der Gehirnschale einer Riesin; Blumen-, Frucht-, und Dornenstücke, the opening chapter of which contains his magnificent "Dream of the Dead Christ," translated into English by Carlyle; Jubelsenior; and Das Campanerthal. R. d. Nov. 14, 1825. In his latest yrs. he was afflicted with a decay of his physical powers, and in his last yr. with total blindness. The death of his son Max, in 1821-a youth of great promise -inflicted an incurable wound on his heart. Some of his pieces have been translated into English by Carlyle and others; Carlyle has also given us two admirable essays on the life, writings, and genius of the man, to which we also refer our readers.

Ri'cimer, a barbarian general of the Western Roman Empire, noted for his craft, military talent, and unscrupulousness; d. 472.

Rickarees', a tribe of about 1,000 Pawnee Indians, living on the upper Missouri River.

Rick'ets, or Rachi'tis, is regarded by some writers as a special disease of the bones, and by others as merely one of the various forms of scrofula. The characteristic symptom in R. is the imperfect development, atrophy, softness, and consequent distortion of some or many of the bones. The treatment must be mainly directed to the improvement of the general health. Cod-liver oil, iron, and phosphorus (phosphorized oil) are the principal remedies.

Rick'etts, (JAMES B.,) soldier, b. in New York 1817; graduated at the U. S. Military Academy, and entered the artillery 1839; served in Mexican War; commanded a battery in the capture of Alexandria 1861; was made Brig.-Gen. of Volunteers; fought bravely throughout the war; in 1867 was retired with the full rank of major-general; d. 1887.

Rick'man, (THOMAS,) a distinguished architect, was b. at Maidenhead, Eng., in 1776. He seems to have always had a love for architecture, and to have studied it carefully. In 1808 he began to give his full attention to it, and wrote the classification of the Gothic styles which has rendered him famous. He first pointed out the features which distinguish the different periods of that style. He divided it into four periods, and called them Norman, Early English, Decorated, and Perpendicular, and these names and the dates he assigned to them are still the most frequently used. He d. 1841.

Ric'ochet, in Artillery, is the bounding of a shot along the ground which takes place when a gun is fired low. R. firing is found extremely useful both in its actual and moral effect in clearing the face of the ravelin, bastion, or other rather long line of fortification.

Ricord', (PHILIPPE,) a distinguished Fr. physician, b. 1800 at Baltimore. He went in 1820 to Paris, where he was at tached in succession to the Hôtel-Dieu under Dupuytren, and to the Pitié under Lisfranc. He was graduated as Doctor in Medicine in 1826. He became in 1850 member of the Academy of Medicine, (section of Surgical Pathology,) member of the Surgical Society, and Consulting Surgeon to the Dispensary of Public Health. In 1862 he was appointed physician-in-ordinary to Prince Napoleon, and in 1869 consulting surgeon to the late emperor, having already been raised to the distinction of Commander of the Legion of Honor. His works are numerous, the more important of them being On the Employment of the Speculum Biviale, invented by himself; On the Blennorrhagia of the Female, etc. D. 1889.

Rid'dell, (JOHN L., M.D.,) scientist and educator, b. in Mass. 1807; became Prof. of Botany in the Cincinnati Medical Coll.; subsequently held the professorship of chemistry in the Medical Department of the University of Louisiana; was melter and refiner in the U. S. Mint at New Orleans, and was the inventor of the binocular microscope and the author of a number of botanical works; d. 1867.

Rid'dle, a paraphrastic presentation of an unmentioned subject, the design of which is to excite the reader or hearer to the discovery of the meaning hidden under the studied obscurity of expression. In the present day the R. is a mere jeu d'esprit a sort of witty pastime for idle people; we only meet with it under the form of conundrum; but anciently-and its antiquity is very great-it held a far higher place. The socalled proverbs or sayings attributed to Solomon frequently assume the form of Rs. Every reader of the O. T. is familiar with the R. which Samson proposed to the Philistines, and the "enigmas" that the Queen of Sheba proposed to Solomon. Homer, according to a statement in Plutarch, died of chagrin at not being able to solve a R.; and the R. of the Sphinx is probably the most celebrated in the whole circle of philosophical puzzles. Among the Romans professional R. makers did not make their appearance till the latest period

of Roman literature. The Reformation, at least in Protestant countries, checked, if it did not wholly stop, the merry pastime of R.-making; but in the 17th c. it began to creep into favor again. In the 18th c. the taste for the manufacture of Rs. continued to increase, and most of the brilliant French littérateurs, such as Boileau, Voltaire, and Rousseau, did a little in this line, until, finally, the Mercure de France became a fortnightly repository of Rs., the solution of which was sufficient to make a reputation in society. In Germany Schiller gave a broader development to the R. In his hands it once again became something grave and sibyline, and attained in expression a high degree of literary beauty and force. Rid'dle, (GEORGE READE,) a noted R.R. contractor, b. in Del. 1817, d. 1867; was U. S. senator 1864-67.

Rid'dle, (JOSEPH E.,) minister and philologist, b. in England 1804; became a clergyman of the Established Church; was the author of a valuable Latin dictionary, and published with Arnold a copious and critical Latin-English lexicon, and was identified with other classical dictionaries; d. 1859.

Riddleber'ger, (HARRISON HOLT,) an Amer. legislator and lawyer, b. in Va. 1844, d. 1890; Ü. S. senator from Va. 1883-89.

Ridge, the upper angle of a roof, usually covered with lead or zinc, and sometimes with stone or tile. Rs, are often ornamented with a cresting or running design, and recently cast-iron has been much used for this purpose.

Ridgely, (JAMES LOT,) lawyer, b. in Md. 1807, d. 1881; admitted to the Baltimore bar, where he was identified largely with municipal matters; was appointed by President Lincoln Collector of Internal Revenue; author of the various rituals now in use among Odd-fellows, and was a leading member of the institution, of which he was Grand Sire in 1836.

Rid'ing, a term applied to three parts into which the county of York, Eng., is divided, termed respectively East, West, and North R. A similar division existed in several other counties in the Anglo-Saxon period; there were the laths of Kent, the rapes of Sussex, the parts of Lincoln. The trithing lath, or rape, was formed of three or more hundreds, and presided over by a trithing-man or lath-grieve. In Domesday Book we find Yorkshire divided, as at present, into three Rs., and subdivided into wapentakes.

Rid'ing of Bones, displacement of the fragments of a bone, chiefly produced by the contraction of muscles, which occasions shortening of the limb; the fractured extremities riding over each other instead of being end to end.

Ridley, (NICHOLAS,) an Eng. prelate; Bishop of London 1550, was actively connected with all the leading events of the English Reformation, and burned at the stake as a heretic, Oct. 16, 1555, in company with Latimer, in front of Balliol Coll., Oxford, b. 1500.

Rid'path, (JOHN CLARK, LL.D.,) an Amer. author and educator, was b. in Ind. in 1840. He entered Indiana Asbury University in 1859, and was graduated in 1863 with honor. In 1866 he became Prof. of Languages in Baker (Kan.) University; in 1869 he was called to the chair of English liter ature in Indiana Asbury University; in 1874 he published a school history of the U. S., and in 1876 a larger work on the same subject, entitled Popular History of the United States; later published a History of the World and Great Races of. Mankind, each bearing the marks of careful scholarship and erudition. He is also well known as a lecturer.

Riédesel', Baron von, (FRIEDRICH A.,) a Hessian officer who served the British during the Revolutionary War, and surrendered with Burgoyne; b. at Lauterbach 1738, d. 1800.

Rie'go y Nuñez, del, (RAFAEL,) a Span. patriot, b. 1785; was president of the New Cortes 1823; taken prisoner and executed as a traitor the same yr. His memory has since been greatly honored.

Riel, (LOUIS DAVID,) a Canadian half-breed, b. 1844, who in 1870, and again in 1884-85, instigated an uprising in the North-west Territory against the Canadian government. In 1885 he was captured, tried, and sentenced to death for treason, was respited from time to time, and finally executed Nov. 16, 1885, at Regina, North-west Territory.

Rien'zi, di, (COLA,) the famous Roman tribune, was b. at Rome 1313. He assumed the significant title of "consul of orphans, widows, and the poor." During three yrs. he loudly and openly-perhaps even ostentatiously-menaced the nobles. At last, when R. thought he could rely on the support of the citizens, he summoned them together, delivered a magnificent discourse, and proposed a series of laws for the better government of the community, and was invested with dictatorial power. A bright dream now seems to have flashed across R.'s imagination—the unity of Italy, and the supremacy

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Rie'sen-Gebir'ge, a mountain range about 23 m. 1. by about 12 m. w., between Bohemia and Prussian Silesia.

Rie'si, an old town of Sicily, in the prov. of Caltanisetta; pop. 11,548.

Riet'boc, in Zool., an African species of antelope, so called from its frequenting dry water-courses and reedy places. Rie'ti, a city of central Italy. It is the seat of an archbishop. Pop. 14,148.

Riff, The, a portion of the coast of Morocco, which extends from Tangier on the W. to near the W. frontier of Algiers, having a 1. of about 210 m., with a w. of 58. The inhabitants are almost wholly Berbers.

Ri'fle-bird, (Ptiloris paradiseus,) a bird of the family Upupida, with a long curved bill, and in size about equal to a large pigeon. It inhabits the S.-E. districts of Australia, and is found only in very thick "bush."

Ri'fled Arms were invented for the purpose of remedying certain defects essentially connected with cylindrical smoothbore guns. These defects, as was evident to artillerists, could never be wholly annihilated while smooth-bores were used, and they set themselves to discover how they might be counteracted. It occurred to them that this could best be managed by arranging that the plane of rotation of the ball should be at right angles to its motion of translation. As early as 1498 the citizens of Leipsic possessed the germ of the future rifle, for their arms had a grooved bore, but the grooves were straight. Not many yrs. after, in 1520, Augustin Kutter (or Koster) of Nürnberg was celebrated for his rose or star-grooved barrels, in which the grooves had a spiral form. In 1628 Arnold Rotsiphen patented a new way of "makeing gonnes," which, from a subsequent patent granted him in 1635, appears to have consisted, among other improvements, in rifling the barrels. The Revolutionary gov. ernment of France had rifles issued to portions of their troops, but they met with so indifferent a success that Napoleon recalled them soon after he came to power. In the Peninsula, however, picked companies of sharpshooters practiced with rifles with deadly effect on both the English and French sides. During the War of 1812-14 the Americans demonstrated incontestably the value of rifles in warfare.

B

The Martini-Henry Rifle.

A, ready for loading; B, loaded and ready for firing.

It was soon discovered that a spherical ball was not the best missile; one in which the longer axis coincided with the axis of the gun flying truer. The first war-rifle was that of Capt. Delvigne, proposed in 1826, and adopted for a few men in the French army. In 1842 Col. Thouvenin invented a carabine à tige, in which the breach had a small pillar screwed into it, round which the powder lay, and on the end of which the bullet rested, its base being flattened out by the force of the ramrod. Col. Delvigne added a conical bullet to this rifle, and the combined invention was issued to the Chasseurs d'Afrique in 1846. It was superseded by using with a grooved barrel the Minié bullet. The Prussians, meanwhile,

(1) exhibiting the system with breech-block and hammer closed, and the

other (2) with those parts open in position for loading. The constituent parts of the action are the breech-block (B) and the pin (C); main-spring (a) and screw; trigger, (c,) trigger-spring, (e,) and screw; locking-lever, (d) locking lever spring (D) and screw; firing-pin (H) and screw. The extractor, shoulder of the breech-block. The breech-block and hammer are solid not indicated by a letter, is seen in diagram 2, engaging in a slot in the pieces of fine steel, 69-100 of an in. thick, pivoted upon pins of the same material 46-100 in diameter. These pins pass entirely through the sides of the frame, and are held in place by the button screwed on to its left exterior side. spring are all of steel, the springs having the simplest possible curves, and The main-spring, trigger-spring, locking-lever, and locking-lever the action of the main-spring upon the hammer being direct. The function that it cannot escape from its notch in the tumbler when the breech-block is of the locking-lever is twofold, one of its offices being to lock the trigger, so opened, and a second to secure the breech-block when closed by the force, directly transmitted, of the lever-spring, (D.)

complete turn in 78 in., and fired a bullet resembling the Minié, except that a wooden cup was substituted for one of iron. From 1853 to 1865 this was the weapon of the British army. In 1865 the adoption of the breech-loading arms caused the Enfield to be converted into a breech-loader by fitting the Snider breech mechanism to the Enfield barrel. The Henry barrel was in 1871 adopted in conjunction with the Martini breech for the new small-bore rifle for the British army, now known as the Martini-Henry rifle. The 1. of the Henry barrel is 32 in., the mean diameter of the bore is .450 of an in., and the rifling takes one complete turn in 22 in. Its bullet is solid with a slight cavity in the rear, and weighs 480 grains, the charge of powder being 85 grains. The range, accuracy, and penetration of the Henry barrel is nearly twice that of the Enfield-Snider barrel. As with small arms, so with cannon, rifling is no new discovery. In the museum at St. Petersburg is a cannon which was rifled in nine grooves as early as 1615. The Crimean War set inventors vigorously at work, and many admirable guns have resulted from their attempts. To sum up: the Armstrong gun is the most accurate; that and the Whitworth have the longest range, each having attained 10 m.; the Lancaster fouls least; the French is simplest, and can fire ordinary cannonballs, canister, or case. The Armstrong gun was officially adopted into the British service in 1859 as the best weapon then known, but it has been superseded by an improved version known as the Woolwich gun. The practice of rifleshooting in the U. S. and England has of late yrs. done much toward the improvement of that arm or weapon, and toward

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Rinderpest. See CATTLE PLAGUE. Rinehart, (WILLIAM H.,) a self-taught Amer. sculptor, long resident at Rome, where his greatest works, the "Angel of the Resurrection" and the "Woman of Samaria," were executed; b. in Md. 1825, d. in Rome 1875, leaving a large property in trust for the help of struggling art students in Baltimore.

Ring, (Sax. ring or hring, "a circle or circular line,") a circle of gold or other material. The practice of wearing Rs. has been widely prevalent in different countries and at different periods. Finger-Rs. are alluded to in the Books of Genesis and Exodus; Herodotus mentions that the Babylonians frequently wore them; and from Asia they were probably introduced into Greece. The Rs. worn in early times were not purely ornamental, but had their use as signet-Rs. The Lacedæmonians wore iron Rs. The Romans are said to have derived the use of Rs. from the Sabines. Every free Roman had a right to wear one. The later Romans, like the Greeks, crowded their fingers with Rs., and the more effeminate among them sometimes had different Rs. for summer and winter. Rs. entered into the ground-work of many Oriental superstitions. Various explanations have been given of the connection of the R. with marriage. It would rather appear that wedding-Rs, were worn by the Jews prior to Christian times. It has been said that as the delivery of the signet-R. to any one was a sign of confidence, so the delivery of a R. by the husband to the wife indicated that she was admitted into his confidence. Another explanation is that the form of the R. symbolizes eternity and constancy; and it has been alleged that the left hand was chosen to denote the wife's subjection to her husband, and the third finger because it thereby pressed a vein which was supposed to communicate directly with the heart. A R. has been much used at betrothal as well as marriage, and in many parts of the continent of Europe a wedding-R. is worn by the husband as well as the wife. The R. was the symbol of the dominion of Venice over the Adriatic; and yearly, on Ascension Day, a R. was thrown by the doge from the ship Bucentaur into the sea, to denote that as the wife is subject to her husband, so is the Adriatic Sea subject to the republic of Venice. By an ancient Norse custom, described in the Eyrbrygia Saga, when an oath was imposed, he by whom it was pledged passed his hand through a silver R. sacred to that ceremony; and in Iceland the ceremony of betrothal used to be accompanied by the bridegroom passing his four fingers and thumb through a large R., and in this manner receiving the hand of the bride. Rs. were greatly used in ancient Egypt. They were called tebh, "finger-Rs.," and khatem, "signets," both kinds being represented in the sculptures and mentioned in the hieroglyphs.

Ring, (MELCHIOR,) a disciple of Thomas Münzer, causing riots and great commotion at Stockholm, and afterward taking part in the Peasants' War in Saxony, and finally siding against Luther; flourished 1523-30.

Ring bones consist of a circle of bony matter round the horse's coronet; they are most common in the fore limbs of draught horses with short upright pasterns, and much worked upon hard roads; but they also occasionally appear on the hind limbs of lighter bred horses.

Ring'dove, (Columba palumbus,) a species of pigeon with" white upon its neck, forming a portion of the ring - the Cushat. Rin'gent, in Bot., having the lips wide open, like a gaping mouth.

Ringdove.

Ring kjobing-fjord, a lagoon of Denmark, 28 m. 1. by 9 m. w. A narrow strip of sand separates it from the North Sea. Ringkjöbing, pop. 2,000, stands on its N.-E. shore.

Ringent Corolla.

Ring Micrometer. See MICROMETER. Ring Money. At an early stage of society, prior to the invention of coinage, but after the inconveniences of direct barter had been dis-. covered, the precious metals, formed into rings, were used as a medium of exchange; these same rings being also serviceable in some cases as personal ornaments. The use of R. M. among the Egyptians is proved by representations of gold

prevailed among the Jews, the ancient Britons, the Norseinen, in Gaul, Caledonia, and Ceylon.

Ring of the Nibelungen. See NIBELUNGEN. Ring Ous'el, a species of thrush, rather larger than the blackbird, which it much resembles. It is a native of Eu. rope. The R. O. is a constant visitor of gardens in the neighborhood of its haunts. In Scotland it is known as the Moor Blackbird. It is of a dark-brown color, almost black. Ring'sted, a town in the island of Sealand, Denmark, of some importance during the 12th c.; pop. 2,000. Ring'worm, a popular term for several distinct forms of skin-disease which occur in patches of a circular or annular form on the body, and especially on the scalp. True R. is a disease dependent on the presence of a special vegetable parasite, now known to botanists as Trichophyton tonsurans, or hair-plant, and discovered in 1845 by Malmsten. It consists of oval, transparent pores or globules about in. in diameter, for the most part isolated, but sometimes connected by articulated filaments. This fungus is seated in the interior of the hair-roots, and the hairs of the fungi simultane. ously increase in size. The diseased hairs lose their elasticity and break when they have risen a line or two above the scalp. There are three varieties of true R. (1) R. of the Body first appears as a rose-colored and slightly elevated spot about the size of a three-cent piece. This spot gradu. ally increases in size, but retains its circular form; and as it extends the healing commences at the center, so that the circular red patch is converted into a ring. This form of R. frequently terminates spontaneously. (2) R. of the Scalp usually occurs in children, and is especially prevalent when the nutrition is defective or there is a scrofulous taint in the constitution. It appears in the form of round, scaly, irritable patches on different parts of the head, and the irri tation often occasions the formation of minute vesicles. The hairs at these spots become dry and twisted, and are easily extracted, and when the disease advances they break close to the scalp if an attempt is made to extract them. (3) R. of the Beard is chiefly met with on the chin, the hairy part of the cheeks, and the upper lips of men. Treatment. This must be constitutional as well as local. Improve nutrition and assimilation; generous diet, fresh air, exercise, and tonics, especially arsenic, (Fowler's solution of arsenic 2 or 3 drops, well diluted, after meals, thrice daily.) Locally, an ointment, (iodide of sulphur ointment 1 part, benzoated lard 2 parts,) well rubbed in night and morning, daily brushing with the hair-brush, and no washing. If the iodide of sulphur ointment is too irritating, use nitrate of mercury one part, lard six parts.

Riobamba, a town of Ecuador, 100 m. S. from Quito; pop. about 20,000.

Ri'o Bran'co, a river of Brazil, the largest affluent of the Rio Negro, rises near the sources of the Orinoco, in lat. about 3° N., long. about 64° W. It flows first E. to long. 61° W., and then S.-S.-W. to the Rio Negro, which it joins after a course estimated at 700 m. in 1.

Ri'o de Janei'ro, a maritime prov. in the S.-E. of Brazil, bounded on the S. and E. by the Atlantic; area 26,530 sq. m., pop. without the city 782,724. The coast on the N.-E. is low and lined with lagoons, but in the S. the scenery of the shores is usually beautiful. Mountain ranges occupy the middle of the province, among which the peaks of the Organ Mountains, rising to from 6,000 to 7,000 ft., are conspicuous. Of the rivers the Parahiba is the chief. The soil is fertile, and the principal productious are sugar, coffee, cocoa, cotton, rice, and maize. The province is traversed by railway. The cap. is Praia Grande or Netherohy, which, including the district of San Domingo, contains about 25,000 inhabitants. The largest and most important town, however, is Rio de Janeiro.

Rio de Janei'ro, generally called Rio, the cap. of Brazil, and after Buenos Ayres the largest and most important commercial emporium of S. Am., stands on a magnificent harbor, 75 m. W. of Cape Frio. The harbor or bay of R. de J., said, and apparently with justice, to be the most beautiful, secure, and spacious bay in the world, is landlocked, being entered from the S. by a passage about 1 m. in w. It extends inland 17 m., and has an extreme w. of about 12 m. Of its numerous islands, the largest, Governor's Island, is 6 m. 1. From a number of springs which arise on and around Mount Corcovado (3,000 ft. h. and situated 34 m. S.-S.-W. of the city,) water is conveyed to R. de J. by a splendid aqueduct. The trade and commerce of R. de J. is great, and is annually increasing. The exports from R. de J. consist of coffee, gold in bars and dust,