Page:EB1911 - Volume 22.djvu/916

Rh church and abbey of the Madonna de Montallegro, whose miraculous picture attracts pilgrims from all parts of Italy. Olives and other fruit are grown, and a brisk trade is done in olive oil. A mile to the south is Santa Margherita Ligure (pop. 7051), another winter resort, with a large 16th-century church. Both places are also frequented for sea-bathing in summer. Lace is made, while the men go in May to the coral fisheries off the Sardinian coast. To the south again is the small seaport of Portofino (the Roman Portus Delphini) under the south-east extremity of the promontory of Portofino (2010 ft.). On the way from S. Margherita to Portofino is the suppressed monastery of Cervara, in which Francis I. of France was confined after the battle of Pavia on his way to Madrid. At all these places are beautiful villas.

 RAPE (Lat. rapum or rapa, turnip), in botany.—Several forms of plants included in the genus Brassica are cultivated for the oil which is present in their ripe seeds. The one most extensively grown for this purpose is known as colza, rape or coleseed, in Germany as Raps (Brassica napus, var. oleifera): its seeds contain from 30 to 45% of oil. The leaves are glaucous and smooth like those of a swede turnip. For a seed-crop rape is sown in July or early August in order that the plants may be strong enough to pass the winter uninjured. The young plants are thinned out to a width of 6 or 8 in. apart, and afterwards kept clean by hoeing. The foliage may be eaten down by sheep early in autumn, without injuring it for the production of a crop of seed. In spring the horse and hand hoe must be used, and the previous application of 1 cwt. or 2 cwt. of guano will add to the productiveness of the crop. On good soil and in favourable seasons the yield sometimes reaches to 40 bushels per acre. The haulm and husks are either used for litter or burned, and the ashes spread upon the land. It makes good fuel for clay-burning. There is a “summer” variety of colza which is sown in April and ripens its seed in the same year. It does not yield so much oil as the “winter” kind, but it will grow on soil in poorer condition. Neither of these is much grown in Great Britain for the production of oil, but the “winter” variety is very extensively grown as green food for sheep. For this purpose it is generally sown at short intervals throughout the summer to provide a succession of fodder. It is peculiarly adapted for peaty soils, and is accordingly a favourite crop in the fen lands of England, and on recently reclaimed mosses and moors elsewhere. Its growth is greatly stimulated by the ashes resulting from the practice of paring and burning. Its highly nutritious leaves and stems are usually consumed by folding the sheep upon it where it grows, there is no green food upon which they fatten faster. Occasionally it is carried to the homestead, and used with other forage in carrying out the system of soiling cattle.

The wild form Brassica campestris, the wild coleseed, colza or kohlsaat, of the fields of England and many parts of Europe, is sometimes cultivated on the European continent for its seed, which, however, is inferior in value to rape as an oil-yielding product.

In addition to the previously mentioned rape, a variety of another species (or subspecies) of Brassica, namely, Brassica rapa, var. oleifera (Rübsen in Germany), is grown for its oil yielding seeds. The leaves in a young state are not glaucous, but sap-green in colour and rough, being very similar to those of the turnip, to which the plant is closely related. Both winter and summer varieties are grown; they are rarely cultivated in Britain. The oil is similar to that in the true colza seeds but the plants do not yield so much per acre as the latter: they are, however, hardier and more adapted for cultivation on poor sandy soils.

 RAPE (from Lat. rapere, to seize), in law, the crime of having carnal knowledge of a woman by a man, not her husband, forcibly and unlawfully against her will. Under the Mosaic law, rape was punished with death, if the damsel was betrothed to another man, and with a fine of fifty shekels if not so betrothed, while in this case, also, she was to be the wife of the ravisher all the days of his life (Deut. xxii. 25). The Roman civil law punished rape with death and confiscation of goods (Cod. L. IX. tit. 13). In England, under the Saxon law—adopted, probably, from a Teutonic code—death was also the penalty, but under the Normans this was changed to the loss of both eyes and castration; this punishment remained in force until after the time of Bracton (de Coronâ, f. 147). The statute of Westminster I. (1275) reduced the offence to a trespass, with a penalty of two years' imprisonment and a fine at the king’s will. This lenity, it is said, produced terrible consequences, and, accordingly, the statute of Westminster II. (1285) again declared the offence a felony, with, however, benefit of clergy. This was the state of the law until 1575, when the punishment was made more severe by taking away the benefit of clergy. The offence remained capital until the Offences against the Person Act 1861, by which and subsequent amending acts it is now regulated. The present punishment is penal servitude for life or for not less than three years or imprisonment with or without hard labour for not over two years.

The law of England (differing in this respect from the civil law) regards as immaterial whether the woman is chaste or unchaste, married or single, provided the offence has been committed forcibly and without her consent. The offence is complete if consent is extorted by means of threats of death or immediate bodily harm, by fraud or by false pretenses or representation, such as the impersonation of a woman’s husband (Criminal Law Amendment Act 1885).

Since the passing of the Criminal Law Amendment Act 1885 it is a felony, entailing the same punishment as rape, to have carnal knowledge of a girl under 13 years, whether she consent or not. Between 13 and 16 years of age it is a criminal offence punishable by two years' imprisonment, whether consent is given or not, and even if there be solicitation; but if the jury is satisfied that the person charged has reasonable cause to believe the girl to be over 16 years, the accused is entitled to be acquitted. Prosecution must be within three months of the offence. The administration of any drug or matter, with intent, by producing stupor, to facilitate the accomplishment of the crime, is an offence punishable by two years' imprisonment. On indictment for rape there may be an acquittal on the actual charge, but a conviction either of the attempt or of an indecent assault.

In charges of rape, from the nature of the offence, the important witness is the woman, and it is essential, apart from medical evidence (see ), that her story be corroborated by evidence implicating the accused. The following points have, of necessity, to be considered. (1) As to the general credibility of the witness and how far her story is to be believed; evidence, therefore, may be given to show that she is of immoral character. (2) As to whether she has made complaint immediately after the alleged outrage and to whom. (3) As to the place Where the outrage was alleged to have been committed and the possibility of her being heard if she cried out.

In the United States, rape is universally treated as a felony, and the punishment is either death, imprisonment for life, or imprisonment for a number of years, varying in the different states. In the case of offences against young girls, there is a divergence in the various states as to the age of consent, though the trend of legislation has been to raise it. In North and South Carolina, and Georgia, the age of consent is as low as 10 years, and in Kentucky and Louisiana, 12 years. In nineteen states the age of consent is 14 years. In one (Texas) 15 years. In six, it is 16 years. In Wyoming, New York, Colorado and Kansas it is as high as 18 years.

The essential facts to be proven in order to constitute this crime are the same as in England, but in many of the states the uncorroborated evidence of the woman is sufficient to sustain a conviction. This is so in California, Arizona, Idaho, Missouri, Kentucky, Michigan, Illinois, Oklahoma, &c. [1904; Brenton v. Territory, 78 Pac. Rep. 83]. In New York corroboration is required [Penal Code §283]. In Nebraska also evidence corroborating the prosecutrix is necessary [1907; Burk v. State, 112 N.W. Rep. 573]. In Texas it is no defence for accused to prove that he believed the prosecutrix to be over 15 years of age, the age of consent [1907; Robertson v. State, 102 So. W. Rep. 1130], and the crime is punishable with death [1903; Reyna v. State, 75 So. W. Rep. 25], as also apparently it is in the Indian country [U.S. v. Partello, 48 Fed. R. 670 U.S. Rev. Stats. § 5345], also in Alabama [Criminal Code, § 5444]. 