PRAGUE 



PRAIRIE DOG 



377 



Prague (Ger. Prog, Czech Praha), the capital 

 of Bohemia, and the third largest town of Austria- 

 Hungary, is situated at the base and on the slope of 

 the hills which skirt both sides of the isleted Moldau, 

 217 miles by rail NNW. of Vienna and 118 SSE. 

 of Dresden. It offers a highly picturesque appear- 

 ance from the beauty of its site, and the numerous 

 lofty towers (more than seventy in number) which 

 rise above the many noble palaces, public build- 

 ings, and bridges of the city. The fortifications 

 have been gradually demolished since 1866. The 

 royal Burg, on the Hradschin (240 feet), the 

 ancient residence of the Dukes of Bohemia, dates 

 mainly now from the 16th and 17th centuries, and 

 has 440 rooms. The neighbouring cathedral of St 

 Vitus (1344) is still unfinished, though building 

 was resumed in 1867. Here are the splendid royal 

 mausoleum ( 1589) and the shrine ( 1736) of St John 

 of Nepomuk (q.v.), containing 1J ton of silver. Of 

 forty-seven other Catholic churches the chief are the 

 domed Jesuit church of St Nicolas, with its lavish 

 decorations, and the Teyn church ( 1407 ), the old 

 Hussite church, with the grave of Tycho Brah, 

 and its marble statues of the Slavonic martyrs, 

 Cyril and Methodius. Of five bridges and two 

 railway viaducts the most striking is the Karls- 

 briicke (1357-1303), 543 yards long, with gate- 

 towers at either end, and statues of John of 

 Nepomnk and other saints. It was greatly 

 damaged by flood in September 1890, but has since 

 been restored. Other noteworthy objects are the 

 town-hall (1381-1884), the Pulverturm (1475), the 

 new Czech Theatre (1883), the old Jewish grave- 

 yard, the Theresa Institution for Ladies, the vast 

 Czerni Palace ( now used as barracks ), the Picture- 

 gallery, and the Premonstratensian monastery of 

 Strahow. Prague has, besides, numerous public 

 gardens and walks in the suburbs, with several 

 royal and noble parks open to the public in the 

 vicinity of the city. The suburb of Karolinenthal, 

 which is traversed by the great viaduct of the rail- 

 way, and is of modern growth, has some tine build- 

 ings, numerous gardens, barracks, and manufac- 

 turing establishments ; and somewhat farther north 

 is the great botanical garden, with the neighbouring 

 public walks on the Moldau. The university, 

 founded in 1348, had 10,000 students at the )>ein- 

 ning of the 15th century ; but subsequently it had 

 a long period of decay. It received a new constitu- 

 tion in 1881, having now two co-ordinate sides or 

 sections, one German and one Czech, witli respec- 

 tively 156 and 140 teachers, and 1470 and 2361 

 students. It possesses a library of 195,000 volumes 

 and 3800 manuscripts, a fine observatory, museums 

 of zoology and anatomy, a botanical garden, &c. 

 The manufactures include machinery, chemicals, 

 leather, cotton, linen, gloves, l>eer, spirits, &c. 

 Prague is the great centre of the commerce of 

 Bohemia, and the seat of an important transit 

 trade. Pop. with suburl>s (1880) 293,822; (1890) 

 310,483; of the town proper (1890) 182,530, of 

 whom 81 per cent, were Czechs, 2 per cent. Protes- 

 tants, and 10 per cent. Jews. 



History : Prague was founded, according to 

 popular tradition, in 722 by the Duchess Libussa, 

 but really by German settlers about 1100. In the 

 14th century its munificently endowed university 

 brought foreigners to it from every part ; but in 

 1424 Prague was conquered and almost destroyed 

 by the Hussites, who nad made a successful stand 

 against the Emperor Sigismund's army. In the 

 Thirty Years' War it suffered severely, and in 1620 

 the battle was fought at the Weissenberg, near the 

 city, in which the Elector-Palatine, Frederick V. 

 (q.v.), was completely defeated, and compelled to 

 renounce his assumed crown. Swedes and Im- 

 perialist* successively gained possession of the town 

 during the war; and a century later it again fell into 



the hands of different victors, having been compelled 

 in 1744 to capitulate to Frederick the Great, who 

 here on 6th May 1757 defeated 60,000 Austrians 

 under Prince Charles of Lorraine. Until the down- 

 fall of Napoleon the city continued to suffer more 

 or less directly from the troubles in which the 

 House of Austria was involved. Since then, how- 

 ever, it has made rapid strides, and enjoyed pros- 

 perity and quiet, except in 1848, when the meeting 

 of the Slavonic Congress within its walls called 

 forth such strongly marked democratic demonstra- 

 tions on the part of the supporters of Panslavism 

 (q.v.) that the Austrian government dissolved the 

 conclave, and restored quiet by the summary 

 method of causing the old and new town to be 

 bombarded for two days. In 1866 Prague was 

 occupied bloodlessly by the Prussians, who here 

 on 23d August concluded a treaty with Austria. 

 The jealousy subsisting between the Czech and the 

 German population was strongly accentuated on the 

 occasion of the Exhibition of 1891. See Statistisches 

 Uanelbuch der Hauptstadt Prog (3 vols. 1882-86). 



Praia Grande. See Rio DE JANEIRO. 



Prairie ( Fr. , ' meadow ' ) was the name given by 

 the early French explorers of the northern portion 

 of the Mississippi Valley, North America, to the 

 vast fertile and treeless plains which extend from 

 Western Ohio and Southern Michigan across the 

 states of Indiana, Illinois, Missouri, Arkansas, 

 Iowa, Kansas, Nebraska, and North and South 

 Dakota, including the southern portions of Wis- 

 consin and Minnesota. The prairie region also 

 extends northward into Canadian territory. These 

 great plains or savannas are sometimes flat, but 

 oftener rolling like the long swells of the ocean, 

 and rise in gradual elevation from 300 to 1500 feet 

 above the sea. See AMERICA, Vol. I. p. 215. 



Prairie Dog (Cynomyi Ludovicianns) is a 

 small rodent closely allied to the European Marmot 

 (q.v.); these animals have received their ver- 

 nacular name on account of the barking sound 

 which they utter. They live associated together in 

 colonies consisting of numerous burrows excavated 

 by the animals themselves ; their range is entirely 



Prairie Dog (Cynomyt Ludovicianus). 



restricted to the parks and plains of the Rocky 

 Mountain plateau region in North America, and 

 there appear to be two distinct varieties. They 

 have been popularly supposed to share their habita- 

 tions, and to live in friendly relations, with rattle- 

 snakes and owls. As regards the rattlesnake, it is 

 more than probable that its occurrence in the 

 burrows of the rodent is to be explained by a 

 desire to make a meal of its neighbours, while the 

 owl may have a similar purpose in view ; it is also 

 [Kjssible in both cases that the burrows may be 



