Page:Cyclopaedia, Chambers - Supplement, Volume 2.djvu/296

 PRE

P R I

fing or play : but in particular, in fugues or canons it is thus marked + over the note at which the fecond part, which is to follow or imitate the firft, miift begin. If the mark be re- peated a fecond time, it is to fhew the place where the third part mull begin, to imitate the fecond ; and fo on through all the parts. See Usus.

PRESBYS, in zoology, a name ufed by many of the antient na- turalifts for the regulus criftatus, or golden-crowned wren. Ray's Ornithol. p. 163. bee Reculus crl/tatns.

PRESERVATION of Corn. A fuccefsful method of preferv- ing corn, for the ufe of armies, and againft times of Scarcity, is a mod ufeful and curious object of enquiry. It is well known that accident often preferves corn very long, when all the care in the world differs it to decay in a few years, the owner knows not why. One very remarkable in- ftance we have recorded in the memoirs of the academy of fcienccs at Paris, in 1708, of fome corn laid up in the citadel of Metz, in the year 1578, which had kept good to that time without any particular care. It was on this occafion that the fubject of preferving corn in general became the employment of the thoughts of the members of the academy, and Mr. Reneaume obferved,

j. That corn can never be too dry when it is brought into the granary, if intended for long keeping; and that in order to keep, it mud be preferved quite dry and quite clean. 2. That tho' fome have imagined that corn increafes in fize in the granary, and therefore Should be cut after a wet feafon, and in dewy mornings; yet on the contrary, corn never fwells, if well preferved, but always Shrinks and wrinkles up a little : and that the corn of dry feafons is always obferved to keep much better than that of wet ones, which ufually heats and decays. And that as to dewy mornings, they are never to be chofen for reaping, unlefs on particular occaiions ; as when the feafon has been fo remarkably dry, that the corn is loofe in the ears : then, indeed, there is danger of its beina: loft by falling out while the reaper cuts the ftalk, and this is prevent- ed by cutting it while the dew has wetted the hufks, or the grains of corn, and retains them in their places.

4. It is very certain, that any ccrn which is dry will, on lay- ing it in a moift place, fwell and increafe in bulk, and will become larger by this means. The merchants generally are able to find this out, however, and do not care to buy fuch corn, well knowing that it is very fubjedt to mould and decay. There is another yet more artful method than this in too common ufe among the petty merchants, who buy up corn to fell it to the larger dealers, which is this : they heat a laro-e piece of freeftone, and inclofmg it in an iron box, they thruft it under the heap of corn, and carefully remove it about to every part, at the fame time gently moiftening the corn ; the effect of this is a very confiderable fwellingof the corn, info- much that what they buy as fixteen bufhels, they fell after this for feventeen ; but there is no wonder that corn, treated in this manner cannot keep. This is an artifice often pract ifed alio on oats, and is more profitable in that, as the oats will gain at leaft twice as much in quantity by it as wheat or barley.

5. If it is abfolutcly neceflary at any time to lay up com in a place that is damp, it is beft to lay it up in the ear, not in the loofe ftate, fince in that cafe the ftalk and huflcs will ab- forb a great quantity of the moifture, and preferve the corn in fome degree from it. The leaving the chaff with the corn ; that is, the threfhing, but not fanning it, may alfo be of ufe in many cafes, and this takes up but little room in a maga- zine, and it is much the fame thing to the proprietor, whe- ther it be all fanned together, or be only fanned in quantities fufficient for a certain number of days, as it is wanted to be ufed ; but tho' the trouble is the fame, the advantage is not fo, but is greatly on the fide of the latter practice : we all well know the ufe of chaff, and the like dry fubftances in preferving fruits for the winter ; and this might alone give a hint that corn might fare the better for it ; but we have alfo this additional mark of its ufe in preferving corn, that the zea or fpelta, called fpelt corn and white corn, and ufed for food in many parts of Germany, is always preferved in the hufk, and is found the leaft fubject to decay of all corns. From thefe confidcrations it is eafy to learn, what are to be the principal objects of our care in the preferving corn for the ufe of armies, &c. The granary muft be a well chofen place ; and according to Vitruvius's rules, ihould always be at the top of a houfe, and have its openings only to the north or eaft, that the corn may not be expofed to the damp winds from the fouth and weft, which are very destructive to it- whereas the contrary ones are very neceflary and wholefome to it, ferving to cool and to dry it from all external humidity, from whatever caufe. There muft alfo be openings in the roof to be fet open in dry weather, partly to let in frefh air, and partly to let out the warm effluvia which are often emitted by the corn. The covering of the roofs mould always be of tiles, becaufe in the worft feafons, when the other openings cannot be fafe, there will always be a confiderable inlet for frefh air, and a way out for the vapours by their joinings, which are never clofe. If there happen to be any windows to the fouth, great care muft be taken to (hut them up in moift weather, and in the time of the hot fouthern winds. There muft never be a cellar, or any other damp place under

a granary, nor mould it ever be built over ftablcs ; for in ei- ther of thefe cafes the corn will certainly fuffer by the va- pours, and be made damp in one and ill-tatted in the other Mem. Acad. Par. 1708.

The accidents that attend corn in public granaries, are of the utmoft importance, and ought to be well underftood and guarded againft. See Granary.

Dantzic is the grand ftorehoufe, orrepofitory of all the fruit- ful kingdom of Poland. The wheat, barley, and rve, of a great part of the country are there laid up in parcels of twen- ty, thirty, or fixty lafts in a chamber, according to the iize of the room ; and this they keep turning every day or two to keep it fweet and fit for fhiping. A thunder ftorm has Sometimes been of very terrible confequence to thefe ftores. All the corn of the growth of former years having been found fo much altered by one night's thunder, that tho' over night it was dry, fit for fhiping or keeping, and proper for ufes of any fort, yet in the morning it was found clammy and flick- ing. In this cafe there is no remedy, but the turning all fuch corn three or four times a day for two months or longer - in which time it will fometimes come to itfelf, tho' fometirnes not.

This effefl of thunder and lightning is only obferved to take place in fuch corn as is not a year old, or has not fweated tho- roughly in the ftraw before it was threfhed out. The latter inconvenience is eafily prevented by a timely care ; but as to the former, all that can be done is carefully to examine all ftores of the lad' year's corn after every thunder ftorm, that it any of this have been fo affected, it may be cured in time; for a neglefl^of turning will certainly utter!/ deftroy

Preservation of other vegetables. This is to be done feveral ways in the feveral kinds, and many more might certainly be in- vented ; for we are not yet arrived at the perfefl method of preferving vegetables with their colours, odours, and all their fenfible qualities, as well as their natural form for a number of years. Fruits may be long preferved in fpirit of wine, firft well faturated with the fkins and tinging parts of thofe fruits - and many may be tolerably preferved in perfeaiy fermented liquors, which generate no more air. The more folid ve- getable fubftances may be preferved by gently dryina in the fun fhade, or other flack heat. Thus peas or beans' may be dried young in a flack oven in their proper feafon, and may afterwards be boiled in the winter, and will eat youno- a „d tender, as if juft gathered. The ways of preferving fruits both dry and moift, with fugar, are now univerfally known - and there are in the feveral ways many fecrets in the hands of particular jrtifts, which it would be well to have generally known. Shaw's Lectures, p. 196. '

PRESS (Cycl.) -Press, in the manege. A horfe is faid to re- lilt, or prejs upon the hand, when either through the ftiShefs of his neck, or from an ardour to run too much a head, he ftretches his head againft the horfeman's hand, refufes the aid of the hand, and withstands the effects of t'-e bridle If your horfe is too fiery, and prejes upon the hand, endeavour to pacify him, by making him go more foftlv, and pullini- him backwards ; and if it proceeds from a ftifthefs of the iboulders and neck, you muft fupply him with a caveffon made after the Duke of Newcastle's way. - See Heavy

Press is aifo ufed for pufhing a horfe forewards, by afliftina him with the calves of your legs, or even fpurring him, in-order to make him go on.

DO?4™ r o PR ^ S ^ G ' in the fea hn Z™^ See Manning.

f-KJio I EK, (Cycl.) a word ufed by fome to exprefs the exter- nal part of the neck, which is ufually inflated in anger: with others it is a name for the fcrpent d'rpfas.

PRESTESSE, in the manege, is ufed to denote the readinefs and diligence of a horfe in working a maneo-e.

PRESTISSIMO, in the Italian mufic° intimates to perform ex- tremely quick, haftily, and with fury.

PRESTO, in the Italian mufic, is ufed to fignify that the part it is joined to fhould be performed gayly, fall and quick, yet not with rapidity.

Non tropo Presto, or men Presto, in the Italian mufic, (ig- nifies not too quick, or lefs than pre/Is.

Pia Presto, in the Italian mufic, is ufed to intimate that we fhould fing, or play the part to which it is annexed, a little brifker and quicker than the prejlo alone requires. When pin is added to other words, as adagio, grave, vivace, &c. it adds in like manner to the lWnefs, or quicknefs of the move- ments, respectively.

Presto, Presto, in the Italian mufic, the fame with pref- tijfmo. See Prestissimo.

PRESUMPTION, prcefumptlo, in rhetoric, the fame with pn- lepfis. See Prolepsis.

PRETERNATURAL rains. See the article Rains.

PRIAPE de mcr, in natural history, a name given by the French to a peculiar fpecies of canalis, or tubulus marinus, called alfo by fome authors of that nation, the arrofoir. It is an oblong, and thick-Shell of this kind, with a large head, which is pierced thro' with a great number of holes, °fo as at once to refemble, in fome fort, the glans of the penis, and the head of a common gardener's watering-pot. This fpecies is found at Amboina. See Canaus.

PRIAPEIA,