Page:EB1911 - Volume 23.djvu/332

Rh degree that in the female may afterwards lead to serious difficulties in parturition. The head of the rickety child is large looking in its upper part, the individual bones of the cranium sometimes remaining long ununited, while the face is small and ill-developed, and the teeth appear late and fall out or decay early. The constitutional conditions of ill-health continue, and the nutrition and development of the child are greatly retarded.

The disease may terminate in recovery, with more or less of deformity and dwarfing, the bones although altered in shape becoming nrmly ossified, and this is the common result in the majority of instances. On the other hand, during the progress of the disease, various inter current ailments are apt to arise which may cause death, such as the infectious fevers, bronchitis and other pulmonary affections, chronic hydrocephalus, convulsions, laryngismus stridulus, &c.

An acute form of rickets of rare occurrence (really a form of scurvy, q.v.) has been described by writers on diseases of children, in which all the symptoms are of more rapid development and progress, the result in many instances being fatal.

The treatment of rickets is necessarily more hygienic than medicinal, and includes such preventive measures as may be exercised by strict attention to personal health and nutrition on the part of mothers, especially where there appears to be any, tendency to a rickety development in any' members of the family. Very important also is the avoidance of too prolonged nursing, which by its weakening effects upon the mother's health is calculated to engender the disease in any succeeding children. At the same time it must be admitted that, when the mother is healthy, her milk abundant, and nursing discontinued before the lapse of the first year, there is no better means of preventing the occurrence of rickets than this method of feeding an infant, the disease, as is well known, being far more frequently met with in children brought up by hand. The management of the child exhibiting any tendency to rickets is of great importance, but can only be alluded to in general terms. The digestive disorders characteristic of the setting in of the disease render necessary the greatest care and watchfulness as to diet. Thus, if the child be not nursed but fed artificially, fresh milk should be almost the only article of diet for at least the first year, and the chief element for the next. When not digested well, as may at times be shown by its appearance as a curd in the evacuations, it may be diluted with water or lime water, or else discontinued for a short time, carefully-made gruel or barley water being substituted. Many of the so-called “ infants' foods ” which are now so extensively used appear to be well adapted for their purpose, but when employed too abundantly and to the exclusion of the due amount of milk are often productive of digestive and intestinal disorders, probably from their containing a greater amount of starchy matter than can be utilized. From the end of the first year light animal soups may occasionally be given with advantage. The medicinal remedies most to be relied on are those which improve the digestive functions and minister to nutrition, and include such agents as the preparations of iron, quinine, and especially cod-liver oil and phosphorus, and the cautious use of extract of thyroid gland. has been advocated by Henoch. Of no less importance, however, are abundance of fresh air, cleanliness, warm clothing, and attention to the general hygiene of the child and to regularity in all its functions.

When the disease is showing evidence of advancing, it is desirable to restrain the child from walking, as far as possible. But this precaution may be to some extent rendered unnecessary by the use of splints and other apparatus as supports for the limbs and body, enabling the child to move about without the risk of bending and deformity of the bones which otherwise would probably be the result.

The condition formerly known as foetal rickets (achondroplasia or chondrodystrophia foetalis) is now classed as a separate disease. Its chief characteristics are dwarfism with shortening of the limbs and enormous enlargement of the articulations.

 RICKMAN, THOMAS (1776–1841), English architect, was born on the 8th of June 1776 at Maidenhead, Berkshire, where he assisted his father (a Quaker) in business as a grocer and druggist until 1797. He was then engaged in various businesses until 1818. All his spare time was spent in sketching and making careful measured drawings, till he gained a knowledge of architecture which was very remarkable at a time when little taste existed for the beauties of the Gothic styles. In 1811 alone he is said to have studied three thousand ecclesiastical buildings. When in 1818 a large grant of money was made by the government to build new churches, Rickman sent in a design of his own which was successful in an open competition; thus he was fairly launched upon the profession of an architect, for which his natural gifts strongly fitted him. Rickman then moved to Birmingham, and by 1830 became one of the most successful architects of his time. He built churches at Hampton Lucy, Ombersley, and Stretton-on-Dunsmore, St George's at Birmingham, St Philip's and St Matthew's in Bristol, two in Carlisle, St Peter's and St Paul's at Preston, St David's in Glasgow, Grey Friars at Coventry, and many others. He also designed the new court of St John's College, Cambridge, a palace for the bishop of Carlisle, and several large country houses. These a're all in the Gothic style, but show more knowledge of the outward form of the medieval style than any real acquaintance with its spirit, and are little better than dull copies of old work, disfigured by much poverty of detail. Rickman nevertheless played an important part in the revival of taste for medievalism perhaps second only to Pugin. His Attempt to discriminate the Styles of Architecture in England shows painstaking research, and ran through many editions. Rickman died at Birmingham on the 4th of January 1841. He was married three times: first to his cousin, Lucy Rickman of Lewes; secondly to Christiana Hornor; thirdly to Elizabeth Miller of Edinburgh, by whom he had a son and a daughter.

 RICKMANSWORTH, an urban district in the Watford parliamentary division of Hertfordshire, England; 17½ m. W.N.W. of London by the Metropolitan & Great Central joint railway; served also by a branch of the London & North Western railway from Watford. Pop. (1901) 5627. It lies in a pleasant valley at the junction of the Chess with the Colne, and on the Grand Junction canal. The church of St Mary, with the exception of the tower a modern reconstruction, contains some French stained glass of the 16th century. The chief industries are brewing and art-printing. The Colne here holds large trout, which are carefully preserved. The grounds of Moor Park to the south-east are finely wooded, and the mansion, belonging to Lord Ebury, is a good example of the period of George I. "The estate counts among its former owners such famous names as the Botelers; George Neville, archbishop of York; John de Vere, earl of Oxford in Henry VII.'s time; Wolsey in the next reign; Robert Carey, earl of Monmouth, and the duke of Monmouth.

RICOCHET, a military term expressing the rebound of a projectile that strikes on a hard surface. The origin of the French word ricochet, is unknown. Its earliest known use (14th and 15th centuries) was in the sense of “ repetition,” e.g. chanson du ricochet, “ an oft-told tale.” Hence it came to be applied to the rebound of a flat stone skimmed along the surface of water, known familiarly in English as “ ducks and drakes,” and so finally in the military sense defined above, which found its way into the English language. The use of the now obsolete “ ricochet fire ” in war is well illustrated by “ducks and drakes.” The shot, striking the ground at a small angle, described for the remainder of its course a succession of leaps and falls. The discovery of this species of fire, usually attributed to Vauban (siege of Ath in 1697), had the greatest influence both on sieges and on operations in the field. In siege warfare, ricochet, especially when combined with enfilade, i.e. when directed along the enemy's line of defence, soon became the principal weapon of the besieger, and with the system of (q.v.) gave the attack a superiority so complete that a siege came to be considered as the most