PRECOGNITION 



At the coronation of Charles I. the rule of pre- 

 cedency of the nobility of England was introduced 

 in Scotland ; and it was arranged that peers of 

 England (or their sons, &c. ), of a given degree, 

 should within Kngland take precedence of peers 

 of Scotland of the same degree ; and that in Scot- 

 land this precedence should le reversed. Hut by 

 the acts of Union with Scotland and Ireland the 

 precedence in any given degree of the peerage has 

 Wn established as follows : ( 1 ) Peers of England ; 

 (2) Peers of Scotland ; (3) Peers of Great Britain ; 



The Sorereign. 



Lord High Commlaaloner during sitting 



of General Assembly. 

 The Prince of Wales. 

 i ooncor mM of uw ooTcrripn. 

 Grandson* of the Sovereign, Including 



(4) Peers of Ireland ; (5) Peers of the tinted King- 

 dom, anil Peer* of Ireland created subsequently l<> 

 the Irish 1'nion. A similar order is understood to 

 ohtain in regard to baronet*, though in Ireland it 

 seems lately to have become the practice to allow 

 all baronets to rank according to the respective 

 dates of their patents. 



The following is the table of precedence in Scot 

 land, as recorded in the Lvon Office. It is founded 

 partlv on usage and partly on the statutes of 1623 

 and 1661. 



of daughter*. 

 Brotbera of the Sovereign. 

 Uncles of the (Sovereign. 

 Nephews at the Sovereign, Including sons 



of sisters. 



Lord Provoatof Edinburgh within thedty. 

 Hereditary High ConsUble. 

 Mastr of UM Hoiuebold. 

 Lord Chancellor, or Lord Keeper, If 



I. .. :. 



Dob - 



Eldmt sons of Duk> of the Blood Royal. 



Harqnlaea. 



Eldest sons of Dukes. 



Younger sons of Royal Dukes. 

 West sons of Marquise*. 

 Younger sous of Dukea. 



It seems to be held in England that the preced- 

 ence of Scottish officers of state, judges, &c. , as 

 recognised before the Union, does not now extend 

 beyond Scotland. There are rules for precedence 

 for the memliers of the different professions, recog- 

 nised among themselves, but which give no general 

 social precedence. No rank, for instance, in the 

 army, however high in itself, entitles its holder to 

 precedence. Doctors in the universities are ranked 

 thus: (1) Divinity, (2) Law, (3| Medicine, Official 

 rank may often place ite possessor, upon occasion 

 of public ceremonials, in a position far alnjve others 

 of higher dignity than himself, but this, of course, 

 confers no rank in the general order of civil pre- 

 cedence ; on the other hand, men of official rank. 

 who have higher personal precedence, are placed 

 according to the latter; the wives and children of 

 all those who derive their places on the scale from 

 ollicial rank have no consequent privilege. One of 

 the leading principles of the law of precedence is 

 that it emanates solely from father or hushand, 

 and cannot be acquired through a female unless in 

 the case of a peeress in her o n right. 



Precentor (sometimes r //), theofficerwho 

 direct* the singing in a cathedral or parish church. 



See ('HOIKS AMI I'lloIt.U. SlMJIXi;. 



Viscount*. 



klili sons of Karl*. 

 Younger sons of Marquiaea. 

 r. . r 



Keeper of the Great SeaL 

 Keeper of the Privy SeaL 

 Eldest xint of Viscounts. 

 Younger tons of Earls. 

 Eldest sons of Barons. 

 Knights of the Garter. 

 Privy -councillors. 

 Lord Justice-general. 

 Ird Clerk-register. 

 I>ird Advocate. 

 Lord Justice-clerk. 



Lordt of Session (by date of appoint- 

 ment). 



Knights liannerets. 

 Younger Rons of Viscount*. 

 Y'-IIIIUIT sons of Barons. 

 KnifliiK MarischaL 

 Baroneta. 



Knights of the Thistle. 

 Grand Cross of the Bath. 



Grand Cross of the Star of India. 

 Grand Cruss of St Michael and Ht George. 

 Knight* Commanders of the Bath. 

 KnighU Commanders of the .Star of India 

 Knights Commanders of Ht Michael and 



St George. 



Lord Lynn King-of-Arau. 

 Ushers. 



Knights Bachelors. 

 Companions of the Bath. 

 Com|>a!i: Mar of India. 



Companions of St Michael and St George- 

 Eldest sons of younger sons of Peers. 

 Eldest sous of bannerets. 



-"Ms of Knights of the Garter. 

 Eldest sons of Baronets. 

 Eldest sons of KnighU. 

 Younger sons of Baronets. 

 Younger sons of Knighta. 

 Dean of Faculty. 

 Solicitor-general. 

 Esquires, inrlu.lin^ Heralds. 

 Gentlemen, including PursulvanU-at- 



Arms. 



Preceptors, 



Vol. IV. p. 219. 



COLLEGE OF. See EDUCATION, 



Preceptory. the name given to certain house-. 



of the Knights Templars (<|.v.), the sii|ieriors of 



which were culled Knights 

 houses of the order were called 



Preceptor. Other 



comniamlcries.' 



Precession, the name given to a slow motion 

 of the earth, under the action of the sun and moon, 

 which causes the |M>]OS iif the heaven* ( which must 

 remain always vertically almve the poles of the 

 earth) to dwerllM circles on the sphere of the 

 heavens about the poles of the ecliptic a.s centres. 

 As the places of stars on celestial charts arc marked 

 with reference to the celestial poles, this motion of 

 these jioles causes all such charts to Itecome less 

 and less accurate with the lapse of time. A cor- 

 rect inn for pnMMioa has therefore to be applied 

 to such charts in order to find the true places of 

 tan at any epoch other than that for which they 



are constructed. This motion of the earth also 

 causes the Equinoxes (q.v.) to recede slowly along 

 the ecliptic, so that the sun comes to them, in hi* 

 annual course, a little earlier each year. Hence 

 the name, 'Precession of the Equinoxes.' 



The physical cause of this motion is the attrac- 

 tion of the sun and moon for the protuberant ]wrt 

 of the earth around the Equator (see EARTH). 

 This causes the earth slowly to turn on itself, as 

 a spinning top gyrates when ita speed slackens 

 before it falls. As this disturbing force on the 

 earth is small relatively to it* mass, this turning 

 takes place at the mean rate of only 50"'l per 

 annum. It requires, therefore, 25,868 years for 

 the equinoxes to describe a complete circle on the 

 ecliptic. For a very interesting case of the effect 

 of precession, see PoLK-STAR. In actual observa- 

 tion the effects of precession are complicated with 

 those of Nutation (q.v.) and of change of inclina- 

 tion of the ecliptic. The subject is pretty fully 

 discussed in a popular manner in Herschels 

 Treatise on Astronomy. For the suggested influence 

 of precession, along with the increased eccentricity 

 of the earth's orbit, or great climatic changes on 

 the earth, see PLEISTOCENE, p. 236. 



PreVieuses. See UAMBOUILLET. 



Precious Stones. See STONES (PRECIOUS). 



Precipitate Ointment is of two kinds, the 



rerfand the irhilr. The former contains red oxide 

 of mercury, the latter ainiiioniated mercury, or 

 white precipitate. In Irath cases great care is 

 necessary that the mercury preparations are in a 

 very fine state of division, and are intimately 

 mixed with the ointment base. Both ointment* 

 are highly stimulating, and are of sen ice in 

 cutaneous" eruptions. The red ointment is also 

 employed in chronic conjunctiva! ophthalmia. 



1'rccipitntion, in Chemistry, is an operation 

 in which decomposition occurs in a fluid, either 

 through the action of the air, or of a gas. or of a 

 chemical agent in solution ; and is accompanied by 

 the deposition of a solid substance that was either 

 previously held in solution or that has licen formed 

 by chemical action. 



Precondition. See CRIMINAL LAW ( SCOTS). 



