PRE-EMPTION 



63 1 5 



PREHISTORIC 



electrical engineer. Born in Carnar- 

 von, Wales, Feb. 15, 1834, he be- 

 came associated with the Electric 

 and International Telegraph Co., 

 1853; was appointed engineer to 

 the Channel Islands Telegraph Co., 

 1858-62 ; divisional engineer to 

 the British post office, 1870, and 

 engineer in chief, 1892-99, and 

 afterwards consulting engineer to 

 the post office and colonies. 

 Preece carried out a considerable 

 amount of pioneer electrical work 

 in wireless and wrote a number of 

 books on telegraphy and tele- 

 phony. He was knighted in 1899, 

 and died Nov. 6, 1913. 



Pre-emption(Lat. prae, before ; 

 ernere, to buy). In English law, the 

 right of having the first choice to 

 buy a thing. Before the Restora- 

 tion the royal purveyors had this 

 right in respect of food, etc., 

 required by the king and his court 

 when travelling in the country, but 

 it was abolished by the Act 12 

 Charles II, c. 24, which abolished 

 feudalism. Under the Lands 

 Clauses Acts, if an authority which 

 has purchased lands compulsorily 

 has taken more than it requires, 

 before selling it on the market it 

 must give the pre-emption to the 

 former owner from whom it was 

 compulsorily acquired. In inter- 

 national law, it is the right of 

 purchasing instead of confiscating 

 contraband of war, or such 

 articles which, though not usually 

 contraband, are declared so owing 

 to special circumstances. 



Pre-existence. Doctrine that 

 the soul exists before it is united 

 with the body. It seems to have 

 originated in the East and under- 

 lies the caste system of India, 

 which maintains that the social 

 position into which a man is born 

 indicates his merits or demerits in a 

 previous existence. A further, 

 more corrupt development of the 

 idea is seen in the doctrine of the 

 transmigration of souls. According 

 to Plato the soul originally existed 

 in a state of ideal perfection, but, 

 falling short of the ideal, is con- 

 demned to enter a material body 

 subject to decay, from which it can 

 only gain release by self-purifi- 

 cation and self-mortification. The 

 Alexandrian School among the 

 Jews embraced a similar theory, 

 which found its way into the 

 Christian Church, but was rejected 

 by the council of Constantinople. 

 According to this view, all souls 

 were created together at the first 

 with the soul of Adam, and remain 

 in the keeping of God until the 

 time comes when they are destined 

 to be united with a body. This 

 teaching has no foundation in 

 Scripture, but is not considered 

 heretical See Crcationism. 



Prefect (Lat. praefectus, set in 

 command). Generally, one who is 

 in a position of authority over 

 others. In ancient Rome the prae- 

 fect (q.v. ) was an important official. 

 In France the prefect (prefet) is the 

 chief administrative officer of each 

 department, his seat (prefecture) 

 being in the chief town of his 

 department, and the prefect of 

 police is the chief of the police of 

 Paris and the Seine dept. In 

 English public schools, and other 

 schools on their model, the prefect 

 is a senior boy who is responsible 

 for maintaining discipline in a 

 house or dormitory, and often has 

 powers of inflicting punishment for 

 various minor offences ; the titles 

 praepostor and monitor are also 

 used in this connexion. 



Pregnancy. Period from the 

 time of conception to the birth of 

 the child. The average duration of 

 this period is 280 days, reckoned 

 from the first day of the last 

 menstrual period. 



Cessation of the monthly flow 

 is the first indication that a woman 

 is pregnant, but is not a conclu- 

 sive indication, since it may be due 

 to other causes. Morning sickness 

 usually occurs in the second month 

 and becomes more marked in the 

 third, fourth, and fifth months. 

 There may be nausea alone, par- 

 ticularly when first wakening in the 

 morning, or actual vomiting, and 

 in some cases this occurs frequently 

 during the day, and becomes a 

 distressing symptom. Changes in 

 the breast may be noticed during 

 the second month, the breast 

 becoming enlarged and the super- 

 ficial veins more prominent. During 

 succeeding months the nipples 

 become enlarged, small raised 

 follicles develop around them, and 

 the pigmentation on the surround- 

 ing skin is darker. From the begin- 

 ning of the third month generally 

 a little mucoid secretion can be 

 squeezed out of the breasts. 

 Quickening, the term applied to 

 the sensation experienced by the 

 mother when she first feels the 

 movements of the foetus within 

 her, generally occurs in the fourth 

 or fifth month. Enlargement of 

 the uterus may be recognized by 

 the physician in the second or 

 third month, but enlargement of 

 the abdomen is not appreciable 

 to the mother until after the 

 second month. During the fifth 

 month, the foetal heart beat 

 becomes audible through the 

 stethoscope. 



Pregnancy is a natural condition 

 and the expectant mother should 

 not regard herself as an invalid 

 during the period of gestation. 

 Any form of excess or undue 

 exertion should be avoided, but 



otherwise she should depart as 

 little as possible from a normal life. 

 Plenty of fresh air is important, 

 and regular exercise should be 

 taken, walking being the best form. 

 A normal and nourishing diet 

 should be taken. Excitement or 

 mental distress should be avoided, 

 and any sudden shock or fright is 

 dangerous, as likely to bring on 

 miscarriage. Cold baths should 

 not be taken. If the breasts are 

 painful and heavy, they may be 

 supported by bandages, and during 

 the last three months the nipples 

 should be hardened by bathing 

 them daily with spirit and water. 



Spurious pregnancy, or pseudo- 

 cyesis, is a condition of imaginary 

 pregnancy which is sometimes seen 

 in hysterical women, particularly 

 those who have reason to fear 

 pregnancy, and occasionally in 

 women who are very anxious to 

 have children. In this condition 

 the monthly flow may cease, 

 mammary changes occur, the 

 abdomen enlarge (though it is only 

 distended with gas), and the 

 woman may assert that she feels 

 the foetal movements. The 

 symptoms generally disappear 

 after the patient has been re- 

 assured by the physician regarding 

 her condition. See Gestation; 

 Menstruation. 



Prehistoric. Antecedent to re- 

 corded history. That branch of 

 the study of the human past which 

 concerns prehistoric times as 

 revealed by archaeology is some- 

 times called prehistorics. 



Since the word was first used in 

 1851 by Daniel Wilson, when 

 recording Scotland's prehistoric 

 annals, its scope has been greatly 

 modified. Pictorial, monumental, 

 and other intentional records of 

 events antecedent to writing hold 

 an important place in recorded 

 history. When history implies the 

 whole past, whether known and 

 narrated or not, prehistory loses 

 its meaning altogether. 



The beginning of written history 

 was not the same everywhere. In 

 the stricter sense prehistoric Egypt 

 crossed the threshold of history 

 with the 1st dynasty of Mena. For 

 millenniums afterwards Europe 

 remained in its prehistoric age, 

 and prehistoric Britain is usually 

 bounded by the advent of Julius 

 Caesar. In one sense America was 

 prehistoric until Columbus's arrival 

 in 1492, if that of the Norsemen in 

 1000 be disregarded. But in view 

 of our substantial knowledge of 

 several centuries of Maya and 

 Inca history, pre-Columbian is the 

 more appropriate term. 



Recorded history is sometimes 

 held to begin with the Magdalenian 

 cave-pictures of France and Spain. 



