PREHNITE 



Hence Duckworth ends his Pre- 

 historic Man with the preceding 

 Aurignacian period. The term is 

 extended into prehuman or geo- 

 logic time, as when mesozoic 

 reptiles are spoken of as pre- 

 historic monsters. When the 

 earth's history is said to be written 

 in " the record of the rocks " its 

 prehistory recedes into the re- 

 motest past, before any solid crust 

 was formed. See Archaeology ; 

 Stone Age. 



Prehnite. In mineralogy, name 

 given to a hydrated calcium and 

 aluminium silicate. A glassy white 

 to light green in colour, it is often 

 a secondary mineral in eruptive 

 rocks, and is derived from the de- 

 composition of felspar. It re- 

 sembles chrysoprase when cut and 

 polished, and is often used as a gem 

 stone or as an ornamental stone. 

 Prehnite is so named from Colonel 

 Prehn, who first found the mineral 

 in S. Africa. 



Prelate (Lat. praelatun, placed 

 over). Ecclesiastical term for one 

 having episcopal authority, e.g. an 

 archbishop or bishop. See Arch- 

 bishop ; Bishop ; Ecclesiastical Law. 



Prelude (Lat. prae, before ; 

 Indus, a play). Musical term for 

 a piece played before service, the 

 opposite of postlude (q.v. ). It is, 

 however, less closely associated 

 with church use, preludes being 

 very often found in connexion 

 with fugues and suites, as intro- 

 ductory pieces to plays, and as 

 independent compositions. 



Premature Birth. Birth of a 

 child before complete intra-uterine 

 development has been reached, and 

 after the twenty-eighth week of 

 pregnancy, i.e. the period at which 

 the child has become viable or 

 capable of surviving. The most 

 common causes of premature birth 

 are syphilis in either parent, 

 serious constitutional disease in 

 the mother, such as Bright's 

 disease, lead poisoning, and heart 

 disease, localised disease of the 

 uterus, mental shock or excitement 

 and violence, e.g. a fall or strenuous 

 exercise such as riding or dancing. 

 A prematurely born child demands 

 special care and skill in order that 

 it may be reared, and thrive. If 

 the necessary attention is given, 

 many such children become eventu- 

 ally quite as vigorous and well- 

 developed as those whose gestation 

 has been normal. See Pregnancy. 



Premature Burial. Interment 

 before life is extinct. Many 

 persons have a morbid fear of 

 being buried alive. In countries 

 where some days are allowed to 

 elapse between death and burial, 

 thus giving time for the appear- 

 ance of the undoubted signs of 

 death, there is no fear of such an 



63 1 6 



accident. A few cases have been 

 recorded, but always under excep- 

 tional circumstances.usually during 

 epidemics of cholera or plague in 

 hot countries, when fear of infec- 

 tion has led to hasty burial with- 

 out proper examination by a physi- 

 cian. In Germany, mortuary 

 chambers in which the dead are 

 placed have been established. An 

 attendant visits the mortuary at 

 intervals, and a bell-rope is placed 

 in the hands of the corpse. Some 

 of these institutions have been in 

 existence for many years, but the 

 bell has never yet been rung. 

 "' Premier (Lat. primus, first). 

 Anything that is first or chief, e.g. 

 the premier duke. Its most 

 frequent use is for the first or chief 

 minister of the crown, also known 

 as the prime ininister (q.v.). 



Premium (Lat. prae, above ; 

 emere, to buy). Literally a prize 

 or reward. As a financial term it 

 implies something above the nomi- 

 nal or fixed price. Thus, shares at 

 a premium are worth more than 

 their nominal value, e.g., when 

 100 of stock is at 110, 'it is at a 

 premium of 10. The opposite of 

 premium in this sense is discount 

 (q.v. ). In Great Britain during the 

 housing shortage of 1918-20, 

 money paid to secure possession 

 of a house was called a premium. 

 Such payments were made illegal 

 in 1920. The term is used also for 

 the periodical payments to an in- 

 surance company in respect of a 

 policy of insurance. See Insurance. 



Premium Bond. Bond issued 

 for public subscription on terms 

 involving an element of chance 

 as well as investment considera- 

 tions. They are especially popular 

 in France where, though not 

 actually issued by the government, 

 they have been employed to 

 finance state schemes. Their prin- 

 cipal use, however, is in munici- 

 pal and local finance, and a 

 large amount of capital, about 

 400,000,000 in 1917, is invested in 

 them. In Germany, the Prussian 

 State lotteries are conducted by 

 the German ministry of Finance. 



During the Great War an at- 

 tempt was made to introduce the 

 system into Great Britain as an 

 emergency measure for raising 

 money, and the matter was 

 referred to a select committee of 

 the House of Commons. This 

 committee examined 35 witnesses, 

 among whom were M.P.'s , bank- 

 ers, government officials, chief 

 constables, employers of labour, 

 and religious bodies. Their report, 

 issued Jan., 1918, was unfavourable 

 to the scheme, which, after debate, 

 was rejected by a large majority, 

 mainly on ethical grounds. See 

 Lottery ; Victory Bonds. 



PRENSA 



Premonition (Lat. praemonere 

 to forewarn). Vague, instinctive 

 anticipation of some future event, 

 the feeling that something desir- 

 able or undesirable is about to hap- 

 pen. The subject himself is un- 

 able to assign any cause or reasons 

 for its justification. A synonymous 

 term is presentiment, in reference 

 to the anticipation of coming evil 

 Premonstratensians OR NOR- 

 BERTINES. Order of regular canons 

 founded in 1120 by S. Norbert of 

 Cleves, afterwards archbishop of 

 Magdeburg. They are named 

 from their first abode near Laon, 

 Premontre, the " meadow shown," 

 or the " place foreshown " to the 

 founder in a vision. The order 

 follows the Augustinian rule, and 

 was very powerful in N. Europe 

 before the Reformation: It has 

 houses for women as well as men. 

 In England, where Welbeck Ab- 

 bey was their chief house, the 

 Premonstratensians were known 

 as White Canons. The order has 

 been revived at Storrington, Sus- 

 sex, and elsewhere. It was re- 

 vived in France in 1856. 



Prempeh. King of Ashanti, 

 1886-96. Chosen king of the 

 Ashantis after a civil war in March, 



1886,Prempeh 



took the name 

 of Kwaka Dua 

 III. His elec- 

 tion was fa- 

 voured by 

 the British, 

 and he had 



Prempeh, 

 King of Ashanti 



From a sketch by Sir B. 

 Baden-Powell, by cour- 

 tesy of Meihuen & Co.. 

 Ltd. 



pros- 

 perous years 

 of rule. About 

 1893, how- 

 ever, he be- 

 gan to ignore 

 the terms of 

 the treaty of 

 1874 with 

 Britain, and, 

 after vain 

 negotiations, a 

 war began 

 which ended in his seizure and 

 dethronement. Prempeh was de- 

 tained as a political prisoner, 

 first at Elmina and later in the 

 Seychelles. In 1924 he was 

 allowed to return to Ashanti. See 

 Ashanti Wars. 



Prensa, LA (The Press). Daily 

 newspaper, established in Buenos 

 Aires in 1869, by Dr. Jose Paz, 

 who was succeeded by his son, 

 E. P. Paz. At first a four-page 

 paper, it has given for many years 

 now 20 to 30 pages daily. It has 

 the largest circulation of any news- 

 paper in S. America, and its offices, 

 include a public hall and a court- 

 yard for public meetings, legal 

 and medical consulting rooms, 

 commercial museum, chemical 



