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The Prenomen anfwers to our ChriPcian Name, Peter,
Paul, &c.
It was not introduced among the Romans till long time
after the Nomen. See NOMEN.
The Name of the Family was given their Children the
Day after their Birth; but the Prenomen was not given
'em till they took the Virile Habit. See VIRILE.
Varro reckons up thirty Prenomina among the Romans.
The ufual ones may be reduced to eighteen.
The Greeks had no Pra'nomina i they    had but one
Name.
PREPARANTIA Vafa, in Anatomy, the Spermatic
VeqeIs; or two Arteries, and as many Veins of the Teilicles;
thuscall'd by the Antients, from an Opinion that the Seed
began to be prepared herein. See SPERMATIC Veffels,
SEED, and GEN ERAT ION.
PR4EPOSITUS, a Term frequently ufed in our Law-
Books: Prepofitus Ville is fometimes ufed for the Chief
Officer of the King in a Town, Manor, Village, or Reeve.
See PREFECT.
Trepo itus Ville is Sometimes alfo ufed for the Conflable
Of a Town, or petty Conilable. SeeCONSTABLE.
TPrepofitus Ecclefwe, fee CH u R C ri-Reve.
,Zuatuor homines PRXPOSITI, in Crompton, &c. Four
Men of each Town which are to appear before the Juflices
of the Foreil, in their Circuit.
PRAEPUTIUM, PREPUCE, in Anatomy, the Fore-
Skin; a prolongation of the Cutis of the Penis, covering
the Balanus, Glans, or Extremity of the Yard. See PE-
NIS and GLANS.
Dr. EDrake obferves, that Nature does not feem more
various in any part of her Works than in the Prepuces for
the Figure and Proportion whereof, there does not feem any
Standard.
Hence, probably, arofe the neceffity of Circumcifion, fo
generally pracfifed throughout the Oriental parts i not out
of a view to Religion, but to Cleanlinefs, and to prevent
Difeafes which a detention of the Mucus of the Sub-pre-
pu1tial Glands might breed in thofe hot Countries. For
even here thci fame Author adds, he has known fome, who,
having large Prepuces, call'd Filbert-Prepuces, have been
frighted at the appearance of a Mucus oozing out upona
mere plenitude, from between the Prepuce and Glans;
which 'tis probable the great Legiflator of the yews might
have a view to in the firie Inflitution of Circumcifion. See
CIRCUMCISION.
The Skin of the Prepuce is double; at the connexion
of the internal Skin, to the other part, are feveral oval and
roundifh Glandules placed irregularly about the joining of
the Glans to the Corpora Cavernofa, and on the Glans
itfelf.
Their ufe is to feparate aLiquor to render the agitation of
the TPr'putium on the Glans eafy. When this Liquor
becomes rancid, as upon old Age, or Venereal Contaals, it
excoriates the Glans and Preputium; and even Sometimes
contrats the latter, and renders it neceffary to be divided
to afford a paffage to the Glans. See PIIIMOsIs and PA-
RAPHtMOSI5.
PRIESEPE, in Afronomy, three Nebulous Stars, in the
Sign Cancer, or the Crab ; two of 'em of the 7th, the third
of the6th Magnitude. Their Longitudes, Latitudes, fic.
fee among thofe of the other Stars in CANCER.
PRJETER Naturamn, in Medicine, fee NATURE.
PRAGMATIC Santlion, in the Civil Law, is defined
by Hottoman, a Refcript,or Anfwer of the Prince, deliver'd
by Advice of his Council, to fome College, Order, or Body
of People, upon their confulting him on fome Cafe of their
Community.
Such an Anfwer to a particluar Perfon, is call'd fimply
Refcript. See RESCRIPT.
IThe Word is form'd from the Greek reqpy, Negotium,
Eufinefs.
The Term Pragmatic Sandion is chiefly ufed among
the Modern Writers, for that famous Ordonnance of Charles
VII. of France, publifhed in 1z68; containing a Regula-
tion of Eccleflaiical Difcipline, conformable to the Canons
of the Council of Bafil; and fince ufed by the Gallican
Church, as a Barrier againil the Enterprizes and Encroach-
ments of the Court of Rome.
The Scope of the Pragmatic Santiion, was to regulate
the form of Ele&ions made by the Clergy; to declare
the Collations to belong to Ordinaries, the Prevention
alone referv'd to the Pope; to eflablifh Prebends; to affilgn
a Third of the Benefices to Graduates 5 to abolifh Refer-
vations, Annates, and other like Charges.
Pope Pitus II. obtain'd an abrogation of this San7aion of
Louis XI. On which occafion the Court of Rome, tranf.
ported with Joy, dragg'd the Pragmatic thro' the Streets,
whipping it all the way, as Xerxes antiently did the Hellef-
pont. But the Parliament oppofed this Abrogation with a
great deal of Vigour, and refufed its Confent to the lail.
So that maugre all the EWorts of Rome, the SWiffioz fjill


PPR E


held in force; tilt the Concordat pafs'd betwe
Leo X. and Francis I. in ts51, when the Pragma
tion was abolilhed. See CONCORDAT.
The Parliament of Paris again oppofed the Int
and refufed to confirm the Concordat, and was not
to give its Confent till after repeated Orders of td
together with a fecret Refolution taken always i
conformably to the Tenor of the Pragmatic San5
PRAGMATICAL, a Term fometimes ufed in t
fenfe as PratUical, Mechanical, or Problematical.
Thus Stevinus, in his Hlydroftatical Elements, c,
tain Mechanical, or Praaical Experiments, which h
takes to infiru&6c his Reader how to make, by the I
Tragmatical Examples; and in the fame fenfe it
times ufed by other Naturalifis.
PRATIQUE, orPRATTICK, in Commerce,
tiation or Communication of Commerce, which a N
Veffel obtains in the Ports it arrives in, and the Coo
difcovers.
Hence to obtain Pratique, is to obtain a Libert
quent a Port, to go alhore, buy and fell, Fc. \
never have any Tratique with the Inhabitants
Zembla.
The Word is French, and fignifies, literally, Pra
PRATLQuE is particularly ufed for a Licence tt
granted to the Mailer of a Ship in the Ports of Itaj
a Bill of Health ; that is, a Certificate that ti
whence he came is not annoy'd with any infeaious
PRAXAEANS, aSect of Heretics, fo call'd fn
Author Praxeas.
This Herefiarch was of Afta, and lived in tht
Century. He was at firil a Difciple of Monta;
quitted him, and foon after fet up a Secf of hi
teaching, that there was no Plurality of Perfons in t
head ; and that it was the Father himfelf that ful
the Crofs. Which Sentiment was afterwards adopt(
Monarchics, Sabellians, and Patripaflians. See
LIAN, PATRIPASSIAN, WC.
PRAYER, in Theology, a Petition put up
either for the obtaining of fome future Favour, o
turning of Thanks for a pail one.
Divines diilinguilh three kinds of Prayer; roca,
is cloth'd in Words and Sounds to be utter'd v
Mouth; Mental, which is only form'd or conceiv
Mind, and not deliver'd in Words; and Ejaculato;
is a Short, fudden flight without Study, Order, or
See VOCAL, MENTAL, eC.
The Myilic Divines, again, diflinguilh Ptra
ASlive and Faffive  See ACTIVE and PASSIVE.
Amrong us, Prayer is frequently confider'd unde
vifions of Preconceiv'd and Extemporary. Under
come all fet Forms, whether public or private, b
the Mind is direted in the Order, Manner, Ex
ec. of its Petitions. The fecond is that where tht
left to itfelf, its own Condu&f, both as to Matter,
Words, E c.
Common PRAYER, feeLITURGY.
TheRomanifts alfo prefer Prayers to Saints, theVi
Angel Gabriel, &c. SeeSAINT, OFFICE, AVEM
PREACHING, in Theology, the Declaration,
mnloation of the Word of Gotd ;in Pbhicr : 1- .
$Ib-~0~~t1V^  Ö       -- *&WS&  sOU  i tUt  sarro


authorized, and in a Place deflined, for that purpofe. See
SERMON, PRIEST, GOSPEL, e$C.
Antiently, none but Bifhops were allow'd to preach.
Now, not only Priefls, but Deacons are qualify'd. See
BisHoP and DEACON.
Bifhop Wilkins has deliver'd the -Art of Preaching in a
Treatife call'd Ecclefiafles, or the Preacher. See ECCLE-
SIASTES.
The Word is derived from the Hebrew, Parafch, expo-
ftuit, he expounded.
TIhe Religious of the Order of St. Dominic alfume the
Quality of Preaching-Brothers, Friars-predicant or predi-
cants. See DOMINICAN.
PREADAMITE, Preadamita, a Term given to the ln-
habitants of the Earth conceived, by forne People, to have
lived before Adam.
Ifaac de la Pereyra in x65 5, publiflied a Book to evinco
the Reality of Preadamites, by which he gain'd a confide-
table number of Profelytes to the Opinion; but the An-
fwer of Demarets, Profeflor of Theology at GroningueN,
published the Year following, put a flop to its Progrefs;
tho' Pereyra made a Reply.
His Syflem was this: The 7ewus he calls Adamites, and
fuppofes 'em  to have ilTued from Adam ; and gives the
Title Preadamites to the Gentiles, whom he fuppofes to
have been a long time before Adam.
But this being exprefly contrary to the firfi Words ot
Geneis, vPereyra had recourfe to the fabulous Antiquities
of the Egyptians and Ghalkeans, and to fome idle Rabbinst
who imagined there bad been another World before that
defcribed by Mofes.                             1


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