Page:Collier's New Encyclopedia v. 08.djvu/174

LEFT RUDOLPH 140 BUFFED GROUSE Hungary rose in revolt; and at last Ru- dolf's brother Matthias wrested from him the crowns of Hungary and Bohemia, and RUDOLF II. the states of Austria and Moravia. Less than a year after losing the crown of Bohemia he died, unmarried, Jan. 20, 1612, and was succeeded by Matthias. RUDOLPH, an Austrian Archduke, son of Francis Joseph L, born in 1858. He was carefully educated and entered the army at the age of twenty, but dis- tinguished himself as a traveler and writer. In 1881 he married Stephanie, daughter of King Leopold II., of Bel- gium. In 1889 he became the subject of a great deal of romantic interest, because of his death in a hunting lodge in the royal preserves, at Myerling, near Vienna. He had obviously committed suicide, the rumored cause being his love for an ac- tress, but this phase of the scandal was suppressed. Archduke Rudolph was one of the most accomplished members of the Imperial family. He was the author of "Fifteen Days on the Danube" (1881) ; "A Trip to the Orient" (1884) ; and planned and partly edited the monumen- tal work "The Austrian-Hungarian Em- pire through Word and Picture" (1886- 1902). RUDOLSTADT, Germany, capital of the former principality of Schwarzburg- Rudolstadt (now part of the federated State of Thuringia), situated on the Saale, 18 miles S. of Weimar. It is fa- mous for its manufacturies of fine porce- lains, pianos, toys and chemicals. Pop. about 13,000. RUE, the genus Ruta. The common rue is R. graveolens, a half -shrubby plant, of a fetid odor and an acrid taste. The bluish - green leaves are pinnate, the flowers yellow; a native of southern Eu- rope, but grown in gardens in the East and West Indies, the United States, etc. Rue oil is a powerful topical stimulant, an anti-spasmodic and an emmenagogue. It is used internally in flatulent colic, hysteria, epilepsy, etc., and as an enema, and externally as a rubefacient. RUFF, the Machetes pugnax, a bird that is a spring and summer visitor in north Europe, having its winter home in Africa. It is rather larger than a snipe; general plumage ash-brown, spotted or mottled with black, but no two specimens are alike. In the breeding season the RUFF neck is surrounded by a frill or ruff of numerous long black feathers, glossed with purple, and barred with chestnut. While probably serving primarily as an attraction to the hen birds, this frill acts also as a shield, when furious battles take place between them for the possession of the females, which are called reeves. The nest is usually of coarse grass, in a moist, swampy place; the eggs four in number. Also a breed of the Jacobin. RUFFE, in ichthyology, the Acerina cernua, from the rivers of Europe. It is olive-green, marbled and spotted with brown, and resembles the perch in habits. The name is said to be derived from the harsh sensation caused by its ctenoid scales. RUFFED GROUSE, Bonasa umbellus, a North American species of grouse of the same genus as the hazel grouse of Europe. It is named from the tufts of