Proletariat

great circles are represented by straight lines,
as loxodromos are on Mcrcator's projection.
See MAPS and MAPMAKINU.

Projection of the World.—This system or
process as a whole forms a special branch
of the subject demanding methods other than
those used for producing national or region-
al maps or charts of the whole world for a
special purpose unattainable by any other
method, like Mercator's. Mr. B. J. S. Cahill,
a California architect, has devoted 35 years
to this task, the outcome of which is the
Octahedral System of Projection, popularly
known as the Butterfly Map. It is, in reality,
not only a single mappcmondc but a com-
plete system of presenting the surface of our
planet on a plane with tht- very minimum of
exaggeration, distortion and interruption. The
butterfly form is capable of four arrange-
ments with a repeat octant East and West if
desirable as on Mercator's Chart. Many oth-
er dispositions of the octants are possible to
suit various dynamic needs.

Proletariat, the lower classes of the com-
munity. In the time of Scrvius Tullius a
proletaries was a citizen of the lowest class,
who was considered useful in the state only
in begetting children (proles). In modern
socialism the word is applied to the wage-
workers collectively,

Prologue, usually a short poem or verses
sometimes prefixed to new plays to recom-
mend them to the favor of the readers, or
spectators—in the comedies of Plautus, Ter-
ence, and other poets.

Prome, chief town, Promc dist., Lower
Burma; exports silk, cotton, rice and sugar;
p. 28,295.

Promethea Moth, a common large brown
silkworm moth of the United States.

Prometheus, in ancient Greek mythology,
was one of the Titans. /Kschylus regards
him as a god, but correctly speaking he is
rather a hero. The chief legends about him
arc that he stole fire from heaven to give to
men (for this he was chained by Zeus to a
pillar, an eagle coming every day to devour
his liver, which grew afresh every night; at
last Hercules slew the eagle and released
him.)

Promissory Note. An unconditional pro-
mise in writing, signed by the maker, where-
by he agrees to pay on demand, or at a
fixed or dcterminable future time, a certain
sum in money to a specified person or order,
or to bearer.

Promotion, Military, is the advancement
of an officer of one grade to a higher grade

3846___________________Pronunciation

in the service. The grades of officers and
non-commissioned officers in the United
States army range from that of lieutenant-
general down to corporal. Officers and non-
commissioned officers are generally appointed
to the lowest grades and promoted as va-
cancies occur to the higher grades in succes-
sion. Promotions in the line of the army are
made by seniority up to and including the
grade of colonel; general officers arc pro-
moted by selection. Second lieutenants, first
lieutenants, and captains are required by law
to pass a rigid physical and mental examina-
tion to determine their fitness for promotion.

Pronghorn. The 'antelope' (Anlilosapra
amcricana) of the N. American plains stands
in a family by itself because of the singular
structure and shape of its horns, which make
the name pronshorn far more appropriate.
This animal, which is related by descent to
the deer as closely as to the true antelopes,
is unlike any other sheathed-horn creature in
the way its horns are acquired; in their be-
ing branched; and most of all in the fact
that they are annually shed and renewed.
The pronghorn once ranged in enormous
numbers over all the plains and valleys, from
the valley of the Saskatchewan s. to central
Mexico; but now only scattered remnants re-
main.

The prong-horn is a denizen of the dryf
bunch-grass plains, where it was wont to
thrive on the sun-cured nutritious herbage
after revelling for a short period each spring
on the juicy new pasturage. The speed of
the pronghorn exceeds that of any other ani-
mal of the American plains, but cannot be
maintained for many miles, nor does it seem
able or willing to leap over an obstacle more
than about three feet high, so that the cattle-
rancher's fences have had a great influence in
its decrease. Formerly the northern prong-
horns gathered in the autumn into vast herds,
and moved southward to areas warmer and
freer from snow; yet thousands perished an-
nually from exposure* and starvation. In
rov*4 fossil remains of an extinct species were
found in a cave in southern Arizona by
Quentin Roosevelt and J, W. Burden. This
antelope was four horned, at least in appear-
ance.

Pronunciation, in its widest sense, is the
art of articulate utterance, but is often, as
here, taken to mean the art of uttering words
with their correct sounds and accents, or as
it is specifically called orthoepy. In orthoepy,
as in orthography, the only practical record
of what is the best, that fa the conventionally