Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 20.djvu/290

Rh 27-2 R A N R A N The town was first built in 1753 by Aloung-bhoora, the founder of the Burmese monarchy. On the outbreak of the first Burmese War, in 1824, it was taken by the British, but subsequently restored to the native power. It was captured a second time in 1852 and passed along with the province of Pegu into the hands of the British. The town was destroyed by fire in 1850, and serious conflagrations occurred again in 1853 and 1855. Since the last devastation Rangoon has undergone considerable improvements ; among the latest may be mentioned the construction of steam tramways in the principal thoroughfares and the establishment of a volunteer fire brigade. RANGPUR, a district of British India, in the lieu- tenant-governorship of Bengal, lying between 25 3' and 26 19' N. lat. and 88 47' and 89 56' E. long., is bounded on the N. by Jalpaiguri district and Kuch Behar state, on the E. by the Brahmaputra, separating it from Goalpara and Maimansinh, on the S. by Bogra, and on the W. by Dinajpur and Jalpaigurf. The district is one vast plain ; the greater part of it, particularly towards the east, is in- undated during the rains, and the remainder is traversed by a network of streams which frequently break through their sandy banks and plough for themselves new channels over the fields. Agricultural industry has taken full advantage of the natural fertility of the soil, which is composed of a sandy loam. The river system is constituted by the Brahmaputra and its tributaries, chief of which are the Tista, Dharla, Sankos, and Dudhkumar. There are no embankments or artificial canals in the district, nor does the alluvial soil produce any minerals. The climate of Rangpur is generally malarious owing to the numerous stagnant swamps and marshes filled with decaying vege- table matter. The average annual rainfall is 86 - 14 inches. The Northern Bengal State Railway cuts through the western half of the district from north to south, with a branch to Rangpur town. In 1881 the population was 2,097,964 (males 1,067,701, females 1,030,263); Hindus numbered 816,532, Mohammedans 1,279,605, and Christians 86. The population is for the most part rural ; the only towns containing upwards of 10,000 inhabitants are RANGPUR, the capital (q.v.), Barakhatta (11,393), Bhogdabari (10,892), and Dimlah (10,503). The district contains an area of 3486 square miles, fbout three-fourths being under continuous cultivation. The staple crops are rice, wheat, and other grains, oil-seeds, and jute ; among the miscellaneous crops are indigo, sugar-cane, betel -leaf, betel-nut, and mulberry for silkworms. Spare land capable of cultivation can hardly be said to exist, even the patches of waste land yield a valuable tribute of reeds and cane. Of industries the chief is the manufacture of paper from jute fibre ; other products are striped cotton carpets, silk cloth woven from the cocoon of a worm fed on the castor-oil plant, baskets and mats, brass-ware, and ornaments carved in ivory and buffalo horn. In 1883-84 the gross revenue of Rangpur district was 165,165, of which the land- tax contributed 102,248. The tract comprised within the district of Rangpur was formerly the western outpost of the ancient Hindu kingdom of Kamrup. The realm appears to have attained its greatest power and prosperity under Raja Nilambhar, who was treacherously overthrown by Husain Shah, king of Bengal, at the close of the 15th century. On the conquest of the kingdom of Bengal about 1542 by the renowned Afghan Sher Shah, subsequently emperor of Delhi, Rangpur appears to have become incorporated with the empire. Duiing the turbulent priod which followed the death of Sher Shah it threw off allegiance to Delhi, but the country was re-annexed by Akbar in 1584, though it was not completely subjugated till the time of Aurangzeb, about 1661. Rangpur passed to the East India Company in 1765 under the firman of the emperor Shah Alam. Numerous changes have since taken place in the jurisdiction, in consequence of which the district area has been much diminished. RANGPUR, principal town and administrative head- quarters of the above district, is situated on the north bank of the Ghaghat river in 25 44' N. lat. and 89 17' E. long., and contains a population (1881) of 13 320 RANJiT SINGH (RUNJEET SINGH). See PUNJAB, above, p. 111. RANKINE, WILLIAM JOHN MACQUORN (1820-1872), a descendant of old Scottish families, the Rankines of Carrick and the Cochranes of Dundonald by the father's side, and the Grahames of Dougalston by the mother's, was born at Edinburgh in 1820, and completed his educa- tion in its university. He was trained as an engineer under Sir J. Macneill, working chiefly on surveys, harbours, and railroads, and was appointed in 1855 to the chair of civil engineering in Glasgow, vacant by the resignation of Lewis Gordon, whose work he had undertaken during the previous session. He was a voluminous writer on subjects directly con- nected with his chair, and, besides contributing almost weekly to the technical journals, such as the Engineer, brought out a series of standard text-books on Civil Engineering, The Steam- Engine and other Prime M<n-< /., Machinery and Millwork, and Applied Mechanics. These have passed through many editions, have done more for the advancement of their subjects than any works of modern date, and are still in the very highest rank of educational works. To these must be added his elaborate treatise on Shipbuilding, Theoretical and Practical. This however, corresponded to but one phase of Rankine's immense energy and many-sided character. He was an enthusiastic and most useful leader of the volunteer move- ment from its commencement, and a writer, composer, and singer of humorous and patriotic songs, some of which, as "The Three Foot Rule" and "They never shall have Gibraltar," became well known far beyond the circle of his acquaintance. Rankine was the earliest of the three founders of the modern science of THERMODYNAMics^.t^on the bases laid by Sadi Carnot and Joule respectively, and the author of the first formal treatise on the subject. His contributions to the theories of Elasticity and of Waves rank high among modern developments of mathematical physics, although they are mere units among the 150 scientific papers attached to his name in the Royal Society's Cata- logue. The more important of these have been collected and reprinted in a handsome volume (Rankine's Scientific Papers, London, 1881), which contains a memoir of the author, written by Professor Tait. Rankine died in 1872. RANPUR, a native state of India, in the province of Orissa in the lieutenant -governorship of Bengal, situated on the western boundary of the British district of Puri, in about 20 N. lat. and 85 20' E. long. The south- west part of the state is a region of hills, forest clad, and almost entirely uninhabited, which Avail in its whole western side, except at a single point, where a pass leads into the adjoining state of Nayagarh. Its population in 1881 was 36,539 (18,382 males, 18,157 females). The only town is the raja's place of residence, which consists of one long and wide street. RANUNCULUS. Familiarly known as "buttercups," the species of this genus form the type of the order Ranunculacex. The plants are herbs, sometimes with fleshy roof>fibres, or with the base of the stem dilated into a kind of tuber (R. bulbosus). They have tufted or alternate leaves, dilated into a sheath at the base and very generally, but not universally, deeply divided above. The flowers are solitary, or in loose cymes, and are remarkable for the num- ber and distinctness (freedom from union) of their parts. Thus there are five sepals, as many petals arranged in whorls, numerous stamens, and numerous carpels arranged in spires. The petals have a little pit or gland at the base, which is interesting as foreshadowing the more fully developed tubular petals of the nearly allied genera Aconi- tum and Helleborus. The presence of all the floral organs in a free condition induced A. P. de Candolle to place Ranunculus at the head of the vegetable kingdom, but at the present time the reverse opinion holds good, and Ranunculus with its numerous separate parts is supposed to occupy a lower status than a flower in which a greater amount of consolidation and differentiation takes place. The genus is large as to number of species, which occur in