Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume XIV.djvu/399

 KODERIC means to ends, under circumstances often the most unnatural and unexpected, which makes it hard to draw the line between animal in- stinct and intelligence. There is in many an extraordinary development of the sexual ap- pendages, some of which are very complex and peculiar to the order ; the testes are gen- erally larger than the kidneys, and in most are not contained in a scrotum, but beneath the skin of the perineum ; the intromittent organ is variously directed, with an internal bone, and in some armed with a formidable apparatus of horns, spines, and serrations ; the preputial glands are often largely devel- oped, secreting in the beaver the drug casto- reum, once much used as an antispasinodic ; the uterus is two-horned ; the mammary glands vary from 4 in the Guinea pig to 12 or 14 in the agouti. Rodents have existed from the earliest tertiary epoch, presenting genera some- times different from, and sometimes the same as the present. RODERIC, the last Visigothic king of Spain, a son of Theodefred, duke of Cordova, fell in battle about the close of July, 711. He be- came king about 709, after driving Witiza from the throne. The sons of the latter and their uncle Orpas, archbishop of Seville, invoked against Roderic the assistance of the Arabs, who gained possession of Ceuta through the treachery of Count Julian, governor of Anda- lusia. Roderic roused the people to arms. His forces were vastly superior in number to those of the invaders under Tarik ; but in the battle of Jerez de la Frontera, which is said to have lasted eight days, he was betrayed by the sons of Witiza, whom he had placed in command of the wings, and perished on the field. RODEZ, or Rhodez, a city of S. France, capital of the department of Aveyron, situated upon a lofty promontory surrounded by the Aveyron, 310 m. 8. of Paris; pop. in 1872, 11,662. It has an institution for deaf mutes, a normal school, lyceum, and diocesan seminary. It con- tains a fine Gothic cathedral begun in the 13th century, a monastery of the Cordeliers, hand- some modern public buildings, manufactures of linen and serge, and a considerable trade in cheese, mules, and cattle. RODGERS, John, an American naval officer, born in Harford co., Md., in 1771, died in Phila- delphia, Aug. 4, 1838. He entered the navy as a lieutenant, March 9, 1798, and as executive officer of the frigate Constellation, Com. Trux- tun, took possession of the French ship L'ln- surgente captured by her off Nevis, Feb. 9, 1799. In March he was commissioned captain, and made a cruise in the Maryland, 20, upon the West India station. In June, 1803, in the John Adams, 28, in company with the Enter- prise, 12, he successfully attacked a Tripolitan cruiser of 22 guns and several gunboats at anchor in a bay near Tripoli. In 1804 he com- manded the frigate Congress, 38, in the squad- ron employed against Tripoli under Com. Bar- ron, whom in 1805 he succeeded in command. 709 VOL. xiv. 25 RODNEY 383 He afterward conducted successful negotiations with Tripoli and Tunis. In the spring of 1811, while lying off Annapolis in his flag ship, the President, 44, Capt. Ludlow, Com. Rodgers, received intelligence that a seaman had been impressed from an American brig off Sandy Hook by an English frigate. He sailed for that point without delay, and on May 16, when a few leagues to the southward of New York, discovered a vessel of war and gave chase to her, and a short engagement ensued. He ceased fire when his antagonist proved to be the weaker ship, and boarding her the next morning found that she was H. B. M. ship Lit- tle Belt, of 22 guns, Capt. Bingham. She had suffered severely, but declined receiving assist- ance, and the ships parted. The accounts of this affair given by the two commanders differed materially, particularly as to the firing of the first gun, and it widened the breach which already existed between the two nations. On June 21, 1812, on the declaration of war by the United States against Great Britain, Com. Rodgers sailed from New York in command of a squadron consisting of the President, the United States, 44, Congress, 38, Hornet, 18, and Argus, 16 ; and on June 23 a British frigate was discovered, to which a general chase was given. The President came at 4 P. M. within gun-shot of the English ship, when a running fight took place, in the course of which a gun of the President burst, killing and wounding 16, Com. Rodgers being among the wounded; and the enemy's ship escaped. It was afterward found that she was the Belvidera, 36, Capt. Byron, which had 7 killed and wounded, Capt. Byron among the latter. The loss of the President was 22 killed and wounded. Com. Rodgers extended this cruise for about 70 days, captur- ing seven British merchantmen. He subse- quently captured the British packet Swallow, with a large amount of specie, and the schooner Highflier. In June, 1814, he was appointed to the new frigate Guerriere, and rendered im- portant services in the defence of Baltimore. At his death he was senior officer of the navy. RODIGER, Emil, a German orientalist, born at Sangerhausen, Thuringia, Oct. 13, 1801, died in Berlin, June 15, 1874. He studied theology in Halle, and taught there for many years, be- coming in 1835 professor of oriental languages. In 1860 he was called to Berlin, where he remained until his death. His publications include Syrische Chrestomathie (1838), Him- jaritische Schriftmonumente (1841), and the continuation of Gesenius's Thesaurus Lingua Hebraic (1853). After the death of Gesenius Rodiger edited his Hebrew grammar, from the 13th to the 21st edition (1874). RODNEY. I. Caesar, a signer of the Declara- tion of Independence, born in Dover, Del., about 1730, died there in 1784. His grand- father, William Rodney, came from Bristol to Kent co., Del., soon after Penn became propri- etary. Caesar inherited a large estate. He was sheriff of Kent co. in 1758, and soon after