points, hairy on their under side, as is also the mid rib. The flowers are produced in close tufts at the ends of the branches, and are succeeded by seeds, enclosed in purple woolly succulent covers; so that the bunches are of a beautiful purple color in autumn; and the leaves, in autumn, change to a purplish color at first, and before they fall to feuillemort. This plant has been long cultivated in the north of Germany, and is lately introduced into Russia. It has obtained the name of the vinegar plant from the double reason of the young germen of its fruit, when fermented, producing either new, or adding to the strength of old weak vinegar, whilst its ripe berries afford an agreeable acid, which might supply the place, when necessary, of the citric acid. The powerful astringency of this plant in all its parts recommends it as useful in several of the arts. The ripe berries boiled with alum make a good dye for hats. The plant in all its parts may be used as a succedaneum for oak bark in tanning, especially for the white glove leather. It will likewise answer to prepare a dye for black, green, and yellow colors; and with martial vitriol it makes a good ink. The milky juice that flows from incisions made in the trunk of branches, makes, when dried, the basis of a varnish little inferior to the Chinese. Bees are remarkably fond of its flowers; and it affords more honey than any of the flowering shrubs. The natives of America use the dried leaves as tobacco. These five species of rhus are hardy plants, and will thrive in the open air here. The second and fourth sorts are not quite so hardy as the others, so must have a better situation, otherwise their branches will be injured by severe frost in the winter. They are easily propagated by seeds, which if sown in autumn the plants will come up the following spring; but, if sown in spring, they will not come up till the next spring; they may be either sown in pots or the full ground. If they are sown in pots, in autumn, the pots should be placed under a common frame in winter, where the seeds may be protected from hard frost; and in spring, if the pots are plunged into a very moderate hot-bed, the plants will soon rise, and have thereby more time to get strength before winter. When the plants come up they must be gradually hardened to bear the open air, into which they should be removed as soon as the weather is favorable, placing them where they may have the morning sun; in the summer they must be kept clean from weeds, and in dry weather watered. Toward autumn it will be proper to stint their growth by keeping them dry, that the extremity of their shoots may harden; for, if they are replete with moisture, the early frosts in autumn will pinch them, which will cause their shoots to decay almost to the bottom if the plants are not screened from them. If the pots are put under a common frame in autumn it will secure the plants from injury; for, while they are young, and the shoots soft, they will be in danger of suffering, if the winter prove very severe; but in mild weather they must always enjoy the open air, therefore should never be covered but in frost. The spring following, just before the plants begin to shoot, they should be shaken out of the pots, and carefully separated, so as not to tear the roots; and transplanted into a nursery, in rows three feet asunder, and one foot distance in the rows. In this nursery they may stand two years to get strength, and then may be transplanted where they are to remain. 6. R. vernix, the toxicodendron, poison tree, or poison ash grows naturally in Virginia, Pennsylvania, New England, Carolina, and Japan, rising with a strong woody stalk to the height of twenty feet and upwards; though in this country it is seldom seen above twelve, the plants being extremely tender. The bark is brown, inclining to gray; the branches are garnished with winged leaves composed of three or four pairs of lobes terminated by an odd one. The lobes vary greatly in their shape, but for the most part they are oval and spear-shaped. The foot-stalks become of a bright purple towards the latter part of summer, and in autumn all the leaves are of a beautiful purple before they fall off. All the species of sumach abound with an acrid milky juice, which is reckoned poisonous; but this property is most remarkable in the vernix. The most distinct account of it is to be found in professor Kalm's Travels in North America. An incision,' says he, being made into the tree, a whitish yellow juice, which has a nauseous smell, comes out between the bark and the wood. The tree is not known for its good qualities, but greatly so for the effect of its poison; which, though it is noxious to some people, yet does not in the least affect others. And therefore one person can handle the tree as he pleases, cut it, peel off its bark, rub it or the wood upon his hands, smell at it, spread the juice upon his skin, with no inconvenience to himself: another dares not meddle with the tree while its wood is fresh ; nor can he venture to touch a hand which has handled it, nor even to expose himself to the smoke of a fire made with this wood, without soon feeling its bad effects; for the face, the hands, and frequently the whole body, swell excessively, and are affected with a very acute pain. Sometimes bladders or blisters arise in great plenty, and make the sick person look as if infected by a leprosy. In some people the cuticle peels off in a few days, as when a person has scalded or burnt any part of his body. The leaves of this tree have been used medicinally in paralysis and herpetic affections. Dr. Fresnoi was the first who attempted its use in these diseases; and, in order that others should not suffer by his experiments, he began upon himself by taking an infusion of one of the three leaflets of which each leaf consists; and as this dose produced no sensible effect, he increased the number to twelve. His urine and perspiration were increased in quantity, and he had some pains in his belly. He relates seven cases, in which he cured herpetic disorders, and five of paralysis. The natives distinguish this tree in the dark by its extreme coldness to the touch. The juice of some kinds of sumach, when exposed to the heat of the sun, becomes so thick and clammy that it is used for bird lime, and the inspissated juice of the poison ash is said to be the fine varnish of Japan. A cataplasm made with the fresh juice of the poison ash, ap Pope. What wise means to gain it hast thou chose? Know, fame and fortune both are made of prose. Is thy ambition sweating for a rhyme, Thou unambitious fool, at this late time? Young. RHYMER (Thomas the), was a native of the parish of Earlstown in Berwickshire. His real name and title were Sir Thomas Learmouth. He lived at the west end of Earlstown in the thirteenth century, and was contemporary with one of the earls of March, who lived in the same place. RIAL, or RYAL. See COINS. RIAZAN, a large province of European Russia, lying to the south of the government of Vladimir, and to the east of that of Moscow, extending from lat. 53° 40′ to 55° 0′ N., and from long. 38° 25' to 41° 45' E. Its area is above 13,000 square miles, and level country, with a few elevations. The north contains a number of woods and marshes, but the rest of the country produces wheat, oats, barley, and other corn; hemp and flax. The number of cattle is rather below the average proportion in Russia, but the breed of horses is good, and great attention is paid to bees. Woollen and linen are made for domestic use, and a few iron, glass, and leather articles for export. The imports are also very limited, the only one of importance being salt. In former times an independent duchy, this government became a province of the empire, under the name of Pereslavl-Riasanskoi, and received its present name from Catherine II. It is divided into twelve circles. Population 1,000,000. RIAZAN, the capital of the above government, is situated on the Oka, 123 miles S. S. E. of Moscow. It is the see of a Greek bishop, and has an unusual number of churches. The episcopal palace was formerly that of the dukes ; but the best building of the town is that for the government offices and courts of justice. Here are manufactures of iron, linen, woollen, leather needles, and glass; but the town is small. Inhabitants 5000. It is one of the most ancient towns of Russia. RIB, n. s.& v. a. Sax. nibbe; Dan. Swed. and Belg. rib; Teut. ribbe; Goth. rif. A bone in the side of the body; a side timber of a ship: to furnish with ribs. Was I by rocks engendered; ribbed with steel; Such tortures to resist, or not to feel? Sandys. Why do I yield to that suggestion, Whose horrid image doth unfix my hair, And make my seated heart knock at my ribs, Against the use of nature! Shakspeare. Macbeth. Remember The nat'ral brav'ry of your isle, which stands As Neptune's park, ribbed and paled in With rocks unscaleable, and roaring waters. Shakspeare. the seas. The ships with shatter'd ribs scarce creeping from He opened my left side, and took Milton. Dryden. Sure he, who first the passage tried, In hardened oak his heart did hide, And ribs of iron armed his side. The ribs are of two sorts; the seven upper are called true ribs, because their cartilaginous ends are received into the sinus of the sternum: the five lower are called false ribs, because they are softer and shorter, of which only the first is joined to the extremity of the sternum, the cartilaginous extremities of the rest being tied to one another, and thereby leaving a greater space for the dilatation of the stomach and entrails: the last of these short ribs is shorter than all the rest; it is not tied to them, but sometimes to the musculus obliquus descendens. Quincy. That might have ribbed the sides and planked the aeck RIBS. See ANATOMY. That lewd ribbald, with vile lust advanced, You ribauld nag of Egypt, Spenser. Shakspeare. Mr. Cowley asserts that obscenity has no place in wit; Buckingham says, 'tis an ill sort of wit which has nothing more to support it than barefaced Dryden. ribaldry. In the same antique loom these scenes were Embellished with good morals and just thought, Granville. -Ne'er one sprig of laurel graced these ribbalds, From slashing Bentley down to pidling Tibbalds. Pope. No dimness of eye, and no cheek hanging low, No wrinkle, or deep-furrowed frown on the brow! Her forehead indeed is here circled around With locks like the riband with which they are So playful love on Ida's flowery sides Darwin. RIBAND-MAKING. See SILK MANUFACTURE. RIBERA, a Spanish poet, called the Scarron of Spain, from the humor and ludicrous scenes with which his writings abound. His works were published at Madrid, in 1648. RIBES, the currant and gooseberry tree, a genus of the monogynia order and pentandria class of plants; natural order thirty-sixth, pomaceæ. There are five petals, and stamina inserted into the calyx; the style is bifid; the berry polyspermous, inferior. The currant and gooseberry were long considered each as a separate genus ribes the currant, and grossularia the gooseberry; but they are now joined together, the grossularia being made a species of ribes; all the currant kinds having inermous or thornless branches, and racemous clusters of flowers and fruit; and the gooseberry spinous branches, and flowers and fruit for the most part singly. 1. R. cynosbati, the prickly fruited gooseberry tree, has a shrubby stem and branches armed with spines, mostly at the axillas, and prickly fruit in clusters. 2. R. grossularia, the common gooseberry tree, rises with a low shrubby stem, dividing low into a very branchy bushy head, armed with spines; trilobate smallish leaves, having hairy ciliated foot-stalks, and small greenish flowers, succeeded by hairy berries. It consists of many varieties of different sizes and colors. 3. R. nigra, the black currant tree, has a shrubby stem dividing low into many branches, forming a bushy head five or six feet high; broad trilobate leaves of a strong smell, and having racemose clusters of oblong greenish flowers, succeeded by thin clusters of blackberries. The fruit of this species being of a strong flavor is not generally liked; it is, however, accounted very wholesome: there is also made of it a syrup of high estimation for sore throats and quinsies. There is a variety called the Pennsylvania black currant, having smaller shoots and leaves, not scented, and small fruit, but of little value; the shrub is esteemed only for variety and shrubberies. All the varieties of currants bear fruit both in old and young wood all along the sides of the branches and shoots, often upon a sort of small sprigs and snags, the berries hanging in numerous long pendulous clusters. 4. R. reclinata, the reclinated broad-leaved gooseberry tree, rises with a low shrubby stem, and reclinated somewhat prickly branches, trilo bate broadish leaves, and small greenish flowers, having the pedunculi furnished with triphyllous bractea. All 5. R. rubra, common red currant tree, &c., has a shrubby stem, dividing low into many branches, forming a bushy head, five or six feet high or more, without thorns; broad trilobate leaves, and smooth pendulous clusters of plane greenish flowers, succeeded by small clusters of berries. It grows naturally in woods and hedges in most parts of Europe, and comprises all sorts of red and white currants; as, common small red currant-large bunched red currant-Champagne pale red currant-common small white currant-large white Dutch currant-yellow blotched leaved currant-silver striped leavedgold striped leaved-gooseberry leaved. these sorts are varieties of the common red currant; it being the parent from which all the others were first obtained from the seed, and improved by culture. They all flower in the spring, and the fruit ripens in June and July, and by having the trees in different situations and modes of training, such as plantations of standard in the open quarters for the general supply, others trained against walls or pales of different aspects, the fruit may be continued ripe in perfection from about the middle of June until November, provided the later crops are defended with mats or nets from the birds. 6. R. uva crispa, the smooth gooseberry, has a shrubby stem, and branches armed with spines; trilobate leaves; pedicles having monophyllous bractea, and smooth fruit. All the above species, both currant and gooseberry kinds, and their respective varieties, are very hardy shrubs, that prosper almost any where, both in open and shady situations, and in any common soil; bearing plentifully in any exposure, though in open and sunny situations they produce the largest and fairest fruit, ripening to a rich vinous flavor. It is eligible to plant them in different situations and aspects, to have the fruit as early and late as possible. They are commonly planted in the kitchen garden as dwarf standards, in open quarters; sometimes in rows, eight or ten feet by six asunder, and sometimes in single ranges round the outward edge of the quarters, eight feet asunder; often in single cross rows; in all of which methods they should be trained up to a single stem a foot high, then suffered to branch out all around into bushy heads, keeping the middle open, and the branches moderately thin, to admit the sun and free air. They are likewise trained against walls or palings, like other wall trees, when they will produce fine large fruit; but it is proper to plant a few both against south, north, east, and west walls, to obtain the fruit ripe both early and late. Both currants and gooseberries are of an acid and cooling nature, and as such are sometimes used in medicine, especially the juice reduced to a jelly by boiling with sugar. From the juice of currants also wine is made. M'Culloch and other writers with the celebrated work of Dr. Adam Smith. See our article POLITICAL ECONOMY. In 1819 Mr. Ricardo obtained a seat in parliament for the borough of Portarlington, and displayed as a senator that sound good sense which generally distinguishes his published works. He died of inflammation of the brain, arising from an abscess in the ear, at his seat, Gatcomb Park, near Minchin Hampton in Gloucestershire, September 11th, 1823. Mr. Ricardo is said to have adopted the religious principles of Unitarianism, but usually attended the established church. We have, on the other hand, heard from a near connexion of Mr. Ricardo's that he suggested, among other improvements. a sort of intermediate faith between Judaism and Christianity; holding that Jesus Christ was a worthy man and an excellent teacher, whose precepts should therefore be regarded with great respect; but that he assumed too much' in his pretension to be the son of God: and therefore that the blame of his unhappy catastrophe was to be divided between his enemies and himself." RICAUT, or RYCAUT (Sir Paul), an eminent English traveller, of the date of whose birth we find no account; but in 1661 he was appointed secretary to the earl of Winchelsea, who was sent ambassador extraordinary to the Ottoman Porte. During his continuance in that station, he wrote, The present State of the Ottoman Empire, in 3 books: London, fol. 1670. He afterwards resided eleven years as consul at Smyrna, where, by order of Charles II., he composed The present state of the Greek and Armenian RIB'ROAST, v. a. Rib and roast. To beat Churches, anno Christi 1678. On his return, soundly. A burlesque word. That done, he rises, humbly bows, And gives thanks for the princely blows; Departs not meanly proud, and boasting Of his magnificent ribroasting. Butler. RICARDO (David), M. P. and F. R. S., the late celebrated writer on political economy, was of Jewish extraction, and born in London, April 12th, 1772. His father was a Dutch Jewish stockbroker; and the son was early sent to Holland for education. He offended his friends while young, it is said, by uniting himself in marriage with Miss Wilkinson, a quakeress, and was thus, with few resources, left to achieve his own fortune. He soon however established a character for probity and talent; and, becoming a member of the Stock Exchange, gradually accumulated a large property. In 1810 he appeared as a writer in the Morning Chronicle, on the subject of the depreciation of the currency; and afterwards embodied his ideas in a distinct work, the leading ideas of which he had the satisfaction to see adopted and confirmed in the Report of the Bullion Committee. He now published An Essay on Rent, in which he advocated the Malthusian principles, concerning population; he also entered on an examination of the affairs of the Bank of England, and suggested a plan for an economical currency. But his most important production was his treatise on Political Economy and Taxation, which has been ranked by Mr. lord Clarendon, being appointed lord-lieutenant of Ireland, made him his principal secretary for Leinster and Connaught; James II. knighted him, and made him one of the privy council in Ireland, and judge of the court of admiralty; all which he held to the Revolution. He was employed by king William as resident at the Hanse Towns in Lower Saxony, where he continued ten years; but, being worn out with age and infirmities, he obtained leave to return in 1700, and died the same year. He continued Knolles's History of the Turks, and also Platina's Lives of the Popes. RICCATI (Vincent), a celebrated Italian Jesuit, born at Castel Franco, in the Trevisan, in 1707. He became a professor of mathe.natics at Bologna; and published a learned work on the Integral Calculus, in 3 vois. 4to. He died in 1775, aged sixty-eight. RICCI (Laurence), a learned Italian Jesuit, born in Florence, in 1703, of a distinguished family. He was chosen general of the order in 1758, but had the misfortune to be the last person who ever held that office; as the order was abolished in 1773. Ricci and some others were immediately sent to the castle of St. Angelo in Rome, where he died in 1775. RICCI (Matthew), another learned Italian Jesuit, born at Macerata, in 1552. He went to the East Indies when young, and was sent as a missionary to China, where he acquired the Chinese language, and was favored by the emperor so much that he was allowed to build a church at Pekin. He died in that city in 1610; and left some curious Memoirs respecting China behind him. RICCI (Sebastian), an eminent Italian painter, born at Belluno, in 1639. The imperial court employed him to adorn the palace of Schoenbrun; after which he came to London, where he was much employed, and amassed money but he returned to Venice, where he died in 1734. Mark Ricci his nephew was also eminent in painting history, architecture, and landscapes. He died in 1730. RICCIA, in botany, marsh liverwort, a genus of the natural order of algae, and cryptogamia class of plants: CAL. none, but a vesicular cavity within the substance of the leaf: COR. none: the anthere are cylindrical, and sessile, placed on the germen, which is turbinated; the style is filiform, perforating the anthera; and the seed case is spherical, crowned with the withered antheræ; the SEEDS are hemispherical and pedicellated. Species eleven, five of which are indigenous to our own country. RICCOBONI (Lewis), an Italian dramatic writer, and actor, born at Modena, in 1677. He wrote several comedies; besides a work entitled Reflexions Historiques et Critiques sur les Theatres de L'Europe; 1738, 8vo. He died in 1753, aged seventy-six. RICE, n. s. Lat. oryza; Gr. opvla; Sans. riz; Arab. urooz. One of the esculent grains, cultivated in most eastern countries. Rice is the food of two-thirds of mankind; it is kindly to human constitutions, proper for the consumptive, and those subject to hæmorrhages. Arbuthnot. If the snuff get out of the snuffers, it may fall into a dish of rice milk. Swift. RICE. See ORYZA. This plant is cultivated in many parts of the east, in South Carolina, in America, and also in Spain, Italy and Piedmont. It is a plant that grows to the height of about two feet and a half, with a stalk not unlike that of wheat, but fuller of joints, and with leaves resembling that of the leek. It branches out into several stems, at the top of which the grain grows in clusters, and each of them is terminated with an ear or heard, and enclosed in a yellow rough husk. When stripped of this, they appear to be of an oval shape, of a shining white color, and almost transparent. It is probably a plant that cannot be reared in this climate. The following is the Chinese method of cultivating it :Much of the low grounds in the middle and southern provinces of the empire is appropriate ed to the culture of this grain. It constitutes, in fact, the principal part of the food of the inhabitants. A great portion of the surface of the country is well adapted for the production of rice, which, from the time the seed is committed to the soil till the plant approaches to maturity, requires to be immersed in a sheet of water. Many and great rivers run through the several provinces of China: the low grounds bordering on those rivers are annually inundated, by which means a rich mud or mucilage is brought upon their surface that fertilises the soil. The periodical rains which fall near the sources of the Yellow and the Kiang Rivers, not very far distant from those of the Ganges and the Burum pooter, among the mountains bounding India to the north, and China to the west, often swell those rivers to a prodigious height, though not a drop of rain should have fallen on the plains through which they afterwards flow. After the mud has lain some days upon the plains in China preparations are made for planting them with rice. For this purpose, a small spot of ground is enclosed by a bank of clay; the earth is ploughed up; and an upright harrow, with a row of wooden pins in the lower end, is drawn lightly over it by a buffalo. The grain, which had previously been steeped in dung diluted with animal water is then sown very thickly on it A thin sheet of water is immediately brought over it, either by channels leading to the spot from a source above it, or when below it by means of a chain pump, of which the use is as familiar as that of a hoe to every Chinese husbandman. In a few days the shoots appear above the water. In that interval, the remainder of the ground intended for cultivation, if stiff, is ploughed, the lumps broken by hoes, and the surface levelled by the harrow. As soon as the shoots have attained the height of six or seven inches, they are plucked up by the roots, the tops of the blades cut off, and each root is planted separately, sometimes in small furrows turned with the plough, and sometimes in holes made in rows by a drili ing stick for that purpose. The roots are about six inches asunder. Water is brought over them a second time. For the convenience of irrigation, and to regulate its proportion, the rice fields are subdivided by narrow ridges of clay, into small enclosures. Through a channel, in each ridge, the water is conveyed at will to every subdivision of the field. As the rice approaches to maturity, the water by evaporation and ahsorption disappears entirely; and the ripe crop covers dry ground. The first crop or harvest, in the southern provinces particularly, happens towards the end of May or beginning of June. The instrument for reaping is a small sickle, dentated like a saw, and crooked. Neither carts nor cattle are used to carry the sheaves off from the spot where they are reaped; but they are placed regularly in frames, two of which, suspended at the extremities of a bamboo pole, are carried across the shoulders of a man, to the place intended for disengaging the grain from the stems which had supported it. This operation is performed, not only by a flail, as is customary in Europe, or by cattle treading the corn in the manner of Orientalists, but sometimes also by striking it against a plank set upon its edge, or beating it against the side of a large tub scolloped for that purpose; the back and sides being much higher than the front to prevent the grain from being dispersed. After being winnowed, it is carried to the granary. To remove the skin or husk of rice, a large strong earthen vessel, or hollow stone, in form somewhat like that which is used elsewhere for filtering water, is fixed firmly in the ground; and the grain placed in it is struck with a conical stone fixed to the extremity of a lever, and cleared, sometimes indeed imperfectly, from the husk. The stone is worked frequently by a person treading upon the end of the lever. The same object is attain |