PEOTISTA. 471 PROTOPLASM. lata, Catallacta, Citinta (Infusoria), Acinetce, Latyimthutew, Bacilluria: (Diatoms), Fungi, Myxomycetes, V etamorphora (Rhizopoda), Bel- iozoa, and Rudiolaria. This grouping satisfies neither the botanist nor the zoologist, and has not generally been accepted by them. In fact, ■«e should not expect the most primitive organ- isms to present clearly marked characters; they are undifferentiated forms with a common mode of reproduction. PROTIUM, pro'shl-um (Xeo-Lat., perhaps fiom a .Javanese name), formerly called IciCA. A genus of pinnate-leaved trees of the natural order Burseraceae, vitli white flowers in panicled racemes. Protium Icicaribn, a Brazilian species with fragrant resinous seeds, yields American elemi (q.v.) ; Protium heptajihi/Uum and Pro- tium Guianense, natives of Guiana, yield fra- grant balsams, which harden into a gray resin, used as incense in churches; Protium altissimum, another Guiana tree which attains a height of 100 feet, is used in house carpentry, canoe and furniture making. Its wood is known as white cedar, red cedar, acuyari, Samaria, ilara, and Curana wood. PKOTOC'ERAS (Xeo-Lat., from Gk. ^pCvoc, protos, first + Kcpac, l^eras, horn).' A primitive tmgulate found fossil in the White River beds of South Dakota! The animal was somewhat larger th9n a sheep and had a long narrow skull, armed inthe male with two to six pairs of horns and in the female with one pair of small protuberances. The upper incisors are absent, the lower incisors well developed, and the upper canines of the PROTOrERAS SKri.L. male are much enlarged to form tusks. The an- cestry and descendants of this animal are un- known and it constitutes a distinct isolated fam- ily remotely related to the modern chevrotains (TraguUdcE) of the Indo-Malayan region and West Africa. Consult Scott, "Osteology and Re- lationships of Protoceras," in Journal of ilor- plioloqij. vnl xi. (Chicago, 1895). PROTOCOL (ML. protocoUum, from ilGk. TrpuTOKo'/.'/ov, protokoUon. protocol, first leaf glued to a manuscript, from Gk. ir/jwrof, protos, first + Ko/.'/av, InUan, to glue, from K67./.a, koUa, glue). A term of diplomacy applied to the minutes or preliminary draft of an instrument or agreement between two or more States and intended to ^erve as the basis of negotiations for the conclusion of a definite treaty. The term is also applied to the formally authenticated min- utes of the proceedings of a congress or confer- ence, as where a number of friendly powers enter into a preliminary agreement to accomplish cer- tain diplomatic ends by peaceful means. PROTOCTENES (Lat., from Gk. npu7oyh->n). A celebrated painter of ancient Greece who was born at Caunus, in Caria, and practiced his art at Rhodes. He was a contemporary of Apelles, working in the latter part of the fourth century. Pliny, to whom we owe most of our information, says that when Demetrius Polioreetes besieged Rhodes (n.c. 305-304) he took special care that the painter should be protected and undisturbed in his work. The ancient critics seem to have regarded his paintings as representing the highest art. They seem to have contained usually but - few figures, and to have shown but little crea- tive power. His strength lav in execution rather than composition. Besides his "lalysus," a Rhodian hero, we hear of a "Satyr" resting with his pipes in his hand, the '"Paialus and Am- monias" (the eponyms of the Athenian sacred triremes) in the Propyl^a at Athens, which some took for Odysseus and Xausicaa, portraits of the mother of Aristotle, King Antigonus. Alex- ander with Pan, and the Thesmotlieta, or the hall of the Athenian senate of five hundred. PROTOGENESIS. See Spoxtaneous Ge>-e- RATIOX. PROTOGINE (from Gk. Trpuzog, protos, first + yiveadai, ginesthui, yiyvtoBat, gignesthai, to be- come). Granite (q.v.) of gneissic structure com- posed of quartz, feldspar, and a greenish micace- ous mineral belonging to the sericite or chlorite families, which latter covers the lamination sur- faces in a more or less continuous wa^•^^• mem- brane. The name protogine is applied chiefly to a rock mass of the Alps and is little used to describe rocks in other regions. PRO'TOHIPTUS (Xeo-Lat., from Gk. Tzpuroc, protos, first + i--of, hippos, hor.se). An ancestor of the horse in the Pliocene Period. See Hobs?, Fossil. PROTONOTARY (^ML. protonotarius, chief notary } . ' The name properly given to each of the seven members of tlie Roman College of Papal Xotaries, made up of prelates. They make up the first class; besides there are lionorary iiro- tonotaries, who constitute a second class. The office of notary is very ancient, indeed primitive, for according to the Liber Pontificalis Clement I. (91-100) appointed a notary for each two of the fourteen 'regions' of Rome, making seven in all, and these were the forerunners of the first class of Papal protonotaries, whose duties are fixed by the constitution ApostoUcfS fiedis Ofpcium issued by Pius IX. in 1872. The original notaries were shorthand writers, using the notw. or characters, 1100 in number, invented, it is said, by Ennius, the Latin poet. Later notaries were simply sec- retaries. PROTOPLASM (:ML. protoplasma, from MGk. TzpardirfMBfia, first creation, from -rrpurof, protos, first + irkaa/ia, plas-ma, creation, from ■^?.aiT(Tetv, plassein, to form). The living sub- stance constituting the cells of plants and ani- mals, or forming the bodies of all one-celled organisms. In appearance it is like thin syrup, filled with highly refractive microscopic granules. It forms the physical basis of life, no living being existing without it; and all the phenomena or activities of life are based on this fundamental substance. Chemical CoxsTiTrTiox. ' Protoplasm largely consists of proteins, which are compounds of car- bon, hydrogen, oxygen, nitrogen, and sulphur, as- sociated with a large proportion of water. Be-
