commons, &c. given
them in at the windows."--_Grad. ad Cantab._, p. 85.

PRUDENTIAL COMMITTEE. In Yale College, a committee to whom the
discretionary concerns of the College are intrusted. They order
such repairs of the College buildings as are necessary, audit the
accounts of the Treasurer and Steward, make the annual report of
the state of the College, superintend the investment of the
College funds, institute suits for the recovery and preservation
of the College property, and perform various other duties which
are enumerated in the laws of Yale College.

At Middlebury College, similar powers are given to a body bearing
the same name.--_Laws Mid. Coll._, 1839, pp. 4, 5.

PUBLIC. At Harvard College, the punishment next higher in order to
a _private admonition_ is called a _public admonition_, and
consists in a deduction of sixty-four marks from the rank of the
offender, accompanied by a letter to the parent or guardian. It is
often called _a public_.

See ADMONITION, and PRIVATE.

PUBLIC DAY. In the University of Virginia, the day on which "the
certificates and diplomas are awarded to the successful
candidates, the results of the examinations are announced, and
addresses are delivered by one or more of the Bachelors and
Masters of Arts, and by the Orator appointed by the Society of the
Alumni."--_Cat. of Univ. of Virginia_.

This occurs on the closing day of the session, the 29th of June.

PUBLIC ORATOR. In the English universities, an officer who is the
voice of the university on all public occasions, who writes,
reads, and records all letters of a public nature, and presents,
with an appropriate address, those on whom honorary degrees are
conferred. At Cambridge, this it esteemed one of the most
honorable offices in the gift of the university.--_Cam. and Oxf.
Cals._

PUMP. Among German students, to obtain or take on credit; to
sponge.

Und hat der Bursch kein Geld im Beutel,
So _pumpt_ er die Philister an.
_Crambambuli Song_.

PUNY. A young, inexperienced person; a novice.

Freshmen at Oxford were called _punies of the first
year_.--_Halliwell's Dict. Arch. and Prov. Words_.

PUT THROUGH. A phrase very general in its application. When a
student treats, introduces, or assists another, or masters a hard
lesson, he is said to _put_ him or it _through_. In a discourse by
the Rev. Dr. Orville Dewey, on the Law of Progress, referring to
these words, he said "he had heard a teacher us