Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 17.djvu/143

* KICE. 123 RICE. half an inch long, slender, farinaceous, affording very good meal, and used to some extent >y the Indians where the plant abounds. Owing to its tendency to scatter its seed, its production has not reached any economic importance. WILD RICE {Zizania aquatica). Aside from its use as food ( see below ), rice is subjected to fermentation in many countries. The beer made from it (sake) is in general use among the Japanese. Several kinds of highly esteemed and very intoxicating wines are made from rice by the Chinese. A spirit is distilled from the lees. Rice starch is made in considerable quan- tity and is used in laundries and muslin factories. Rice straw is used to make bonnets and also to some extent as a feed for cattle. Feeding Value. The rice grain is not directly used as a food for farm animals. However, its by-products, chaft'-meal, bran, and polish, are fed especially in regions where rice is grown. The straw also has a feeding value. Rice bran and rice meal contain more or less of the germ, and are fed to dairy cows and pigs. According to recent experiments rice meal has practically the same value for pigs as corn meal when fed in addition to skim milk. Rice polish is a fine powder of high nutritive value and is very valuable for cows, pigs, etc. As it is rich in botli nitrogen and potash, it produces a valuable manure. Rice hulls are too woodv to be of much VOL. xvn.— 9. food value. They are largely used for pnckinj; around breakable articles. Tnlike niiwt cereal grains, rice is seldom made into bread or cakes, but is eaten boiled. In C'liina, .lapaii. and other countries where the majority of the [n-ople cannot obtain animal food, riee, which is rallicr deficient in protein (.see table), is supple- mented by special products made from tile soy bean (q.v.), which are rich in protein. In Europe and .meriea rice is used as a vegetable and for making soups, puddings, cakes, etc. Riee Hour has the following percentage com- position: Water, 8.5; protein, 8.(!; fat. (i.l ; nitro- gen-free extract, 51. 'J; crude fibre, 10.1; and ash, 8.8. Flaked rice, a breakfast food, has the following average percentage composition: 'ater, 9.5; protein, 7.7; fat. 0.4; nitrogen-free extract, 81.7: crude filire. 0.2: and ash, 0.3. Rice is believed to lie very thoroughly digesli'd. .ludgcd both by palatability and wholesomeness, it is wortliy of the high esteem in which it is held. RICE, Alle.v Thorxwke (185;!-89). An American editor, born in Hoston, Mass. lie grad- uated at Oxford University in 1875, and in 187(1 bought the orth Amcricu'n liccicw, of which he subsequently became the editor. In 1879 he pro- moted the Charnay expedition, which, under the patronage of France and tlic rnitcd States, was sent to investigate the remains of primitive civil- ization in Central America and -Mexico. He was the first to recommend the intnMluction into the United States of the Australian ballot system. He edited Reminiscences of Abraham Lincoln (1886) and was a contril)utor to Ancient Cities of the New World ( 1887 ). RICE, Daniel (1822-1900). An .American circus-performer, born in New York City. (Orig- inally his name was McLaren. He became an acrobat, travelled as a circus-clora, and, after winning wide popularity, established a show of his own. He was also very successful finaiui:illy and devoted considerable sums to charitable and public purposes. During the Civil War he pro- moted recruiting and subsequently delivered oc- casional lectures in favor of temperance. As a clown probably no other man, except perhaps George L. Fox, won such lasting recognition as did Rice. RICE, .James (1843-82). An English novelist, Ijorn at Northampton, September 2ti. 1843. He studied at Queen's College, (^anilu'idge. and was called to the bar at Lincoln's Inn ( 1871 ). Never taking very seriously to his profession, he gave most of his time to literature. As editor and proprietor of Once a Week, from 1868 to 1872. he made the acquaintance of Walter Be.sant. with whom he collaborated on several remarkable novels, as Read// Moneij ilortiboji (1872). which was successfully dramatized (1874) ; The Golden Buttcrliy (18'76): The Monks of Thelema (1877)'; and The Seamy Hide (1881). Besides these and other novels, they wrote in conjunction several Christmas stories for All the Year Round and the World. There had been no literary part- nership so successful as this since that of Erck- mann-Chatrian. Of the Besant-Rice collabo- rations perhaps The (Holden liiitler/h/ and Ready Money Mortiboy are the most vigorous. In exag- geration they show the influence of Dickens, but they are not lacking in real humor, sanity, and character drawing. Rice also wrote a gossipy History of the British Turf (1879).