PRIM 345 PRIMOGENITURE servations on respiration, in which he first experimentally ascertained that the air parts with its oxygen to the blood as it passes through the lungs. He next re- moved to Birmingham, where he be- came once more minister of an Independ- ent congregation, and occupied himself in his "History of the Corruptions of Christianity." His sympathy for the French Revolution led to the destruction of his house and library in 1791. Af- ter this he removed to Hackney, where he succeeded Dr. Price; but, in 1794, compelled by incessant persecutions to fly his intolerant country, came to the United States and took up his abode at Northumberland, Pa. His works extend to between 70 and 80 volumes. Besides those before mentioned are: "Experi- ments and Observations on Air"; "Lec- tures on General History," on the "Theory and History of Language," and on the "Principles of Oratory and Criti- cism"; "Hartleian Theory of the Human Mind"; "Letters to a Philosophical Un- believer"; "History of Early Opinions Concerning Jesus Christ," etc. He died in Northumberland, Pa., Feb. 6, 1804. PRIM, JUAN, a Spanish general; born in Reus, Dec. 6, 1814; rose rapidly to be a colonel, general, marshal, and marquis. Failing in an insurrectionary attempt in 1866, he fled to England and Brussels, but here he guided the move- ment that in 1868 overthrew Isabella. He was war minister under Serrano. He secured the election of an Italian prince, Amadeo, as king, and shot by an assassin, died Dec. 30, 1870. PRIMA DONNA, the first female singer in an opera. PRIMARY ROCKS, a term formerly including all the crystalline and non-fos- siliferous rocks which were deposited, it was believed, anterior to the appearance of life upon the earth. PRIMATE, the chief ecclesiastic in certain churches. The Archbishop of York is called the Primate of England, the Archbishop of Canterbury the Pri- mate of All England, and the Roman Catholic Archbishop of Baltimore the Primate of the United States. PRIMATES, the first and chief of Linnseus' orders of the class Mammalia. He included under it four genera : Homo (one species, five varieties), Shnia (21 species). Lemur (three species), and Vespertilio (seven species). Cuvier ig- nored the order, classing Man as Bimana (Owen's Archeyicephala) , and Apes and Lemurs as Quadrumana; the bats now constitute an order by themselves, and the lemurs rank as a sub-order. With the advance of zoological and anatomical knowledge the use of the name has re- vived "for the apes, not only by natur- alists, who, like Huxley, retain man within its limits; but also by others (Geoffroy St. Hilaire and Gervais), who consider he should be excluded from it." PRIME, in the Roman Catholic Church one of the canonical hours, and also the service in the breviary which falls to be performed at that time. PRIME MERIDIAN, that meridian from which longitude is measured. In Great Britain and its dependencies it is the meridian of Greenwich; in the United States, the meridian of Wash- ington. PRIME MINISTER, an officer of state, who at the summons of the sov- ereign has succeeded in forming an ad- ministration, of which he is the head, and which may be named after him. In England it is on his advice that as va- cancies occur the archbishops, bishops and deans and the highest judges are appointed, and over one hundred crown livings are filled; and on his recommen- dation that the most envied temporal titles and honorable distinctions — peer- ages, baronetcies, and the Garter, for example — are conferred, and such high appointments as the lord-lieutenancy of Ireland, the viceroyalty of India, the principal ambassadorships and colonial governorships, and lord-lieutenancies of countries, are made by the crown. He is the leader of the House of Parliament of which he is a member. In European governments the prime minister, or pre- mier, is usually charged with the man- agement of diplomatic affairs, and in this respect resembles the Secretary of State of the United States. PRIME NUMBER. A number or quality is prime when it cannot be ex- actly divided by any other number or quantity except 1. Two numbers or quantities are prime with respect to each other, when they do not admit of any common di'isor except 1. PRIMITIVE METHODISTS, a section of the Wesleyan community which arose in Staffordshire, England, under the leadership of Hugh Bourne (1792-1852). Having held camp meetings like those in the United States, he was censured for it by the English Wesleyan Conference in 1807, and, seceding, formed a new con* nection, the first class meeting of which was held at Standley, in Staffordshire, in 1810. In doctrine the Primitive Meth- odists agree with the Wesleyans. PRIMOGENITURE, the state of being the eldest of children of the same par-
