Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 20.djvu/549

Rh R H U K H U 529 boundary on the east. The department belongs almost entirely to the basin of the Rhone, to which it sends its waters by the Saone and its tributary the Azergues, and by the Gier. The watershed between the Rhone and the Loire rises to the west of the department, and from north to south forms four successive groups the Beaujolais Mountains, the highest peak of which is 3320 feet; the Tarare group ; the Lyonnais Mountains (nearly 3000 feet) ; and Mont Pilat, the highest peak of which belongs to the department of Loire. The lowest point of the department, where it is left by the Rhone, is 460 feet above the level of the sea. The meteorological conditions vary greatly with the elevation and exposure. Snow sometimes lies in the mountains from November to April, whilst at Lyons and in the valleys the mean temperature in winter is 36 Fahr., and in summer 70, the annual mean being 53. The average rainfall is somewhat higher than is general over France owing to the amount of the precipitation on the hilly region. Of a total area of 689,545 acres, 286,000 are arable, 120,000 are pasture meadow land, 79,000 under vines, 79,000 wood, and 66,000 moorland. From 1874 to 1883 the average annual harvests yielded 253,869 quarters of wheat, 7509 of meslin, 114,468 of rye, 3035 of barley, and 98,803 of oats. In 1883 there were pro- duced 5,390,000 bushels of potatoes, 106,650 bushels of buck- wheat, 41,320 tons of beetroot, 12 of hemp seed, and 83 of hemp. Between 1874 and 1883 the average annual yield of the vines was 16,533,956 gallons of wine; in 1883 it was only 11,918,084. In 1881 the live stock numbered 12,350 horses, 2000 asses, 600 mules, 9000 oxen or bulls, 65,000 cows, 12,500 calves, 49,000 sheep (pro- ducing 110 tons of wool), 16,000 pigs, 36,000 goats, 8000 bee- hives (producing 48 tons of honey and 16 tons of wax) ; 78 cwts. of cocoons were produced in 1882, while in 1883 there were only 47 cwts. The soil of the department is for the most part stony and only moderately fertile. Fruit trees, such as peaches, apricots, walnuts, and chestnuts, grow well, but the wood in general is little more than copse and brushwood. The wealth of the department is mainly derived from its industries. Its transactions with the Bank of France at Lyons in 1882 amounted to 30,398,960 a figure only exceeded by the departments Seine and Nord. The popula- tion is principally engaged in the manufacture of chemicals, of machinery, and of silk. In 1881 324 factories, with 18,500 spindles, 700 power-looms, and 43,000 hand-looms, were employed in the spinning and weaving of silk; 58 works, with 35,800 hack- ling and reeling machines, in the preparation of the raw material ; 7 works, with 450 spindles, 230 power-looms, and 1250 hand-looms, in the manufacture of mixed goods, and 800 looms in the manufacture of lace ; 80 dyeworks employ 4000 workmen. In 1879 it was calculated that the turnover for silk articles amounted to 15,000,000 (5,000,000 for labour and 10,000,000 for the raw material). LYONS (q.v. ) is the centre for the silk manufacture and Tarare for that of muslins, velvets, plush, calicoes, and prints, there being 26 factories, with 33, 000 spindles, 540 power-looms, 4800 hand- looms ; 2000 workmen are also employed in the manufacture of counterpanes. In 1882 88,115 tons of iron were produced. The chief workshops for repairing the locomotives of the Paris, Lyons, and Mediterranean line are in this department. There are also foundries of copper, bronze, and bell-metal, as also gold, silver, and steel wire works. The manufacture of gold and silver plate and jewellery has an annual turnover of 320,000, that of edible pastes amounts to 480,000, and that of paper to 54,000. The manufacture of wall papers is only second to that of Paris. In addition there are 15 chemical works. 8 glass works employing 1000 workmen with a turnover of 190,000 in 1879, 9 candle works (268,800), 12 soap works (102,200), and 700 mills. In 1881 there were in the department 1448 industrial establishments, employing 1558 steam engines with an aggregate horse power of 13,077. Coal and anthracite are found (36,169 tons in 1882), as well as argentiferous lead, manganese, and copper pyrites ; there are also large stone quarries. The cold mineral spring of Charbonniere, containing bicarbonates, iron, and sulphur, is 19 miles west of Lyons. The means of communication include 76 miles of navigable river, 5 of canal (the canal of Givors), 141 miles of Government road, 3685 miles of other roads, and 165 miles of railway connecting, Lyons with Paris, with Koanne by Tarare, with Montbrison, St Etienne, Nimes, Marseilles, Grenoble, Chambery, Geneva, Bourg, and Trevoux, Beaujeu with Belleville (on the Lyons and Macon line), and Thizy with Cours (two manufacturing towns in the neighbour- hood of Tarare on the line from Lyons to Roanne). The popula- tion, which owing to the development of industries has doubled since 1801, was 741,470 in 1881266 per square kilometre, the average in France being 71. There are two arrondissements, Lyons and Villefranche, 29 cantons, and 264 communes. Rhcme belongs to the diocese of Lyons, is under the jurisdiction of the superior court of Lyons, and is divided between the corps d'armee of Clermont and of Grenoble. The chief towns are LYONS (?..); Tarare (13,352); Villeurbane (11,176); Caluire-et-Cuire (9740) and Oullins (7536), suburbs of Lyons; Givors (11,470), a stirring town on the Rhone, at the junction of the canal by which coal is brought from St Etienne to the Rhone, with glass works, blast furnaces, foundries, brick and tile works, and potteries ; Amplepius (7118) ; and Cours (6929). RHUBARB. This name is applied both to a drug and to a vegetable. 1. The drug has been used in medicine from very early times, being described in the Chinese herbal Pen-king, which is believed to date from 2700 B.C. The name seems to be a corruption of RJieum barbarum or Reu barbarum, a designation applied to the drug as early as the middle of the 6th century, and apparently identical with the pyov or pa of Dioscorides, described by him as a root brought from beyond the Bosphorus. Rha is said by Ammianus Mar- cellinus to take its name from the river Rha (Volga), on the banks of which a species of Rheum (R. Rhaponticum) grows. It is not, however, known whether the root of this species was the article used under the name of Rha ponticum or Rha barbarum, or whether these names were applied to the drug brought overland from China by way of the Caspian Sea. It is, however, certain that in the early part of the llth century Chinese rhubarb was dis- tinguished as superior to the Rha barbarum. In the 14th century rhubarb appears to have found its way to Europe by way of the Indus and Persian Gulf to the Red Sea and Alexandria, and was therefore described as " East Indian " rhubarb. Some also came by way of Persia and the Caspian to Syria and Asia Minor, and reached Europe from the ports of Aleppo and Smyrna, and became known as "Turkey" rhubarb. Subsequently to the year 1653, when China first permitted Russia to trade on her fron- tiers, Chinese rhubarb reached Europe chiefly by way of Moscow; and in 1704 the rhubarb trade became a mono- poly of the Russian Government, in consequence of which the term "Russian" or "crown" rhubarb came to be applied to it. Urga was the great dep6t for the rhubarb trade in 1719, but in 1728 the dep6t was transferred to Kiachta. All rhubarb brought to the depot passed through the hands of the Government inspector, acting under the instructions of the Russian minister of war, and all pieces except those of good quality were rejected. Hence Russian rhubarb was invariably good and obtained a remarkably high price. This severe supervision naturally led, as soon as the northern Chinese ports were thrown open to European trade, to a new outlet being sought ; and the increased demand for the drug at these ports resulted in less care being exercised by the Chinese in the collection and curing of the root, so that the rhubarb of good quality offered at Kiachta rapidly dwindled in quantity, and after 1860 Russian rhubarb ceased to appear in European commerce. The drug from that date became known as Chinese rhubarb, although the older names still con- tinue in domestic use in England. ' Owing to the expense of carrying the drug across the whole breadth of Asia and the difficulty of preserving it from the attacks of insects, rhubarb was formerly one of the most costly of drugs. In 1542 it was sold in France for ten times the price of cin- namon and four times that of saffron, and in an English price list bearing date of 1657 it is quoted at 16s. per Ib, opium being at that time only 6s. and scammony 12s. per Ib. Rhubarb is used in medicine as a mild purgative and cholagogue, promoting digestion and improving the appe- tite when given in small doses, probably by stimulating the intestinal secretions. It has a subsequent astringent effect due to the rheotannic acid it contains bat this can XX. 67