PRAIRIAL 



Prairial. Ninth month in the 

 year as rearranged during the 

 French Revolution. It began on 

 the 20th or 21st of May. The word 

 means the month of meadows. 



Prairie (Fr. from Lat. prat urn, 

 meadow). Temperate natural 

 grassland of the central plains of 

 N. America. In the E. portions, 

 especially in Manitoba and the Red 

 River Valley, enormous quantities 

 of cereals are grown, but in the 

 drier belt nearer the Rockies stock- 

 rearing is more important. See 

 Pasture; Steppe. 



Prairie Dog OR PRAIRIK MARMOT 

 (Cynomys ludovicianus). Rodent 

 found in N. America and allied 



Prairie Dog. N. American burrow- 

 ing rodent, allied to the squirrel 



W. S. Serridgc.F.Z.S. 



to the squirrels. There are three 

 or four other species, all of 

 which live in burrows in the open 

 plains, usually in very extensive 

 colonies. They are about a foot 

 long, and the fur is brown and yel- 

 lowish white beneath. They feed 

 mainly on grass and roots, and con- 

 struct mounds before their homes, 

 which they use as watch-towers. 

 Many of the burrows are also ten- 

 anted by the burrowing owl. 



Prairie Hen (Tympanuchus 

 americanus). Bird allied to the 

 grouse, native of N. America from 

 the valley of the Mississippi to On- 

 tario. About 19 ins. long, it is brown 

 above, streaked transversely with 

 black and buff ; the underside pale 

 brown, with the transverse marks 

 white. The head bears a small 

 white-tipped crest. On each side of 



631O 



the neck of the male is an inflatable 

 orange sac, covered by a tuft of stiff 

 black feathers. During the breed- 

 ing season males to the number of 

 40 or 50 assemble at daybreak in 

 their so-called " scratching places," 

 and go through a performance of 

 display in which low tooting and 

 booming sounds are produced by 

 means of the distended air-sacs, as 

 well as cackling and screams of de- 

 fiance. These meetings, which last 

 only till sunrise, end in fierce bat- 

 tles. They feed on buds, berries, 

 acorns of the scrub oak, and seeds. 

 As food the flesh of the prairie hen 

 is esteemed. 



Prakrit (Skt., natural, com- 

 mon). General name for the popu- 

 lar languages of India as opposed 

 to the classical Sanskrit ( = per- 

 fected), of which they are the direct 

 descendants Until about A.D. 

 1000 the Prakrits were divided into 

 four chief dialects : Magadhi (Bi- 

 har), Ardha-Magadhi (half-Mag- 

 adhi, Benares), Apabhramsa (=de- 

 cadent. valley of the Indus), Sau- 

 raseni (between the Ganges and the 

 Jumna). These four dialects, which 

 are the source of all the modern 

 vernaculars of India, are related to 

 the ancient Sanskrit as the Ro- 

 mance languages to Latin. The 

 chief source for the knowledge of 

 early Prakrit is the Indian dramas, 

 in which it is used by characters 

 of lower rank. See India. 



Pralltriller (Ger.). Musical 



ornament indicated thus : 



_ (^ 

 jr 1 and performed as 



^re j* -j shown below : 



Prairie Hen of North America ; cock 

 bird of the species 



In Great Britain FT 



it is often called ^ 



the mordent (q.v. ), * 



which, however, should be played 



with the lower auxiliary note. 



Prat, ARTURO (1836-79). Chi- 

 lean sailor. He is known as the 

 commander of the Esmeralda. 

 which was sunk at Iquique by the 

 Peruvian ironclad Huascar. In 

 this engagement, which took place 

 April 26, 1879, Prat lost his life. 

 See Chile-Peruvian War. 



Prati, GIOVANNI (1815-84). 

 Italian poet. Born near Trent in 

 Italian Tirol, he studied law at 

 Padua. He won prompt recogni- 

 tion by his blank verse narrative 

 poem, Ermenegarda, 1841, and in 

 subsequent years his lyrics em- 

 bodied much of the national spirit. 

 He was a member of the Italian 

 parliament, first as deputy and 

 then as senator, from 1862 until 

 his death in Rome, May 9, 1884. 



Prat in as. One of the early 

 Greek tragedians. A native of 

 Phlius, in Peloponnesus, not far 

 from Corinth, he was the contem- 



PRATO 



porary of Aeschylus, against whom 

 he competed for the prize at the 

 Dionysia. He is said to have been 

 the first to compose satyric dramas, 

 the only complete extant example 

 of which is the Cyclops of Euri- 

 pides. The collapse of the wooden 

 seats of the spectators during the 

 performance of one of his plays is 

 said to have been directly respon- 

 sible for the erection of stone 

 theatres. 



Pratincole (Glareola). Genus of 

 birds. They are allied to the sand- 

 pipers, but distinguished by their 



Pratincole. Collared pratincole, an 

 occasional visitor to Great Britain 



short, curved bill, with wide gape, 

 long, pointed wings, and forked 

 tail. There are 10 species, small, 

 slender birds that run like plovers 

 and fly like swallows. The best 

 known species is the collared 

 pratincole (G. pratincola) of S. 

 Europe, W. Asia, and N. Africa, 

 whence it migrates to India and S. 

 Africa, and occasionally visits 

 Britain. It is brown above, with 

 black and white wings and tail, the 

 breast yellow-brown, and the 

 under parts white with blackish legs. 

 There is a broad patch of dull buff 

 on the throat, outlined with black. 

 They frequent sandbanks and 

 coastal lands, feeding upon insects, 

 caught mostly on the wing. Their 

 note is harsh and shrill. See Bird. 



Pratique (Fr., intercourse). 

 Certificate given to a ship that 1 as 

 complied with the quarantine regu- 

 lations, permitting her to land pas- 

 sengers or crew. It also meam 

 release from quarantine (q.v.). 



Prato. City of Italy, in the 

 prov. of Florence. It stands on the 

 Bisenzio, an affluent of the Arno, 

 11 m. by rly. N.W. of Florence, and 

 is encompassed by llth and 14th 

 century walls. The stately marble 

 cathedral, begun in the 12th and 

 finished in the 15th century, has 

 a beautiful external pulpit (see 

 Pulpit), from which the Virgin's 

 Girdle is displayed to the faithful ; 

 also frescoes and pictures, and 

 bas-reliefs by Delia Robbia, who 

 executed medallions for the 15th 

 century early Renaissance Carceri 

 church. There are works by the 

 two Lippis, Agnolo Gaddi. Gio- 

 vanni Pisano, and other Florentine 

 artists. The chief manufactures 



