PROTECTIVE COLOURING 



PROTESTANT 



Protective Colouring. Bio- 

 logical term for natural colour 

 schemes wJiich enable animals 

 liable to destruction by their 

 enemies to escape observation 

 when at rest, their colours harmon- 

 ising with those of their natural 

 surroundings. In consequence they 

 merge into the environment and are 

 invisible at a short distance. 

 Several striking examples were 

 known to the earlier naturalists 

 and hunters, but they were regard- 

 ed as exceptional. Among these 

 were the striping of the tiger 

 harmonising with the grasses of the 

 jungle, the spotting of the leopards 

 reproducing the shadows of leaves 

 on 'sun-lighted ground, and the 

 assimilative colouring of the upper 

 parts of ground birds such as 

 woodcock and partridge, which 

 rendered them invisible to birds of 

 prey hovering far above. 



It is now known that, so far from 

 these examples being exceptional, 

 it is rather the rule for beasts, birds, 

 reptiles, Crustacea, insects, etc., 

 whose mode of life requires it, to 

 be protected in this manner. 

 Where the animal is inedible or has 

 some offensive quality, as in the 

 case of the skunk (q.v. ), the color- 

 ation is of a character to render 

 the animal highly conspicuous. As 

 one general example, animals that 

 feed on open sandy plains, such as 

 the lion, camel, antelope, kangaroo, 

 sand-grouse, and the lizards and 

 snakes of such regions are uni- 

 formly coloured of a sandy tint. 



The generally accepted explana- 

 tion is that these cryptic colours 

 and patterns, originally due to the 

 tendency to variation in all living 

 things, have been reached through 

 natural selection ; the individuals 

 who harmonise least with their 

 environment being the most likely 

 to fall a prey to their enemies 

 without leaving descendants, 

 whilst those that most nearly 

 resembled their surroundings 

 would probably transmit their 

 advantage to another generation. 

 In each succeeding generation the 

 same agencies would be at work, 

 so that ultimately a condition of 

 things is arrived at when it becomes 

 very difficult for the pursuer to 

 find his quarry. It is not pretended 

 that this protective coloration 

 gives absolute immunity from 

 attack to every individual ; it does 

 not, but it gives a chance to the 

 most fit, and helps in the evolution 

 of the aggressor. See Animal ; Bird ; 

 Coloration , Warning Colours ; and 

 col. plate to this article ; consult 

 also The Colours of Animals, E. B. 

 Poulton, 1890. 



Protector. In England a title 

 bestowed on those, usually royal 

 princes or leading noblemen, who 



acted as governors of the kingdom, 

 when the king was a minor or 

 otherwise incapacitated from ruling. 

 Thus the dukes of Bedford and 

 Gloucester were protectors during 

 the minority of Henry VI, the duke 

 of York was protector in 1455 

 during Henry's illness, and the 

 duke of Somerset was protector 

 during the minority of Edward VI. 

 Such protectors were appointed by 

 the privy council. Cromwell's title 

 of lord protector of the Common- 

 wealth was given him in 1653. See 

 Cromwell; Regent. 



Protectorate. Word used in 

 two distinct senses: (1) the au- 

 thority exercised by a protector or 

 quasi-dictator, with particular re- 

 ference in English history to the 

 regimes of Oliver and Richard 

 Cromwell ; (2) more generally, the 

 protectorship of the weak, especi- 

 ally of less advanced races by a 

 stronger race, and, hence, the ter- 

 ritory thus occupied. The term 

 was in frequent use during the lat- 

 ter half of the 19th century, when 

 large tracts of Africa and Asia 

 came under European influence. 

 In several cases a protectorate was 

 followed by definite annexation. 

 Since the Great War certain terri- 

 tories previously held by Germany 

 have been assigned as protector- 

 ates to be exercised under mandate 

 of the League of Nations. See 

 Colony ; Mandate. 



Protein OR PROTEID. Complex 

 organic compound containing car- 

 bon, hydrogen, oxygen, and nitro- 

 gen with a little sulphur. Proteins 

 form an important part of all 

 living organisms, and are the essen- 

 tial nitrogenous constituents of 

 food. They are classified into 

 (1) simple proteins, (2) conjugated 

 proteins, and (3) products of 

 protein hydrolysis. These include 

 the albumen of white of egg, the 

 globulin, fibrin, and albumen of 

 blood, the ossein of bone, the 

 gelatin and collagen of connective 

 tissue, the casein of milk, and the 

 creatin of meat. There are 50 

 proteins known to occur naturally 

 in plants and animals. These all 

 differ from one another in physical 

 and chemical properties. See 

 Albumen ; Gelatin ; Haemoglobin. 



Proterobase. In geology, name 

 given to a variety of dolerite, in 

 which hornblende largely replaces 

 augite. The term hornblende 

 diabase is sometimes used for this 

 type of rock, which is a weathered 

 form of dolerite (q.v.). 



Protesilaus. In Greek my- 

 thology, first of the Greek leaders 

 to be killed in the Trojan war. He 

 was slain, either by Aeneas or 

 Hector, as he leapt from the ship 

 to the shore. For the story of his 

 wife's devotion, see Laodamia. 



Protestant Alliance. Society 

 founded in 1849 " to maintain the 

 defence, against all the encroach- 

 ments of Popery, of the Scriptural 

 doctrines of the Reformation and 

 the principles of Civil and Religious 

 liberty, as the best security under 

 God for the temporal and spiritual 

 welfare of the British Empire." Its 

 methods are largely political and 

 parliamentary. It issues a monthly 

 organ, The Protestant Alliance 

 Magazine, and its offices are 

 433, Strand, London, W.C. 



Protestant Episcopal Church. 



Official and legal designation of the 

 episcopal Church in America which 

 is in communion with the see of 

 Canterbury. Soon after the first 

 colonisation of N. America from 

 England, chaplains and other 

 agents undertook the spiritual care 

 of the colonists, and Anglican 

 services were started about 1579. 

 Clergy were from time to time 

 sent out from England, and an 

 organization into parishes gradu- 

 ally came into existence. There 

 were no resident bishops. 



In the 18th century urgent 

 appeals were made to the bishops 

 in England to consecrate a bishop 

 for America. In 1783 Samuel 

 Seabury, who had worked as a 

 clergyman in New Brunswick and 

 New Jersey, was chosen by the 

 clergy of Connecticut to be their 

 first bishop, and was sent to 

 England for consecration. Political 

 complications and supposed legal 

 difficulties prevented the English 

 bishops from acting ; but on Nov. 

 14, 1784, Seabury was consecrated 

 bishop at Longacre, Aberdeen, by 

 Scottish bishops, with the know- 

 ledge and implicit consent of the 

 archbishop of Canterbury. In 1787 

 the archbishop consecrated Samuel 

 Provoost of New York and William 

 White of Pennsylvania, in Lambeth 

 Palace chapel. 



At the American General Con- 

 vention of 1789 the American 

 Episcopal Church was organized 

 as an independent religious denom- 

 ination. The four bishops united 

 in consecrating Dr. Claggett of 

 Maryland in 1792, and thus a 

 college of American bishops was 

 formed, deriving their succession 

 from combined English and Scot- 

 tish sources. The American church 

 was soon organized in dioceses, and 

 the Prayer Book of the Church of 

 England underwent certain revis- 

 ions for its use. 



The American Church has 68 

 dioceses, with 20 domestic and three 

 colonial and missionary jurisdic- 

 tions. It maintains 11 foreign 

 missionary districts. There are 

 nearly 6,000 clergy and about 

 4,500,000 adherents, of whom 

 about 1,030,000 are communicants. 



