Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 16.djvu/879

* REDWOOD. 775 REED. a leguminous tree of India, where the wood is much used as a dye. RED'WOOD, BovEBiON (184G— ). An Eng- lish consulting chemist and authority on petro- leum. He was born in London, studied at Uni- versity College Scliool, and learned pharmacj-. As au expert on coal oils, Redwood traveled in Europe and America, acted as a member of technical juries of award in international ex- positions and health exhibitions, and was fre- quently consulted by the English Parliament on legislation in regard to the oil trade. His pub- lished works include: Cantor Lectures on Pe- troleum and Its Use (1887); Reports on Accidents with Mineral Oil Lamps and on the Transport of Petroleum Through the Huez Canal (with Abel, 1890 and 1892) ; Treatise on Petro- leum (1890); Detection of Infianimable Gases (1896, with Clowes) ; and, with Thomson, Hand- hook on Petroleum (1901). REE. A North American Indian tribe. See Arikaba. REED (AS. hreod, OHG. hriot, riot, Ger. Ried, Siet). The common name of certain tall grasses growing in moist or marshy places. The common reed (Phragmites communts) is abundant in Continental Europe, Asia, and America in wet meadows and stagnant waters, and by the banks of rivers and ditches. I', grows chiefly in rich alluvial soils. The hard, almost woody culms are 5 to 10 feet high, and bear at the top a large reddish-brown or yellowish much-branched panicle. They are used for making garden screens, light fences, and frameworks to be covered with clay in partitions and floors. Cattle readily eat the yoimg shoots, but refuse the hard old ones. Xearly allied to this is Arun- do Donax, the largest of European grasses. It is G to 12 feet high, and has thick, hollow, woody culms, and a purplish yellow panicle, silvery and sliining from silky hairs. The woodj' stems are an article of commerce, and are used by musical instrument makers for reeds of clarinets and mouthpieces of oboes. They are also made into walking-sticks and fishing-rods. The creeping roots contain much starch and some sugar. Arun- do Karka is supposed to be the grass called Sur in Sinde, of which the flower-stalks are very fibrous; and the fibres, being partially separated by beating, are twisted into twine and ropes. The sea reed (^mmophila arumlinacea) grows along the sandy shores of the Great Lakes and the Atlantic Ocean, and is one of the best sand- binding grasses for regions adapted to its growth. The small cane Arundinaria tecta is called reed in the United States. REED. In music, a thin strip of cane, wood, or metal secured at one end in front of an aper- ture, throush which a current of air passing sets it in vibration. The vibrations thus started are either communicat<;d to an inclosed column of air, or are released into the open air, in either event producing a musical sound. The reed is of two kinds, the heating reed and free reed. The former is used in the reed-pipes of an organ (q.v.), and requires to be placed within a tube in order to produce a musical sound. It con- sists of a metallic cylinder, with the front part cut away, and a brass spring or tongue placed against the opening and attached at the upper end. The resultant note is dependent for its pitch on the length of the tongue, which is regu- lated by a strong spring of wire pressing against it. The quality of the sound is determined to a large extent by the lengtli and form of the pipe in which the reed is placed. The double reed consists of two beating reeds striking against each other. The free reed diflfers from the beat- ing reed in that the tongue is a little smaller tlian the opening, and strikes, not the edge of the opening, but the air. Its note is more smooth and mellow than that of the beating reed, and it has the advantage of not requiring a pipe, which is a necessary appendage to the latter. Besides being occasionally adapted to organ-pipes, it is used without a pipe in the concertina and har- monium. The historj- of the beating reed can be traced back to the earliest known civilizations; the single form is now represented by the clari- net, ehalumeau, and saxophone; while the double form is now seen in the krumhorn, oboe, and bassoon. The free reed was introduced into Europe in the eighteenth century, its prototype being the Chinese cheng. See Musicjvx Ixstbi- MEXTS. REED, Andrew (1787-1862). An English clergyman and philanthropist. He was born at Beaumont House, Saint Clement Danes, Lon- don. In 1S07 he entered Hackney College, and in 1811, after preaching in many partes of England, he decided upon the Congregational Chapel at New Road, London. He continued the pastorate of this congregation until 1861. As a philan- thropist his efTorts were devoted to the est^iblish- ment of orphan asylums. His other charitable works were the Asylum for Idiots, founded in 1846. and the Royal Hospital for Incurables, be- gun in 18.55, with its home at Putney House, Surrey. He was the author of various works of a religious character. Consult his Memoirs, edited by his sons (London, 1863). REED, Sir Charles (1819-81). An English politician, educator, and philanthropist. He was the son of Rev. Andrew Reed (q.v.), and was born near Sonning, in Berkshire. He was edu- cated chiefly at the Hackney Grammar School. At the age of seventeen he was apprenticed to a firm of woolen manufacturers at I..eeds, and in 1S42 he entered the printing business in London. A prosperous career led to his independent estab- lishment as type-founder in 1861, a business which continued until his death as 'Sir Charles Reed and Sons, Limited.' He held many offices of public trust, besides taking an active part in the administration of the institutions founded by his father. In 1868 he entered Parliament as Liberal member for Hackney, and retained his seat until 1874. lie was reelected as member for Saint Ives in 1880. During his Parliamentary career he was identified with the discussions of educational questions, and was elected chairman of the London School Board in 1873. retain- ing the post until his death. In 1876 he was president of the .Tudges on Education at the International Exhibition of Philadelphia. He made collections of antiquities as an avocation, and was part transhitor with H. T. Riley of Liber Alhus, the White Book of the Citg of London, published in the Rolls Series in 1862. besides being a frequent contributor to Xotes and Queries. He was also joint editor with his brother .Andrew of Memoirs of the Life and Phi- lanthropic Lahors of Andrew Reed. D.D. (18631. REED, Sir Euward ,Lmes ( 1 830— ) . A Brit- ish naval engineer, born near Sheerness. He was