PRIMITIVE SOCIETY. 396 PRIMULA. PRIMITIVE SOCIETY. See Ge.nS; 3Iab- EIAtiE; .SOCLETY; SutlOLOOV; TRIBE. PRIMO ( It., fiijit ) . A term used in music with tlie following significations: prima donna, the leading female singer (soprano) ; prima rista, at first sight; prima volta (abbreviated I) is always followed by a bracket extending over one or more measures before a repeat begins; tempo priino denotes a return to the original rate of speed: priino iiomo, the leading male singer (first tenor or soprano). This term is now no longer used, but was in general use during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, when in Italy the ])rinci])al roles in operas were written for and sung by male sopranos. PRIMOGENITURE (.ML. primogenitura, from Lat. priiiioyriutu, rights of the first born, neu. pi. of primogenitus, first-born, from primus, first + genitus. p.p. of f/ir/nere. to produce). In the law of inheritance, the right of the first born to take by descent the real projierty of a deceased ancestor, to the exclusion of all others of equal degree of consanguinity. The term has sometimes been em])loyed in a wider sense to describe any priority wliieh. in various legal systems, the law has accorded to the first born, thus comprehend- ing the birth-right of the Hebrew and of Hindu law (where that belonged, as was not always the ease, to the eldest son), which was at the most a right to a double portion of the inheri- tance, as well as the right of the eldest of the heirs in certain forms of Anglo-Saxon tenure to the chief house imansio) of the ancestor. But the term is in modern law usually restricted to the persistent rule of inheritance which lias for centuries maintained it>elf in our common-laW system, whereby the eldest son of his issue, or, failing lineal descendants, the eldest male in the next degree of consanguinity, takes all the real estate of which his ancestor died seised and in- testate, to the exclusion of all female and of junior male descendants of equal degree. Al- though not confined to lineal descendants, but comprehending the remotest degrees of consan- guinity, the principle of primogeniture has never in the common law of land been applied to female heirs, who have, whether lineally or col- laterally descended from their common ancestor, always been permitted, in default of male heirs, to share the inheritance equall.v. This rule of descent, due, in its origin, to the exigencies of the feudal system, was formerly common to feudal Europe, but it has long since disappeared everywhere but in England. It has not generally been adopted in the English-speak- ing colonies of Britain, and though introduced with the rest of the common-law system into the American colonies, it was abrogated and aban- doned by them at an early period in their history. See Descent: Ixhebitaxce. Consult Maine, Aneirnt Late, and id., Enrlij Uistory of Institu- tions. PRIMORSKAYA, pre-nu-.r'ska-y;i. The Rus- sian name of the Maritime Province (q.v. ) in Si- beria. PRIM'ROSE, Ch.rles. The Vicar in Gold- smith's 'i((ir of Wnl;cfiel<J. a simple-minded, de- vout, charitable man, bearing misfortunes with resignation and nobility. PRIMROSE FAMILY. A popular name for an order of nlants. See Pkimul.ce.e. PRIMROSE LEAGUE, The. A political league foimdcd in London in 1883 in support of the principles advocated by the Earl of Beacons- field ( see Disraeli ) , the name being adopted, it is said, on account of a preference shown by him for that flower. The membership includes both .sexes, and the titles applied to members are Knight and Dame. There are associate members also and the branches or divisions of the league are known as habitations. The titles of the of- ficers are grand master, chancellor (who is chair- man of the grand council), and vice-chancellor. PRIMULA (ML., fern, of Lat. primuhis, di- minutive of primus, first; so called in allusion to the early bloom), Prijirgse. A genus of plants of the natural order PrimulacciP, comprising about 150 species, mostly perennials, generally having only radical leaves and bearing the flow- ers in an umbel, more rarely solitary, on a scape. This genus is indigenous to Asia and Europe and more than half the number of species are native to the Himalayas, China, and Japan. Two small luiimportant species are fomul in North America. Their fine colors and soft, delicate beauty have led to the cultivation of some of the species, and numerous varieties and hybrid forms with single and double flowers of various tints have been de- veloped. They are extensively grown in orna- mental gardening and also as house and conser- vatory plants. The common primrose (Primu- la rulgaris) is abundant in woods, hedges, and meadows in most parts of Europe, It has spoon- shaped and deeply veined leaves and bears its yellowish-white blossoms on single-flowered ECHOPEAN WILD PRIMROSE (Cultivated form). scapes. It is the parent species of many culti- vated varieties. The name primrose belongs es- pecially to this species. The English cowslip (Primula officinalis) is allied to the common primrose, and the oxlip (Primula elatior) is an intermediate between the two species. The Chinese primrose (Primula sinensis) is a popular ornamental plant in residences and con- servatories and is connuonly sold in flower mar- kets. It is highly prized for its numerous large flowers of a variety of colors borne in umbels above the foliage. Primula obconica is an- other beautiful Chinese species largely grown in conservatories for its numerous pale lilac or purple and sometimes nearly white blossoms.
