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RHEINGOLD was attacked by the populace, and in 1830 the ceremony of crowning at Rheims was abolished. The hills which surround the town are planted with vineyards, and Rheims is one of the great centers of woolen manufacture in France. Its Gothic cathedral is one of the glories of architecture. Its facade is a medieval masterpiece. A wealth of tapestry, sculpture and paintings adorns the interior; innumerable statues of artistic grace beautify the outside; and the rose-window is of rare magnificence. Population 108,385.  Rheingold, Das. The prelude of Wagner's tetralogy of The Niebelungen Ring. First performance at Munich, Sept. 22, 1869, under the direction of Franz Wüllner, whose tact and ability successfully overcame the difficulties attending its first production. The poem, Das Rheingold, was not written until after Siegfried and Die Walküre had been dramatised. The music was completed in May of 1854. An exceptional number of instruments is required by the score. For instance, where ordinarily two or four horns would suffice, Wagner uses eight. The band of brass instruments is enlarged, with wonderful effects in sonority. At the close of The Rhinegold six harps are used in the rainbow scene. The full score was published in 1873.  Rheot′ropism, the sensitiveness of a plant to the direction of a current of water, to which it responds by changing the rate of growth, which results in a curvature with or against the current. When roots of corn or vetch are grown in moving water, the rate of growth is hastened on the side not struck by the current and slowed on the other side; consequently the tip is turned up-stream. A very slow current will produce the reaction. The exact nature of the stimulus has not yet been determined. See.  Rhine, the most important river in Germany and one of the most noted in the world, takes its rise in Switzerland, and, after a northerly course of about 850 miles, empties into the German Ocean. The area drained by the Rhine and its feeders is estimated at nearly 100,000 square miles. It is divided into the Upper, Middle and Lower Rhine, the first being the river from its source to Basel, the second its course from Basel to Cologne and the third its course from Cologne through the Netherlands to the sea, into which it empties by mouths forming an extensive delta. Canals connect the Rhine with the Rhône, the Danube and other rivers, opening lines of communication with France and Belgium on one side and with the Netherlands and every part of Germany on the other. The delta, most of which lies below the sea, has to be protected by strong embankments or dikes, the principal ones rising 25 or 30 feet above the lowest level of the river.  Rhinoceros, a thick-skinned animal with a horned snout, confined to

tropical Africa and Asia. There are two species in Africa and three in Asia. The African species embrace a two-horned and a one-horned variety. The latter is the wide-mouthed rhinoceros, sometimes called white, although its skin is of a slaty color. It is the largest of the family, a full-grown male, according to Selous the celebrated hunter, standing six and one half feet high at the shoulders. The largest of the Asiatic species also has a single horn. It is ten feet long and five feet high at the shoulders. There are enormous folds in the skin which appear like huge plates of armor. Another form, inhabiting Sumatra, has two horns on the snout. The horn is a powerful weapon. Besides being used in attack, it is strong enough to root up small trees, which the animal sometimes does, for the sake of the fruit and foliage. They are shot with iron and tin bullets, as the hide is so tough that leaden bullets will not penetrate it.

 Rhizoids. Usually hair-like outgrowths from plant-bodies which act as holdfasts and, often, as absorbing organs. The name means root-like, but the similarity is by no means one of structure, but rather one of general function in relation to the outside world. Rhizoids are mostly developed by the lower plants, as, for example, in connection with the anchoring of sea-weeds, on the underside of the thallus-bodies of liverworts, from the base of the erect moss-plants, from the under side of the prothallium of ferns etc.  Rhizome. See.  Rhode Island, one of the original thirteen states and the smallest state in area in the American Union. Its greatest length from north to south is between 40 and 50 miles, and its width is less than 40, its land-area being but little over 1,050 square miles. It is bounded on the north and east by Massachusetts, on the south by the Atlantic and on the west by Connecticut. The state is divided into five counties, its principal cities being Providence (the capital), Newport, Central Falls, Pawtucket and Woonsocket. Narragansett Bay, which occupies the southeastern quarter of the state, contains a number of beautiful islands, on the largest of which, named Rhode Island, is Newport, a famous summer-resort, <section end="Rhode Island" />