Lapas attēli
PDF
ePub

RHYMER

words. This last is rather jingle than rhyme, as in Southey's "Cataract of Lodore." Comic or humorous poetry allows many liberties, and even oddities, in both the distribution and the character of rhymes. Rhyme is not at all indispensable to English poetry, the greatest works of our age and perhaps of all ages being composed in blank or rhymeless verse. See POETRY; PROSODY.

Rhy'mer, or Rymour, Thomas The, name by which an early poet of Scotland is usually mentioned. There is reason to believe that his real name was Thomas Learmount, of Ercildoune (modern Earlston), Berwickshire, who flourished under the reign of Alexander III (circa 1283). He was popularly believed to be possessed of prophetic powers derived from the queen of the fairies, who had carried him away and kept him in fairyland three years. The prophecies of Thomas the Rhymer were long preserved by memory, the earliest edition bearing date 1603. The ballad relating his adventures and prophecies is found in MSS. of about the year 1400.

Rhythm (rith'm), division of time into small approximately equal units by corresponding units of sound, or less sensibly by muscular movement or visible motion. Rhythm may be felt in movements of the body, as in marching or dancing, for even the deaf enjoy the dance. Rhythm bears the same relation to time that symmetry bears to space. The arts of space and rest, or completion-statuary, architecture, and painting-are based on symmetry, while the arts of time and motion, or execution-dance, music, and poetry-are based on rhythm. Each unit of rhythm contains a loud or strong part and a weak part. In beating time the hand, or baton, descends and remains down during the strong part, then rises and remains up during the weak part. In English the accent in verse, which is chiefly stress, marks the rhythmical unit, while in Latin and Greek, where the accent was chiefly pitch, the unit was marked, not by the accent, but by stress, usually that of long syllables as compared with short; but in both kinds of verse, if there is rhythm, the units, whether marked by accent or by stress, must be virtually equal.

RHYTHM, in music, such an arrangement or grouping of notes and measures as gives to the ear a sense of relative proportion and conduces to the development of sentiment and beauty. Musical notes when thus grouped into form and measure may possess meaning and connection; but neither melody nor harmony can give adequate expression to musical sentiment and feeling without a further grouping into portions equal to each other and marked by accent. This constitutes a higher kind of rhythm, to which the name of compound rhythm is sometimes given. In all regular compositions there is an orderly succession of periods, formed of groups of two, four, eight, or more measures, as the case may be, with subdivisions into phrases, strains, or clauses. Of these periods, those consisting of four or eight bars are the most simple and natural to the ear. Periods of three, six, or nine bars are also in use, but those consisting of five or seven are irregular and less satisfactory, unless it may happen that the

RIBS

composer's purpose is to create a disturbing effect for dramatic or emotional reasons whereby the exception may be justified. The study of rhythm is of essential importance as the foundation of all regularity and excellence in musical composition.

Ribault (re-bo'), Jean, abt. 1520-65; French soldier and colonist; b. Dieppe; employed by Coligny to establish a French Protestant colony in N. America; leaving Dieppe, February 18, 1562, explored the St. John's River, Florida; thence sailed N., established twenty-six colonists in a blockhouse called Fort Charles, on Port Royal harbor; then returned to France. No aid was sent to the colonists, and after enduring great sufferings they abandoned the fort. In 1564 Ribault was commissioned governor of a contemplated colony in Florida. He sent René de Laudonnière, who built Fort Caroline on the St. John's River. In May, 1565, Ribault sailed for this colony with seven vessels and 300 men. In September the French were attacked by Spaniards under Menendez de Avilés; the fort was taken and its garrison massacred; Ribault's ships were wrecked in a hurricane, and he and his companions after wandering for some time on the coast capitulated to Menendez, and were butchered.

as

an

Rib'bon, narrow band of woven silk, used chiefly Though used in many nations from remote anornament of female attire. tiquity, the manufacture of ribbons as an article of commerce dates only from the seventeenth century, and has flourished chiefly in France, the cities of Tours, Lyons, and Avignon being largely engaged therein. The chief seats of ribBasel, Switzerland; Crefeld, in Rhenish Prussia, bon manufacture are St. Étienne, France; and Coventry, in England.

Ribbon Fish, various fishes, chiefly belonging to the family Trachypterida, on account of

[graphic][merged small]

their much compressed, elongated, and bandlike bodies.

Ribot (re-bo'), Augustin Théodule, 1823-91; French genre and portrait painter; b. Breteuil, Eure; medals, Salons, 1864 and 1865; thirdclass medal, Paris Exposition, 1878; Legion of Honor, 1878; "St. Sebastian," "Christ and the Doctors," and "The Good Samaritan," are in the Luxembourg Gallery, Paris.

Ribs, the curved bones which form the lateral framework of the chest. They serve as points of attachment for the muscles, which

RICARDO

perform the respiratory motions, and by their resistance and elasticity protect the lungs, heart, and great vessels from violence and injury. The ribs, in man, are usually twentyfour in number, twelve on each side, but may be one or two more or less in exceptional cases. They are articulated to the spine behind, but in front only the upper seven are connected

RICE

Rice, the Oryza sativa, cereal of the grass family; characterized by a one-flowered spikelet with small glumes, less than one fourth the length of the palets, which completely envelop the grain when mature; six stamens; stigmas with branching hairs; oblong, free, smooth grain; flowers in a somewhat erect panicle, which droops as the grain matures; it is an annual, 2 to 5 ft. high at maturity.

Rice is indigenous in some parts of India, and has been cultivated from the earliest times; was introduced into China abt. 2822 B.C.; cultivated in the Euphrates valley at least four hundred years before Christ. At what period it was introduced into the U. S. is not well settled, but one account states that it was grown in Virginia by Sir William Berkley as early as 1647. It is extensively cultivated in India, Siam, China, Japan, and portions of S.

[graphic]
[graphic]

RIBS. 1, 2, 3, sternum; 4, circumference of upper portion of thorax; 5, circumference of base of thorax; 6, first rib; 7, second rib; 8, last two, or floating ribs; 9, costal cartilages.

00

spikelet enlarged.

Africa, in which countries it constitutes the principal article of food for their dense population. In many of the marshy districts of those countries it is almost the only object of agricultural labor.

with the breast bone by cartilage. Of the remaining five, three connect with the cartilage of the seventh, while the lower two are unattached and termed free or floating ribs. The ribs are elastic, and being articulated in front RICE BEARDED AND BEARDLESS VARIETIES. Separate and behind move freely upward and outward in inspiration, and reversely downward and inward in expiration. The chief injuries to the ribs are separation from their attachments to the spine or sternum, and fracture. The fractured rib is detected by local crackling of the fragments in respiratory movement, and by the severe local stitch or pain it gives the patient. Ricardo (ri-kär'do), David, 1772-1823; English political economist of Jewish parentage; b. London; after acquiring a fortune as a stock broker, London, studied mathematics, chemistry, and mineralogy; was one of the promoters of the London Geological Society; elected to Parliament, 1819; chief publication, "On the Principles of Political Economy and Taxation." Ricardo stands next to Adam Smith in the British free-trade school of political economists, and his writings have exerted a powerful influence on subsequent students of the science.

Riccio (ret'cho), David. See RIZZIO.

Rice, James, 1844-82; English novelist; b. Northampton; called to the bar, 1871; edited Once a Week, 1868-72; for eight years was London correspondent of the Toronto Globe; was joint author with Walter Besant of many novels.

In Oriental countries, where rice is the most important cereal, the several processes of cultivation and harvesting are still carried on in a primitive way. In Japan the average product per acre is 40 bu. on marsh land and 30 bu. on high land. Four or five acres of marsh land, costing $200 per acre with an annual government tax of $6, form quite a respectable holding for a farmer in Japan. The wages of an able-bodied farm hand are about $35 to $50 a year; women can be hired for much less.

In the U. S. the Carolina methods of rice culture have mainly prevailed. Alluvial lands are selected along the rivers, above salt water, and low enough to be subject to overflow by the tide. The fields, from four to twenty acres in size, are ditched, so as to be easily drained, and protected by a strong levee next the river; they are usually intersected by small parallel drains, about 200 ft. apart. Late in the fall or early in the winter the fields are plowed and flooded with water, admitted through the

RICE

levee so as to prevent the growth of grass, and to loosen and fertilize the soil. In the latter part of February the water is drawn off, and in a few weeks the land becomes dry enough for cultivation, when the clods are pulverized by a harrow and the soil brought into the requisite tilth. When ready for planting, in April or the fore part of May, trenches are made with a hoe, or a small cultivator, 12 to 15 in. apart and 3 or 4 in. deep, at right angles with the drains. The seed is sown at the rate of 2 to 3 bu. per acre, and covered lightly with soil, which should be done in one day; then sufficient water is let in to saturate the soil thoroughly, and this condition of perfect saturation is continued for four or six days, till the grain begins to sprout. Water is again applied when the sprout is 2 or 3 in. above the ground. This second water is removed after about six days, and the earth is stirred with the hoe once or twice, till the plant is about six weeks old, when the field is again irrigated for two weeks. If the field is free from water weeds the water may remain on permanently; if not, it should be drawn off, and as soon as the soil is dry it should be hoed, then flooded till the grain begins to ripen. When mature the rice is cut with a sickle, bound in small bundles, and shocked in the field like wheat, or upon some dry place. As soon as dry it is put into stacks, about 6 ft. in diameter, till

cured, and afterwards transferred to large

stacks.

The most favorable conditions for rice grow: ing are much vegetable matter in the soil, and such a depth of water as to irrigate without cooling or heating the roots too much. It requires an atmospheric temperature of from 70° to 80° to ripen the grain properly, and for this reason rice should be grown near large bodies of water.

RICHARD

polish are excellent food for cattle and hogs, rating higher than wheat bran and wheat middlings. Rice straw is more palatable to animals than oat straw, and preferred as a coarse fodder; it is largely used for wintering stock. It makes an excellent quality of paper.

Rice production in the U. S. attained considerable proportion in the colonial times. In 1707 seventeen ships left S. Carolina with cargoes of rice. In 1730 the product was 21,153,054 lb.; in 1755 it reached 50,747,090 lb.; and in 1770, 75,264,500 lb. This was raised with slave labor, and mostly exported to Europe and the W. Indies. For the next seventy years there was practically no increase, and in 1899 had increased to 136,990,720 lb.; in 1909 to 24,368,000 bu., valued at $19,341,000.

Rice'bird. See BOBOLINK; JAVA SPARROW.

Rice, In'dian, Wa'ter Rice, or Water Oats, annual aquatic grass (Zizania aquatica) belonging to the true rice tribe, though of inferior value, from 5 to 10 ft. high, which abounds in marshy regions of the U. S., especially in Minnesota. Its grain was formerly much used by the Dakota and Chippewa Indians, and forms an important portion of the food of the game birds of the NW. Its stem is employed as a paper stock.

Rich, Edmund, Saint (French, SAINT EDME), Abingdon; taught philosophy at Oxford, 1219abt. 1190-1242; Archbishop of Canterbury; b. 1234, and enforced discipline amid general op26; consecrated Archbishop of Canterbury, position. In consequence of a disagreement with Henry III and the pope about appointments, he retired to the Cistercian abbey of Pontigny in France abt. 1239; canonized by Innocent IV, 1246. He wrote a volume of "Constitutions" in thirty-six canons, lum Ecclesiæ," and left MS. treatises, now in the Bodleian Library.

Rice as it comes from the thresher is known as rough rice, or paddy. For handling and storing it is better to leave it in this condition, as the hull is a great protection to the grain. In a modern rice mill the rice is emptied from a sack into a hopper at the storehouse; passes from the hopper into a large fanning mill or separator, and is freed from all foreign substances; transferred to the mill by a belt conveyor; the hull is removed by passing the grain between heavy millstones (about 5 ft. in diameter) which revolve rapidly, but are not close enough together to break the kernel; goes to the mortar, and is pounded for two hours; by these processes the hull and cuticle are removed and the grain is scoured. The hulls are disposed of as worthless refuse; the cuticle and undercoating scoured off are the rice bran. The rice then passes through an inclined cylindrical wire revolving screen, with the meshes becoming coarser toward the lower end, thus assorting the rice into three or four grades; the finest is the brewers' rice, used for the production of light beer, and usually brings about one half the price of head rice; another is the middling rice, which includes the larger broken rice, and sells for nearly one cent per pound less than head rice; the whole rice or head rice, which passes from the screen into the polisher, where it is brushed and finished. Rice bran and rice

[ocr errors]

Specu

Rich'ard, name of three kings of England, who follow: RICHARD I (surnamed CŒUR DE LION-" the lion-hearted "), 1157-99; second King of England of the line of Plantagenet; b. Oxford; third son of Henry II and Eleanor of Aquitaine; joined his mother and his two brothers in rebellion against his father, 1173; reconciled to him, September, 1174; became involved in wars with his brothers, but was reconciled, 1184; made war on the Count of Toulouse; aided his father against Philip Augustus, and later, in alliance with Philip Augustus, waged successful war on his father. Succeeding to the throne, July, 1189, he set out on the third crusade, July, 1190, with the King of France. On his way he captured Messina and conquered Cyprus. Arriving before Acre, June 8th, he took part in the capture of the city, but soon quarreled with the French king, who returned to France. Richard advanced toward Jerusalem; defeated the Saracens at Arsuf in September; took and fortified Jaffa; took Askalon, January, 1192; set out twice for Jerusalem, but was called back each time by hostilities, but, being obliged by the state of affairs in England to return, made a truce with Sultan Saladin. On his way home he was shipwrecked at head of the Adriatic; endeavored

RICHARD

[ocr errors]

RICHARDSON

to make his way by land through Austria; | assumed the guardianship of the young king, seized and imprisoned by Leopold, Duke of Aus- imprisoning leading nobles of the queen's party. tria, with whom he had quarreled; handed over Appointed protector and defender of the realm to the Emperor of Germany, by whom he was early in May, he ordered the seizure and indetained more than a year; liberated on pledge stant execution of Lord Chamberlain Hastings of a heavy ransom in February, 1194; found on a charge of conspiracy, June 13th; asserted his brother John assuming the functions of his own title to the throne on the ground of king, but soon forgave him; engaged in a war illegitimacy of his nephews, June 22d-24th; with Philip Augustus of France, whom he de- obtained from Parliament a favorable decision, feated and forced to sign a disadvantageous and was crowned king, July 6th. He was soon truce, and renewed the war three years later suspected of having caused the princes to be with a similar result, but was mortally murdered in the Tower. Having repressed a wounded March 26th by an arrow from the conspiracy in behalf of the Earl of Richmond castle of Chalus-Chabrol, which he was besieg- as head of the Lancastrian party, and put to ing; succeeded by his brother John. RICHARD death the Duke of Buckingham (his own forII, 1366-1400; King of England; b. Bordeaux, mer partisan) he convoked a parliament which France; son of Edward the Black Prince and declared him lawful king, January, 1484. RichJoanna of Kent; succeeded to the throne on the ard sought to strengthen his throne by treaties death of his grandfather, Edward III, June 21, with Scotland and Brittany, but was unable to 1377; was controlled by his uncle, John of prevent the invasion of the Earl of Richmond, Gaunt, Duke of Lancaster; maintained a feeble who landed at Milford Haven, August 7, 1485, warfare with France; encountered a vigorous and was defeated and killed at Bosworth, opposition from Parliament and from the com- August 22, 1485, the victor becoming king unmon people in the imposition and collection of der the title of Henry VII. a poll tax, which gave rise to the insurrection of Wat Tyler, June, 1381; married Anne of Bohemia, daughter of Emperor Charles IV, January, 1382; invaded Scotland with slight result beyond the burning of Edinburgh, August, 1385; attempted to emancipate himself from the council of regency, which was reorganized under the Duke of Gloucester, November, 1386, but without success; assumed the government, May, 1389. For the next few years he ruled constitutionally, but, 1397, calling a new parliament, he took vengeance on Gloucester and his adherents. Quarreling with his cousin, Henry of Bolingbroke, Duke of Hereford, Richard banished him for ten years, 1398, and in the following year seized the Lancaster estates, John of Gaunt having died. Bolingbroke prepared to recover his estates, and when Richard returned from a short visit to Ireland he found

Richard Plantag'enet, 1209-72; Earl of Cornwall and titular Emperor of Germany; b. Winchester, England; younger son of King John; commanded an expedition to Guienne, 1225; went on a crusade, 1240; returned to England, January, 1242; accompanied his brother, Henry III, in his French campaign of that year, but soon lost the province of Guienne and escaped to England; married a princess of Provence, 1243; was chosen Emperor of Germany by a faction, 1256, and crowned King of the Romans at Aix-la-Chapelle, May 17, 1257; was unable to obtain general recognition; took refuge in England; made prisoner by Simon de Montfort at battle of Lewes, 1264; held a diet at Worms, 1269; returned to England, 1269.

English hygienist; b. Somerby, Leicester; setRich'ardson, Sir Benjamin Ward, 1828-96; tled in London, 1849; physician to Royal Hos pital for Diseases of the Chest, 1854-67; Royal Fund, 1874; member Royal College of PhysiLiterary Fund, 1871, and Newspaper Press cians and Surgeons, 1856; fellow, 1861: founded and edited The Journal of Health and prize of £300 by treatise "On the Cause of the Sanitary Review; gained the Astley Cooper Coagulation of the Blood," and the Fothergillian gold medal by disquisition "On the Diseases of the Foetus "; originated the use of ether spray for the local relief of pain in surgical operations (1866); introduced methylene bichloride as a general anesthetic (1867); president Medical Society of London; gained a high position by original experiment; knighted, 1893.

his rival already in possession of the kingdom. Richard was taken prisoner and deposed by Parliament in favor of Bolingbroke, who ascended the throne under the title of Henry IV, to the exclusion of the legitimate heir, Roger Mortimer, Earl of March. The dethroned king was kept a prisoner at Pontefract Castle, but soon disappeared, having been murdered, as was believed, by his keeper. RICHARD III, 1452-85; last Plantagenet King of England; b. Fotheringay Castle; third son of Richard, Duke of York, and Cicely Neville; on his father's defeat and death, 1460, was sent for safety to Holland, but recalled next year by his brother, Edward IV, who created him Duke of Glouces ter and lord high admiral; was faithful to his brother throughout the reign, sharing in his flight, 1470, and commanding the van of the Yorkist army at the battles of Barnet and Tewksbury, 1471. He was made lieutenant Richardson, Charles, 1775-1865; English phigeneral of the kingdom on the breaking out of lologist; studied but never practiced law; dewar with Scotland, 1480; took possession of voted himself to literature in London; pubBerwick; penetrated to Edinburgh, and dic-lished "Illustrations of English Philology"; tated terms of peace, 1482. Hearing of the undertook the lexicographical articles in "The death of Edward IV while still in Scotland, Encyclopædia Metropolitana," for which he also 1483, he took the oath of allegiance to his prepared his great work, a "New Dictionary nephew, Edward V, and required his generals of the English Language," which (the first part to do the same; but soon afterwards forcibly appearing 1818) was suspended soon after

RICHARDSON

66

a

wards by the failure of the proprietors, and completed as a separate work, 1837; also published a Supplement" to his dictionary, work "On the Study of Language," and an "Historical Essay on English Grammar and English Grammarians."

Richardson, Samuel, abt. 1689–1761; English novelist; b. Derbyshire; learned the printing trade; became a publisher in London, printer of the journals of the House of Commons, master of the Stationer's Company, and purchased, 1760, a half interest in the office of king's printer. His novels, "Pamela " (1740, with a continuation, 1741), "Clarissa Harlowe " (1748), and "Sir Charles Grandison" (1754), enjoyed an unbounded success, and had numerous imitators not only in England, but in Germany and France, where they profoundly influenced the whole development of prose fiction. Richardson is the first English novelist. His novels are all in the form of letters, show little acquaintance with men on the part of their author, and had their strongest popularity

among women.

Richelieu (resh-lĕ-uh'), Armand Jean Duplessis de (Duke and Cardinal), 1585-1642; French statesman; b. Paris; prepared for the army, but turned to the Church; consecrated bishop, 1607. Elected to the States-General, 1614, he allied himself with the queen mother and regent, Marie de Médicis; was appointed her almoner, and became a member of the Council of State. When, shortly after, dissensions broke out between the king (Louis XIII) and his mother, Richelieu accompanied the latter to Blois, and later brought about a reconciliation between them; was rewarded with the cardinal's hat, 1622; reëntered the Council of State, and was soon after made Prime Minister, which office he filled to his death. His designs for the consolidation of the monarchy and the greatness of France comprised the extinction of the last remains of feudalism, the full subjection of the high nobility to the crown, the suppression of Protestantism, and the abasement of the house of Austria.

He

encouraged the rising of the Protestant princes in Germany, the revolution of the provinces in the Netherlands, and the revolt in Catalonia. He subsidized Gustavus Adolphus, and, after the death of the latter, took the Duke of SaxeWeimar and his army into the French service, and carried on the war against the emperor with great vigor. He also declared war against Spain, and succeeded in separating Portugal from Spain, 1640. The results of these wars he did not live to see, but by the Peace of Westphalia (1648) the progress of the house of Austria was effectually checked. By his internal policy he finished what Louis XI had begun the overthrow of the feudal power of the nobility. His government was marked by an almost uninterrupted series of conspiracies among the feudal nobility of the realm, headed by the queen mother (whose favor had turned into a deadly hatred), by the queen herself, Anne of Austria, by Gaston of Orleans, the brother of the king, and by the royal princes.

RICHMOND

based their hope of overthrowing him; but on November 11, 1630, when the king had consented to his dismissal and the whole court exulted, Richelieu forced himself into the presence of Louis, turned him around in a moment, and reappeared with great dramatic effect Marie de Médicis fled from place to place in foreign among his enemies, stronger than ever. countries; Gaston of Orleans was made utterly contemptible by his cowardly submission; others were beheaded. Montmorency, Marillac, Cinq-Mars, and many Besides the feudal nobility, there was another political power in France at the time when Richelieu took the reins-namely, the Huguenots and to crush this steadily increasing influence was one of the great objects of his policy. He laid siege to their principal stronghold, La Rochelle, and this siege is one of the most memorable events in the history of France. On October 28, 1628, the city surrendered, four fifths of its inhabitants having perished by the sword and by famine. By the fall of La Rochelle the political power of the Huguenots was wholly broken, but Richelieu's further measures concerning them were moderate and even magnanimous. The cardinal founded the Jardin des Plantes, enlarged the Sorbonne and the royal library, and gave encouragement to many scholars, poets, and artists. He wrote "Mirame and "La Grande Pastorale." His "Lettres, Instructions Diplomatiques," etc., were edited by Avenel (six volumes, Paris, 1853-68). Of the "Mémoires du Cardinal de Richelieu," Testament Politique du Cardinal de Richelieu," and " Journal du Cardinal de Richelieu," the last is spurious, and the first two of doubtful authenticity.

[ocr errors]

substantial

66

It

Richelieu (re-she-lô'), also called SOREL, or CHAMBLY, historic and beautiful river of Quebec, Canada; affluent of the St. Lawrence, discharging Lake Champlain; length, 80 m. is navigable, except for rapids between St. John and Chambly, and this gap is supplied by a canal. The valley is fertile and attractive, and in it were made some of the earliest settlements in the province. It also served as a battle ground for over two centuries, beginning with Champlain's Iroquois campaign, 1609.

Rich'mond, Legh, 1772-1827; English religious writer; b. Liverpool; became curate of Brading and Yaverland, Isle of Wight, 1798; chaplain to the Lock Hospital, London, 1805, and was rector of Turvey, Bedfordshire, from 1805 till death; author of several popular tracts, circulated by millions in many languages, especially "The Dairyman's Daughter," "The Negro Servant," and "The Young Cottager "; also edited "The Fathers of the English Church, or a Selection from the Writings of the Reformers and Early Protestant Divines of the Church of England" (eight volumes).

Richmond, Margaret Beaufort (Countess of), 1441-1509; b. Bletsoe, Bedford, England; daughter of the Duke of Somerset, greatgrandson of Edward III, and wife of the Earl of Richmond, half brother to Henry VI, by The king felt a deep antipathy against him, whom at age of eighteen she had one son, afand on this circumstance the first conspirators | terwards Henry VII. After the death of the

« iepriekšējāTurpināt »