PRECESSION. 356 PRECOCITY. in the heavens. This movement of the equinoxes also explains the want of coincidence between the signs of the zodiac and those of the ecliptic. See Aries. If the earth were truly spherical and homo- geneous; or if it were composed of spherical layers each of uniform density; or, more general- ly, if it were suoli that the resultant of the gravi- tational attractions exerted on all its parts by any other body should always pass through a single definite point in its mass, its diurnal rotation would not be afl'ected b.v the attractions of an_v other bodies. If originally rotating about a principal axis of inertia, it would forever revolve about it, and the direction of the axis would re- main fixed in space. To put this in more popu- lar language, the pole star (q.v. ) would always be the same star. But, although the earth ro- tates about an axis almost exactly coinciding with its axis of figure, the attraction of various bodies, especially the sun and m.oon, on the oblate protuberant portion at the equator, tends to give it a rotation aliout an axis in the plane of the equator; and the combination of these two rotations gives rise to a .shifting of the instan- taneous axis of rotation in the earth and also in space. If this attracting force were constant, the pole of the equator would move about the pole of the ecliptic in a circle. But. owing to a disturbance called nutation (q.v.), produced by the unequal attraction of the moon, this motion is waved and not exactly circular. Thus the plane of the equator does not remain fixed, and consequently the points in which the equator intersects the ecliptic will also vary, and this causes the precession of the equinoxes. See Lu- K.R Theory. PRECHTL, preK't'l. Joh.^nn Joseph vox ( ITi S-1S.)4 ) . An Austrian physicist, born in Bischofsheini and educated at Wiirzburg. He settled in Vienna in 1802 and in 1814 became di- rector of the Institute of Technologj- there. He founded in 1809 the Xaval Academy at Triest. Prechtl wrote many articles for the Technolo- gische Enci/kloiMclie (1830-55), of which he was editor, and for the Jahrhiicher des Pohjtechni- svhen Instituts (1819-3!)), which also was under his editorial charge; and published Grundlehren der C'hemie in tcchnisclier Bc:ieliin>g i2A ed. 1817), Pail-tififhc Dioiitrik (1828), and Vntrr- sudninycn iihrr drn Fhnj drr VOgcl (1S4G). PR:^CIEUSES ridicules, pra'syes' re'de'- kt.il', Les (Fr., the riiliculous blue-stockings). A brilliant comedy by ilolierc, first produced on November 18, 1659, in the Hotel du Petit-Bour- bon in Paris, and acted in IGGO before the King, who presented 3000 livres to the actors. The success of the play was instantaneous and owed little to its plot, but sprang from the general delight at Molifere's scathing and brilliant satire of the esprit prccicnx. developed in the Hotel de Rambouillet, and exhiliited in its most exaggerat- ed form by Jllle. de Scudery and her school. PRECIEUX, pra'sye' (Fr.. finical, affected). An epithet apjdied to the affected style which developed in France during the seventeenth cen- tury. It was the outcome of a movement for purity and refinement in language, fostered in various Parisian salons, notably in that of the Hotel de Rambouillet. It soon became itself a menace to the language, degenerating into a mere affectation of fine sentiment and fine words. Under its influence, fantastic turns of speech replaced simple expressions to such a degree that the whole movement acquired a ridiculous character and led iloli&re to write his brilliant satire Les Precieiises Ridicules, which gave the death blow to the school. See Eaiibouillet, Hotel de. PRECIOUS METALS, As the predominant use of the precious metals is for monetary pur- poses and radical changes in the quantity of the metals affect all prices, much interest attaches to their production. From the collapse of the Roman Empire to the discovery of America it is probaljle that no important additions were made to the world's monetary stock. With the dis- covery of America a new era came in. but it was not before the conquest of Mexico (1521) and of Peru (1533) that appreciable additions were made to the world's stock of silver and gold. The course of gold and silver production since 1493 is given in the following table: Average Assfai, Production in Fine Ounces Cold Silver UOS-l.WO 186,470 238,071 293,304 610,882 512.214 1,760.502 6,508,293 6,082,534 6.567,062 5,073,250 7,882,564 12,461,478 152,779,050 334,031,609 1.511,050 1521-1600 8,600,207' 1601-170(J 11,970,731 1701-1800 18,336,720 1801-1840 20,028,887 1841-18.50 1851-1860 25,090,342 28,793,113 1S61-1870 1871-1880 39,226,778 71.046,308 1881-18yo 102.053,872 1891-1895 157,.581,331 1896-1900 165,390.822 Total production 1493 1850 4,817,930 012 1851-1900 4,026,051,467 See Gold; Silver. PRECOCITY (from Lat. prcecox, ripened too soon, from prwcoquere, ripen beforehand, from prce, before + coqucre, to cook; connected with Gk, TT^TTTeiJ', peplein, Skt, puc, to cook). A pre- mature development, especially of the mental functions. The chief problems of precocity are ( 1 ) the relation between mental precocity and bodily abnormalities, (2) the relation between precocity and genius, ( 3 ) the course of training ihat the precocious child should receive. Ex- perts disagree in their answers to the first two questions. It is, however, agreed that precocious children should receive physical attention, while their intellectual bent should not be too much fostered. It is popularly supposed that preco- cious children are subject to diseases of the nervous system, various scrofulous symptoms, rickets, a stunted body, and other tokens of con- stitutional enfeeblement, and that they are prone to subsequent mental degeneration, if not to idiocy and premature death. On the other hand. Sully. Gallon, and other writers deem an early manifestation of genius not incompatible with a prolonged development. From data furnished b.V Sully. Donaldson concludes that of 2S7 geniuses (musicians, painters, sculptors, scholars, poets, scientific men, novelists, and philosophers), 80 per cent, gave distinct signs of promise before 20. 80 per'cent. produced work before 30. 84 per cent, attained fame before 40. JIusical talent is especially apt to be precocious : only 6 per cent, of the great composers failed to show marked abilitv as children.
