PRAGMATIC SANCTION 



4805 



PRAIRIE DOG 



PRAGMATIC SANCTION, prog mat' ik 

 sangk' shun, in European history, an imperial 

 edict or decree having the force of fundamental 

 law. Of several pragmatic sanctions the one 

 of greatest importance was that issued by Em- 

 peror Charles VI, in 1713. This is usually re- 

 ferred to by historians as the Pragmatic Sanc- 

 tion. Charles, who was Holy Roman Emperor, 

 had no male heirs, and so issued a decree set- 

 tling his possessions on his daughter, Maria 

 Theresa. Though several of the great powers 

 agreed to observe this decree, they broke their 

 pledges after Charles's death. Maria Theresa's 

 efforts to maintain her rights resulted in the 

 War of the Austrian Succession (see subhead 

 under SUCCESSION WARS). 



PRAGUE, prayg, the former capital of Bohe- 

 mia and third largest city of Austria-Hungary, 

 now capital of Czecko-Slovakia, is situated 150 

 miles northwest of Vienna, at the base and 

 on the slopes of hills which skirt both sides of 

 the picturesque Moldau River, spanned by 

 many tower-guarded bridges. The visitor can 

 hardly believe, as he looks from the old forti- 

 fied citadel above the river over the lofty 

 towers which rise above many medieval pal- 

 aces, churches and public buildings, that at the 

 base of these hills nestles a thriving twentieth- 

 century city ; for Prague was the great center of 

 the commerce of Bohemia and the seat of an 

 important transit trade. Its commercial impor- 

 tance is enhanced by its situation on a navi- 

 gable waterway and its position at the junction 

 of seven railroads. 



The city is divided into seven districts, the 

 most interesting of which is the Altstadt, on 

 the right bank of the river. There are nu- 

 merous public gardens and walks in the sub- 

 urbs, and several royal parks are in the vicinity, 

 ywhere are to be found statues, tablets 

 and historical relics. Among the points of 

 special interest are the town hall, the new 

 Czech National Theater, the old Jewish grave- 

 yard, the Czcrnin Palace, now used as a bar- 

 racks, and an imposing Renaissance structure 

 containing a picture gallery, conservatory of 

 music and art industrial museum. Among the 



- many churches are the domed Jesuit 



h of Saint Nicholas; the Teyn (old Hus- 

 site) Church; and the KreuEherren Church, 

 constructed after the plan of Saint Peter's at 

 Rome. In addition to the famous University 

 of Prague the educational institutions include 



Iloyal German and Royal Bohemian Poly- 

 ate institutes. The industrial establish- 

 es are numerous and varied, and include 



factories for the manufacture of railway cars, 

 leather, cotton goods, gloves, chemicals, flour 

 and beer, and printing and publishing houses. 

 The city is an important sugar market and 

 center of trade for local manufactures. 



Prague is supposed to have been founded by 

 German settlers about 1100. In the fifteenth 

 century it was captured and almost destroyed 

 by the Hussites, but was rapidly rebuilt. Up 

 to the time of the fall of Napoleon the city 

 suffered from the troubles in which the House 

 of Austria was involved, but since then has 

 grown rapidly and prospered. Population in 

 1910, 223,741 ; in 1914 the estimated population 

 of the city and suburbs was 541,500. 



PRAIRIE, pra'ri, a term applied most fre- 

 quently to the broad, grass-covered meadows 

 lying in the region of the Mississippi and Ohio 

 valleys, where the land is gently rolling and 

 often almost treeless. Illinois has been nick- 

 named the "Prairie State," but all the territory 

 in Western Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Missouri, 

 Iowa and Wisconsin in the United States and 

 north into the great Canadian provinces is in- 

 cluded in the wide expanse, which is continued 

 by the Great Plains to the base of the Rocky 

 Mountains. The surface of the prairie section 

 is not so level as that on the plains, for low 

 hills and shallow river valleys often relieve the 

 monotony of the landscape. The prairie region 

 lies from 300 to 1,500 feet above sea level, and 

 sandstone and limestone deposits underlie the 

 heavy rich soil, which is admirably suited to 

 the growth of cereals, chiefly corn and wheat. 

 See PLAIN ; PLATEAU. 



PRAIRIE CHICKEN, the name given locally 

 in the United States to the pinnated grouse, 

 or the grouse with winglike tufts of feath- 

 ers on the neck. This bird is described and 

 pictured in the article GROUSE, subhead Prairie 

 Chicken, on page 2629. 



PRAIRIE DOG, a troublesome member of 

 the ground-squirrel family, once very common 

 in the plains of Western North America from 

 Canada south into Mexico. The animal has 

 become a serious pest because of its fondness 

 for meadow grasses, alfalfa and grain. In some 

 places the burrows of a prairie dog colony cover 

 several hundred square miles. Such a com- 

 munity, according to the United States De- 

 partment of Agriculture, will devastate an area 

 that would feed 1,500,000 cattle. The animal 

 is strong and well built, about a foot in length, 

 and is covered with coarse, gray-brown hair. 

 It has email, beady eyes, pouched cheeks and 

 n long tail. 



