PROPAGATION 



6358 



PROPHECY 



be most likely to convince, they 

 adopted the cruder method of direct 

 statement and appeal, distributing 

 reprints of speeches and pamphlets 

 written from the Allied point of 

 view, which was not by any means 

 that of the peoples addressed. 



Little importance was attached 

 to this branch of the British effort 

 by the army commanders, who, 

 for the most part, maintained that 

 success in the field was the best, 

 and indeed the only valuable form 

 of propaganda. At the beginning 

 of 1918, however, LJoyd George 

 was prevailed on to develop this 

 aspect of warfare. He asked Lord 

 Northcliffe to undertake the organ- 

 ization of propaganda in enemy 

 countries, while Lord Beaverbrook 

 was put at the head of the existing 

 department which made its appeal 

 to the neutral states. 



From Crewe House there soon 

 began to issue a stream of skilfully 

 directed "paper bullets," as the 

 Germans called them, which had 

 the effect of detaching from 

 Austria the subject nationalities, 

 and. of spreading in the German 

 ranks discouragement and desire 

 for peace. Leaflets and trench 

 newspapers, diagrams and news 

 bulletins, were dropped from 

 balloons and aeroplanes. These 

 were soon communicated by 

 soldiers on leave to the nation 

 generally, and all the German 

 leaders, political as well as mili- 

 tary, attributed to the results of 

 Crewe House propaganda a share 

 in the unexpected break-up of 

 Germany's resistance in the late 

 autumn of 1918. 



The finish of the war caused a 

 fresh intensification of propaganda. 

 Its efficacy in creating opinion 

 had been proved; now every- 

 one wished to use it for his own 

 ends. American efforts, which 

 contrary to expectation had failed 

 during the war through wild and 

 fantastic exaggeration, were aimed 

 at capturing markets. All the 

 national governments which hoped 

 to secure advantages from the 

 peace spread their pretensions 

 broadcast. The trm propaganda 

 came into use also as a synonym 

 for indirect advertisement on a 

 large scale ; that is the meaning 

 which most people now attach to it. 

 See Northcliffe, Viscount ; consult 

 also Secrets of Crewe House, Sir 

 Campbell Stuart, 1920. 



Hamilton Fyfe 



Propagation (Lat. propagare, 

 to set slips). Horticultural term 

 for the art of increasing or repro- 

 ducing stocks of plants. There are 

 various methods of propagation, 

 e.g. seeding, cuttings, budding, 

 grafting, layering, etc., described 

 under their respective headings. 



Bulbs are propagated by seed, and 

 also by bulblets, or offshoots, 

 young bulbs attached to the side 

 of the parent. Propagation of 

 plants generally, on a large scale, 

 for the public markets is now 

 carried on by a process of rapid 

 forcing, and the employment of 

 bottom heat for the purpose. See 

 Gardening ; Market Gardening. 



Propellant. Material used in 

 fire-arms to impart motion to the 

 projectile. Whilst a propellant is 

 popularly regarded as an ex- 

 plosive, there is actually a marked 

 difference between them, the object 

 of the latter being to cause a dis- 

 ruptive effect, while a propellant 

 is required to exert a high pressure 

 of a fairly constant character over 

 an appreciable interval of time. 

 The essential difference between 

 the deflagration of a propellant and 

 the detonation of an explosive, is 

 that in the former case decomposi- 

 tion begins on the outside of the 

 grains, and proceeds through the 

 mass by the consecutive combus- 

 tion of parallel layers, whilst in the 

 case of a detonation combustion is 

 started in the whole mass at the 

 same moment, owing to decompo- 

 sition being set up in all the mole- 

 cules through the agency of an 

 explosive wave. It follows that 

 with a propellant the speed of de- 

 composition can be varied by alter- 

 ing the shape or physical form of 

 the material. 



Vieille, the French scientist, 

 made exhaustive researches on 

 this subject, which culminated in 

 his invention of poudre B (q.v.). 

 He came to the conclusion that to 

 obtain regular results it was es- 

 sential that the propellant be in 

 the form of a colloid. With a pro- 

 pellant of this nature he was able 

 to establish (1) that the grains of 

 colloidal powders retain their 

 original shape, but merely diminish 

 in size, until completely consumed, 

 and (2) that the rate of combustion 

 varies directly as the pressure. 

 All modern propellants have a 

 nitrocellulose base, this compound 

 being gelatinised by the use of a 

 suitable solvent. Some contain 

 nitroglycerine in addition to the 

 nitrocellulose, but such powders 

 have a greater effect in eroding the 

 gun. See Ammunition ; Collodion ; 

 Cotton ; Cordite ; Explosives ; Gun- 

 powder ; Lyddite ; Poudre B ; 

 Pyrocollodion ; etc. 



Propeller (Lat. pro, forward ; 

 pellere, to push). In aeronautics, 

 strictly that type of airscrew which 

 is attached to the rear of the body 

 of any aircraft, and which propels 

 the machine, as distinct from 

 the tractor airscrew which is at- 

 tached in front, and draws the 

 body after it. Colloquially the 



word is used for any type of air- 

 screw. The marine propeller is 

 generally known as a screw (q.v.). 

 -See Air Force, Royal. 



Propertius, SEXTUS (c. 49-16 

 B.C.). Roman elegiac poet. He was 

 born at Aaisium (Assisi) and was 

 educated and made his home in 

 Rome, where he won the patronage 

 of Maecenas and Augustus, and was 

 a friend of Virgil and Ovid. Pro- 

 pertius belongs to the circle of 

 poets like Keats, Byron, and 

 Shelley, who matured early and 

 died young, his Elegies revealing 

 a rich vein of original genius and 

 many passagoa of deep passion. 

 The majority of the earlier poems 

 deal with the relations of the poet 

 with his mistress " Cynthia," whose 

 real name was Hostia, but the sub- 

 jects of the last book are chiefly 

 drawn from Roman legend and his- 

 tory. There is a translation by Prof. 

 Butler in the Loeb Classical Li- 

 brary, 1912. See Catullus, Tibullus, 

 and Propertius, J. Davies, 1876. 



Property (Lat. proprius, one's 

 own). In law, the same as owner- 

 ship. It does not mean, as it does 

 in popular language, the thing 

 owned. Indeed many people may 

 have property in the same thing. 

 Thus a person to whom an article 

 is let on hire has a limited property 

 hi it, though the absolute owner- 

 ship remains in the person who lets 

 it. Property, or ownership, is, in 

 law, a bundle of rights, indefinite, 

 but not unlimited in extent ; and, 

 except in cases of limited owner- 

 ship, of unlimited duration. They 

 include the right of disposal in aU 

 its forma. The Law of Property 

 Act (q.v.), 1922, made changes 



Prophecy (Gr. proph&eia). 

 Term generally used in English to 

 denote " prediction", or the power 

 to foretell the future. This inter- 

 pretation, however, lays stress upon 

 what was only an insignificant part 

 of the work of the prophet. There 

 are two words for prophet in 

 Hebrew ndbi and roth and 

 neither of them implies the power 

 of prediction ; the former mean- 

 ing " he who announces," and 

 the latter " the seer." In classical 

 Greek, too, the term " prophet " 

 signifies " the interpreter " rather 

 than " the foreteller." Originally, 

 therefore, prophecy signified the 

 act of interpreting the will of God 

 to men and that was the supreme 

 function of the prophets of the O.T. 



" It is of the very essence of pro- 

 phecy," says Canon Driver, " to 

 address itself to the needs of the 

 prophet's own age ; it was the pro- 

 phet's office to preach to his own 

 contemporaries, to announce to 

 them the judgements or the conso- 

 lations which arose out of the cir- 

 cumstances of his own time." It is 



