Page:Cyclopaedia, Chambers - Supplement, Volume 2.djvu/366

 R H I

R H I

MAPSODOMANTIA, 'p«-M°^W, among the antients, a fpecies of divination performed with the works or rhap- fodies of the poets, particularly Homer and Virgil, who were looked upon as divine and infpircd perfons ; whence this kind of divination was called fortes Homericts and Vir- gilianes. Potter, Archseol. Gra:c. 1. 2. c. 16. Tom. I. p. 333. See Sortes, CycL RHEEDIA, in botany, the name of a genus of plants, fo called from Mr. Van Rheed. The characters of the genus are thefe : the flower has no cup. It confifts of four petals, which are of an oval figure, and are hollowed, and expand- ed wide open. The {lamina are five filaments. The ger- men of the piftil is globofe. The fruit is fmall, and of an oval figure. It is fucculent, and confifts only of one cell, and contains three very large feeds, which are of an oval oblong figure, and marked with ftrangely irregular lines, refembling feveral characters. Linnai Gener. Plant, p. 523. Plumler. 18. RHEGMA, a word ufed by the antients to exprefs any break- ing, or burfting of a fort part without a wound, but moft frequently for abfeefles breaking inwardly. RPIENONES, among the antient Germans, a kind of gar- ment covering the fhoulders and breaft down to the middle. It was either entirely made of -fkins, or covered over with them ; the long hair of which being outward, proved a good defence againft rain. Pitifc. in voc. RHEO- STATICS, is ufed by fome for the ftatics, or the fcience

of the equilibrium of fluids. Cajhl. Math. Univ. p. 73. RHEUMATISM (tyd.)— In obftinate rheumatifms fmall dofes

of emetic wine are much recommended by Dr. Huxham. RHEXIA, in natural hiffory, the name of a genus of plants : the characters of which are thefe. The perianthium con- fifts of one leaf; it is of an oblong figure, tubular, inflated at the bottom, and divided into four fegments at the mouth. It remains after the flower is fallen. The flower confifts of four petals ; they are of a roundifli figure ; they ftand ex panded, and are affixed to the cup. The ftamina are eight capillary filaments longer than the cup. Thefe are affixed to the cup, and are terminated by long drooping antheree. The germen of the piftil is roundifli, the ftyle is Ample, and of the length of the ftamina. The ftigma is fomewhat thick and obtufe. The capfule is contained within the belly, or inflated part of the cup j it is roundifli, compofed of four valves, and containing four cells. This contains a number of roundifh feeds. It is to be obferved, that in fome fpecies of this genus the calyx is fmooth, in others it has feveral hairs difpofed in a ftellated manner. Linnai Gen. PI. p, 161. Pluknet, f. 173. f. 4. Gronovius. RHINANTHUS, in botany, the name of a genus of plants, the characters of which are thefe. The perianthium is roundifli, but compreffed, fomewhat inflated and compofed of one leaf, divided into four fegments at the end. This is permanent, and does not fall with the flower. The flower is of the labiated kind, and confifts of one petal. Its cube is of the length of the cup, its limb open but com- prefled at the bafe. The upper lip is hooded, compreffed, marginated and narrow; the under lip is broad, flat, and obtufe, and lightly divided into three fegments ; the middle one fomewhat larger than the reft. The ftamina are four filaments, of the length of the upper lip of the flower, un- der which they arc hid, two of them are fomewhat fhorter than the others. The anthers are incumbent, and are bifid and hairy. The germen of the piftil is oval and compreffed. The ftyle is capillar)', and of the length of the ftamina, or fomewhat more than that. The ftigma is obtufe and bent. The fruit is an erect orbicular but compreffed capfule, it is compofed of two valves, and divided into two cells. The feeds are numerous, and of a flatted figure, and fall out by the opening of the capfule at its fides. Linnai Gen. PI. p. 282. RHINE [CycL)— Rhine, in ichthyology, a name given by Ariftotle, Appian, and moft of the Greek writers to that fpecies of the fqualus, which we ufually call the fquatina ; the fquatus of Ifidore and Pliny. Artedi has diftinguifhed this from all the other fpecies of the fqualus, by the having no pinna ani, and the mouth in the extremity of the fnout. RHINECHITIS, a name of a chirurgical inftrument, ufed

for fyringing the noftrils. RHINGAU, a name given by fome authors to the lavaretus, a fmall fifh, caught in the German lakes, and fent in pickle into many parts of the world. Willughby\ Hift. Pifc. p. 183. See the article Lavaretus. RHINOBATUS, in zoology, the name of a flat cartilaginous fifh, of the fquatina, or monk fifh kind, but differing from it in this, that the body is proportionably longer, and the head is more pointed ; and the mouth is a great way below the end of the fnout, and placed under the head. It is from three to four feet long, and is common in the Mediterra- nean, and brought to market in fome parts of Naples. Fab. .Column, p. 1 1 q. RHINOCEROS, in zoology, the name of a genus of qua- drupeds, fo called from an horn growing on their nofe. Of this genus there are only two known fpecies. 1. The|

rhinoceros with only one horn on its nofe ; and, 2. The rhi- noceros with two horns.

In the year 1 739 we had a young rhinoceros fhewn in Eng- land, of which Dr. Parfons has given a very accurate ac- count in the Philofophical Tranfactions. The creature fed on rice, fugar, and hay; his keeper ufed to mix the rice and fugar in the following manner : feven pounds of rice and three pounds of fugar made the provi- fion for one day ; he eat this at three meals ; and befides this he eat about a trufs of hay every week, and a large quantity of greens that were brought to him, at different times, and of which he feemed more fond than of dried food. He drank often, and always fwallowed a large quantity of water at a time. See Tab. of Quadrupeds, N kl 13 and 14. He appeared very peaceable in his temper, and bore to be handled on any part of his body, with great patience, ex- cept when he was hungry; but he was then always out- ragious, as alfo when he was ftruck. His moft violent paffions, even on the laft occafion, were however always immediately appeafed by giving him victuals. Notwithstanding the lumpifh afpett, and heavy make of this creature, he would jump about very nimbly in his fits of paifion, and often leap to a great height ; and one common mark of his fury was the ftriking his head againft the walls, or any thing elfe that was in the way, and this he would do with terrible violence. He was very apt to fall into thefe paffions in a morning before his rice and fugar were given him, and from the whole he appeared quite untraceable, and feemed able, in his paffions, to have run fo faft, as that a man on foot could not have efcaped him. This creature was two years old, and did not exceed a young heifer in height, but was remarkably broad and thick. His head was very large; and the hinder part of it, near the ears, remarkably elevated above the reft of the face, which was flat, and funk down, in a remarkable manner in the middle, rifing again toward the origin of the horn, but in a much fmaller degree. The horn ftands upon the nofe of the animal as upon a fort of hill ; and when the fceleton of the head is feen, that part of the fkull on which the horn i3 fixed, is found to rife into a blunt cone, to anfwer to a ca- vity in the bafis of the horn, which is very hard and folid ; in other refpects, having no manner of hollow, or core, like thofe of other quadrupeds. The horn in this young animal did not rife above an inch high from its tough bafis, and was black and fmooth at the top, but ragged down- wards ; and the determination of its growth is backward, not ftrait up; this is very evidently feen in the horns of old rhinocerofes, which are always curved in a conftderable de- gree that way. If we cohlider the proportion of this ani- mal's fize, to the length of its horn, and thence carry the proportion to that between the large horns we fee in the mufeums of the curious, we muft fuppofe the animal of a very ftupendous fize, when at its full growth. Phil. Tranf.

N °47°- P-530-

The fides of the under jaw, in this creature, ftand very wide afunder, flanting outward to the lower edo-e, and backward to the, neck; the edges turn outwards from this ftructure of the bones, and the head necefi'irily looks very large. That part of the head which reaches from the forepart of the horn to the upper lip may be called the nofe; this is very thick, and bulky, and has a kind of circular fweep down towards the noftrils ; on all this part there are a great number of ruga; or wrinkles.

The noftrils are fituated very low, in the fame direction with the opening of the mouth, and not more than an inch from it ; and when viewed in a foreview, the whole nofe, from the top of the horn to the verge of the lower lip, is fhaped like a bell. The under lip is like that of an ox,' but the upper more like that of a horfe, and he ufes it as that creature does, to gather up hay from the rack, or grafs from the ground; but, with this fuperior advantage, that this creature has a power of extending this lip to fix or feven inches in length from the nofe, and there drawing it to a point ; with this lip, thus extended, the creature is able to grafp a ftick, or any fmall fubfhr.cs, and hold it extremely faft ; and this power of prolonging the lips ferves, in many purpofes, to the fame end as the trunk of that other un- weildy animal the elephant.

The tongue of the rhinoceros is faid to be fo rough as to be able to rub a man's flefh off from the bones ; but, in this young fubject it was fo foft, that it refemblcd that of a calf. It may poffibly grow harder with age; but the ftory of its effects feems of a piece with the many other falfe marvels reported of this animal. The eyes are dull and fleepy, much like thofe of a hog in fhape ; he feldom opens them entirely ; and it is to be obferved, that they are fituated nearer the nofe than thofe of any other known quadruped, The ears are broad and thin toward the top, much like thofe of a hog ; but they arife each from a narrow round bafe, with fome wrinkles on it, which iflues out of a fimis, as it were fur- rounded with a flefhy fold. The neck is very fhort, and has two folds,' or wrinkles, wholly furrounding it, only that the anterior one is broken underneath ; and has a flap

hanging