constantly moving from east to west, or from Aries towards Pisces, &c., by means of which the equinoctial points are carried farther and farther back among the preceding signs of stars, at the rate of about 501" each year, which retrograde motion is call the precession, recession or retrocession of the equinoxes. Hence, as the stars remain immovable, and the equinoxes go backward, the stars will seem to move more and more eastward with respect to them; for which reason the longitudes of all the stars, being reckoned from the first point of Aries, or the vernal equinox, are continually increasing. From this cause it is that the constellations seem all to have changed the places assigned to them by the ancient astronomers. In the time of Hipparchus and the oldest astronomers, the equinoctial points were fixed to the first stars of Aries and Libra; but the signs do not now answer to the same points; and the stars, which were then in conjunction with the sun when he was in the equinox, are now a whole sign, or 30 degrees, to the eastward of it; so the first star of Aries is now in the portion of the ecliptic called Taurus; and the stars of Taurus are now in Gemini, and those of Gemini in Cancer, and so on. Hence, likewise, the stars which rose or set at any particular season of the year in the times of Eudoxus, Hesiod, Virgil, Pliny, &c., by no means answer, at this time, their descriptions. This seeming change of place in the stars was first observed by Hipparchus of Rhodes, who, 128 years B. C., found that the longitudes of the stars in his time were greater than they had been before observed by Timochares, and than they were in the sphere of Eudoxus, who wrote 380 years B. C. Ptolemy also perceived the gradual change in the longitudes of the stars; but he stated the quantity at too little, making it but 1° in 100 years, which is at the rate of only 36" per year. Y-hang, a Chinese, in the year 721, stated the quantity of this change at 1° in 83 years, which is at the rate of 434" per year. Other more modern astronomers have made this precession still more, but with some small differences from each other; and it is now usually taken at 50 per year. All these rates are deduced from a comparison of the longitude of certain stars, as observed by more ancient astronomers, with the later observations of the same stars, namely, by subtracting the former from the latter, and dividing the remainder by the number of years in the interval between the dates of the observations: thus, by a medium of a

great number of comparisons, the quantity of the annual change has been fixed at 501", according to which rate it will require 25,791 years for the equinoxes to make their revolutions westward quite around the circle, and return to the same point again. The explanation of the physical cause of this slow change in the position of the equinoxes, or the intersections of the equinoctial with the ecliptic, is one of the most difficult problems of physical astronomy, which even Newton attempted in vain to solve in a perfectly satisfactory manner. Later mathematicians, however, as D'Alembert, Euler, Simpson, Laplace, have succeeded in it. Our limits will only allow us to say, in general, that this phenomenon is owing to the spheroidal figure of the earth, which itself arises from the earth's rotation on its axis; for, as more matter has thus been accumulated all round the equatorial parts than any where else on the earth, the sun and moon, when on either side of the equator, by attracting this redundant matter, bring the equator sooner under them, in every return towards it, than if there was no such accumulation. This subject is treated clearly and fully in the 22d book of Lalande's Astronomy (3d ed., Paris, 1792); see, also, D'Alembert's Récherches sur la Précession des Équinoxes (Paris, 1749, 4to.); and Ferguson's Astronomy (Brewster's edition, Edinburgh, 1821). PRECIOUS STONES. (See Gems.) PRECIPITATION. (See Cohesion.) PREDESTINATION. (See Grace, and

Calvin.)

PREFECTURES. Among the probleme of the modern policy of Europe, there is, perhaps, none more important than the combination which should take place in the administration of the affairs of towns and districts, between the general government and the local authorities. In the countries of Germany, the care of certain public matters, which formerly belonged to the communities in their general assemblies, under the superintendence of their bailiffs, counts and princes, was, at an early period, transferred to the sovereign and to the stewards of the princes; and only here and there have any traces been preserved of an older constitution, which certainly once existed in all the Germanic kingdoms, but has nowhere remained to a considerable extent except in England. For all that relates to the preservation of public order and peace, the care of roads, and other public institutions, schools, poor rates, prisons, &c., the parliament is there the supreme authority,

which must determine the general principles on which they are conducted, and must authorize the particular establishments that may be proposed. In the counties, the sheriff, as the king's officer, is only the guardian and administrator of the public authority, the executioner of the royal commands and judicial sentences, with power to call out the posse comitatus. (q. v.) The administration, on the contrary, is vested chiefly in the justices of the peace, who may be considered as a deputation of the principal persons of each county, and it is controlled by the grand jury, which assembles at each court of assizes. (See Assizes.) Connected with this independence of the counties is the right of the people to assemble in order to express their views, wishes and grievances. (See Petition.) This is secured and completed by the liberty of the press. In the states of the continent, the separate districts have ceased to govern themselves, and have come under the control of officers appointed by the general government; and in most of the German countries, colleges of counsellors have become common since the sixteenth century. In France, a similar course of things has taken place; in some of the provinces, indeed, the constitution of the estates was retained, and in others local officers (élus) were established to superintend the taxation; but the estates in the pays d'états were by degrees much restricted, and the élus reduced to mere royal officers. Most of the subjects of country police were transferred to the superior bailiwics, royal officers and parliament; but, as the conseils du roi were more and more developed, not only did it become the common course of things to prefer petitions to them, but maîtres des requêtes were annually sent through the provinces to examine the administration of them in all its branches, including military, judiciary, financial and police affairs. Henry II established them, in 1551, as perpetual overseers in all the provinces, and, under Louis XIII, in 1635, they received the name of intendants. Their official powers were more and more enlarged. They were bound to unconditional obedience to the ministers, and could be recalled at any time. To their functions belonged the proportional assessment of taxes, the levying of soldiers, and their removal, the procuring of supplies for the army and the royal magazines, the keeping of roads, bridges and public edifices in repair, the care of the common concerns of the districts, the regulation of

the trade in corn from one province to another, &c. It was often suggested to introduce, instead of these men, invested with such arbitrary powers, a collegial administration, a part of whose members, at least, should be chosen by the provinces themselves. But this was never done; and thus the office of intendants remained till the revolution, and the abuses of their authority contributed not a little to produce this catastrophe. It was therefore one of the first doings of the national convention to abolish these offices, and, instead of them, to erect in each department a general administration, whose members were chosen by the citizens. A directory of the department was permanent: a council, on the other hand, was to meet every year, to fix the expenditures of the department, to audit accounts, and to exercise a degree of legislative power over the affairs of the department. A similar regulation was introduced in the districts and single towns. But, by this organization, the power of the government was much weakened, and the authorities of the departments often came forward in open opposition to the ministry. It was, therefore, one of the first operations of Napoleon, who cannot be denied to have possessed an extraordinary sagacity in all that pertains to the mechanism of government, to restore the intendants, not, however, under this odious name, but under the appellation of prefects. This was accomplished by the law of Feb. 17, 1800 (28 Pluv., year VIII), by which there was established for each department a prefect (to be appointed and dismissed at pleasure by the first consul), a council of the prefecture, consisting of 3-5 members, and a general council of the department. The last, also, appointed by the first consul, was to assemble once a year to distribute the quota of the departmental taxes among the districts (arrondissemens,or under-prefectures), to fix the expenses of the department, to decide on remonstrances respecting excessive taxation, and to audit the accounts of the prefects respecting the departmental treasury. But it seems that these conseils généraux de département, as well as the conseils d'arrondissement, were tacitly sufered to fall into disuse. The prefects are intrusted with the whole organization and management of the police establishments; but the punishment of offences against the police regulations belongs to particular courts not under their control. Within this sphere of action, the prefects are unchecked: the sub-prefects, who stand at the head of the districts, are en

tirely subject to their commands; and the authorities of the communities, as well as the justices of the peace, can set no limits to their activity. The courts have no cognizance of any matter which has already been decided by an act of prefecture (arrété of the prefects, or council of the prefecture), even though the officers may have exceeded their powers, until that act has been avoided by the competent authorities. By means of the prefects, the ministry can exert a great influence, not merely on public, but also on private affairs. Under Napoleon, the prefects had to make reports of the rich heiresses of their departments, in order to afford an opportunity to the favorites of government to address them. Legraverend (Des Lacunes de la Législation Française) has disclosed a number of abuses, by which the prefects invaded the private property and domestic relations of the citizens. How the administration of penal justice, the elections, &c., were managed by them according to the purposes of the ministers, is notorious. The power of the prefects, however, ceases, at least by law, as soon as a legal contest arises respecting a subject of administration; for he must refer such cases to the court appointed for the purpose, the council of the prefectures, of which he is the president, but in which he has only a casting vote. Under the cognizance of this court fall all disputes respecting the taxation of particular individuals, respecting contracts for supplies, engagements with the state for building, the indemnification of those who have had to give up any thing to the public, or have been injured by the contractors for public buildings, together with injuries sustained in war, contests respecting any of the public domains, &c. The appeals against its decisions (arrêtés) lie to the council of state. Against the decision of the ministers, also, in contested matters of administration, complaints must be submitted to the council of state; but in matters not disputed, memorials alone against the prefects can be laid before the ministers, and complaints against the ministers must be addressed immediately to the king. The nature and extent of the power of the prefectures, and the destruction of freedom and independence in the administration of the townships, all parties in France agree in censuring. But how arbitrary power and partiality may be banished from the administration of the prefects, so as not to deprive the government of its requisite energy, and in what way communities may be reinvested with self-gov

ernment, are questions respecting which the greatest diversity of opinion prevails.

PREGNANCY; the state of a female who is with child. Pregnancy begins at the moment of conception, and ceases with that of birth. During pregnancy, the vital activity, especially of the womb, which probably receives, a few days after conception, the fecundated vesicle, increases. The periodical discharge of blood ceases, but the vessels of the womb become enlarged, more charged with blood, longer and straighter. Its cellular substance becomes softer, and more spongy, the sides thicker, the cavity wider. It loses the pear shape, which it has when not impregnated, and becomes more globular. It sinks during the two first months of pregnancy lower into the pelvis, but afterwards rises, and becomes larger, until, in the eighth month, the bottom of it can be felt externally in the region of the stomach. In the ninth month, it sinks again somewhat. In these changes of the womb, the embryo (q. v.) developes itself, until it has reached, in the fortieth week, a sufficient degree of maturity to be able to live separate from the mother, when the birth takes place, and pregnancy is at an end. But the vital activity is increased in the state of pregnancy not only in the womb, but in the whole body, with healthy and vigorous women. Pregnant women are bolder, more independent, more prising, stronger than before, and retain these qualities when they are mothers. They are more rarely affected by contagious diseases; consumption is checked during pregnancy, but makes the more rapid progress after its completion. Hysteric women feel often uncommonly well during this period; the gouty are freed from their attacks; some become uncommonly fat. On the other hand, this state is, with many, particularly with feeble, sickly, delicate, too young or too old women, often accompanied by a great many complaints, which depend upon the altered state of the systems of the vessels and nerves. The stomach particularly often suffers; hence nausea, vomiting, a morbid loathing of, or craving for, particular dishes, which were till then indifferent. Pregnant women often suffer, also, by wandering pains, particularly in the teeth, and by coughing. Much inclination exists in the body to inflammation and a heated state of the blood; the veins of the feet and the posteriors are swelled. The mechanical pressure of the womb, thus changed in situation and form, not unfrequently causes irregularities in the dis

enter

from whose revenues they were supported, but subsequently at a distance from them, to avoid the dangers of intercommunication. The abbot of the original monastery Prémontré, near Coucy, was general, and, with three other abbots, formed the great council of the fathers of the order. The order was introduced into England in 1146, and its members were there regularly known as the White Canons. Before the reformation, they had 2000 monasteries, among which were 500 nunneries, mostly in Germany, the Netherlands, France, England, and the north of Europe; but the reformation diminished this number, by more than one half, in the sixteenth century. The monasteries in Spain attempted to revive their discipline in 1573, by uniting in a strict observance of their rules; but they remained in communion with those of the common observance. In 1630, this communion of all the monasteries, of both kinds, was confirmed by new statutes. In the eighteenth century, the order had no houses in Italy; in France, it had fortytwo monasteries; the nunneries had all disappeared. It now consists of a few houses in Spain, Poland and the Austrian states, especially in Bohemia, where it has at Prague one of its handsomest and richest monasteries.

PREPOSITION (from præpositus, placed before); a part of speech, which is used to show the relation of one object to another, and derives its name from its being usually placed before the word which expresses the object of the relation. In some languages, this relation is often expressed by changes of the termination (cases), without the use of a preposi

tion.

PREROGATIVE COURT. (See Court, division Ecclesiastical Courts.)

PREROGATIVES OF THE KING OF ENGLAND. (See Great Britain.)

PRESBURG (Posonium; in Hungarian, Posony; in Sclavonic, Pressburek); a city of Hungary, capital of a palatinate of the same name, on the left bank of the Danube, which here divides into several branches, and is crossed by a flying bridge; lat. 48° 8 N.; lon. 17° 6' E. It is built on a hill overlooking a wide plain; the walls, which formerly separated it from the suburbs, have been demolished; the streets are narrow, steep, and only in part paved. The handsomest streets and squares are in the suburbs. The cathedral dedicated to St. Martin is a large building in the Gothic style; in the chapel of St. John, belonging to it, the coronation of the

kings of Hungary formerly took place. The castle, which served as a barrack, was burnt down at the beginning of the present century, but its walls are standing. Presburg contains seven monasteries, fourteen churches (of which twelve are Catholie), one synagogue, several hospitals, and some literary institutions. Population 32,026, of which 25,000 are Catholics, 5000 Lutherans, and 2000 Jews. The transit trade is considerable, and there are some manufactures. Presburg was the capital of Hungary until Joseph II made Buda the capital. The peace of Presburg (concluded Dec. 16, 1805, between Francis, emperor of Germany, and Napoleon), was the immediate consequence of the battle of Austerlitz. (See Austria, and Austerlitz.) The German emperor ceded the part of the territory of Venice acquired by the peace of Luneville (q. v.) to the kingdom of Italy; acknowledged the regal diguity and sovereignty of the electors of Bavaria and Würtemberg, and the sovereignty of the elector of Baden; ceded Tyrol, Vorarlberg, and some districts, to Bavaria; the greater part of the Brisgau, with Constance, to Baden; and the towns on the Danube, and some other portions of the Suabian possessions of Austria, to Würtemberg. For these cessions, Austria received some indemnification. (See Confederation of the Rhine; and consult Schöll's Histoire des Traités de Paix, 7th vol.)

PRESBYTERIANS (from the Scripture term noɛoßurepos, elder); those Christians who maintain that there is no order in the church superior to that of presbyters or elders, affirming the terms ẞurtos (elder) and nonos (bishop) to be of precisely the same import. The Presbyterians believe that the authority of their ministers to preach the gospel, and to administer the Sacraments of baptism and the Lord's supper, is derived from the Holy Ghost by the imposition of the hands of the presbytery (assembly of presbyters); and accordingly they oppose the scheme of the Independent or Congregational churches, with the same argument which the Episcopalians use, while they differ from these latter in not admitting any inequality of rank among the ministers of the church. The established church of Scotland is Presbyterian; this mode of ecclesiastical government having been introduced thither from Geneva, by John Knox, the celebrated Scotch reformer. (See Knox, and Scotland.) The doctrines of the church are Calvinistic, the Westminster confession of faith being the standard of the