KFLCC Kingdom Law 2nd Ed.

963

PROVOST

PTOMAINES

In ecclesiastical law. A person who Is appointed to manage another man's affairs In the ecclesiastical courts; a proctor. Also an annual payment made by the pa rochial clergy to the bishop, on visitations. Tomlins. precaution, attentiveness, and good judgment, as applied to action or conduct. That degree ot care required by the exigencies or circumstances under which it is to be exercised. Cronk v. Railway Co., 3 S. D. 93, 52 N. W. 420. This term, in the language of the law, is commonly associated with "care" and "diligence" and contrasted with "negligence." See those ti tles. Prudenter agit qui praecepto legis ob temperat. 5 Coke, 49. He acts prudently who obeys the command of the law. PRYK. A kind of service of tenure. Blount says it signifies an old-fashioned spur with one point only, which the tenant, hold ing land by this tenure, was to find for the king. Wharton. PSEUDOCYESIS. In medical jurispru dence. A frequent manifestation of hysteria in women, in which the abdomen is inflated, simulating pregnancy; the patient aiding in the deception. PSYCHO-DIAGNOSIS. In medical ju risprudence. A method of investigating the origin and cause of any given disease or mor bid condition by examination of the mental condition of the patient, the application of various psychological tests, and an inquiry into the past history of the patient, with a view to its bearing on his present psychic state. PSYCHOLOGICAL FACT. In the law of evidence. A fact which can only be per ceived mentally; such as the motive by which a person is actuated. BurrilL Circ Ev. 130, 131. PSYCHOTHERAPY. A method or sys tem of alleviating or curing certain forms of disease, particularly diseases of the nervous system or such as are traceable to nervous disorders, by suggestion, persuasion, encour agement, the inspiration of hope or confi dence, the discouragement of morbid mem ories, associations, or beliefs, and other sim ilar means addressed to the mental state of the patient, without (or sometimes in con junction with) the administration of drugs or other physical remedies. PTOMAINES. In medical jurisprudence. Alkaloidal products of the decomposition or putrefaction of albuminous substances, as, in animal and vegetable tissues. These are sometimes poisonous, but not invariably. Ex amples of poisonous ptomaines are those oc- PRUDENCE. Carefulness,

or actions on the part of one person towards another as tend to arouse rage, resentment, or fury in the latter against the former, and thereby cause him to do some illegal act against or in relation to the person offering the provocation. See State v. Byrd, 52 S. C. 480, 30 S. E. 482; Ruble v. People, 67 I1L App. 438. PROVOST. The principal magistrate of a royal burgh in Scotland; also a governing officer of a university or college. PROVOST-MARSHAL. In English law. An officer of the royal navy who had the charge of prisoners taken at sea, and some times also on land. In military law, the of ficer acting as the head of the military police of any post, camp, city or other place in military occupation, or district under the reign of martial law. PROXENETA. Lat In the civil law. A broker; one who negotiated or arranged the terms of a contract between two parties, as between buyer and seller; one who negotiat ed a marriage; a match-maker. Calvin. —Proximate cause. The proximate cause is the efficient cause, the one that necessarily sets the other causes in operation. The causes that are merely incidental or instruments of a su perior or controlling agency are not the proxi mate causes and the responsible ones, though they may be nearer in time to the result. It is only when the causes are independent of each other that the nearest is, of course, to be charg ed with the disaster. See Blythe v. Railway Co., 15 Colo. 333, 25 Pac. 702, 11 L. R. A. 615, 22 Am. St. Rep. 403; Pielke v. Railroad Co., 5 Dak. 444, 41 N. W. 669; Railroad Co. v. Kelly, 91 Tenn. 699, 20 S. W. 312, 17 L. R. A. 691, 30 Am. St. Rep. 902; Gunter v. Granite ville Mfg. Co., 15 S. C. 443; Bosqui v. Rail road Co., 131 Cal. 390, 63 Pac. 682; Mtna Ins. Co. v. Boon, 95 U. S. 117, 24 L. Ed. 395; Wills v. Railway Co., 108 Wis. 255, 84 N. W. 998; Davis v. Standish, 26 Hun (N. Y.) 615. See, also, IMMEDIATE (CAUSE.)—Proximate dam ages. See DAMAGES. PROXIMATE. Immediate; nearest; next in order. Proximus est cui nemo antecedit, su prenrus est quern nemo sequitur. He is next whom no one precedes; he is last whom no one follows. Dig. 50, 16, 92. PROXY. A person who is substituted or deputed by another to represent him and act for him, particularly in some meeting or pub lic body. Also the instrument containing the appointment of such person. The word is said to be contracted from "procuracy," (q. v.) One who is appointed or deputed by anoth er to vote for him. Members of the house of lords in England have the privilege of voting by proxy. 1 BL Comm. 168. PROXIMITY. Kindred between two per sons. Dig. 38, 16, 8.