PRO 



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PRO 



PROSCE'NIUM. TifOffxw'Of- The place 

 or stage before the scene in the ancient 

 theatres, where the pulpilum stood, into 

 which the actors came from behind the 

 scenes to perform. 



PROSCRIPTION, proscriptio, among the 

 Romans, was the public offer of a reward 

 for the head of a political enemy. The 

 names of the proscripti, or persons pro- 

 scribed, which was posted up in tablets at 

 the forum. 



PROS'ENCHTMA, jrgcjty^ta, I pour still 

 more upon. Cellular tissue, the cellules 

 of which taper to each end. 



PROSE.N'NEAHE'DRAL, Gr. rre? , imut, and 

 . In crystalography , having nine faces 

 on two adjacent parts of the crystal. 



PROS'ODI. Ugoo-i$iet, from x^;, and 

 udr,, an ode. That part of grammar which 

 treats of the quantity of syllables, of ac- 

 cent, and the laws of versification. 



PRO'SOPOPT, 1 Personification : x^ttr- 



PROSOPOPE'IA. J w , ro>i a person, and 

 wtu, to feign. A rhetorical figure, in 

 which things are spoken of as animate 

 beings, or where an absent person is in- 

 troduced as speaking. It is, therefore, 

 more extensive than personification, 

 which it, however, includes. 



PROS'TATE, Lat. prostatus, standing out ; 

 jutting. Applied chiefly to a very large, 

 heart-like gland, situated between the 

 neck of the urinary bladder and the bul- 

 bous part of the urethra. 



PROS'THESIS, irqog, and riBr,ut, I place. 

 In grammar, one or more letters prefixed 

 to a word. See METAPLASM. 



PROS'TRATE, Lat. prostratws, lying flat 

 upon the ground. Applied in botany to 

 stems spreading horizontally over the 

 ground. 



PRO'STYLE, from trgo, before, and irru- 

 lo{, a column. A temple or other build- 

 ing, -with columns only in the front. 

 When there is also a portico at the opposite 

 front, the temple is an amphiprostyle. 



PROSYL'LOGISM. In logic, when two or 

 more syllogisms are so connected that the 

 conclusion of the former is the major or 

 minor of the following. 



PROT. A prefix in chemical terms for 

 proto (q.v.). 



PRO TAN'TO (Latin). For so much. 



PROT'ASIS. ll^o-rcuri;. 1. A proposition. 



2. In the ancient drama, the first part 



of a play, explaining the argument of the 

 piece. 



PROTEST', from pro and tester, to affirm. 

 I. To protest a bill, is for a notary public, 

 at the request of the payee, to make a 

 formal declaration, under hand and seal, 

 against the drawer of the bill, on account 

 of non-acceptance or non-payment, for 

 exchange, cost, commissions, damages 

 and interat. of which act the iudorser 



must be notified within suta time as the 

 law prescribes. The instrument contain 

 ing such declaration is termed a protest. 



2. A solemn declaration of opinion, 



commonly against some act; appropri- 

 ately a formal and solemn declaration in 

 writing, of dissent from the proceedings 

 of a legislative body. 3. A writing at- 

 tested by a justice of the peace or consul, 

 drawn by the master of a vessel, stating 

 the severity of the voyage by which the 

 shjp has suffered, and showing that tho 

 damage sustained was not owing to the 

 neglect or misconduct of the master. 



PRO'TESTANTS. The adherents of Lu- 

 ther at the Reformation, in 1529, who 

 protested, or made a solemn declaration of 

 dissent from a decree of the Emperor 

 Charles V. and the diet of Spires, and 

 appealed to a general Council. The same 

 name was subsequently given to the fol- 

 lowers of Calvin, and in present usage it 

 includes all belonging to the reformed 

 churches. 



PROTESTA'TIOV. In law, a declaration 

 in pleading, by which the party inter- 

 poses an oblique allegation or denial of 

 some fact, protesting that it does or does 

 not exist. 



PRO'TECS. IJ^vriv^. 1. A marine deity, 

 the son of Oceanus and Tethys, whose 

 distinguishing characteristic was the 



faculty of assuming different shapes. 



2. The generic name of a Batrachian 

 reptile, about 12 inches long, the thickness 

 of the finger, with a vertically compressed 

 tail, and four small legs. Also the name 

 of a genus of infusoria, remarkable for 

 the mutability of their forms, and sudden 

 transformations. 



PROTHON'OTART, low Lat. protonofarins, 

 from treuTo;, chief, and notaries, a notary. 



1 . Anciently , the title of the chief notaries 

 of the emperors of Constantinople. Hence, 



2. In England, an officer in the Court of 

 Queen's Bench and Common Pleas. The 

 prothonotary of the Queen's Bench records 

 all civil actions; in the Common Pleas 

 the prothonotaries enrol all declarations, 

 pleadings, judgments, &c., make out ju- 

 dicial writs and exemplifications of re- 

 cords, &c. 3. The apostolic^ prothono- 

 taries are 12 persons in the Court of Rome, 

 constituting a college, who receive tlu> 

 last wills of cardinals, and make informa- 

 tions and proceedings necessary for the 

 canonization of saints, &c. 



PRO'THTRCM, JTJO and Oueet- In architec 

 ture, a porch before the outer door of a 

 house. 



PRO'TO, from -T^TOS, first. A prefix, 

 expressing relation in priority. Also, in 

 chemistry, when more than one oxide of a 

 substance is known, the first has the pre- 

 fix prot for proto, as protoxide of nitrogen. 

 See GXIDS. 



