Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 16.djvu/449

* PRICKLY HEAT. 387 PKIENE. tropicus. It is an eruptive skin disease char- acterized bj' a large area of small, red, acuminate papules crowded eloselj^ together, with excessive sweating, heat, and itching. In tropical countries it is a formidable disease. In this country it is frequently seen in a mild form during hot weather. Cathartics internally, and cooling lo- tions (such a.s weak carbolic acid, solution of boric acid, or of bicarbonate of soda) locally, give relief. See iliLi.HiA. PRICKLY PEAR, or Indian Fig {Opuntia). A genus uf 'Mi) or more .species of cacti, fully half of which occur in the Southwestern United States. Their fleshy, spiny or hairy stems, gen- erally formed of compressed or cylindrical ar- ticulations, are leafless, except upon younger shoots, which produce small, cylindrical, early, deciduous leaves. The flowers which spring from among the clusters of pickles, or from the margin or summit of the articulations, are soli- tary, or corymbose-paniculate, generally yellow, rarely white or red. The fruit, which resembles a fig or pear, with clusters of pickles on the skin, is mucilaginous, and generally eatable. Some species are used for hedge-plants in warm countries. The common prickly pear or Indian fig [Opuntia vulgaris), a low-growing native of the Eastern United States, from Massachusetts southward, is naturalized ia many Mediterranean and other warm countries. It grows well on rocks, and spreads over expanses of volcanic sand and ashes too arid for almost any other plant. Its yellow or purple tinged oval fruit, somewhat larger than a hen's egg, has a pleasant acid flavor, but is inferior to that of Opuntia ficus indicu (supposed by some authors to be a form of Opuntia Tuna), of which there are many distinct varieties. It is extensively used in many countries as an article of food. The dwarf prickly pear, a variety of Opuntia vulgaris, very similar, but smaller, and having prostrate stems, is naturalized in Europe as far north as the sunny slopes of the Tyrol. The tuna (Opuntia Tuna), much used in some parts of the West Indies as a hedge-plant, and also valuable as a food of the cochineal insect, has red flowers with long irritable stamens and an edible fruit. Opun- tia Engelmanni (see Plate of Cacti) is one of the larger flat-jointed species common from Texas westward. From Texas to California and in Mexico are many species with cylindrical stems and upright habit of growth, some attaining a height of 10 feet or more. Some of the thick, fleshy, flat-jointed species are eaten by stock in spite of their spines. Sometimes the spines are singed off to make the plants less difficult to eat. Spineless varieties are grown for the especial use of stock. In the Cape of Good Hope, Australia, and elsewhere the species introduced for stock food have become a serious pest. PRIDE, Thoma,s (?-1658). A soldier during the great Civil War in England of whose early life practically nothing is known. In 1644 he entered the Parliamentary Army as captain, and for a time served under Essex. His promotion was rapid, and he distinguished himself in sev- eral of the great battles, notably at Naseby in 164.1. where he commanded Harley's regiment. In the quarrel between the army and Parliament he energeticallv supported the former, and was given command of Harley's regiment. On De- cemlx?r 6, 164S, under orders from Fairfax, he prevented over a hundred members from sitting ni the House of Commons, arresting over forty of them, in order to prevent an agreement with Charles I. This incident has gone down in his- tory as Pride's Purge. Pride was a commissioner at the trial of the King, and was one of those to sign the death warrant. He died October 23. 10.58. At the Ilestoration he was attainted, but his body does not seem to have been exhumed. PRIDE AND PREJUDICE. A novel by Jane Austen (1813), written in 1790. It de- scribes English country life in the family of Mr. Bennett and his five daughters. The plot con- sists in the overcoming of Elizabeth Bennett's prejudice against Mr. Darcy, her wealthy suitor, and of his pride in his position, the two obstacles to tlioir marriage. PRIDEAUX, pre'do, Humphrey (1648-1724). An early English Oriental scholar. He was born at Padstow, in Cornwall. He was edu- cated at Westminster School, under Dr. Bus- by, and at Christ Church, Oxford, where he took the degree of B.A. in 1672. In 1076 he pub- lished in O.xford an account of the Arundelian marbles, luider the title of Marmora Oxoniensia. In 1079 the Lord Chancellor Finch appointed him rector of Saint Clement's at Oxford, and in 1081 a canon at Norwich. In 1688 he became Archdeacon of Suft'olk and in 1702 Dean of Nor- wich. His principal works are his Life of Ma- homet (1697), which was long very popular, but was inaccurate and is now entirely superseded ; and The Connection of the Histori/ of the Old and yea- Testament { 1715-16) . The Latter treats with much learning, but less discernment, the affairs of ancient Egypt, Assyria, Persia, Judea. Cireeee, and Pvome, as far as they bear on the subject of sacred prophecy. His life from material supplied by his son was published in London, 1748, and his letters, from 1674 to 1722. to .John Ellis were edited for the Camden Society by Thompson (London, 1875). PRIDEAUX, -John (1718-59). An English soldier, born in Devonshire, Eng. He became- ensign in the British Armj^ in 1739; took part in the battle of Dettingen in 1743; fought in America against the French : became colonel and brigadier-general ; was intrusted by General Am- herst with the command of the expedition to reduce Fort Niagara in 1759, and while prepar- ing for the siege was killed in the trenches by the accidental bursting of a shell. For an ac- count of his expedition, consult Parkman, Mont- cahn and Wolfe (Boston. 1884). PRIDE OF INDIA. See China Tree. PRIDE'S PURGE. The forcible exclusion in 1048 of oer one hundred members from the House of Commons by Col. Thomas Pride (q.v. ). PRIEGO DE CORDOBA, pre-a'g6 da kor'- du-Da. A town of Southern Spain in the Prov- ince of Cordoba, situated 40 miles southeast of the city of that name (Map: Spain, C 4). It has a very old church and the ruins of an old castle. The chief manufactures are cotton tex- tiles and olive oil. Population, in 1890, 16,745. Priego was an important fortress under the iloors, and was several times captured and re- captured. PRIENE, prt-e'nt> (Lat., from Gk. llpiip'r)). A Greek city of Asia iMinor. situated on the north shore of the Latmic Gulf on a projecting