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# 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica/Scald

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​SCALD, an ancient Scandinavian bard who recited or sang at feasts compositions in honour of chiefs and famous men and their deeds. This word represents the Icel. skāld, Dan. skald, Swed. skjald, the regular term for a poet. Authorities differ as to its derivation. It seems certain that the word was originally derogatory in sense; some connect it with skālda, a pole, on which libels were cut. Others, e.g. Skeat, refer it to Swed. skalla, Icel. skjalla, to make a loud noise or clatter, and take the original sense to have been a “ loud talker.” This would link the word with “ scold," to rail at, find fault with, which is formed from Dutch schold, past tense of scheldan, cf. Ger. schelten, in the same sense.
Of different origin is the verb “ scald," to burn or injure the skin or flesh by hot liquid or steam (see Burns and Scalds); also to cleanse an object, or to remove hair, bristles, feathers &c., from an animal, by exposure to moist heat, such as boiling water, steam, &c. This word is derived from the O. Fr. escalder, eschauder, mod. échauder, Lat. excaldare, to wash with hot water (caldus, calidus, hot).
# 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica/Scale

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​SCALE (1) A small thin flake, plate or shell. The word. in O. Eng. is sceale, so bean-sceale, the husk or pod of a bean; cognate forms are found in Ger. Schale, O.H.G. Scale, from which the O. Fr. escale, modern écale, is borrowed. The ultimate root is seen in the closely allied “ shell,” and also in skull, scalp, shale and skill, and means to peel off, separate, divide. The word is used specifically (1) in botany, of the rudimentary flake like leaf forming the covering of the leaf-buds of deciduous trees and of the bracts of the cone in conifers; (2) in zoology, of the flat, hard structures of the epidermis or exoskeleton in fishes, reptiles. Thus in ichthyology the various types of scales are classed as cycloid (Gr. κίκλος, circle), where the growth is in layers, equally from the anterior and posterior edges; ctenoid (Gr. κτήν, comb), where the posterior edge is toothed; ganoid (Gr. γάνος, shining), with a hard enamelled surface and usually rhomboidal in shape, and placoid (Gr. πλάξ, tablet), as in the ossified papillae of the cutis of the shark. In reptiles the term is applied to the structures which form the covering, of the true reptiles, snakes and lizards. In entomology the downy covering ​of the wings of lepidoptera consists of minute scales, really modifications of hairs, covered with fine lines, giving the bright colours. Another form in O. Eng. scále is found glossing the Lat. lanx, flat bowl or dish, and is thus used of the dishes or cups of a balance (bilanx), the instrument itself being also called “scales.”
2. Properly a ladder, flight of steps, now only used in the derived “scaling ladder.” The word is derived from the Lat. scala (originally scandla, from scandere to climb). There are many transferred senses of the word, e.g. the distinguishing marks for purposes of measurement on a rule or other measuring instrument; hence a graduated measure or a system of proportional measurement or numeration, and particularly, in music, a series of tones at definite standard intervals (see Harmony, Musical Notation).
# 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica/Scalping

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​SCALPING, the custom of removing the skin of the skull, with hair attached. Though generally associated with the North American Indians, the practice has been common in Europe, Asia and Africa. The underlying idea, as of similar mutilations of those slain in battle, is the warrior’s wish to preserve a portable proof or trophy of his prowess. Scalping was the usual form of mutilation from the earliest times. Herodotus (iv. 64) describes the practice among the Scythians. The Abbé Emmanuel H. D. Domenech (Seven Years' Residence in the Great Desert of North America, ch. 39) quotes the decalvare of the ancient Germans, the capillos et cutem detrahere of the code of the Visigoths, and the Annals of Flodoard, to prove that the Anglo-Saxons and the Franks still scalped about A.D. 879. In Africa it was, and doubtless is, as prevalent as are barbarous mutilations.
Among the North American Indians scalping was always in the nature of a rite. It was common to those tribes east of the Rocky Mountains, in the south-west and upper Columbia; but unknown apparently among the Eskimo, along the north-west coast, and on the Pacific coast west of the Cascade range and the Sierras, except among some few Californian tribes, or here and there in Mexico and southward. Properly the scalp could only be taken after a fair fight; in more recent times there seems to have been no such restriction. To facilitate the operation the braves wore long war-locks or scalping-tufts, as an ​implied challenge. These locks were braided with bright ribbons or ornamented with a feather. After the successful warrior's return the scalp or scalps captured were dried, mounted and consecrated by a solemn dance. Some tribes hung the scalps to their bridles, others to their shields, while sonae ornamented with them the outer seams of their leggings. Scalping was sometimes adopted by the whites in their wars with the Redskins, and bounties have been offered for scalps several times in American history.
# 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica/Prune

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​PRUNE (adapted in various forms, e.g. prunne, proyne, &c., from Fr. prune, Med. Lat. pruna, Lat. prunum, Gr. προῦνον, earlier προῦμνον, plum), the name generally given to the fruit of various species of plums, dried, and used either stewed as a dish or plain as a dessert fruit. The finest dessert prunes, known as “French plums,” are produced from the St Julien plum-tree and are dried and exported from the valley of the Loire in France. California now produces a fine quality of “prune.” In scientific nomenclature, Prunus is the name of a genus of rosaceous trees, the type of the tribe pruneae, of which the plum, apricot, peach, cherry, &c., are species (see further under Plum). From this word must be distinguished “to prune,” (1) to cut or trim superfluous growth from a shrub or tree in order to encourage fresh growth and bring into regular form, &c., and (2) to trim or dress the feathers with the bill, used of a bird “preening” itself. In the first sense the word is an adaptation (16th century) of the Old French proigner, the second sense appears in the end of the 14th century but is not found in French.
# 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica/Pruritus

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​PRURITUS, an ailment characterized by intense itching of the surface of the body. It may occur in connexion with other morbid conditions, such as jaundice, diabetes, digestive disorders, &c., or as the result of the irritation produced by skin parasites. The most serious form is pruritus senilis, which affects old persons, and is often a cause of great suffering, depriving the patient of sleep. In such cases it is probably due to atrophic changes in the skin. No eruption is visible, except such marks as are produced by scratching. The treatment consists in the removal of any apparent cause, and measures to strengthen the system, such as the use of quinine, iron, &c. Soothing lotions composed of solutions of alkalis conjoined with chloral, opium, hydrocyanic acid, &c., may be applied to the affected skin at bedtime.
# 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica/Prutz, Robert Eduard

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​PRUTZ, ROBERT EDUARD (1816–1872), German poet and prose writer, was born at Stettin on the 30th of May 1816. He studied philology, philosophy and history at Berlin, Breslau and Halle, and in the last-named became associated, after taking his degree, with Arnold Ruge in the publication of the Hallesche Jahrbücher. Subjected on account of his advanced political views to police surveillance, he removed to Jena, where, on the strength of an excellent monograph, Der Göttinger Dichterbund (1841), he hoped to obtain an academic appointment. He was, however, expelled from the town for offending against the press laws, and it was not until 1846 that he received permission to lecture in Berlin. From 1849 to 1859 he was extra-ordinary professor of literature at Halle, but retired in 1859 to Stettin, where he died on the 21st of June 1872.
Prutz belonged to the group of political poets who dominated German literature between 1841 and 1848; hispoems are more conspicuous for their liberal tendency than their poetry. Among them may be mentioned Ein Märchen (1841); Gedichte (1841); Aus der Heimat (1858); Neue Gedichte (1860); Herbstrosen (1865); Buch der Liebe (1869). Among his novels are noteworthy, Das Engelchen (1851) and Der Musikauteuturm (1855); Much more important are his contributions to literary history and criticism: Vorlesungen über die Geschichte des deutschen Theaters (1847); Ludwig Holberg (1857); Die deutsche Literatur der Gegenwart (1859), and Menschen und Bücher (1862). Prutz also Wrote some dramas of little merit.
See R. von Gottschall, in Unsere Zeit (1872).
# 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica/Prussia (territory)

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PRUSSIA, in the original and narrower sense of the word, a territory of Germany, in the kingdom of Prussia, stretching along the Baltic coast for about 220 m., and occupying an area of 24,083 sq. m. The eastern part of this territory formed the duchy of Prussia, which was conquered and colonized by the Teutonic Order and was acquired by the elector of Brandenburg in 1618, furnishing his successor with his regal title in 1701. The western part, which had been severed from the eastern half and assigned to Poland in 1466, was not annexed to Prussia until the partition of Poland in 1772, while the towns of Danzig and Thorn remained Polish down to 1793. The two districts were united in 1824 to form a single province. But, as might have been expected, the union did not work well, and it was dissolved in 1878, its place being taken by the modern provinces of East and West Prussia. (See East Prussia and West Prussia.)
# 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica/Prutz, Hans

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​PRUTZ, HANS (1843– ), German historian, son of Robert Eduard Prutz (1816–1872), the essayist and historian; was born at Jena on the 20th of May 1843, and was educated at the universities of Jena and Berlin. In 1865 appeared his monograph on Henry the Lion, duke of Saxony and Bavaria, which was followed by three volumes on the emperor Frederick Barbarossa (Kaiser Friedrich I., Danzig, 1871–1874). Meanwhile from 1863 to 1873 he was teaching in secondary schools. In 1874 he received a government commission to undertake explorations in Syria, particularly at Tyre, and as a result he published in 1876 Aus Phönicien, a collection of historical and geographical sketches. In the same year appeared his first work on the Crusades, Quellenbeiträge zur Geschichte der Kreuzzüge, and a series of monographs on the same subject culminated in 1883 in the notable Kulturgeschichte der Kreuzzüge. Then turning to a wider theme Prutz contributed to Oncken's university history the two volumes on the political history of Europe during the middle ages (Staatengeschichte des Abendlandes im Mittelalter, Berlin, 1885–1887). In 1888 he reverted to a subject which he had touched upon in his Geheimlehre uud Geheimstatuten des Tempelherrenordens (Danzig, 1879), and wrote the history of the rise and fall of the Templars (Entwickelung und Untergang des Tempelherrenordens), which is noticed in the article Templars. His Preussische Geschichte (4 vols., Stuttgart, 1899–1902), which is perhaps his most notable work, is an attempt to apply scientific rather than patriotic canons to a subject which has been mainly in the hands of historians with a patriotic bias. He also wrote Aus des Grossen Kurfürsten letzten Jahren (Berlin, 1897) and Bismarcks Bildung, ihre Quellen und ihre Äusserungen (Berlin, 1904). In 1902 Prutz resigned the chair of history in the university of Königsberg, which he had held since 1877, and took up his residence at Munich.
# 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica/Prud'hon, Pierre

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​PRUD'HON, PIERRE (1758–1823), French painter, born at Cluny on the 4th of April 1758, was the third son of a mason. The monks of the abbey undertook his education, and by the aid of the bishop of Mâcon he was placed with Devosges, director of the art school at Dijon. In 1778 Prud'hon went to Paris armed with a letter to Wille, the celebrated engraver, and three years later he obtained the triennial prize of the states of Burgundy, which enabled him to go to Rome, where he became intimate with Canova. He returned to Paris in 1787, and led for some time a precarious existence. The illustrations which he executed for the Daphnis and Chloe published by Didot brought him into notice, and his reputation was extended by the success of his decorations in the Hôtel de Landry (now Rothschild), his ceiling painting of “Truth and Wisdom” for Versailles (Louvre), and of “Diana and Jupiter” for the Gallery of Antiquities in the Louvre. In 1808 he exhibited “Crime pursued by Vengeance and Justice” (Louvre, engraved by Royer which had been commissioned for the assize courts, and “Psyche carried off by Zephyrs” (engraved by Massard). These two remarkable compositions brought Prud'hon the Legion of Honour; and in 1816 he entered the Institute. Easy as to fortune, and consoled for the misery of his marriage by the devoted care of his excellent and charming pupil, Mlle Mayer, Prud'hon's situation seemed enviable; but Mlle Mayer's tragical suicide on the 26th of May 1821 brought ruin to his home, and two years later (Feb. 16, 1823) Prud'hon followed her to the grave. Mlle Mayer (1778–1821) was his ablest pupil. Her “Abandoned Mother” and “Happy Mother” are in the Louvre.
Voiart, “Notice historique de la vie et oeuvres de P. Prud'hon,” in Arch. de l'art français; Qu. de Quincy, Discours prononcé sur la tombe de Prud'hon, Fév. 1823; Eugène Delacroix, Rev. des deux mondes, 1846; Charles Blanc, Hist. des peintres français.
# 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica/Zalmoxis

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​ZALMOXIS, or Zamolxis, a semi-mythical social and religious reformer, regarded as the only true God by the Thracian Getae. According to Herodotus (iv. 94), the Getae, who believed in the immortality of the soul, looked upon death merely as going to Zalmoxis. Every five years they selected by lot one of the tribesmen as a messenger to the god. The man was thrown into the air and caught upon the points of spears. If he did not die, he was considered unfit to undertake the mission and another was chosen. By the euhemeristic Hellespontine Greeks Herodotus was told that Zalmoxis was really a man, formerly a slave of Pythagoras at Samos, who, having obtained his freedom and amassed great wealth, returned to Thrace, and instructed his fellow-tribesmen in the doctrines of Pythagoras and the arts of civilization. He taught them that they would pass at death to a certain place, where they would enjoy all possible blessings for all eternity, and to convince them of this he had a subterranean chamber constructed, to which he withdrew for three years. Herodotus, who declines to commit himself as to the existence of Zalmoxis, expresses the opinion that in any case he must have lived long before the time of Pythagoras. It is probable that Zalmoxis is Sabazius. the Thracian Dionysus or Zeus; Mnaseas of Patrae identified him with Cronus. In Plato (Charmides, 158 B) he is mentioned with Abaris as skilled in the arts of incantation. No satisfactory etymology of the name has been suggested.
# 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica/Zamora (city)

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​ZAMORA, an episcopal city, and the capital of the Spanish province of Zamora; on the right bank of the river Duero (Douro), and at the junction of railways from Salamanca, Medina del Campo and Astorga. Pop. (1900) 16,283. Zamora occupies a rocky height overlooking the Duero, a little below its confluence with the Valderaduey. The river is crossed by a fine 14th-century bridge of sixteen pointed arches. The citadel of Zamora dates from the 8th century. The small but beautiful cathedral, one of four 12th-century churches in the city, is a Romanesque building, with a square tower, a dome above the crossing, and an elaborately-decorated interior. It was completed about 1175, and contains some interesting medieval tombs, and paintings by Fernando Gallegos (1475–1550). The other principal buildings are the 17th-century town-hall, the palace of the provincial assembly, a hospital with curious Gothic windows, an ecclesiastical seminary, and a school of engineering. The trade is chiefly agricultural, but linen and woollen goods, pottery, hats, leather, and spirits are manufactured in small quantities.
In the early period of the Christian re-conquest Zamora, from its position on the north bank of the Duero, was a place of considerable strategic importance. It was taken from the Moors by Alphonso I. of Leon in 748, but was again held by them for short periods in 813, 939, 963, 984 and 986. It was entirely repaired by Ferdinand I. of Castile and Leon, who in 1061 gave it to his daughter Doña Urraca. After his death in 1065 his son Sancho II. disputed possession with Urraca and laid siege to the city, but without success, although the famous Ruy Diaz de Bivar was among his warriors, and indeed at this time received his title of “The Cid.” Zamora became subject to Alphonso VI. in 1073.
# 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica/Zamora (province)

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​ZAMORA, an inland province of north-western Spain, one of the three into which the former province of Leon has since 1833 been divided; bounded on the W. by Portugal and Orense, N. by Leon, E. by Valladolid, and S. by Salamanca. Pop. (1900) 275,545; area, 4097 sq. m. Zamora is traversed from east to west by the river Duero or Douro (q.v.), which receives within the province the Valderaduey ancl the Esla on the right and the Guareña on the left; the Tormes also skirts the south-western boundary for some 25 m. Except in the north-west, where it is entered by two outlying ridges of the Cantabrian Mountains, the Sierra de la Culebra and Sierra de Peña Negra, the surface consists of a level or slightly undulating plateau; its lowest point is 1070 ft. above sea-level. Its plains, especially the valley of the Esla, yield large quantities of grain and pulse; wine and flax are also produced; and on the higher grounds large numbers of merino sheep and goats are reared, chiefly for export to Portugal. The manufactures of Zamora are unimportant. Three lines of railway, from Astorga on the N., Salamanca on the S., and Medina del Campo on the E., traverse the province and meet at the city of Zamora; there is a lack of good roads, and it is largely for this reason that the mines and extensive forests are neglected. The only towns with more than 5000 inhabitants are Zamora (pop., 1900, 16,287) and Toro (8379), which are described in separate articles. The people of the province are very poor, badly educated, and lacking in enterprise. (See also Leon.)
# 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica/Zamakhsharī

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​ZAMAKHSHARĪ [Abū-l Qāsim Mahmūd ibn ‛Umar uz-Zamakhsharī] (1074–1143), Arabian theologian and grammarian, was born at Zamakhshar, a village of Khwarizm, studied at Bokhara and Samarkand, and enjoyed the fellowship of the jurists of Bagdad. For many years he stayed at Mecca, from which circumstance he was known as Jar-ullah (“God’s client”). Later he returned to Khwarizm, where he died at the capital. Jurjanīyya. In theology he was a pronounced Mo‛tazilite (see Mahommedan Religion: section Sects). Although he used Persian for some of his works he was a strong supporter of the superiority of the Arabic language and an opponent of the Shu'ubite movement. Zamakhsharī’s fame as a commentator rests upon his commentary on the Koran, called al-Kashshāf (“the Revealer”). In spite of its Mo‛tazilite theology it was famous among scholars and was the basis of the widely-read commentary of Baidhāwi (q.v.). It has been edited by W. Nassau Lees (Calcutta, 1856), and has been printed at Cairo (1890). Various glosses on it have been written by different authors. His chief grammatical work is the Kitāb ul-mufassal, written about 1120 and edited by J. P. Broch (2nd ed., Christiania, 1879). Many commentaries have been written on this work, the fullest being that of Ibn Ya‛ish (d. 1245), edited by G. Jahn (2 vols., Leipzig, 1876–86).
Of his lexicographical works the Kitāb Muqaddimat ul-Adab was edited as Samachscharii Lexicon Arab. Pers. (ed. J. G. Wetzstein. 2 vols., Leipzig, 1844), and the Asās ul-balagha, a lexicon of choice words and phrases, was printed at Bulaq, 1882. Of his adab works the Nawābigh ul-kalim, an anthology, was edited by H. A. Schultens (Leiden, 1772), by B. de Meynard in the Journal asiatique. ser. 7, vol. vi., pp. 313 ff. (cf. M. de Goeje in Zeitschr. d . deutsch. morg. Gesellschaft, vol. xxx. pp. 569 ff.) . The Atwaq udh-Dhahab was edited by J. von Hammer-Purgstall (Vienna, 1835); by H. L. Fleischer (Leipzig, 1835); by G. Weil (Stuttgart, 1863); and by B. de Meynard (Paris, 1876; cf. de Goeje as above).
(G. W. T.)
# 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica/Zamboanga

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​ZAMBOANGA, the capital of the Moro Province, and of the District (or Comandancia) of Zamboanga, and a port of entry, on the island of Mindanao, Philippine Islands, at the S. extremity of the western peninsula. Pop. (1903) 3281; of the comandancia, 20,692. Zamboanga has one of the most healthful sites in the islands, its climate being decidedly cooler than that of Manila. Since the American occupation the trade has greatly increased and various improvements have been planned or are under way, including a new custom-house, better facilities for docking, pavements, bridges, and public parks. The Provincial Capitol, one of the finest government buildings in the Philippines, was completed in 1908. There is considerable valuable timber in the vicinity, live-stock is extensively raised, and rice, copra, hemp, sugar-cane, tobacco, and sweet potatoes are other important products. Zamboanga was one of the oldest Spanish settlements in the islands, it having been taken and fortified as a base against the Moros, and it still contains an old stone fort. Many of the inhabitants are descendants of slaves who escaped from the Moros and sought Spanish protection. A Spanish patois, called “Zamboangueno,” is spoken by most of the native inhabitants.
# 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica/Zamindar

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​ZAMINDAR, or Zemindar (from Persian zamin = “land”), an Indian landholder. In official usage the term is applied to any person, whether owner of a large estate or cultivating member of a village community, who is recognized as possessing some property in the soil, as opposed to the ryot (q.v.), who is regarded as having only a right of occupancy, subject in both cases to payment of the land revenue assessed on his holding. The zamindari system obtains throughout northern and central India, and also in the permanently settled estates of Madras.
The raja of Benares had certain special rights as zamindar, and in 1910 it was arranged to make part of his “family domain” a new native state with, an area of 887 sq. m. (pop. 362,000).