Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 16.djvu/901

* EEFTJNDING. 797 fundere, to pour back, restore, from re- back again, anew + fundere, to pour). A financial operation by which a government or corporation changes the terms of an existing debt. In public finance the term is used synonymously with con- version. A government may refund its debts to secure better terms either with respect to rate of interest or with respect to time of payment of principal. Public debts are usually created at a time when public credit is low; accordingly a high rate of interest must be offered to tempt in- vestors. With the restoration of credit, it be- comes possible for the government to borrow money at a lower rate of interest; and if the terms of its original debt permit, it is good financial policy to pay off that debt; with money borrowed at the lower rate. In practice, the holders of the old obligations usually exchange them for the new, so that a refunding operation changes neither the principal of the debt nor the creditors to whom it is due ; although technically a new debt has taken the place of the old one. Quite apart from improvements in public credit, the rate of interest at which a government can borrow money tends constantly to decline, owing to the general fall in the rate of interest. Most modern governments are burdened with a more or less permanent debt; accordingly their recent history shows a series of refunding operations, resulting in a steady decline of interest on public debentures. The policy of refunding of debts, while justly popular, naturally meets with the hostility of public creditors, who have at times been powerful enough to influence the action of the government, as in France, 1878-1883, when the government could have replaced obligations hearing interest at over six per cent, by obliga- tions bearing interest at less than four. The public obligations were largely in the hands of small holders, whose political influence deterred the ministry from undertaking the operation. Refunding can take place advantageously only when government debentures are above par on the market. It is therefore bad policy for a govern- ment in need of funds to sell low-interest bonds below par. since such a policy prevents it from taking advantage of a fall in the rate of interest. See Debt, Public; Finance; Subhead Finance under the articles United States, Great Britain, Germany, etc. REFUSE DISPOSAL. See Garbage and Refuse Disposal. REGAL (OF., Olt. regale, Fr. rigale, from Lat. rerjalis, regal, from rex, king). A small portable finger-organ in use in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, and perliaps earlier. The pipes rested on the air-chest, which was filled by the bellows; the bellows were managed with one hand, and the keys with the other. The musical collection of Henry VIII. contained 13 regals. The name continued in use as late as 1770. REGALBUTO, ra'gal-boo'to. A town in Sicily. 26 miles west-northwest of Catania (Map: Italy, J 10). Salt and .sulphur are mined, and there is a trade in cereals and wine. Population (commune), in 1901, 11,0.38. REGALDI, ra-gal'de. Giuseppe (1809-83). An Italian poet, bom at Novara. He stud- ied law at Turin, but upon hearing Giustini- ani. resolved to become like him, an improvisa- tore and. from 1833 until 1836, traveled much HEGELATION. in that capacity, and with considerable success. His political opinions, expressed with fire and frankne.ss, involved him in dilTiculties with the authorities of various Italian towns, and for a time he traveled in the East and in Greece. At the time of his death he was professor of history at the University of Bologna. His works include La guerra (1832), Poesie estemporanee e pensate (1839), Canti (1840), Cmili nazionali (1S41), Canfi e prose (1861-65), and Storia e letleratura (1879), essays. Consult Orlando, Giuseppe Regaldi (1880). REGALIA (ML., royal prerogatives), or Regale, Right of. A right in ecclesiastical things, claimed by sovereigns in virtue of the royal prerogative, which has frequently been the subject of controversy between kings and popes. It involved several points as to presentation to benefices, most of which formed the object from time to time of negotiation by concordat; but the most serious conflict arose' out of the claim made by the Crown to the revenues of vacant benefices, especially bishoprics, and the coordi- nate claim to keep the benefice or the see vacant for an indefinite period, in order to appropriate its revenue. (For the general history of the con- troversy, see Investiture.) The specific term Droit de regale, however, recalls mainly the con- flict in France between Louis XIV. and certain French bishops, notably those of Alet and Pamiers, who were supported by the Pope. Innocent XL For a detailed history of this particular strife, consult: Phillips, /)a«7?e,i;a/ifH/-«cftf in Fratikreieh (Halle, 1873), Gerin, Hecherches historiques sur VassemhUe du clergc de France de 16S2 (Paris, 1870). REGARD'ANT (OF., looking). A term used in heraldry (q.v.) with reference to an animal whose head is turned backward. REGEL, ra'gcl. Eduard von (1815-92). A German-Russian botanist, horn in Gotha. where he received his horticultural training. He was then employed in the botanical gardens of Bonn. Ber- lin, and Giittingen. In 1842 he became director of the botanical gardens in Zurich, and lecturer at the university there. In l.S,i3 he was made director of the Imperial gardens in Saint Peters- burg. He did much to promote culture of fruit in Russia. His numerous printed works on bot- any include Flora Bonnehsis (1841). Allgcmeines Garienbuch (1855-58). Descriptiones Plaiitariim Novanim in Kegionibus Ttirkcstaiiticis Collec- tarum (1873-82), and Slioriim Adhuc Cognito- rum Monogrnphia (1877). REGELATION (Lat. regelatio, a thawing, from regclarc, to thaw, from re-, back again, anew -)- gelare, to freeze, from gelu, frost ; con- nected with Lith.- geluma. intense cold. Goth. Icalda, OHG. 1;aU, AS. crald. Eng. coM). . term first applied by Faraday to describe the phe nomena occurring when two pieces of ice are brought into contact under pressure. The ice melts at the plane of contact and the water thus formed freezes when the pressure is relieved, thus uniting the two pieces. That ice melts with pres- sure, and that its melting point is lowereil as the pressure increases, was first shown by Professor James Thomson, and then denionstmted experi- mentally by his brother. Lord Kelvin, and this property serves to explain the phenomena in- volved in regelation. A wheel track in the snow