Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 20.djvu/582

Rh 562 R I N R I O way that the murderer could give the fatal scratch while shaking hands with his enemy. This device was probably suggested by the poison fang of a snake. The so-called papal rings, of which many exist dating from the 15th to the 17th centuries, appear to have been given by the popes to new-made cardinals. They are very large thumb rings, usually of gilt bronze coarsely worked, and set with a foiled piece of glass or crystal. On the hoop is usually engraved the name and arms of the reigning pope, the bezel being without a device. They are of little intrinsic value, but magnificent in appearance. Another very large and elaborate form of ring is that used during the Jewish marriage service. Fine examples of the 16th and 17th centuries exist. In the place of the bezel is a model, minutely worked in gold or base metal, of a building with high gabled roofs, and frequently movable weathercocks on the apex. This is a conven- tional representation of the temple at Jerusalem. Perhaps the most magnificent rings from the beauty of the workmanship of the hoop are those of which Benvenuto Cellini produced the finest examples. They are of gold, richly chased and modelled with caryatides or grotesque figures, and are decorated with coloured enamels in a very skilful and elaborate way. Very fine jewels are sometimes set in these magnificent pieces of 16th-century jewellery. Thumb rings were commonly worn from the 14th to the 17th century. Falstaff boasts that in his youth he was slender enough to "creep into any alderman's thumb ring" (Shakes., Hen. IV., Pt. /., act ii. sc. 4). The finest collections of rings formed in Britain have been those of Lord Londesborough, Edmund Waterton (now in the South Kensington Museum), and those still in the possession of Mr A. W. Franks and Mr Drury Fortnum. See Gorlaeus, Dactyliotheca, Lyons, 1601 ; King, Antique Gems and Eings, 1872 ; Jones, Finger-Rings, 1878 ; Edwards, History of Rings, New York, 1875 ; and various articles by Waterton and others in the Archxological Journal. (J. H. M. ) RINGWORM. See PARASITISM, vol. xviii. p. 269, and SKIN DISEASES. EIOBAMBA, or ROYABAMBA, a town in the South- American republic of Ecuador, situated on the road from Guayaquil to Quito in "a sand valley or plain of the great central highland of the Andes Chimborazo, Car- guairazo, Tunguragua, and Altar all being visible from its plaza." The town has occupied its present site only since the close of the 18th century; in 1797 the old town, which lay about 12 miles to the west at Cajabamba, was com- pletely destroyed by a vast landslip (still recognizable) from Mount Cicalfa in one of the most terrific convulsions recorded even in that region of volcanic activity. Ruins still remain to show that Riobamba was a much larger and finer place then than at the present day. Though said to have 16,000 inhabitants, and to manufacture woollen gloves, sacking, and coverlets, the town is poorly built and comparatively lifeless. RIO DE JANEIRO (in full form SAO SEBASTIAO DO Rio DE JANEIRO, and colloquially shortened to Rio), the capital of Brazil, and one of the principal seaports of South America, is situated on the western side of one of the finest natural harbours in the world in 25 54' 23" S. lat. and 43 8' 34" W. long, (the position of the observatory). Along with its environs it is separated from the province of Rio de Janeiro (whose chief town is Nitherohi) and constitutes an independent municipality (municipio neutro), with an area of about 540 square miles, divided into nineteen (formerly sixteen) parishes or frequezias. Most of the streets are narrow and mean- looking ; even the fashionable Rua do Ouvidor, which is lined on both sides with handsome shops, is a mere alley. The Rua Direita, or, as it is now called officially, Rua Primeiro de Manjo, is the principal business street, and is wide and pleasant. It runs from the gate of the royal palace (a building of small preten- sions) to the con- vent of Sao Bento, and contains the exchange, the post office, and the custom-house, as well as the impe- rial chapel (1761) and several other churches. The churches and mo- nastic buildings of Rio de Janeiro number upwards of fifty, mostly built in the "Jesuit" Harbour of Rio de Janeiro, style, but striking from their size and the barbaric mag- nificence of their decorations, as well as on account of their well-chosen sites. La Candellaria (17th century) is conspicuous from the height of its towers, and La Gloria crowns a beautiful eminence on the bay. The monastery of Sao Bento is reputed to be the wealthiest in the empire, with large possessions in land and mines ; and its chapel is not unworthy of that reputation. Besides the famous Rio de Janeiro and its Environs. hospital of Dom Pedro II., better known as La Miseri- cordia, because built (1841) on ground belonging to the fraternity of that name, there are several smaller institu- tions of the same class in the city ; and a large and hand- some lunatic asylum, founded in 1841 with funds obtained by selling titles of nobility at a fixed tariff, occupies a good position in the Botafogo suburb. The military hospital is also an extensive establishment. Among the literary and scientific institutions of the city, the College Dom Pedro