundatte. Calyxthree-parted, superior; corolla none; drupe with a three-cellednut. There is but one species, viz. P. palustris, a native of Virgi-nia, in marshes.
PROSERPINE, in fabulous history, the daughter of Jupiterand Ceres , and queen of hell. She was carried oft by Pluto whilegathering flowers.
PROSEUCIIE, [iroo-rfvx’t,] properly signifies prayer; but it istaken for the places of prayer of the Jews , and was pretty near thesame as their synagogues.
PROSLAMBANOMENE, a musical note in the Greeksystem.
PROSODY , [pro.W/a, Lat.] that part of grammar which treatsof the quantities and accents of syllables, and the manner ofmaking verses. See Grammar. The English prosody turnschiefly on two things, numbers, and rhyme.
PROSONOMASIA, [^f-ofovo^anre,] a figure in rhetoric, where-by allusion is made to the likeness of a sound in several names orwords.
PROSOPIS, in botany, a genus of the monogyuia order, amidecamlria class of plants. Calyx hemispherical, qnadridenUite:stigma simple ; legume inflated, many-seeded. There is but onespecies, P. spicigeru, a tree of the East Indies.
PROSOPOPOEIA, [rjfoo-wxoiraii’a,] a figure in rhetoric, where-by we raise qualities, or things inanimate, into persons. SeeOratory.
PROSTRAT.E GLANDUL/E, PROSTRATE GLANDS,the Glands. See Anatomy.
PROSTETUiS, [iqaffA;,] in surgery, that which fills up wliatis wanting, as when fistulous ulcers are liiied up with tlesh.
PROSTIJAPILERESI3, [Tp-os-bn/pat^ic-t,-,] in astronomy, thedifference between the true and mean motion, or true ami meauplace, of a planet, called also equation of the orbit, or of the cen-tre, and simply equation. Prostlnipharesis amounts to the differ-ence betw'een the mean and equated anomaly. Suppose the circleALMPNR, (Plate Cl.111. fig- L) 'he orbit of the earth surround-ed by (he ecliptic < y’ 2B =^, &c. and suppose S the sun, and theearth in R, the mean anomaly will he the arch APR, or, castingaway the semicircle, the arch RP, or the angle PCR ; and thetrue anomaly, rejecting the semicircle, will be PSR, which isequal to PCll-f-CRS. If then to the mean anomaly wc add theangle CRS, we shall have the true anomaly PSR, and the earth’splace in the ecliptic. And here the angle CI.S, or CRS, is calledthe prosthaphteresis; by reason that it is sometimes to lie added,and sometimes subtracted, from the mean motion, that we mayhave the true motion, or place of the earth.
PROSTHESIS, in Latin grammar, a figure whereby a letteror syllable is prefixed to a word, as gnavus for navus, tctuli fortali, &c.
PROSTYLE, [nrjorvx©',] a building that lias only pillars in
tlie trout.
Prostyle, by others is defined a range of columns in the frontof a temple.
PROSYLLOGISM , in the schools, sometimes denotes an ar-gument produced to confirm one of the premises of a syllogism.Others define it an argument composed of two syllogisms, so dis-posed as that the conclusion of the former is the major or minor ofthe latter; so that the second syllogism may be omitted or under-stood.
PROTAGORAS, a famous Greek philosopher , born at Al>-dera. He commonly reasoned by dilemmas, and left the mind insuspense with respect to ail the questions he proposed. JI is moralprinciples were adopted by Hobbes . Pluto wrote a dialogueagainst him. He nourished about B. C. 400.
PROTASIS, in the ancient drama, the first part of a comic ortragic piece, wherein the several persons are shewn, their charac-ters intimated, and the subject ol the piece proposed and enteredupon. See Drama. It might reach as lav as our two first acts,and where it ended the epitasis commenced. See the articleEittasis.
PROTATICUS, in the ancient drama, a person who never ap.poured but in the protasis, or first part of the play.
PRO PEA, the Silver-Tree ; in botany, a genus of the mo.nogynia order, and tetrandria class of plants; natural order, Ag-gregatte. Corolla four-cleft or four-petaled ; anthers linear, in-serted into the petals below the tip; calyx proper, none ; nut onc-seeded, superior. There are sixty-four species, all shrubs, and na-tives of the Cape of Good Hope .
PROTEST, in commerce, is a writing executed by a notary-public to secure to the indorsee of a Bill recourse upon tho in-dorser, when the drawer refuses to accept, or the accepter failsto pay.
Protest, in law, is a call of w itness, or an open affirmation thata person does, either not at all, or but conditionally, yield his con-sent to any act, or to the proceeding of any judge in a court inwhich his jurisdiction is doubtful, or to answer upon his oath far-ther than he is bound by law.
Protest, in parliament. Any of the lords in parliament have aright to protest their dissent to any bill passed by a majority:which protest is entered in form. This is said to be a very ancientprivilege. The commons liave no right to protest.