PRONUNCIATION. 4^8 pBoor. Italian like ts. or dz (as m hn^h^h ad, r) or so-nplin>os nearly a. the English c; inPort,.- gutr..^v1,rn final, like sh in .7,.o.. Otherwise ,t is Lually as . in ,inc, as iu Dutch, Pohsh, Hunga- lian. etc. z in Polish is as e in ncMrc z in Bohemian, Bulgarian. Croatian, ami Ser- vian is like 2 in a;.ure, or. «hen hnal, like sh in
- iin Polish is a softened s, much like Z< (:h) .
zs in Ifunfflirian is like ^ in oiiire. PRONY, l.r.Vne. Gaspard Clair Francois AluuK Uu„K lianm de (17o.V183'.)) A 1- renoh en^ m,..r and n,athcn,atician.born at Chamelet and ^dT-oated in the Kcule des Fonts et «;'ha"««^es In ITSr. he was put in charge of the restoration of the harbor of Dunkirk, an,l in 1794, after the comple- ti.m of his great tables of loRantlnns to twenty- five decimal pla-^es. the first ma.le under the metric system, he was named professor of mathe- matics at the Polytechnique. Four years after- wrds he was appointed head of the Ecole des Fonts Prony held office throuj;h the Ji,mpire %nd was connected with the great sanitary meas- ures undertaken in the Pontine ISIarshes and alon" the valley of the Po. IIis more impo.tant works include": .Vo«rW/e rMtrctare hydmu- lintie (17!)0-90) ; Cotirs dc jhccohu/hc (ISlft) ; we- scr;/)/;o» dr.. marai.'< Pontins (1H2:)) ; an<l '«'"^ xur Irs (irriidrs lahlrs logarithmiqurs (1824). PBONYMPH (from Lat. pro-, before + nym- rlia, (ik. ^u^4>V, Hi/»ip/ic. hi-ide, nvmph). A stage of development with certain dipterous insects ^vhich transform within the last larval skin. This last skin having hardened and contracted, the insect within it loses all apparent structure and becomes an accumulation of soft creamy matter within a delicate membrane. This condi- tion begins in the resting larva, and the sur- rounding membrane is proliably the larval hypo- dermis In this pionvmph the organs gradually take sliape until a true pupa, corresponduig to that of a hvmenopterous insect, is formed, PB00F'(0F. prorr. pieure. Fr. preurc. from Lat probd, proof, from probare. to test, exam- ine). In the mechanical arts, a trial copy or impression. Thus, in the art of die-sinking, the impressions taken from the die from time to time as it is brought to a state of approximate completion are called proofs, as their purpose is to guide the artist. They are, of course, struck in metal of no great intrinsic value except in the case of the last state of the die, or what is expected to be the last, when a proof will be taken in the metal intended to be used. As, however, museums and private collectors coni- pete with one another eagerly for the proof copies of coins, and still more eagerly for proofs of important medallions, it is not unusual to take a number of such impressions from the com- pleted die. These are sometimes marked as proofs by having a peculiar characteristic. Thus, all modern coined money is saved from the attacks of those who clip or pare the edges of silver and gold pieces (which practice was a great abuse as late as the eighteenth century) by having raised letters around the edge, such as '-Dieu protf>ge la France," on some French coins of the Tliird Empire and the Eopuldic. or else by having the edge fluted or reeded with little bars across it. These will be omitted in the proofs. . ,. , ., In the printing of books and periodicals, the proofs used are of several different kinds, and these are described under the title Printing. The most important use of the word in con- nection with the arts is the name given to trial impressions from an engraved wood block or plate (Sec Print.) It is customary to take these proof impressions at diflerent times as the plate approaches completion, and such impres- sions are called engravers' proofs, and, m spite of their showing an incomplete state of the plate, are sure to comma ml liigh prices in the case ot an engraving of any importance. The engravers proofs taken as the plate approaches completion, are extremely brilliant and effective, because they are taken one by one, by hand, and %yith great care; the same brilliancy is preserved in the earliest proofs which are printed oil ex- pressly for sale. These are often classihed in some special way. It is customary in the case of a lar^e and important engraving for the artist to etch upon the margin of the plate some very small design, as a head, a figure of a bird or beast, or even a sketched incident with two firrurcs and this little picture is printed with the la^'r.re composition which occupies the greater par^t of the plate. Impressions so taken are l-alled rcmaniue proofs, and are recognized as being the earliest. The remarqtie being planed away or the plate cut down, the proofs next taken are known as artists' proofs. All this time the intended lettering on the edge of the plate, that is to say, the title of the picture and the name of the engraver, an<l ot the aitist ot whose original work the engraving is a copy in so many eases, have not been added. 1 roots made from the unlettered plate are called gen- erally proofs before Ihe letter or proofs brjore. any 'letter. If, now, the names of the original artist if anv, and of the engraver are addeil just below the edge of the picture, proofs taken at this stage are called proofs hrjiirr titc lillr. oi bv some such name invented for the purpose. What is said here of the engraver's or artists name does not refer to the appearance of any artist's signature within the boundaries of the picture itself: for in many etchings and sunilar works the signature is almost a part of the design. The proofs with open letters are those in which the large capital letters of the title are inserted, hut left in outline. After these letters are completed, the ordinary prints are taken. , There are still to he noted the proofs of artistic engravings, which are never lettered on the mar.Wn, which are not intended to have any title, or anv name of artist or publisher, or anv number or letter whatever on the margui. A 'conscientious etcher is very careful in noting the number of editions printed from any plate thus unsigned. The plate may be changed after anv given printing: new effects may be produced, worn lines strengthened. From this it will be seen what is the real im- portance of first state and second state, and the like, in artistic engravings, (See Etciiino ; LINE Enoravino; Mezzotint.) The first state is apt to be preferred, because there is certainty that the plate has not been worn at this stage of its existence. It may be, however, that the second state is preferred for many reasons. There are some of the Liber fUndioriim in which the second state is admittedly finer. An imP'-.^s- sion on vellum of the second state ot an etching I
