Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume XIII.djvu/862

 838 PRIMROSE PRINCE EDWARD is very active. The thick, obovate leaves are in a radical cluster and mealy ; the flower stalk, 6 or 8 in. high, bears six or eight flow- ers, which are fragrant and sometimes double ; the colors are from white to dark brown, those being most esteemed which have a light - colored eye edged with some very dark color, and abundantly covered with a powdery bloom or mealiness. Primula cortusoides, from Si- beria, is a charming plant and hardy. The new Japan primrose, P. Japonica, while it does not warrant the extravagant praises with which it was introduced a few years ago, is hardy near New York, and a desirable plant. Among greenhouse species, the most promi- nent is the Chinese primrose, P. Sinensis, which has round-heart-shaped, several-lobed, downy leaves on long petioles, and umbels of large, showy flowers, which have an inflated calyx ; there are numerous varieties, single and double, from white to purple, and one race with the lobes of the corolla beautifully cut- fringed. This is one of the most popular of greenhouse plants, and well suited to window culture ; it is easily raised from seeds, and slowly multiplied by cuttings. Large quanti- ties of the double white are raised by florists for winter decorations. American cowslip is dodecatheon Meadia (Gr. J<>de/ca, twelve, and 0e<H, gods, one of Linmeus's fanciful names), of the same family. This is one of our most beau- tiful wild plants, and is often cultivated; it is found in rich woods from Pennsylvania to Wisconsin and south westward. It is a smooth American Cowslip (Dodecatbeon Meadia). perennial with a cluster of oblong leaves, and a naked stem a foot or more high, bearing an umbel of pale purple flowers, each one of which droops in a graceful manner ; the lobes of the corolla are long and narrow, and sharp- ly reflexed like those of the cyclamen, which gives them an appearance that no doubt sug- gested the name "shooting star," which it fre- quently bears at the west. There are white and other varieties, all fine for the garden. PRIMROSE, Evening. See (ENOTHEKA. PRINCE (Lat. princeps), a title appertaining to a sovereign, to his male offspring, or to per- sons of eminent rank who do not possess the attributes of sovereignty. The word princeps was employed by the Romans to denote a sen- ator of rank who held the office of custos of the city, and was adopted by Augustus and his successors in the imperial chair as a title of dignity. In England the title strictly belongs only to persons of the blood royal, who receive it by right of birth, and without a formal in- vestment, as in the creation of dukes or other orders of nobility. The younger sons of the sovereign retain it until another title is con- ferred upon them, but the daughters remain princesses. A special exception is made in the case of the eldest son, who is created by patent prince of Wales. In France, under the old regime, the title was borne principally by per- sons of distinction connected with the blood royal. Napoleon I. conferred it upon several of his marshals and ministers. Germany for- merly comprehended many petty states called principalities, governed by hereditary princes, most of whom at present have no territorial sovereignty. In Russia, where it was former- ly borne by the sovereigns, and elsewhere in Europe, the title is the highest that can be conferred upon a subject. PRINCE, the N. W. county of Prince Edward Island, Canada; area, 736 sq. m. ; pop. in 1871, 28,302. .It is traversed by the Prince Edward Island railroad. The laud is undula- ting and fertile. Capital, Summerside. PRINCE, Thomas, an American clergyman, born in Sandwich, Mass., May 15, 1687, died in Boston, Oct. 22, 1758. He graduated at Harvard college in 1707, and in 1711, after visiting Barbadoes and Madeira, settled as pastor at Combs, in Suffolk, England. About 1717 he returned to Massachusetts accom- panied by several of his congregation, and on Oct. 1, 1718, became colleague of the Rev. Joseph Sewall at the Old South church in Boston, where he remained until his death. In 1736 appeared the first volume of his " An- nals of New England," the second volume ap- pearing in 1755. He intended to bring the history down to 1730, but only finished it to 1633. A new edition was published in 1826, edited by Nathan Hale. Mr. Prince also pub- lished an introduction and notes to Mason's " History of the Pequot War " (1736), notes and appendix to William s's " Redeemed Cap- tive" (1757), and a revision of the Psalms, with a historical preface and notes (1758). PRINCE EDWARD, a S. county of Virginia, bordered N. by the Appomattox and S. by the Nottaway river, and drained by several small