Page:Collier's New Encyclopedia v. 07.djvu/435

LEFT PROPERTY TAX 359 PROSSNITZ the favor of the emperor. His life ap- pears to have been a series of amours, and his "elegies" are expressions of his passion. PROPERTY TAX, a rate or duty levied by the State, county, or muni- cipality on the property of individuals, the value of the property being fixed by assessment. PROPHETS, THE, men divinely in- spired, and who often uttered predictions of future events. Three Hebraic words are applied to the Old Testament pro- phets; the most common is nabhi, from the verb nabka = primarily, to bubble forth, to send forth copious floods of speech, hence in Niphal=to speak tinder a divine impulse, to prophesy. PROPORTION, a word with several applications. In archseology, art, etc., that due ob- servance of the balance of parts, in a statue or picture, which constitutes ex- cellence. In arithmetic, a rule by which from three given quantities a fourth may be found bearing the same ratio to the third as the second bears to the first. Also called the Rule of Three. In mathematics, the relation which one quantity bears to another of the same kind, with respect to magnitude or numerical value. Compound proportion, the equality of the ratio of two quantities to another ratio, the antecedent and consequent of which are respectively the products of the antecedents and consequents of two or more ratios. Reciprocal proportion: a proportion in which the first term is to the second as the fourth to the third, 4:2::3:6. Rhythmical proportion in music. The proportion in relation to time or measure between different notes representing durations; thus, the semi- breve is to the minim as 2:1, the semi- breve to the crotchet as 4:1. Simple proportion: The relation of equality subsisting between two ratios. PROPORTIONAL REPRESENTA- TION, an idea of representation a reali- zation of which would insure the pres- ence in a representative assembly of members divided in opinions in the same proportion in respect of numbers as the community represented. PROPOSITION, in geometry and mathematics, a statement in terms of something proposed to be proved or done. In grammar, a sentence, or part of one, consisting of a subject, a predicate, and copula. In logic, a sentence, or part of a sentence, affirming or denying a con- nection between the terms; limited to ex- press assertions rather than extended to questions and commands. In poetry, the first part of a poem, in which the author states the subject or matter of it. In rhetoric, that which is proposed, offered, or affirmed, as the subject of a discourse or discussion. PROPYLAEUM, in Greek architec- ture, a portico in front of a gate or temple doorway; the entrance to a Greek temple, a sacred inclosure, consisting of a gateway flanked by buildings. PROSECUTION, in law, (1) the in- stituting and carrying on of a suit in court of law or equity to obtain some right, or to redress and punish an injury or wrong. (2) The act or process of exhibiting formal charges against an of- fender before a legal tribunal, and pur- suing them to final judgment; the insti- tuting and continuing of a criminal suit against any person or persons. (3) The party by whom crinoinal proceedings are instituted; the prosecutor or prose- cutors collectively. PROSELYTE, a new convert to some religion, sect, opinion, party, or system. PROSERPINE, in mythology, a daughter of Ceres and Jupiter, of ex- trenie innocence and beauty, and who, while gathering flowers in the lovely vale of Tempe, was carried off by the god of the infernal regions, Pluto. The pray- ers and intercessions of her mother ulti- mately prevailed on Pluto to permit her to spend half of each year on earth. PROSKUROV, a town in Podolia, Russia, near the confluence of Ploskaya and the Bug, on the railway from Odessa to Lemberg. Its manufactures include sugar, flour, tobacco, oil and pottery, while market gardening is extensive in district. Buildings are mostly of wood, with Orthodox Cathedral. Jews, who number half of the population, carry on export trade. Pop, about 45,000. PROSODY, that part of grammar which treats of the quantities of sylla- bles, of accent, and of the laws of versi- fication. PROSqPOPEIA, or PROSOPOPOEIA, in rhetoric, a figure by which things are represented as persons, or inanimate ob- jects as animate beings, or by which an absent person is represented as speak- ing, or a deceased person as alive and present. It is more extensive than per- sonification. PROSSNITZ, a town in Moravia, Czecho-Slovakia, on the Rumza, 12 miles S. W. of Olmiitz. Buildings include town hall, large grain market, fine church and schools. Is center of pros- perous and fruitful region. Its indus-