RHINOCEROTIDE

between Switzerland, Bavaria, and Baden, its navigation is difficult, and in many places entirely interrupted by rapids and cataracts. During its course from Basel to Cologne it winds through a broad and fertile valley between the Vosges and the Schwartzwald-the Rheinthal; thence flows, by a narrow gorge, through the plateau of the lower Rhine. In this latter part the Rhine is not only an important route of traffic, but also presents some of the most beautiful scenery in the world. Its course from Cologne to the North Sea leads through low and level ground; it branches off into the Waal, Yssel, Leck, and Vecht, and reaches the ocean as a small stream, almost disappearing among the sandbanks of the shore. Its entire length is 960 m.; breadth at Basel, 750 ft.; at Mentz, 1,500 ft.; at entrance into the Netherlands, 2,150 ft.; depth varies from 5 to 28 ft.; elevation, 814 ft. at Basel, 121 ft. at Cologne; principal affluents, the Aar in Switzerland, Neckar and Main in the Rheinthal, and Lahn and Moselle in the highlands of the lower Rhine.

Rhinocerot'idæ, family of hoofed mammals embracing the various species combined under the popular name rhinoceros; distinguished by their massive form, short neck, long head, the presence in all the living forms of one or two horns on the middle of the nasal region, and the broad clavate feet, each of which has three toes. The family embraces few recent species, which appear to represent only two gen

RHODE ISLAND

(2) Rhinaster, embracing the African species, in which the upper incisor teeth are wanting and the skin is smooth. There are but two species, each having two horns. One of these, R. simus, improperly known as the white rhinoceros, is almost extinct, and the other, R. bicornis, is rapidly disappearing. While the Indian rhinoceros has often been tamed, the African species is among the most ferocious of animals, being one of the few that attack man without provocation. In geological epochs other forms flourished.

Rhipæ'an Moun'tains, in Grecian mythology, mountains lying in the extreme N. (or W.). Ancient geographers identified them now with the Alps and now with the W. outliers of the Ural Range. See HYPERBOREANS.

Rhizop'oda, class of protozoa characterized by the ability of the individuals to extend temporary protoplasmic processes of the body by means of which locomotion is effected and food obtained (pseudopodia). The rhizopods (which live in the ocean, in fresh water, and in moist earth) are usually divided into the Lobosa, Reticularia (Foraminifera), Heliozoa,

era: (1) Rhinoceros, including the Asiatic species, which have long upper incisor teeth and a skin corrugated by well-marked folds. To this genus belongs the Indian rhinoceros (R. unicornis), the largest of the group, having a single horn; is now restricted to NE. India. The genus also includes the smallest species, the

RHINOCEROS.

Sumatran rhinoceros (R. sumatrensis), which has two horns, and ranges from NE. India to the Malay Peninsula, Sumatra, and Borneo.

and Radiolaria. Here, too, may possibly belong those forms classed sometimes as Myceto200 in the animal kingdom, sometimes as Myxomycetes or slime molds in the vegetable kingdom.

Rhode Island, popular name, "LITTLE RHODY"; state flower, violet; state in the N. Atlantic division of the American union; bounded N. and E. by Massachusetts, S. by the Atlantic, W. by Connecticut; extreme length N. to S., 48 m.; extreme width, about 37 m.; area, 1,250 sq. m.; pop. (1905) 480,082; chief towns: Providence (capital), Pawtucket, Woonsocket, Newport, Warwick, Central Falls, Cranston, E. Providence, Lincoln, Cumberland, Westerley, Bristol, Burrillville, Coventry, Johnston. State divided into two unequal parts by Narragansett Bay, which extends inland about 30 m.; surface for the most part hilly, but highest hill (Durfee) only 805 ft.; islands in Narragansett Bay include Aquidneck, or Rhode Island, on which Newport is situated, Prudence, and Canonicut. Block Island is 10 m. from the mainland. Principal rivers, Pawcatuck, forming part of the W. boundary, Pawtuxet, and Pawtucket, the last named the Blackstone above Pawtucket Falls. Climate on the whole variable; coldness in winter much modified by the salt water of Narragansett Bay; climate in the S. part warm and moist, owing to the proximity of the Gulf Stream; rainfall in the E. part about 40 in.; in W., frequently 44 in.

Mineral products include anthracite coal,

RHODE ISLAND

tiquated charter precipitated a crisis, 1841, known as Dorr's Rebellion; present constitution adopted 1843, but present suffrage laws not adopted till 1888. Rhode Island was the last of the thirteen colonies to enter the Union (1790).

worsted goods, foundry and machine-shop products, jewelry, silverware, rubber and elastic goods, silk; dyeing and finishing of textiles an important industry. Factory-system plants (1905), 1,617; capital employed, $215,901,375; value of products, including custom work and repairing, $202,109,583. Customs districts comprise Bristol and Warren, Newport, and Providence; value of imports for year ending June 30, 1907, $1,799,386; exports (Providence), 15,625. Cod, mackerel, blue fish, and other fisheries of state are of considerable extent. Leading educational institutions, Brown Univ., Rhode Island School of Design, State Normal School, all in Providence; Rhode Island College of Agriculture and Mechanic Arts, Kingston.

Rhode Island, so called from its principal island, the origin of whose name is uncertain, was founded by ROGER WILLIAMS. The colony originally consisted of Providence (1636), Portsmouth (1638), Newport (1639), and Warwick (1642); towns united 1647 under a parliamentary charter granted 1643; Providence and Newport separated from the confederacy 1651, but were reunited 1654; liberal charter obtained from Charles II, 1663, incorporating the colony of "Rhode Island and Providence Plantations"; Rhode Island opposed, yet suffered severely from King Philip's War; charter suspended, 1686-87, by Sir Edmund Andros. The colony gained great wealth by privateering in the wars waged on the ocean by Great Britain during the Revolutionary War; first British blood shed in consequence of open organized rebellion, June, 1772, when his Majesty's armed schooner Gaspee was burned in Narragansett Bay; Newport occupied by British troops, 1776-79; French allies under Rochambeau made it their headquarters, 1780; privateering active and

statesman; b. Bishop Stortford, Hertford, Rhodes (rōdz), Cecil, 1853-1902; British England; went to S. Africa and became interested in the Kimberley mines, amassing a great fortune; in 1890 became prime minister, but resigned January 6, 1895, on account of his supposed connection with Jameson's raid into the Transvaal. To his energy was due the acquisition of mining rights over Mashonaland. As chairman of the British South Africa Company he was prominent in the difficulty with Lobengula. His policy aimed at the removal of race prejudices, and the establishment, under the British flag, of a federal dominion composed of Cape Colony, Natal, the S. African Republic, and other countries of S. Africa. He bequeathed $10,000,000 to found a number of three-year scholarships at Oxford, two to be offered to every state and territory in the U. S., and to every English-speaking colony, and five to students of German descent. See RHODES SCHOLARSHIPS AT OXFORD UNIV.

Rhodes, largest and most SE. of the Sporade Islands; between the Grecian archipelago and Mediterranean; 9 m. S. of the nearest point in Asia Minor; area, 420 sq. m.; pop. abt. 40,000, mainly Greeks, with a few Jews and Ottomans; climate healthful and delightful; soil fertile, producing figs, oranges, olives, and grapes. Rhodes was during the classic period by turns a great independent maritime power and the ally or victim of the Persians, Lacedæmonians, and Athenians; was famous for its artists, poets, and philosophers, and for its Colossus, one of the Seven Wonders of the world. Overrun by Moaviah, general of Omar, in the seventh century, it subsequently belonged to the Byzantine Empire. In 1309 Foulques de Villaret, grand master of the Knights of St. John of Jerusalem, made it the headquarters of his order. During two hundred and fourteen years it was the bulwark of Christendom against the Mussulmans. The capital, Rhodes, endured a forty-four days' siege by the Egyptians, 1444, and repulsed Mohammed II after a siege of three months, 1480. In 1522 the grand master, Villiers de l'Isle-Adam, with 4,500 soldiers and 600 knights, withstood during five months the Ottoman fleet of 300 ships and 100,000 soldiers commanded by Suleiman I himself. When unable to hold out longer the knights were granted an honorable capitulation, and, 1523, abandoned the island, which since has belonged to the Ottomans. The capital, of same name, on a splendid harbor at the N. extremity of the island, presents an imposing appearance with its lines of maritime fortification.

Rhodes Scholarships at Ox'ford Univer'sity, scholarships maintained by fund of $10,000,000 left for this purpose by will of Cecil Rhodes. According to his direction, the scholarships

RHODESIA

cover a three years' course at Oxford, and are awarded on marks only, three tenths whereof shall be given to a candidate for his literary and scholastic attainments, the remainder for his love of athletics and sports, for strong, manly qualities, such as courage, generosity, etc., high moral character, and especially for ambition to serve and lead in public affairs. He directed that the selection of recipients of this gift should be made two from each state and territory of the U. S., fifteen from Germany, and from one to nine from each of the British colonies. In October, 1904, at the beginning of the Michaelmas term, 72 Rhodes scholars entered Oxford; 43 were Americans, 24 colonials, and 5 Germans. In 1906 the full number, 190, were in residence. The last examination in the U. S. took place in January, 1908. There will be examinations in 1910, 1911, 1913, 1914, and so on, omitting every third year.

N.

Rhode'sia, region in S. Africa administered by the British South African Company; bounded N. by the Kongo Free State and German E. Africa, E. by the Central African Protectorate and Portuguese E. Africa, S. by the Transvaal and Bechuanaland, W. by German and Portuguese W. Africa; divided by the Zambesi River into N. and S. Rhodesia. Rhodesia, with area of 291,000 sq. m., pop. about 496,000 (all but 800 natives), comprises Barotseland, or NW. Rhodesia, administrative headquarters Kalomo, and NE. Rhodesia, administrative headquarters Fort Jameson; most important centers, Fife and Abercorn. Surface of N. Rhodesia broken by mountains and plateaus and watered by the tributaries of the Zambesi; mineral products include gold and coal; agricultural products, wheat, oats, rice, coffee, cotton, rubber. S. Rhodesia is divided into the provinces of Matabeleland and Mashonaland; area about 144,000 sq. m.; pop. 633, 600, of whom 14,600 are of European and Asiatic birth; chief towns include Salisbury (capital), Bulawayo, Victoria, Umtali, Tuli, Gwelo; surface mountainous in part, with plateaus adapted for agriculture and well watered; mineral products, gold, silver, copper, zinc, coal, chrome iron, lead, and diamonds; agricultural products mainly those of N. Rho

desia.

Rho'dium, metal found 1804 associated with native platinum; whitish-gray and very hard; highest density when fused, 12.1; atomic weight, about 104; one of the most infusible metals, but may be fused in the oxyhydrogen furnace; when pure is not acted on by the most powerful acids. Fusion with saltpeter oxidizes it easily, and even fusion with sulphate of potash converts it into a soluble double salt. Chlorine combines with it at a red heat, forming a soluble chloride. It forms four oxides.

Rhodium, Oil of, balsamic volatile oil obtained from Canary Island rosewood, the woody root of two convolvulaceous plants, Rhodoriza scoparia and R. florida; employed as a perfume, and to attract fishes and game to traps of various kinds.

the S. to Yun-nan and the Sikkim Himalaya in the N. Several are found in China and Japan, two reach Kamtchatka, and one Alaska. The arctic Rhododendron lapponicum of Lapland and Greenland occurs in the alpine region of the White Mountains of New Hampshire. The only two other European species are R. ferrugineum and R. hirsutum, the Alpenrosen of the Swiss Alps. The species peculiar to N. America are, on the Atlantic side, R. maximum, which occurs sparingly as far N. as Canada, and abundantly throughout the Alleghany Mountains; R. catawbiense, a lower and earlier-flowered species on the higher mountains from Virginia S.; and R. punctatum, a less showy species of the middle country of In the the S. states E. of the mountains. higher N. Rocky Mountains is a peculiar deciduous-leaved species, R. albiflorum; in Oregon, R. macrophyllum; in California, R. californicum, nearer R. catawbiense, but taller, and with more showy blossoms. The Arctic R. lapponicum is but a few inches high, while R. rollissonii of Ceylon attains a height of 30 ft., with a stem over a foot in diameter.

To develop its greatest beauty the rhododendron should be planted in well-drained peat or in soil largely composed of decaying leaf mold, and situations should be selected for it somewhat protected from the winter sun, the great

RHODOPE

RHYME

Rhodope (rod'ō-pe), lofty mountain range in Thrace, noted in poetry as the scene of the revels of the Bacchantes, or female followers of Dionysus.

Rhone (ron), ancient Rhodanus, river of France; rises in Switzerland, on the W. side of the St. Gothard, flows through the Lake of Geneva, crosses the Jura Mountains, turns at Lyon, where it receives the Saône, to the S., and falls, 644 m. distant, into the Mediterranean, through two branches which form the island of Camargue; everywhere very rapid and difficult of navigation. An extensive system of canals connects the river with the Mediterranean, and with the Seine, Loire, Garonne, and (by the Saône) the Rhine.

Rhubarb (rü'bärb), plant of the genus Rheum, or its root employed in pharmacy. Rhubarb has been known as a drug from a remote period. It was first brought to Europe

MEDICINAL RHUBARB.

by land from China to the Levant ports, whence the name Turkey rhubarb, or was shipped directly from China or by way of India, whence the variety called China, Canton, or E. India rhubarb. Rhubarb has a peculiar smell, a disagreeable, bitter, and astringent taste, and a complex composition. A bit of the root if chewed feels gritty, from the presence of crystals of calcium oxalate. In small dose rhubarb behaves as a stomachic bitter, but in larger quantities is an active purge. By reason of the tannin it contains it is also secondarily astringent. It is used in medicine as a stomachic and a laxative or purge, and is es

The leaf stalks of R. rhaponticum, also called pie plant, are large and fleshy. They have an agreeable acid taste, and are much used for making pies and sauce.

sailing on a certain course. A rhumb line cuts Rhumb, in navigation, the track of a ship all the meridians at the same angle, and when this angle is acute the rhumb is a species of spherical spiral, continually approaching the pole, but reaching it only after an infinite number of turns. The angle under which a rhumb line cuts any meridian is called the angle of the rhumb, and the angle that it makes with the prime vertical at any point is called the complement of the rhumb. The projection of a rhumb on the plane of the equator is a logarithmic spiral.

Rhus (rus), genus of shrubs or trees of the Anacardiacea or cashew family, including about 120 species, mostly natives of warm or hot climates. The flowers have from four to ten stamens and from four to six imbricated petals, and are small, in axillary or terminal panicles; the leaves

are usually primate, with from three to five leaflets, though sometimes simple, as in the smoke tree (Rhus cotinus); the fruit is a compressed drupe. The poison oak or ivy (R. toxicodendron), found from Canada to Georgia, mostly creeping or climbing along rocks, fences, etc., has alternate leaves with three leaflets, flowers in loose slender panicles,

POISON IVY.

and a smooth, pale-brown fruit. The whole plant contains a poisonous caustic milky juice which on contact with the human skin in most cases produces redness, itching, swelling, and blisters. The poison sumac or poisonous dogwood (R. venenata) of swamps, with from seven to thirteen leaflets, is even more poi

sonous.

Rhyme (less commonly RIME), formerly the systematic alliteration of Anglo-Saxon poetry; now usually the similarity between the endings of verses. Strict rhyme requires that the last stress vowel and what follows it should be exactly alike in the rhyming lines, while what precedes the vowel must be in some respect different. Hence "rain" and "reign" do not rhyme, but "rain," "train," and "strain" rhyme with one another. Sometimes, however, words identical in sound but different in sense, such as "rain" and "reign," are allowed to rhyme. Mere spelling has nothing to do with rhyme. Thus "again" rhymes with "men," but not with "complain." Rhyme is chiefly at the ends of lines, sometimes at the ends of cola or sections of a rhythmical period (Leonine rhyme), rarely between almost consecutive