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 EANGOON BANKINE 201 ation with distinction that of A. M. There is a school of Biblical literature and oriental lan- guages for students preparing for the ministry, to whom instruction in all the schools is free. A diploma is conferred for graduation in Bib- lical literature. In 1875 the college had 10 professors and tutors and 235 students. RANGOON, a seaport and the capital of British Burmah, in Pegu, on the left bank of the E. branch of the- Irrawaddy, known as the Kan- goon, about 26 m. from the sea, in lat. 16 46' N., Ion. 96 17' E. ; pop. in 1871, 96,952. The houses of the town are somewhat unequally distributed, in narrow but clean and well paved streets, over a space about a mile long, parallel to the river, and extending three quarters of a mile inland. There are several Buddhist pago- das, one Baptist, two Episcopal, and two Eo- man Catholic churches, and a number of schools. It is the centre of the American Baptist mis- sions in Burmah, connected with which are a theological seminary, college, and printing of- fice. The harbor is capable of receiving ves- sels of 1,200 tons, and the tide rises 18 to 25 and even 30 ft. Ship building is an important industry. The principal export is rice; next in the order of values come timber, raw cot- ton, and petroleum. The East Indian trade of Eangoon is mostly with Calcutta, but also ex- tends to Madras ports and the Straits Settle- ments. There are five lighthouses on the Bur- mese coast to guide vessels to the port. The town is fortified and garrisoned. It has two markets, a recorder's court, and an English newspaper. Eangoon was founded by the Burmese conqueror of Pegu in 1755. In 1852 it fell into the hands of the British, who have since retained it. In 1853 and 1855 it was greatly devastated by fire. RANKE, Leopold Ton, a German historian, born at Wiehe, near Naumburg, Dec. 21, 1795. In 1818 he became principal teacher of the gymnasium of Frankfort-on-the-Oder. In 1824 appeared at Berlin his Geschichte der romani- schenund germanischen VolJccr wn 1494-1555. He was made professor of history in Berlin in 1825, and soon after was sent by the Prus- sian government to search for historical mate- rials in the archives of Vienna, Venice, Eome, and Florence. The first results of his labors appeared in the 1st volume (embracing the history of the Ottomans and the Spanisli monarchy) of his Fursten und Vollcer von Sudeuropa im IQten und I7ten Jahrhundert (1827). In 1829 he published Die serlische Revolution, in 1831 Ueber die Verschicorung zu Venedig im Jahre 1688, and in 1837 Vorle- sungen zur Geschichte der italienischen Poesie. His work Die rdmischen Pdpste, ihre Kirche und ihr Staat (" The Popes of Eome, their Church and State," 3 vols., Berlin, 1834-'6), forming the 2d, 3d, and 4th volumes of the Fursten und Vollcer von Sudeuropa, &c., was translated into English by Mrs. Austin in 1840 ; by Scott, with an introductory essay by Merle d'Aubigne, in 1846; and by E. Foster in 1848. A sixth edition of it was published in 1874 with the title Die romischen Papste in den letzten vier Jahrhunderten (3 vols., Leipsic), and a sev- enth in 1875. In 1 832 he began the Historisch- politische Zeitschrift (vol. i., Hamburg, 1832 ; vol. ii., Berlin, 1833-'6), which, being decried as illiberal, was discontinued in 1886. His Deutsche Geschichte im Zeitalter der Reforma- tion (" History of Germany in the Time of the Eeformation," 6 vols., Berlin, 1839-'47), in which he gave an account of the rise of Protes- tantism, was translated into English by Mrs. Austin (5th ed., 1874). It was followed by Neun Bucher preussischer Geschichten (3 vols., 1847-'8), for aid in writing which the Prussian archives were for the first time opened. This work has been translated by Sir A. and Lady Duff Gordon, under the title of "Memoirs of the House of Brandenburg, and History of Prussia during the 17th and 18th Centuries" (1849). He has also written Jahrbucher des deutschen Reichs unter dem sdchsischen Hause (3 vols., 1837-'40); Franzosische Geschichte, vornehm- lich im IQten und If ten Jahrhundert (5 vols., Stuttgart, 1852-'5), which contains an account of Protestant struggles in France ; Englische Geschichte im IQten und Vlten Jahrhundert (7 vols., Berlin and Leipsic, 1859-'68; English translation, " A History of England, principally in the Seventeenth Century," 6 vols., Oxford, 1875); Geschichte Wallemteim (Leipsic, 1869); Ursprung des siehenjdhrigen Krieges (1871); and Genesis des preussischen Staats, and Aus dem Briefwechsel Friedrich, Wilhelm's IV. mit Bumen (1873). An edition of his complete works, to comprise 36 vols., is in progress (29 vols., 1867-'74). His brother FEIEDRICH HEINEICH, born in 1797, from 1842 chief coun- cillor of the Protestant consistory of Munich, is the author of Untersuchungen <uber den Pen- tateuch (2 vols., Erlangen, 1834-'40), Zeugniss von Christo (2 vols., 1845-'8), Das Lelen in C'hristo (Frankfort, 1852), &c. RANKIN, a central county of Mississippi, bor- dered W. and N". "W. by Pearl river and drained by its branches ; area, about 800 sq. m. ; pop. in 1870, 12.977, of whom 7,273 were colored. Its surface is covered with pine forests, and its soil is generally fertile. It is intersect- ed by the Vicksburg and Meridian railroad. The chief productions in 1870 were 217,708 bushels of Indian corn, 5,996 of oats, 13,360 Ibs. of rice, 3,279 of wool, and 8,705 bales of cotton. There were 1,327 horses, 1,083 mules and asses, 3,088 milch cows, 1,315 working oxen, 5,023 other cattle, 4,799 sheep, and 13,239 swine. Capital, Brandon. RANKINE, William John Maequorn, a Scottish physicist, born in Edinburgh, July 5, 1820, died in Glasgow, Dec. 24, 1872. He attend- ed scientific classes in the university of Edin- burgh, and when 22 years of age published "An Experimental Inquiry into the Advan- tages attending the Use of Cylindrical Wheels." In 1843 he was elected an associate of the in- stitution of civil engineers. In 1849 he pub-