r li i 
p R i 
P R I 
collars ; which pinching very strongly, yet 
equally, press the moistened paper into 
tiie strokes of the engraving, whence it ab- 
sorbs the ink 
PRISM, in geometry, an oblong solid, 
contained under mere than four planes, 
whose bases are equal, parallel, and alike si- 
tuated. See Geometry. 
Prism, in dioptrics. See Optics. 
PRISON, a gaol, or place of confinement. 
See Gaol. Lord Coke observes, that a 
prison is only a place of safe custody, salva 
custodia, not a place of punishment. Any 
place where a person is confined may be 
said to be a prison : and when a process is 
issued against one, he must, when arrested 
| thereon, either be committed to prison, or 
be bound in a recognizance with sureties, 
or else give bail, according to the nature of 
the case, to appear at a certain day in court, 
there to make answer to what 'is alleged 
against him. When a person is taken and 
sent to prison in a civil case, he may he re- 
leased by the plaintiff in the suit ; but if it 
is for treason or felony, lie may not regularly 
be discharged until lie is indicted of the fact 
and acquitted. 
The good policy of imprisonment for debt 
has been frequently called in question (pro- 
: bablv by those who were most in danger of 
suffering from it). We are of opinion, "how- 
i ever, that it is in the whole productive of 
salutary consequences in a state, and the 
terror of a gaol is is many cases an useful 
moral restraint. 1 he following paper, how- 
ever, set forth by the laudable society for 
the discharge and relief of persons imprison- 
ed for small debts, will excite various reflec- 
tions in different readers ; and without any 
comment we submit it as a curious docu- 
ment to the statesman, or political arith- 
metician, as throwing some light on the 
manners and character of the age. 
A summary view of the money annually 
I expended by the society for the discharge 
and relief of persons imprisoned for small 
debts, Craven-street, Strand, from the insti- 
tution in 1772, to the 31st of March, 1804. 
1772 No. of debtors dischar- 
to 
ged and relieved. 
Expended. 
£■ s. d. 
1774 
1772 for the sum of 4622 
17 
1 
1775 
966 
1724 
1 
% 
1776 
673 
1842 
13 
1777 
877 
1729 
19 
7 ' 
1778 
779 
1 764 
0 
1 f 
1779 
811 
1611 
15 
.3 
1780 
628 
1288 
17 
1 
1781 
321 
828 
15 
9 
1782 
389 
935 
3 
9 
1783 
547 
1121 
12 
0 
17-84 
535 
996 
12 
3 
1785 
463 
904 
9 
1 
1786 
339 
715 
8 
9 
1787 
343 
719 
9 
10 
1788 
710 
1 566 
4 
2i 
1789 
612 
1926 
3 
3 ! 
1790 
798 
2303 
9 
3 
1791 
666 
1777 
0 
6 
3792 
460 
1297 
14 
7 
1793 
56S 
1870 
1 
5 
1794 
540 
1844 
14 
9i 
1 
1795 
434 
1438 
6 
1796 
481 
1 756 
0 
5 
1797 
490 
1606 
15 
0 
1 798 
645 
2001 
13 
6 
1799 
578 
1553 
14 
5 
1800 
648 
2106 
16 
10 
1801 
1885 
2870 
4 
4. 
1802 
1125 
2607 
1 1 
1 
1803 
927 
2892 
14 
0 
1804- 
916 
2586 
2 
1 
20,906 debtors. 
r 69, 1 15 
per 
sons 
who had 12, 
546 wives 
) immediately 
be- 
and 35,699 children j neiitedfor.5478 1 1. 
\_3s. 5jd. 
Ihe average for the debts of the above 
20,905 debtors is 2l. 1 2 s 4 \d. each, and for 
each individual relieved 15v. Id. 
PRIS I IS, or saw-fish, a genus of fishes of 
the order chondropterigii : the generic 
character is, snout long, flat, spinous down 
the edges, spiracles lateral ; body oblong, 
roundish, covered with a rough, coriaceous 
skin ; mouth beneath ; nostrils before the 
mouth, half-covered' with a membranaceous 
llap ; behind the eyes two oval orifices ; 
ventral fins approximate. There are five 
species : 
1. Pristis antiquorum. The head is rather 
flat at top ; the eyes large, with yellow i rides ; 
behind each is a hole, which some have sup- 
posed may lead to an organ of hearing. The 
mouth is well furnished with teeth, but they 
are blunt, serving rather to bruise its prey 
than to divide it by cutting. Before the 
mouth are two foramina, supposed to be the 
nostrils. The rostrum, beak, or snout, is in 
general about one-third of the total length 
of the fish, and contains in some eighteen, 
in others twenty -three or twenty -four, 
spines on each side ; these are very stout, 
much thicker at the back part, and channel- 
led, inclining to an edge forwards. The 
fins are seven in number, viz. two dorsal, 
placed at some distance from each other ; 
two pectoral, taking rise just behind the 
breathing-holes, which are five in number; 
two ventral, situated almost underneath the 
first dorsal ; and lastly, the caudal, occupy- 
ing the tail both above and beneath, but 
longest on the upper part. The general co- 
lour of the body is a dull grey, or brownish, 
growing paler as it approaches the belly, 
where, it is nearly white. 2. Pectinatus, 
which, with the former species, grows to the 
largest size of any that have yet come under 
the inspection of the naturalist, some spe- 
cimens measuring 15 feet in length. The 
Dectinatus differs from the pristis ■antiquo- 
pruni, in having the snout more narrow in 
proportion at the base, and the whole of it 
more slender in all its p'arts ; whereas the 
first is very broad at the base, and tapers 
considerably from thence to the point. The 
spines on each side are longer and more 
slender, and vary from twenty-five to thirty- 
four in the different specimens: we have 
indeed been informed of one which contained 
no less than thirty-six spines on each side of 
the snout ; but we must confess that we have 
never been fortunate enough to have seen 
such a specimen. 3. Cuspidatus, of which 
we have only seen two specimens, the one 
about a foot and a half in length, and 
the other more than two feet and a half. 
In both of these w 7 ere twenty-eight spines 
on each side ; but the distinguishing feature 
is in the spines themselves being particular- 
ly fiat and broad, and shaped at the point 
more like the lancet used by surgeons in 
bleeding, than any other figure. We believe 
that no other author has hitherto taken no- 
tice of this species. 4. Microdou, of which 
3 R 2 
499 
the total length is twenty-eight inches, the 
snout occupying ten ; from the base of this 
to that of the pectoral fins four inches ; be- 
tween the pectoral and ventral fins six. I he 
two dor-al tins occupy nearly the same pro- 
portions in respect to each other ; but the 
hinder one is the smallest, and all of them are 
greatly hollowed out at the back part, much 
more so than in the two first species. The 
snout differs from that of every other, in se- 
veral particulars: it is longer in proportion, 
being more than one-tiiird of the whole fish. 
The spines do not stand out from the sides 
more than a quarter of an inch* and from 
this circumstance seem far less capable of 
doing injury than any other species yet 
known. 5. Cirratus, of which we have 
only met with one specimen, which was 
brought from Port Jackson in New Hol- 
land. It is a male, and the total length 
about 40 inches ; the snout, from the tip 
of it to the eye, eleven : the spines widely 
different from any of the others ; they are 
indeed placed, as usual, on the edge, but 
are continued on each side even beyond 
the eyes. The longer ones are slender, 
sharp, somewhat bent, and about twenty- 
in number ; and between these are others 
not half the length of the primal ones, 
between some three or four, between others 
as far as six ; and in general the middle one 
of these smaller series is the longest : beside 
these a series of minute ones may be per- 
ceived beneath, at the very edge* In the 
snout likewise another singularity occurs i~ 
about the middle of it, on each side, near the 
edge, arises a ilexible, ligamentous cord, about 
three inches and a half in length, appearing 
not unlike the beards at the mouth of some 
of the gadus or cod genus, and no doubt as 
pliant in the recent state. The colour of 
the fish is a pale brown ; the breathing aper- 
tures four in number ; the mouth furnished 
with live rows of minute, but very sharp teeth. 
PRIVET, in botany. See Ligustrum. 
PRIVILEGE, in law, some peculiar be- 
nefit granted to certain persons or places, 
contrary to the usual course of the law-. 
Privileges are said to be personal or real. 
Personal privileges are such as are extended 
to peers, ambassadors, members of parlia- 
ment and of the convocation, and their me- 
nial servants, &c. A real privilege is that 
granted to some particular place; as th* 
king’s palace, the courts at Westminster, the 
universities, &c. 
PRIVY, in lawq denotes one who is par- 
taker, or has an interest, in an affair. 
Privy Council, is the principal council 
belonging to the king, and is generally called 
by way of eminence the council. 
Privy counsellors are made by the king’s 
nomination without either patent or grant ; 
and on taking the necessary oaths, they be- 
come immediately privy counsellors during 
the life of the king that chooses them, but 
subject to removal at his discretion. N® 
inconvenience now arises from the exten- 
sion of the number of the privy council, as 
those only attend who are especially sum- 
moned for that particular occasion. 
Privy seal, is a seal that the king uses t® 
such grants, or other things, as pass the great 
seal. 
PRIZE, or Prise, in maritime affairs, a 
vessel taken at sea from the enemies of a 
state, or from pirates ; and that either by a 
