PBAIRIE 336 PRAYEB PRAimE, the name given by the early French settlers in America to ex- tensive tracts of land, either level or roll- ing, destitute of trees, and covered with coarse tall grass, interspersed with num- erous varieties of flowering plants. PRAIRIE CHICKEN, the popular name of the pinnated grouse of the United States (Tetrao tupido). PRAIRIE DOG, a name given to either of ^ the two species of Cynomys, but especially to C. ludovicianus, from the fancied resemblance of its ciry to the bark of a small dog, whence it has been also called the barking squirrel. It is about a foot long, reddish-brown above, lighter beneath. Its habits are eminently PRAIRIE DOG social ; it forms large communities on the prairies,^ each burrow having a little hil- lock at its entrance, and excavated pas- sages connect the burrows, which are sometimes shared by the burrowing owl. PRAIRIE WOLF, or COYOTE (Canis latrans), the small wolf which is found on the prairies in North America, be- lieved by many to be a mere variety of the European wolf. It is a cowardly animal, and only dangerous to man when in packs and pressed by hunger. PRASE, in mineralogy: (1) A dull leek-green chalcedony, owing its color to the presence of exceedingly fine granular chlorite. (2) A green crystallized quartz found at Breitenbrunn, Saxony; the color is due to inclosed fine filaments of green asbestiform actinolite. PRATO, often called Prato in Tos- CANA, a walled town of Italy, 10 ^^ miles S. E. of Pistoia and 11 N. W. of Flor- ence; has a citadel and a cathedral with frescoes by Filippo Lippi, though the see has been united with that of Pistoia since 1653. There are manufactures of straw plait, cloth, and paper works. Pop. about 20,000. PRATT, BELA LYON, an American artist and sculptor. Born at Norwich Conn., in 1867 and died in 1917. He studied at the Yale School of Art and later under St. Gaudens. Among his most successful monuments are "Soldiers and Sailors Monument" (Maiden, Mass.), "Spanish War Soldier" (St. Paul's School, Concord, N. H.) and the "Army Nurses Memorial" (State House, Bos- ton). He also modelled the figures "Science" and "Art" in the Boston Pub- lic Library and the figure "Philosophy" in the Congressional Library. PRATT, CHARLES, an American philanthropist; born in Watertown, Mass., Oct. 2, 1830; removed to New York in 1850, and engaged in the oil business, his firm being eventually merged in the Standard Oil Company. He amassed a great fortune, took an in- tense interest in educational matters, and founded in Brooklyn the Pratt In- dustrial Institute. He died in New York City, May 4, 1891. PRATT, ORSON, a Mormon educator; born in Hartford, N. Y., Sept. 19, 1811; became one of the 12 apostles of the Mormon Church (1835), and was in charge of European missions from 1840, many successive years. He was Pro- fessor of Mathematics in Deseret Uni- versity; also church historian and re- corder. His writings include: "Divine Authenticity of the Book of Mormon" (1851) ; "Patriarchal Order, or Plurality of Wives" (1853) ; "Cubic and Biquad- ratic Equations" (1866). He died in Salt Lake City, Oct. 3, 1881. PRATT INSTITUTE, a coeducational non-sectarian institution in Brooklyn, N. Y.; founded in 1887. Reported at the close of 1919: Professors and instruc- tors, 148; students, 4,743; president, F. B. Pratt. PRAWN, in zoology, Palsemon ser- ratus, and, less properly, any other spe- cies of the genus. Its ordinary length is about four inches; color bright gray, spotted and lined with darker purplish gray._ It is a favorite article of food, and is found in vast numbers in the North Atlantic. PRAXITELES, a celebrated Greek sculptor; born about 360 B. c, who exe- cuted several fine statues, in bronze and marble, of Bacchus, a satyr, Venus, and Apollo. An ancient copy of one of his works, the "Apollo Sauroctonos," is the only example extant. Phryne, the cele- brated Thespian courtesan, was his mis- tress, and served as the model for his statues of Venus. Two of his sons ac- quired fame as sculptors. He died about 280 B.C. PRAYER, a universally acknowledged part of the worship due to God; not merely petition, but, according to the New Testament models and Christian
