PROTEIDS 



4S4ti 



PROTESTANT 



litical relation between two countries of widely 

 different extent and power, when the larger 

 and more powerful of the two exercises con- 

 trol over the smaller, and assumes the respon- 

 sibility of directing its most important affairs. 



While the word is used rather loosely, it is 

 generally understood that the relation of pro- 

 tectorate gives the dependent country the right 

 to maintain a distinct and separate existence 

 and to conduct its own internal affairs, under 

 the general and benevolent direction of the 

 protecting government. The exact relation be- 

 tween the two countries is usually fixed by 

 treaty, which may be an arrangement between 

 the two chiefly concerned, or the result of an 

 agreement on the part of several nations re- 

 specting still another. It is always understood 

 that the protecting country controls the inter- 

 national relations of its dependency, and also 

 that it is responsible for protecting the smaller 

 country from invasion and from every kind of 

 injury. 



Some of the states of India are protector- 

 ates of the British Empire. Great Britain, 

 France, Germany and other European nations 

 possess protectorates in Africa. Among these 

 are British East Africa, German East Africa, 

 French Congo, Belgian Congo, Portuguese 

 West Africa, Italian Somaliland and others. 

 The locations of these are shown on the col- 

 ored map of Africa, and each is described in 

 its place in these volumes. 



PROTEIDS, pro'teidz, the name given a 

 class of food substances consisting chiefly of 

 carbon, hydrogen, oxygen and nitrogen. The 

 word has practically the same meaning as pro- 

 teins (see below), many authorities prefer- 

 ring the latter term. 



PROTEINS, pro'teim, a class of food sub- 

 stances whose special work is the nourishing 

 of muscular tissues. They are the only organic 

 food compounds that contain nitrogen; in ad- 

 dition, they are made up of carbon, hydrogen 

 and oxygen, and they sometimes contain sul- 

 phur and phosphorus. Lean meat, the curd 

 of milk, peas and beans, wheat flour and corn 

 are important protein foods. For a fuller dis- 

 cussion of the subject see FOOD, subhead Pro- 

 teins, page 2242. 



PROTEROZOIC, prahterozo'ik, ERA, the 

 great division of geologic time extending from 

 the Archeozoic Era to the Paleozoic Era. The 

 era is noted for the extensive systems of sedi- 

 mentary rock that were formed; in some lo- 

 calities these reached a thickness exceeding 

 30,000 feet. There are formations of igneous 



rock (rock 'formed by fire) between the dif- 

 ferent systems of sedimentary rock. Some ge- 

 ologists do not divide this era into periods ; but 

 those in North America generally recognize 

 three rock systems, which are named from lo- 

 calities where they are the most prominent. 

 These are the Huronian, from the rocks north 

 of Lake Huron; the Animikean, from locali- 

 ties in Northwestern Wisconsin and Northwest- 

 ern Minnesota; and the Keweenawan, from 

 Koweenaw Peninsula on the south shore of 

 Lake Superior. The Animikean System is of 

 special interest, for it contains the great de- 

 posits of iron ore of the Mesaba and Iron 

 ranges, which are now the chief source of 

 supply of iron for the world. 



The rocks of the Proterozoic Era contain 

 few fossils, and it is therefore impossible to tell 

 from them the nature of the life that then 

 existed. See GEOLOGY and diagram on page 

 2439; PALEOZOIC ERA. 



PROTESILAUS, pro tesila'us, in Grecian 

 mythology, one of the chiefs who joined in 

 the expedition against Troy. An oracle had 

 foretold that the first Greek who attempted 

 to land would meet death immediately; and 

 Protesilaus, seeing that the other chiefs hesi- 

 tated, leaped ashore and was instantly slain. 

 See TROY. 



PROTESTANT, praht ' es tant, the general 

 name for all Christian bodies outside the au- 

 thority of the Roman or Greek Catholic 

 Church. The Protestants now number about 

 200,000,000, including church members and ad- 

 herents not formally affiliated with special de- 

 nominations. The term was first used in 1529, 

 when an edict of the Diet of Spires threat- 

 ened the German Reformation with extinction. 

 This assembly decreed that the Scriptures 

 should be expounded only on the lines author- 

 ized by the Roman Catholic Church, and en- 

 deavored to restore the Mass in states where it 

 had been discontinued. Several princes and 

 fourteen imperial cities made a formal protest 

 against the edict and from this circumstance 

 became known as Protestants. The name soon 

 came to mean all those who followed Luther 

 (see REFORMATION, THE). Later it became the 

 general term for all members of the Christian 

 Church outside of the Roman Catholic branch. 



Consult Bousset's Faith of a Modern Protes- 

 tant; Troltsch's Protestantism and Progress. 



Related Subjects. The subhead Religion in 

 the articles on the various countries, states and 

 provinces contain material of interest in this con- 

 nection, as do also the following articles : 



