P R I 



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PRO 



PIU'STIS. The fossil saw-fish. 



PROBOSCI'DIA. A family of quadru- 

 peds belonging to the order Pachy- 

 derm ata, or, according to more 

 recent classification, the sixth order 

 of the sub-class Placentalia, class 

 Mammalia. The proboscidians have 

 five toes to each, foot ; they possess 

 no canine teeth, but two tusks, 

 which project from the mouth, and 

 frequently attain to an immense 

 size. The nostrils are continued 

 out into a proboscis, which is ex- 

 ceedingly flexible, possesses great 

 sensitiveness, and terminates in a 

 finger-like appendage. The pro- 

 boscis may be considered as the 

 hand of the elephant. 



PBOBO'SCTS. (jrpopoGia<$, Gr. from 

 /3o5/cw, to feed, and Trpo, before.) 

 A lengthened tube, snout, or trunk 

 belonging to certain animals. The 

 proboscis of the elephant is of 

 great length, serving the purposes 

 of a hand, conveying to the mouth 

 anything it desires to swallow. It 

 is an instrument of most delicate 

 touch, of scent, and breathing, and 

 of prehension as adroit as that of a 

 hand. In insects, when the in- 

 strument for suction extends for 

 some length from the mouth, it is 

 called a proboscis ; such is the ap- 

 paratus of the butterfly, the moth, 

 the gnat, the house-fly, &c. 



PEODTJ'CTA. j An extinct genus of 



PEODTJ'CTTJS. j equilateral inequivalve, 

 striated bivalves. The name Pro- 

 ducta has been, by some, objected 

 to, and that of Leptsena has been 

 assigned by Dalman. The genus 

 Producta has not hitherto been 

 found in any deposit more recent 

 than the magnesian limestone or 

 zechstein. 



PEOTE'OLITE. (from irpunews and \iOos, 

 Gr.) The name assigned by Dr. 

 Boase to a genus of schistose rocks. 

 He says, " in many parts of Corn- 

 wall, the schistose rocks adjoining 

 the granite, have a basis more 

 granular than that of cornubianite j 



are much softer, and more prone to 

 disintegrate : following, therefore, 

 the plan adopted in the instance of 

 eurite and felsparite, these may be 

 referred to a distinct genus which, 

 on account of the various appear- 

 ances it assumes, may be called 

 proteolite. It may be divided into 

 two families; mica being the ac- 

 cessory mineral in the one ; shorl 

 in the other. Proteolite, like cor- 

 nubianite, consists of a basis of 

 compact felspar with mica or shorl, 

 but its ingredients are differently 

 aggregated, and its felspathic basis 

 is softer, granular, and more prone 

 to disintegration." 



PEO'TEUS. (w/oorevs, Gr. proteus, Lat.) 

 The name given to a genus of the 

 order Batrachia. One species only 

 has been hitherto discovered, name- 

 ly, the Proteus Anguinus. A sub- 

 terranean saurian, which never 

 makes its appearance on the earth's 

 surface, but is always concealed at 

 a considerable depth below it, being 

 found in subterraneous lakes and 

 caves two or three hundred feet 

 below the surface of the ground. 

 The following particulars are ex- 

 tracted from Sir H. Davy's Conso- 

 lations in Travel : " Independent- 

 ly of the natural beauties found in 

 Illyria, and the various sources of 

 amusement which a traveller, fond 

 of natural history, may find in this 

 region, it has a peculiar object of 

 interest in the extraordinary ani- 

 mals which are found in the bottom 

 of its subterraneous cavities, namely 

 the Proteus anguinus, a far greater 

 wonder of nature than any of those 

 which the Baron Yalvasor detailed 

 to the Royal Society a century and 

 a half ago, as belonging to Carniola. 

 At first view, you might suppose 

 this animal to be a lizard, but it 

 has the motions of a fish. Its head, 

 and the lower parts of its body, 

 and its tail, bear a strong resem- 

 blance to those of the eel ; but it 

 has no fins ; and its curious bron- 



