POX 



584 



PR A 



POCPART'S LIGAMENT. An abdominous 

 muscle. 



POURPRE'STRE, Pr. pour, andpm, taken. 

 In law, a wrongful inclosing or en- 

 croaching on another's property, high- 

 way, &c. 



I'OW'DER, Fr. poudre, contracted from 

 pouldre. A general name for all dry sub- 

 stances comminuted or triturated to fine 

 particles, but the term is applied techni- 

 cally to substances reduced to fine par- 

 ticles for medicinal purposes. We have 

 also gunpowder (q. v.), and hair-powder, 

 which is pulverized starch. 



POW'DERINGS. Devices of minor char- 

 acter, to fill up vacant spaces in carved 

 works, &c. 



POW'ER. 1. In a philosophical sense, is 

 the faculty of doing or performing any- 

 thing : ability or strength. The exertion 

 of power proceeds from the will, and, in 

 strictness, no being destitute of will or 

 intelligence, can exert power. In man 

 power is active or speculative : active power 

 is that which moves the body ; speculative 

 powtr is that by which we see and judge, 

 or by which we think. Power has also 

 been distinguished into active andpas*re: 

 the power of doing or moving, and the 

 power of receiving impressions and of suf- 

 fering. 2. In mechanics, that which 



produces motion or force, or which may 

 be applied to produce it. Hence the term 

 mechanical powers (q. v.). The term also 

 comprehends momentum, as the power of 

 the wind, and/orce and the power of steam. 

 "We also call the aggregate capabilities of 

 a machine its power, as a steam-engine of 

 200 horse-power (this power perhaps 

 made up of two others, the power of steam 



and the power of the atmosphere). 



3. In arithmetic and algebra, that which 

 arises by the successive multiplication 

 of any quantity into itself; the degree of 

 the power being always denominated by 

 the number of equal factors that are i 

 ployed. See INVOLUTION and EXPONENT. 

 -4. In law, the authority which one 

 man gives to another to act for him, and 

 it is sometimes a reservation which a 

 person makes, in a conveyance, for him 

 self to do some acts, as to make leases and 

 the like. The deed or instrument by 

 which authority is conveyed is termed a 



power of attorney. 5. In politics, &C. 



rule, sway, authority, actual government 

 The poicers of government, are legislative, 

 executive, judicial, and ministerial. The 

 ecclesiastical and military powers are sub- 

 ject to the civil, and that of the sovereign 

 is limited by law. 



POW'ER-LOOM. A loom worked by steam 

 or water. 



POWI/DRON. In heraldry, that part of 

 the armour which covers the shoulders. 



Pox Sax. pocce, a pustule. Strictly. 

 eruptions of any kind, but restricted to 



small pox, chicken pox, the vacdne, and 

 ;he venereal diseases. When used with- 

 )ut any epithet, pox signifies the luet 

 renerea. 



POY'NING'S LAW. An act of parliament, 

 made under Henry VII., whereby the law 

 of England was introduced into Ireland, 

 under the lieutenantahip of Sir Edward 

 Poyning. 



POZZUOL'ANA. Volcanic ashes brought 

 'rom Pozzuoli, a town in the bay of 

 l^s, and used to mix with lime in 

 making Roman cement. 



PRACTICE. In arithmetic, a rule by 

 which the operations of the general rules 

 are abridged in use. 



PR^COG'NITA (before known). Things 

 previously known in order to understand 

 something else. The knowledge of the 

 structure of the human body is one of the 

 prtscoynita of the medical skill. 



PR.ZCOR'DIA, from pr<e, before, and cor, 

 the heart. The forepart of the region of 

 the thorax. 



PR^EFEC'TUHE. In antiquity, an appel- 



tion given to certain towns iu Italy 

 whose inhabitants had the name of Ro- 

 man Citizens, but were governed by pre- 

 fects sent from Home. 



PRSMU'NIRE. A Latin corruption of 

 prtsmonere, to pre-admonish. 1. A writ, or 

 the offence for which it is granted, llie 

 offence consists in introducing a foreign 

 authority into England, i.e., introducing 

 and maintaining the papal power, cre- 

 ating imperium in imperio, and yielding 

 that obedience to the mandates of the 

 pope which constitutionally belongs to 

 the sovereign. Both the offence and the 

 writ are so denominated, from the words 

 used in the writ prtemunire facias Cause 

 A. B. to be forewarned to appear before 

 us, to answer to the contempt wherewith 

 he stands charged. 2. The penalty in- 

 curred by infringing a statute. 



PR^ENO'MEN, from prce, before, and 

 nomen, a name. The name among the 

 Romans like our Christian name, serving 

 to distinguish brothers, &c. from each 

 other, as Caius, Julius, &c. 



PR.STEX'TA. A long white robe, with 

 a purple border, worn by the children of 

 the higher classes of ancient Rome. 



PRS:'TOR. A chief magistrate among 

 the Romans, instituted for the adminis- 

 tration of justice in the absence of the 

 consuls engaged in war, &c. The hall or 

 court where the praetor administered 

 justice was called the preetorium. 



PHAGMAT'IC SANCTION. In civil law, A 

 rescript or answer of the sovereign, de- 

 livered by advice of his council or college, 

 order, or body of people, who consult 

 him in relation to the affairs of the com- 

 munity. The like answer given to a 

 particular person is called simply a re- 

 script. The term pragmatic is 



