Page:Willich, A. F. M. - The Domestic Encyclopædia (Vol. 3, 1802).djvu/470

444]  to the 13th vol. of the Society's "Transactions;" where it is accurately described, and illustrated with an engraving,  PRIVET,, or ; Ligustrum vulgare, L.; an indigenous shrub, growing on rocks in the most exposed situations towards the Western Sea, and flowering in the months of June and July.

The Privet may be easily propagated by seed, layers, or by cuttings: being a hardy plant of quick growth, it is usefully employed in making hedges. It attains the height of from ten to fifteen feet; is adorned with oblong leaves, and bears black berries containing a violet pulp, which ripens in October. Its juice, when mixed with a solution of any acid salt, affords a black; with Glauber's salt, and spirit of sal ammoniac, a red; with urine, a purplish; and, with vitriol of iron, a green colour.—On steeping these berries in a solution of salt of tartar, they yield a fine blue juice, the shade of which may be rendered still brighter by adding quick-lime.—, the author of the "Franconian Collections" (in German, vol. i. p. 312), conjectures that the incomparably black ink of, was prepared from these berries, combined with oil of vitriol.—With the addition of alum, this fruit is said to impart to wool and silk a good and durable green colour; but, for this purpose, the berries should be gathered as soon as they are ripe. The purple colour upon cards is likewise prepared from their juice.—The kernels contained in these berries, produce by expression an excellent oil. The wood serves both as fuel, and for the smaller objects of turnery, but especially for pegs, as it is uncommonly firm.—The branches of this shrub are useful for wicker-work, as well as for the finer kinds of baskets, on account of their great flexibility.—As this shrub is much frequented by the Spanish fly, we conceive it might with advantage be cultivated in the southern counties of Britain, for the purpose of collecting that valuable insect.—Oxen, goats, and sheep, eat the plant; but it is refused by horses.  PRONG-HOE, an implement of husbandry, employed for the hoeing or breaking of ground near, or among the roots of plants. It consists of two hooked points, six or seven inches in length; and, when stricken into the ground, will stir, and turn it to the same depth as a plough; thus answering both intentions, that of opening the land, and of cutting up weeds.—The prong-hoe is a very useful instrument, especially in the horse-hoeing husbandry, when the hoe-plough can only come within two or three inches of the rows of vegetables; as the land may thus be raised and stirred to the very stalk of the plant.  PRONUNCIATION, a term denoting the manner of articulating or sounding the words of a language.

Pronunciation is the most difficult, and at the same time the most defective part in grammar, the writer having frequently no determinate expression, by which he can convey a distinct idea of particular sounds: hence it becomes necessary to substitute a precarious and even vicious term. These remarks are peculiarly applicable to the English language, where the same word is often both a noun and a verb; for instance, "to present a nosegay; and, to accept