Page:Collier's New Encyclopedia v. 07.djvu/428

PRIVY COUNCIL 352 PROBXJS gin; the flowers small, white. Common privet {L. vulgare) is a shrub growing in bushy places and about the borders of woods in the middle and S. of Europe, and in some parts of Great Britain, now also naturalized in some parts of North America. It has half-evergreen, smooth, lanceolate leaves; and berries about the size of peas,. black, rarely white, yellow, or green. The flowers have a strong and sweetish smell; the leaves are mildly as- fcringent, and were formerly used in medi- cine. TTie berries, which hang on the shrub during winter, have a disagreeable taste, but serve as food for many kinds of birds; they are used for dyeing red, and, with various additions, green, blue, and black. A rose-colored pigment ob- tained from them is used for coloring maps. The wood is hard, and is used by turners, and by shoemakers for mak- ing wooden pegs. PRIVY COITNCrL, in English law, the principal council of the sovereign, con- sisting of members chosen at his or her pleasure. Its dissolution depends on the royal pleasure; by common law it was dissolved ipso facto by the de- mise of the sovereign, but to prevent the inconvenience of having no coun- cil in being at the accession of a new prince, the privy council is enabled by statute to continue for six months after the demise of the crown, unless sooner dissolved by the successor. It is presided over by the Lord President of the Council, who has precedence next after the Lord Chancellor. Members of the privy council are addressed as Right Honorable. The oflice of a privy coun- cilor is now confined to advising the sov- ereign in the discharge of executive, leg- islative, and judicial duties. PRIVY SEAL, the seal used in Eng- land to be appended to grants which are afterward to pass the great seal, and to documents of minor importance, which do not require to pass the great seal. In Scotland there is a privy seal used to authenticate^royal grants of personal or assignable rfghts. PRIX DE ROME, a prize given by the French Government to a number of painters, sculptors, architects, engravers and musicians. Founded by Louis XIV. in 1866, its purpose was to educate young painters and sculptors at Rome at the expense of the government. Napoleon enlarged the prize and made it open to musicians and architects, in addition to painters and sculptors. At present the winner of the scholarship is selected from a group of 10 which have passed the rigid examinations in their respective fields. The winner is supported by the French Government for four years while he pursues his further studies at the Academie de France at Rome. The prize is awarded every year to painters, sculp- tors, musicians, and architects, and every two or three years to artists in other fields. The award is made by giving the 10 selected artists three months to pre- pare a specimen of their work, which is then judged by the Academie des Beaux- Arts. Specimens of the work of the artists in Rome holding the prize are ex- hibited in Paris every year to show the progress of the scholars. PRIZE COURT, a court established to adjudicate on prizes captured at sea. PROBATE, in law, the official proof of a will. This is done either in common form, which is upon the oath of the ex- ecutor before the judge of the probate court; or per testes (by witnesses), in some solemn form of law, in case the val- idity of the will is disputed. PROBATE COURT, a court of record established to exercise jurisdiction and authority in relation to probate of wills and letters of administration, and to hear and determine all questions relating to matters and causes testamentary. PROBATIONER, one who is in a state of probation or trial, so that he may give proof of his qualifications for a certain position, place, or state. Also a Btudent in divinity. PROBOSCIDEA, in zoology, an order of mammalia, characterized by the ab- sence of canine teeth, the molars few in number, large, and transversely ridged or tuberculate; incisors always present, growing from persistent pulps, and con- stituting long tusks. One living genus, Elephas. PROBOSCIS MONKEY, or KAHAU (Presbytes nasalis), a native of Borneo, distinguished particularly by its elon- gated nose, its shortened thumbs, and its elongated tail. The general color is a lightish red. PROBUS, MARCUS AURELIUS, a Roman emperor; born in Sirmium, Pan- nonia; early entered the army, and at- tracted the notice of the Emperor Val- erian. He distinguished himself on the Danube, and in Africa, Egypt, Asia, Germany, and Gaul. By the Emperor Tacitus he was appointed governor of the Asiatic possessions of Rome, and on the latter's death was called to the throne (A. D. 276). His brief reign was brilliant; the Germans were driven out of Gaul, and the barbarians from the Rhaetian, Pannonian, and Thracian frontiers; and Persia was forced to ac- cept peace. Probus devoted himself to the development of its internal resources.