568 states, the owner of land may defeat prescriptive acquisition by notifying the occupant of his intention to dispute the title. This notice operates in behalf of the real owner as a legal interruption to break up the running of the prescriptive time; while the claimant may treat it as a trespass or a tortious intrusion on his presumed ownership, and bring an action to determine the right. PRESERVATION OF FOOD. All articles used as nutriment (see ALIMENT) are themselves of organic nature, and consequently subject to rapid decay. The elements of which they consist, chiefly carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, and nitrogen, are loosely held in their various combinations, and constantly tend to return to the simpler and more stable compounds recognized as inorganic. Thus carbon, which constitutes about one half the weight of dry vegetable matters and a large proportion of animal substances, is ever ready to leave the elements that hold it in these bodies, and, uniting with a due proportion of oxygen, escape in the form of carbonic acid gas; hydrogen in like manner seeks its atom of oxygen, with which to form water; nitrogen combines with hydrogen to produce the volatile ammonia, and more hydrogen is still removed in combination with sulphur in the noxious gas sulphuretted hydrogen. (See COMBUSTION, EREMACAUSIS, FERMENTATION, and PUTREFACTION.) Food being irregular in its supplies, and also required in places where it is not naturally produced, it is important to be able to check the tendency to decay, that stores of it may be retained for use whenever and wherever needed. As the presence of water or almost any fluid facilitates these changes, mechanically by increasing the mobility of the particles, and also by the chemical reaction of its elements, the permanence of the compounds cannot fail to be increased by its removal. For this reason, the practice of drying meats in the sun or by a fire has been very generally adoptThe flesh of ed, even among rude nations. the buffalo and the deer is thus preserved by the Indians of the West, and the Mexicans and Spanish Americans have long applied the same method to the preservation of beef, which, cut into long strips, dipped in brine, and hung upon lines to dry in the sun, they designate tasajo. Such meat may be reduced to powder by pounding it in a mortar, and thus prepared it is sometimes mixed with corn meal and packed in tight bags of skin to be kept as long as need be. It is also sometimes mixed with half its weight of melted fat, or with marrow and dried currants or berries, and again with flour, oatmeal, or powdered hard bread. Such is the pemmican of the north-west voyageurs. Glue is the gelatine of animal bodies preserved by thorough drying. Fish are also preserved by Codfish taken on the banks the same method. of Newfoundland are immediately split open, and thrown with some salt into the hold of the vessel, whence they are afterward taken and spread out upon rude stands of wicker work called flakes, and left for weeks to DE- PRESERVATION OF FOOD and fish brought from distant places, and kept for a long time. Supplies of beef and pork at Lake Superior, instead of being "put down" in the autumn, are commonly hung up as the animals are killed, and at any time during the winter fresh meat is cut from the pieces. Severe frost is injurious to the flavor; but a regular temperature at or a little above the freezing point is effectual to preserve meats without impairing their good qualities. After being frozen the thawing should be gradual, or sudden putrefaction is likely to ensue. Vegetables and fruits are best preserved in large quantities in dry places where the temperature is uniformly low, but above freezing; as in cool dry cellars, and caves specially made for this purpose in dry sand banks. The introduction of refrigerators, or ice boxes, in markets and private houses, effects an immense saving in the preservation of meats from decay.-Common air, or oxygen, is as essential to the decay of organic bodies as moisture; hence, if it is excluded, they are preserved. Fruits are protected by their natural skin; but if this is injured, the exposed part is soon affected by the oxygen of the air, and decay goes on from this point. Once begun, it is not arrested, though the air be then excluded. Grapes may be long preserved carefully packed in saw dust, but the puncture of the skin of one of them with a needle will soon be followed by fermentation. Hence the importance of carefully handling fruits intended to be kept a long time. Fermentation is checked by boiling, and the air being then excluded, the articles may still be preserved. On this principle the most efficient plans of preserving food in their original condition are founded. M. Appert received in 1810 from the French government 12,000 francs for introducing his process of parboiling provisions and then confining them in air-tight jars. His method was perfected by Donkin and co. and Gamble of London, and as thus improved is now in common use. It has proved of immense importance for navy and army supplies, and is especially valuable for furnishing fresh meats on long voyages. Alimentary substances of almost any kind are cooked in the usual way; from the meats the bones are removed, and they are then put in tin canisters with or without vegetables, and the canister is immediately filled quite full with rich gravy. A cover with a small hole in it is then fitted on, and the vessel is set in boiling water, or in a hotter saline solution. The heat expels all the air that may be in the canister, and steam also issues through the little aperture. This is checked by the application of a damp sponge, when the hole is instantly stopped by soldering, and it is exposed again to a boiling temperature. As the contents cool they contract, and the cover is bent a little in by the external pressure of the air. If afterward, on being exposed to a temperature of 100° F., putrefaction does not take place and burst the canister, no free oxygen is present, and there is no risk of the contents spoil PRESERVATION OF WOOD 569 ing in any climate for any length of time. By a later improvement the air is partially exhausted from the canister while it is standing in hot water, and it is then immediately closed. Cans and bottles are now provided and largely used for preserving fruits, having metallic covers that screw tightly down, and the joint is made still more secure by the application of wax. The fruits are preserved either with or without sugar; and if without, a gill of water is introduced into the can for every quart of fruit. In every case the can is set into boiling water for 15 to 30 minutes before the cover is tightly screwed down, and after this for about half as long. The second boiling is designed to convert any oxygen that may possibly remain in the can into carbonic acid. In Texas a very nutritive and portable food called meat biscuit has been prepared by mixing strong beef broth with flour and baking. This may be cheaply produced in large quantities wherever cattle are destroyed for the sake of their skins only. Methods of preserving milk and butter are given in the articles on those subjects. Under the PRESERVATION OF WOOD. head of DRY ROT, one of the principal causes of the decay of wood has been considered, and reference was made to some of the methods of preserving wood. The protection of timber from decay is a subject which for some time has been attracting much attention in Great Britain, especially in reference to the use of the timber in ship building, and also in the construction of railroads, the substructure of which consists of wooden sleepers partially buried in the ground, and consequently under the most favorable conditions for rapid decay; and in the United States it is of great importance for the same applications. The methods in use are various, but are generally based upon the principle of expelling the natural juices of the wood and filling the pores with some substance possessing antiseptic properties, that will coagulate the remaining albumen, or that will prevent the admission of moisture. In the petroleum districts of Burmah and the Caspian sea, the quality of the natural rock oil to preserve timber that has been immersed in it is well understood, and the inhabitants employ the article for this purpose. The timber of whale ships is more durable for the oil it imbibes, and the staves of old oil casks are little liable to decay. If timber is well steamed in large tanks and the temperature is suddenly lowered, the pores are freed from the fluids and soluble matters in the wood, and are thus better prepared for the absorption of oil or other preservative liquids. In England no fewer than 47 patents have been granted for processes designed "to preserve animal and vegetable substances, including timber," 4 only of which were in the last century, the earliest in 1737. The first that was extensively applied was the process of Mr. Kyan, patented in England in 1832, and some time afterward introduced into the United States by the inventor. The wood was immersed in a solution of corrosive sublimate till saturated with it; and if it were necessary to hasten the process, this was done by employing an air-tight tank, exhausting the air, and forcing in the solution by external pressure. When faithfully conducted the effects were perfectly satisfactory; but, except by the use of open tanks, which was an extremely tedious method, the difficulties encountered in the employment of so corrosive a salt, together with the great cost of the material and the introduction of new methods, led to the abandonment of what was known as the kyanizing process.-Of the various preparations now used in England, that of Mr. J. Bethel, consisting of the oily mixtures obtained by a rough distillation of the tarry liquor of gas works, appears to be regarded as the most efficient. A solution of pyrolignate of iron is also similarly effective. From the presence of creosote in these liquors, and its known antiseptic property, the process is called creosotizing. The wood is put into a close tank, from which the air is exhausted, and the operation of the air pumps is continued several hours. The liquid is then admitted, and pressure is applied to the amount of 150 lbs. to the square inch; and this is kept up by continual pumping for 48 hours or longer. Yellow pine is thus increased in weight 11 lbs. to the cubic foot, and Riga pine about 8 lbs. The process is adopted by a large proportion of the railroad companies of England for the preservation of the sleepers, and, notwithstanding its somewhat expensive character, is highly approved of. Timber thus prepared retains a disagreeable smell, which for shipbuilding purposes is objectionable. It is also more inflammable than before. Insects will not attack it, and the preparation is a perfect protection against the teredo navalis or ship worm. The fibre of the wood is not only protected from moisture and the destructive action of alternating conditions of dryness and moisture, but it is greatly strengthened, so that the most porous and cheapest sorts of wood may be used for purposes commonly requiring strong oak.-In France the process of Dr. Boucherie has been extensively employed for railway and ship timber. The material used is sulphate of copper (blue vitriol) dissolved in 100 parts of water, so that at 60° F. the density is about 1.006. The timber set on end is covered with a watertight cap, into which the solution is conveyed through a flexible tube from the tank placed at an elevation of 30 or 40 feet. The sap is first forced out at the lower end by the pressure, and when it is exhausted the copper solution follows and occupies its place. Some kinds of timber are not penetrated by the solution; but it is perfectly effective in filling the pores of beech, birch, larch, Scotch fir, alder, elm, poplar, &c. The time required to complete the operation depends on the kind of wood and the length of the sticks. Timber thus prepared at Fontainebleau for the French navy was fully impregnated in 24 hours in lengths of 9 feet; but sticks of the same timber 40 feet long required 10 days for the completion of the process. Trees felled at any time between May and November were treated within 3 weeks of the time of felling; but if felled between November and May they were kept till the latter month. Sulphate of copper, and the acetate also, had been applied in England by Margary, and used to a considerable extent; so that the novelty in Dr. Boucherie's process is the peculiar and inexpensive method of injecting the solution. It is still extensively practised for preparing sleepers and telegraph posts for the French railways. Another process also employed in England, and more especially in France, is that of Mr. Payne, patented in England in 1841. The timber is introduced into a long iron cylinder, which is then closed airtight. Steam is driven in, expelling the air through a valve opened for the purpose, and a cold solution of sulphate of iron (green vitriol) is pumped in, which condenses the steam and produces a partial vacuum. This is made more complete by the air pump, and the cylinder is then filled with the solution, which is still forced in under considerable pressure. In a few minutes the solution is let out and the cylinder is again filled with air. This is again expelled by steam, and a solution of another salt is admitted, of such character as will react upon the sulphate of iron, producing double decomposition and leaving in the pores of the wood an insoluble salt. Chloride of lime answers this purpose, and the insoluble sulphate of lime remains in the wood, the hydrochlorate of iron being absorbed or washed out. Several other salts may be substituted for the lime salt, and among these carbonate of soda has been advantageously employed.-In the United States the process preferred to all the others is that called burnettizing, consisting in the use of chloride of zinc. For this a patent was granted in England in 1838 to Sir William Burnett, but the process was never patented in America. It was first introduced at Lowell, Mass., where in 1850 the "proprietors of the locks and canals on Merrimack river," at the joint expense of the manufacturing companies, erected an apparatus for carrying it on. The works proved so successful and capacious that a regular business was established, and lumber of various sorts has been submitted to the process for railroad companies and other parties at an expense of $5 to $6 per 1,000 feet, board measThe cylinder in which the operation is conducted is of cast iron, 60 feet long and 5 feet in diameter, with one head movable, the iron an inch thick. A rail track of 2 feet gauge leads into the cylinder, and upon this the timber, loaded and chained down upon a heavy low truck, is run in by steam power, the charge amounting to about 7,000 feet. The cylinder head being closed and packed, the air is exhausted by an air pump of 12 inches diameter and 3 feet stroke, and a vacuum is maintained ure. PRESIDENT of about 28 inches of mercury, this operation lasting in all about 45 minutes. The pumps are then changed and the cylinder is filled by atmospheric pressure from a large cistern containing a solution of 100 parts of water and 1 parts of dry chloride of zinc by weight, and the pressure is raised to 125 lbs. to the square inch above the atmospheric pressure. To do this occupies 20 minutes, and the pressure is maintained 2 hours longer. The surplus solution is then drained off into the cistern, for which 14 hours are allowed; the cylinder head is then unpacked, and the truck with its load drawn out. The whole time occupied, including the loading and unloading, is 7 hours and 20 minutes. To produce the best results, the charge should consist of timber of uniform thickness, as otherwise the thicker blocks are not saturated throughout when the thinner have absorbed more than is necessary. The wood should not be seasoned, as it then absorbs the solution with greater difficulty, and the inner portions, even of plank and other stuff of moderate dimensions, may not be reached by the solution at all. Of the concentrated solution as received from the manufacturers, containing about 55 per cent. of the dry chloride, from 10 to 40 lbs. are taken up by 1,000 feet, board measure, or from about 2 to 8 ounces to a cubic foot. A method of burnettizing wood in open tanks, thus saving the expense of the costly apparatus now employed, is proposed by F. Hewson, C.E., in the "Journal of the Franklin Institute" for Jan. 1859.-Lime water has been recently employed in England for preserving wood, the timber being allowed to soak in tanks containing it. The lime is said to penetrate the pores of the wood, neutralizing the albuminous and saccharine principles. As the hydrate of lime changes after a time to the carbonate, the pores become filled with the stony product, and the effect is that of incipient petrifaction. PRESIDENT (Lat. præses), an officer appointed or elected to preside over a tribunal, a company, an assembly, or a republic. The chief executive officer of the United States bears this title, and the second executive officer, the vicepresident, is by virtue of his office the president of the senate, and succeeds to the office of president of the United States on the death or disability of the regular incumbent during his term. The chief executives of Mexico and the republics of Central and South America are also termed presidents. The president of the United States holds his office for the term of 4 years, beginning on the 4th day of March next succeeding the day of his election. He is chosen by electors who are themselves chosen by the people, and he must be a native of the United States and at least 35 years old. His powers are thus fixed by the constitution of the United States, article ii. section 2: "The president shall be commander-in-chief of the army and navy of the United States, and of the militia of the several states when called into the actual service of the United States; he may require the opinion in writing of the principal officer in each of the executive departments, upon any subject relating to the duties of their respective offices, and he shall have power to grant reprieves and pardons for offences against the United States, except in cases of impeachment. He shall have power, by and with the consent of the senate, to make treaties, provided two thirds of the senators present concur; and he shall nominate, and, by and with the advice and consent of the senate, shall appoint ambassadors, other public ministers and consuls, judges of the supreme court, and all other officers of the United States, whose appointments are not herein otherwise provided for, and which shall be established by law; but the congress may by law vest the appointment of such inferior officers as they may think proper in the president alone, in the courts of law, or in the heads of departments. The president shall have power to fill up all vacancies that may happen during the recess of the senate, by granting commissions which shall expire at the end of their next session." Section 7 of article i. requires that every bill which passes congress must have the president's signature to become a law, unless, after he has returned it to congress with his objections, two thirds of each house shall vote in its favor. The president's duties, as determined by article ii. section 3, are to give to congress from time to time information of the state of the Union, and recommend to their consideration such measures as he shall judge necessary and expedient; to convene both houses on extraordinary occasions, and, in case of disagreement between them as to the time of adjournment, to adjourn them to such time as he shall think proper; to receive ambassadors and other public ministers; to take care that the laws be faithfully executed; and to commission all the officers of the United States. He can be removed from office on impeachment for and conviction of treason, bribery, or other high crimes and misdemeanors. The presidents of the United States from the adoption of the constitution till the present time have been 16 in number, viz.: George Washington (inaugurated April 30, 1789), John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, James Monroe, John Quincy Adams, Andrew Jackson, Martin Van Buren, William Henry Harrison, John Tyler, James Knox Polk, Zachary Taylor, Millard Fillmore, Franklin Pierce, James Buchanan, and Abraham Lincoln (inaugurated March 4, 1861). Of these, five served two terms each, viz.: Washington, Jefferson, Madison, Monroe, and Jackson; two died while in office, viz.: Harrison (April 4, 1841, one month after his inauguration) and Taylor (July 9, 1850, 16 months after inauguration); and the two who succeeded the last mentioned, Tyler and Fillmore, were elected as vice-presidents. PRESS, PRINTING. See PRINTING. PRESTER JOHN, the name given by Europeans in the middle ages to a supposed Chris tian sovereign or dynasty of sovereigns established in the interior of Asia. The name of this personage occurs first in the 11th century, and according to one account he was an eastern potentate dwelling beyond Persia, who, having been converted to Christianity by the spirit of a departed saint, caused his subjects to adopt the same faith. He was at once sovereign and priest of his people (whence his name Prester or Presbyter), and his sway, in its pastoral simplicity and benignity, was compared to that of kings in the patriarchal times. This story was subsequently found to be a mere Utopian fancy. The belief in the existence of Prester John, however, took a more tangible shape in the 13th century, and on the authority of some Nestorian priests he was said to be identical with Ung Khan, a powerful Tartar chief living in Karakorum, in eastern Tartary, who in 1202 was overthrown and slain by Genghis Khan. Giovanni Carpini, a Franciscan friar, who in 1246 was sent on a mission to Batoo Khan, the grandson of Genghis, failed to discover the Christian monarch or his subjects, but supposed him to be established further to the eastward. A few years later another Franciscan, Rubruquis, penetrated as far as the court of Batoo Khan in central Tartary, and was thence forwarded to Karakorum, the residence of Mangoo Khan, and the supposed seat of Prester John. His search for the latter was unavailing, but from a few Nestorian priests whom he met there, he ascertained that Ung Khan had encouraged the propagation of Christianity in his dominions. The existence of Prester John nevertheless continued to be believed, and as late as the close of the 15th century the Portuguese, who had reached India by the way of the cape of Good Hope, made fruitless inquiries for him there. About the same time Peres da Covilham, a Portuguese traveller, made a journey to Abyssinia in quest of the kingdom of Prester John; and finding the negus or king of Habesh to be a Christian prince, he conferred the title upon him, although it had never been claimed by that monarch. Mosheim, in his "Ecclesiastical Institutes," conjectures that Prester John may have been a Nestorian priest, who, gaining possession of a throne in eastern Tartary, transmitted his title as well as his name to his successors. Others have supposed him to be identical with the grand lama. PRESTON, a N. W. co. of Va., bordering on Pennsylvania and Maryland, and intersected by Cheat river; area, about 600 sq. m.; pop. in 1860, 13,312, of whom 67 were slaves. It occupies a valley between the Chestnut ridge on the W. and the Alleghany ridge on the E., and the soil is very fertile. Iron ore, coal, sandstone, and slate are found, and extensive water power is afforded by the streams. The productions in 1850 were 144,276 bushels of Indian corn, 153,496 of oats, 36,769 of wheat, 7,765 tons of hay, 43,970 lbs. of wool, and 179,836 of butter. There were 4 tanneries, 1 woollen factory, 28 churches, and 840 pupils in public schools. Value of real estate in 1856, $2,980,604, showing an increase since 1850 of 155 per cent. It is traversed by the Baltimore and Ohio railroad. Capital, Kingwood. PRESTON, a town of Lancashire, England, on the right bank of the river Ribble, 210 m. by railway N. W. from London; pop. in 1851, 69,542. It occupies an eminence rising from the river. A handsome railway viaduct, 68 feet high, spans the river. The staple manufacture of Preston was originally linen, which is still made to some extent, but has been completely eclipsed by cotton. There are more than 50 cotton mills, beside manufactories of worsted, machinery, &c. Vessels of 300 tons can ascend to the quays. Preston owes its name, originally Priests' Town, to the number of religious houses it contained. It returns 2 members to parliament. PRESTON. I. WILLIAM CAMPBELL, an American statesman and orator, born in Philadelphia, Dec. 27, 1794, died in Columbia, S. C., May 22, 1860. He was of a Virginia family, and his paternal grandfather, who married a sister of Patrick Henry, participated in the war of independence as colonel in the forces of that commonwealth. His own birth happened in Philadelphia during the temporary residence of his father there as a member of congress. In his 14th year he was sent to college at Lexington, Va., but being compelled by ill health to visit the South, he finished his education at the state college in Columbia, S. C., where he was graduated in 1812. Returning to Virginia, he commenced the study of the law with William Wirt, but after a few months was again compelled to travel for the benefit of his health. After an extensive tour through the valley of the Mississippi, he visited Europe, where he remained several years, and at the university of Edinburgh pursued his studies under Professors Playfair, Brown, and Irving. In 1819 he returned to Virginia, and in 1820 was admitted to the bar of that state. Two years afterward he transferred his residence to Columbia, S. C., and soon gained a reputation as a public speaker. In 1828, and again in 1830-'32, he was returned to the state legislature, and became one of the leaders of the nullification party. In 1836 he was elected to the U. S. senate; but differing with his colleague, Mr. Calhoun, and his constituents in regard to the support which they gave to Mr. Van Buren, he resigned his seat and resumed the practice of the law. He was thus engaged when in 1845 he was induced to accept the presidency of the South Carolina college. The institution had sunk somewhat in public esteem on account of the supposed lax views of religion entertained by its former president, Judge Cooper; and notwithstanding new professors had been introduced, and other reforms adopted by the trustees, the students were ill disciplined and frequently in open rebellion. On Mr. Preston's assumption of authority the college soon rose to a degree of prosperity un |