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the Roman rota, &c. The regulation of the judicial system has hitherto fallen principally to the minister of justice. The supreme tribunal, in the year 1824, consisted of a president (bearing the rank of minister) and twenty counsellors, who were chosen from the most distinguished members of the supreme tribunals of all the provinces. In addition to these, there was established, in 1819, for the administration of justice in the Rhenish provinces of Prussia, a court of revision and cassation at Berlin. For the grand duchy of Posen there is a supreme court of appeal, consisting of a president and eight counsellors at Posen. Swedish Pomerania also has its old system of justice, a court of five members, and a supreme court of appeal, composed of a president and three counsellors, both established at Greifswald. Prussian Code (Allgemeines Landrecht, that is, universal law of the country, called also, sometimes, by foreigners, Codex Fridericianus). All the kings of Prussia and Brandenburg, since the elector Frederic William of Brandenburg, have zealously endeavored to improve the system of law and legislation; but none of them have understood so thoroughly the real wants of the people, and none have had such success as king Frederic II, who was, in a great many respects, a benefactor to his country. Immediately after the conclusion of his first war, he gave to the courts a more simple and efficient constitution. The minister of justice (high-chancellor), Samuel V. Cocceji, a celebrated lawyer, began a Corpus Juris Fridericianum, in which the Roman law was brought into a natural order, general principles laid down and conclusions deduced, all subtleties and fictions, and all rules not applicable to the state of Germany, excluded, and all doubtful laws settled (1st part 1749, 2d part 1751). But this essay embraced only a small part of the system of law; and, although it was introduced in some provinces, still the proposed end was not yet attained. After Cocceji's death (1755), his constitution of the courts fell into disuse, and the design of making a new code of laws was for the time abandoned. But, in 1780, under the superintendence of the minister Von Carmer, the formation of a code was undertaken, and prosecuted with unceasing activity. It was not intended to make an entirely new code of laws, but to supply the defects of the existing system. The Roman law was, therefore, taken as the foundation of the work. To each passage was prefixed the place which it should occupy in the code, or the

ground on which it was rejected, and whatever the new institutions made necessary was added according to the prevailing law. This code was published from 1784 to 1788, in six parts. The opinions of those who understood the subject were requested, and prizes offered for the best commentaries on it; and the whole was completed in June, 1791, under the title "General Prussian Code." Some slight faults which were pointed out having been corrected, it was promulgated June 1, 1794, under the title Allgemeines Landrecht. The work has, from the first, held a high rank, and only one distinguished voice has been raised against it, that of John George Schlosser, in his Five Letters on Legislation, and particularly on the Plan of the Prussian Code (Frankfort, 1789-90, 2 parts), which, on the whole, take the same ground as Von Savigny has lately done (Ueber den Beruf unserer Zeit zur Gesetzgebung, Berlin, 1815),* opposing all modern codes. The reforms which have been effected since 1808 have greatly added to its value, and the efforts for its improvement are still continued. Among the commentaries should be distinguished F. H. von Strombeck's Supplement to the General Code for the Prussian States (Leipsic, 1824, 2 vols.).

Prussia Proper includes the two provinces of East and West Prussia. East Prussia is mainly made up of the former duchy of Prussia, and West Prussia is a part of Poland, which was taken in the partitions. Königsberg is the capital of East Prussia. Dantzic and Marienwerder are the most important places of West Prussia.

PRUSSIAN BLUE. (See Blue, Prussian, aud Prussic Acid.)

PRUSSIC ACID, or HYDROCYANIC ACID, is procured by the following process: To a quantity of powdered prussian blue, diffused in boiling water, let red oxide of mercury be added in successive portions, till the blue color is destroyed. Filter the liquid, and concentrate till a pellicle

* This work of Mr. von Savigny, whose objecbut to compile codes, we by no means share, nor tions against the aptitude of our time, not to make, even consider very profound, is, nevertheless, highly interesting, as might have been expected from the reputation of the author. We recomthe code here in question. It sets in a striking mend its perusal with reference to the history of light the extreme care with which the Prussian code was drawn up, in which respect it is much distinguished from the French and Austrian the title On the Aptitude of the present Age for codes. Savigny's work has been translated under Legislation and Jurisprudence, by a Barrister of Lincoln's Inn (London).

appears upon its surface. On cooling, crystals of prussiate (or cyanide) of mercury will make their appearance. These, after drying, are put into a tubulated glass retort, to the beak of which is adapted a horizontal tube, about two feet long, and fully half an inch wide at its middle part. The first third part next the retort is filled with small pieces of white marble, the rest with fused muriate of lime. To the end of this tube is adapted a small receiver, which is immersed in a freezing mixture. Pour on the crystals in the retort, muriatic acid in rather less quantity than is sufficient to saturate the oxide of mercury which formed them. Apply a very gentle heat to the retort. Prussic acid will be evolved in vapor, and will condense in the tube. Whatever muriatic acid may pass over with it will be detained by the marble, while the water will be absorbed by the muriate of lime. By means of a moderate heat applied to the tube, the prussic acid may be made to pass successively along; and, after having been left some time in contact with the muriate of lime, may be driven over into the receiver. As the carbonic acid, evolved from marble by the muriatic, is apt to cerry off some of the prussic acid, care should be taken so as to prevent the distillation of this mineral acid. Prussic acid, thus obtained, has the following properties: it is a colorless liquid, possessing a strong odor, somewhat resembling that of peach blossoms; and the exhalation, if incautiously inhaled, may produce sickness or fainting. Its taste is cooling at first, then hot, asthenic in a high degree, and a true poison. Its specific gravity, at 444°, is 0.7058; at 64°, 0.6969. It boils at 814°, and congeals at about 3°, becoming crystallized with the fibrous form of nitrate of ammonia. The cold which it produces, when reduced into vapor, even at the temperature of 68°, is sufficient to congeal it. This phenomenon is easily produced by putting a small drop at the end of a slip of paper, or a glass tube. Though repeatedly rectified on pounded marble, it retains the property of feebly reddening paper tinged blue with litmus. The red color disappears as the acid evaporates. The vapor of prussic acid is 0.9476. It was analyzed by Gay-Lussac by passing it through an ignited porcelain tube, containing coils of fine iron wire. No trace of oxygen could be found in it. The result ayas as follows:-

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This acid, when compared with other animal products, is distinguished by the great quantity of nitrogen it contains, by its small quantity of hydrogen, and t total absence of oxygen. When the strong acid is kept in well-closed vessels, even though all access of the air is prevented, it sometimes undergoes decompo sition in less than one hour. It begins by assuming a reddish-brown color, which becomes deeper and deeper, until at length it deposits a carbonaceous matter, which gives a deep color to both and and water, and emits an odor like that of ammonia. When potassium is heated in prussic acid vapor, mixed with hydrogen or nitrogen, there is absorption witho inflammation, and the metal is converte into a gray, spongy substance, which melts, and assumes a yellow color. Sup posing the quantity of potassium employ ed capable of disengaging from water a volume of hydrogen equal to 50 parts we find, after the action of the potassiu that the gaseous mixture has experienced a diminution of volume amounting to parts. On treating this mixture with potash, and analyzing the residue by o ygen, we find that 50 parts of hydrogen have been produced, and, consequenty, that the potassium has absorbed 100 pars of prussic acid vapor; for there is a din inution of 50 parts, which would obviet ly have been twice as great, had not f parts of hydrogen been disengaged. The yellow matter is prussiate of potash, properly a cyanide of potassium, in analogy with the chloride and iodide of potassiULA formed when the vapor of muriatic a hydriodic acid is made to act upon po sium. The base of prussic acid this divested of its hydrogen, to which it owes its acidifying quality, is called cyanogo by Gay-Lussac, in allusion to its being the basis of the blue color of prussian blue. I is obtained by heating the cyanide of met cury in a small glass retort. "It soon blac ens, and melts like animal matter, at ti same time disengaging the cyanogen abundance. This substance, which is t true radical of the acid under consideratio is possessed of the following properties: is a permanently elastic fluid, of a stre and penetrating odor, and a density, whe compared with air, of 1.8. It is infla mable, and burns with an intenselv bes

tiful bluish flame, bordering on purple. It consists of nitrogen 29.654, and carbon 25.418, and is, therefore, a bicarburet of cyanogen. Though a compound body, it has a remarkable tendency to combine with elementary bodies. Thus it is capable of uniting with the simple non-metallic bodies, and evinces a strong attraction for the metals. It enters into direct combination with a few alkaline bases only, and these compounds are by no means permanent; hence it has no claim to be considered as an acid. To return to the properties of prussic acid, before we describe the other compounds of cyanogen. Barytes, heated in prussic acid, yields its barium to the cyanogen of the acid to form a cyanuret of barium, while the hydrogen of the acid and the oxygen of the earth unite to form water. Potash and soda behave in a similar manner, as respects their bases. Prussic acid is the most violent of all poisons. When a rod dipped into it is brought in contact with the tongue of an animal, death ensues before the rod can be withdrawn. Doctor Magendie has, however, introduced its employment into inedicine. He found it beneficial against phthisis and chronic catarrhs. His formula is the following: Mix one part of the pure prussic acid with 8 of water by weight. To this mixture he gives the name of medicinal prussic acid. Of this he takes 1 gros, or * 59 grs. troy, distilled water 1 lb., or 7560 grs, pure sugar 14 oz., or 7081 grs., and, mixing the ingredients well together, he administers a table-spoonful every morning and evening. One ten thousandth of prussic acid may be detected in water, by the addition of a few drops of solution of sulphate of iron. This test, though delicate, is surpassed by another, in which copper is used, and which will detect one twenty thousandth of prussic acid in water. To employ it, we must render the liquid containing the prussic acid slightly alkaline with potash, add a few drops of sulphate of copper, and, after wards, sufficient muriatic acid to redissolve the excess of oxide of copper. The liquid will appear more or less milky, according to the quantity of prussic acid present. Prussic acid is formed in a great many chemical operations; as, for instance, by transmitting ammoniacal gas over ignited charcoal contained in a tube; as also by heating in a glass tube, closed at one end, a mixture of oxalate of ammonia and oxalate of manganese. Prussic acid exists in the vegetable kingdom. The peculiar smell of bitter alnionds,

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peach flowers, and the leaves of the laurocerasus, and of other vegetables, is owing to this substance. Prussic acid is often obtained from the peach and apricot kernels. The bark of the prunus padus contains much of it, and water distilled from it is capable of killing animals. Cyanogen unites with oxygen, and gives rise to a compound called cyanic acid. consists of cyanogen 26 parts, and oxygen 16. It crystallizes in oblique rhomboidal prisms, which are colorless and transparent, insoluble in cold water, but are dissolved in hot water, as well as in the strong acids. Its most remarkable property is, that it allows of being boiled with the strong acids without undergoing decomposition or change. With the metallic oxides it forms salts that do not detonate. The cyanous acid contains just half as much oxygen as the cyanic, and is characterized by the facility with which it is resolved by water into carbonic acid and ammonia, and by the property of detonation, when in union with the oxides of mercury and silver. It is, in fact, the same substance as the fulminic acid, which is essential in the fulminating compounds of these metals. (See Fulmination, and Fulminating Silver, and Mercury, under these metals respectively.) We have also two compounds of the radical of prussic acid with chlorine, called the chloride of cyanogen, and the bichloride of cyanogen. The former of these is solid at 0 of Fahr. Between 5° and 10° 5', it is liquid, and also at 68°, under a pressure of four atmospheres; but, at the common pressure and temperature, it is a colorless gas. In the liquid state, it is as limpid and colorless as water. It has a very offensive odor, irritates the eyes, and is highly injurious to animal life. It consists of 36 parts chlorine and 26 of cyanogen. The bichloride of cyanogen contains twice as much chlorine as the preceding compound. It is solid at common temperatures; at 284° it fuses, and boils at 374°. Its vapor is acrid, and excites a flow of tears, and is injurious to life. Its odor is similar to that of chlorine. When boiled in water, it is converted into muriatic and cyanic acid. There is a compound of iodine and cyanogen of somewhat similar properties. It has a caustic taste and a penetrating odor. It is very volatile, and sustains a temperature above 212°, without decomposition. Bromide of cyanogen has also been formed, and resembles the last mentioned compound. Cyanogen forms an acid compound by a union with hydrogen and iron. It is

neither volatile nor poisonous in small quantities, and is destitute of odor. It is gradually decomposed by exposure to the light, forming prussic acid and prussian blue. It decomposes some salts of the more powerful acids: peroxide of iron, for example, unites with it in preference to sulphuric acid, unless the latter is concentrated. As this acid contains no oxygen, but simply consists of carbon, hydrogen, nitrogen and metallic iron, the name of ferrureted chyazic acid (chyazic, from the initials of carbon, hydrogen and azote) has been proposed; but the term ferrocyanic acid is more generally employed. Of the salts formed by this acid, the most important in chemistry is the ferrocyanate of potash (formerly called the prussiate of potash). It is transparent, and of a beautiful lemon yellow color. In large crystals, it possesses a certain kind of toughness, and in thin scales, a degree of elasticity. Its solution is not affected by alkalies, but it is decomposed by almost all the salts of the permanent metals. The following table presents a view of the colors of the metallic precipitates thus obtained :

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beautiful dye, called prussian blue, is a ferrocyanate of the peroxide of iron, and is always formed when ferrocyanic acid or its salts are mixed in a solution with persalt of iron. The usual mode of manufacture is by mixing together one par of the ferrocyanate of potash, one part of copperas and four of alum, each previously dissolved in water. Prussian blue, mingled with more or less alumine, precipitates. It is afterwards dried on chalk stones in a stove. The ferrocyanate of potash employed in the process is prepar ed by heating to redness dried blood, or other animal matters, with an equal weigh: of pearlash, until the mixture has acquir ed a pasty consistence. The sulphocynic acid is a compound of cyanogen, sulphur and hydrogen. Cyanogen forms two compounds with sulphur alone, and one with selenium.

PRUTH; a river of Europe, which rises in Galicia, in the Carpathian mountains and empties into the Danube below Ga lacz. By the treaty of Bucharest between Russia and the Porte (May 6, 1812, the Pruth, from its entrance into Moldavia, was recognised as the boundary of the two empires, and all that part of Moldavis lying on the left bank, was ceded to Rs sia. In 1711, Peter the Great (see Peter 1. after three days' disadvantageous fight on the Pruth, was surrounded by the Turkish forces, and extricated only by a treaty, concluded through the prudence and promptitude of the empress. Catharine I.) By the treaty of Adriat ople (September, 1829) it was stipulate. that the Pruth should continue to form the boundary between the Russian and Turk ish territories.

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PRYNNE, William, a learned lawyer a antiquary, was born at Swanswick, E Somersetshire, in 1600, and was placed : Oriel college, Oxford, where he was graduated bachelor of arts, in 1620. He then removed to Lincoln's-inn to study the law, and became barrister, bencher, and reader of that society. His attendance upon lectures of doctor Preston, a distinguishe Puritan, strongly attached him to th sect, and he began to write as early 1627, attacking the drinking of healis love-locks, popery, and Arminianist. which he deemed the enormities of the age. In 1632, he published his work against theatrical exhibitions, entitled His trio-Mastix; which, although licensed by archbishop Abbot's chaplain, yet, in co sequence of some reflections upon fema actors, that were construed to be levele. at the queen (who had acted in a pastora

after the publication of the work), brought a persecution upon the author in the starchamber, which condemned him to a fine of £5000, to be expelled the university of Oxford and Lincoln's-inn, to be degraded from his profession of the law, to stand twice in the pillory, losing an ear each time, and to remain a prisoner for life. Prynne continued writing against prelacy in prison; until, for a virulent piece, entitled News from Ipswich, he was again sentenced by the star-chamber to a fine of £5000, to lose the remainder of his ears in the pillory, and to be branded in each cheek with the letters S. L. (seditious libeller). This sentence was also executed, and he was removed for imprisonment to Caernarvon castle, and afterwards to the island of Jersey. His spirit was not, however, to be subdued, and he continued to write until the meeting of parliament in 1640, when, being chosen representative for Newport in Cornwall, the house of commons issued an order for his release. He entered London, with other sufferers, in triumphant procession, and petitioned the commons for damages against his prosecutors. On the impeachment of Laud, he was employed as chief manager of the prosecution, and, when the parliament became victorious, was appointed one of the visitors to the university of Oxford, where he labored strenuously to advance the cause of Presbyterianien. He warmly opposed the Independents when they acquired ascendency, and used all his influence to produce an accommodation with the king, being one of the members who were excluded and imprisoned on that account. With the other excluded members, he resumed his seat in 1659, and displayed so much zeal for the restoration, that general Monk was obliged to check his impetuosity.

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sat in the healing parliament as member for Bath, and on the restoration was appointed to the office of chief keeper of the records in the Tower. He occupied his later years in writings connected with his office in the Tower, and finished his life at his chambers in Lincoln's-inn, in 1669. Prynne was a man of extensive learning and indefatigable industry, but wanted genius and judgment. His works, 10 which Wood has given a catalogue, amount to 40 volumes, folio and quarto, the most valuable of which is his Collection of Records (3 vols., folio).

PRYTANEUM; the building in Athens, in which the Prytanes (those senators who presided in turn) held their meetings, and lived at the public expense during the

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thirty-five or thirty-six days of their presidency. The liberty of eating in the Prytaneum was one of the highest marks of honor, and was conferred only on those who had done important service to the state. Napoleon established a school in Paris under the name of the prytanée, in which some hundreds of scholars were educated, mostly at the expense of the state. They were educated together until they were twelve years old, when they were trained for civil affairs (for which there were five professors), or for the military service (for which there were three professors). At the age of fifteen years, they left this institution, for the purpose of completing their education in other seminaries.

PSALM; in general, a song; in a narrower sense, a sacred song (from the Greek falar, to play on a stringed instrument, to sing). Psalm is used particularly to denote the sacred songs which are contained in the collection of religious lyric poems in the Old Testament. They are mostly of the time of David, or of a later period, one only, perhaps (the 90th, the psalm of Moses), being of more ancient date. (See Hebrew Literature.) David, who arranged the temple music, not only appointed from the Levites a considerable number of singers and musicians, but also composed for the divine worship sacred songs, which served as a model for many others. Several of the psalms that bear his name are not, indeed, written by him, but only composed in his manner, and therefore called by his name. Seventy-one, in particular, are ascribed to him, but some, even of these, are evidently of a later date. On the other hand, the contents and style of some which do not bear his name, and the superscriptions of which have, perhaps, been lost, show him to have been the author. To his times belong most of the psalms attributed to Asaph, Heman, and Ethan or Jeduthun. Twelve psalms bear Asaph's name, of which several show traces of a later origin. Asaph, son of Berachiah, was a Levite, and (1 Chron. xvi,5) the first of the chief musicians appointed by David for the divine worship. The name of Heman is attached to one only (the 88th psalm). Heman, surnamed the Ezrahite, seems to have been a Levite, and is named among the chief singers of David. Some of the Psalms were composed by Solomon, who, according to the First Book of Kings (iv, 32) wrote "a thousand and five songs," but whose name is affixed, in our collection, to two only (the 726 and 127th), and of these the first seems rather to have been

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