Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 17.djvu/173

* BIGHTS OF MAN. 153 RILEY. interchange of ideas is one of the most valuable riglits of the citizen and hence every one may freely write, speak, or print without iuterfi^rence although subject to responsibility for abuse of llie right: that all citizens have a right to decide per- sonally or through their representatives as to the necessity of public contributions, to know how they are applied, etc. The declaration aroused general enthusiasm throughout France and ap- peared in modified form in the succeeding French constitutions down to 1848, and has served as a model for similar declarations in other Conti- nental countries. Louis XVI. under the pressure of the events of October 5, after first refusing, was induced to suiiport it. Much of the political pliilosupliy embodied in the French declaration had appeared in the American Declaration of Independence and in the famous Virginia bill of rights of 1776. The principles embodied in the Biglits of Man were attacked by Ednuind Burke in his Reflections on the Frencli Reioliilion and characterized as a declaration of anarch.v. It was in repl.v to Burke"s view-s that Thomas Paine (q.v. ) wrote his Rights of Man, for which he was prosecuted in London for libel and found guilty. For the text of the French Declaration consult Robinson. Readings in European History (New York, 1903) ; consult, also, Abbott, Rights of Man {ib., 1902). RIGHT WHALE. The Greenland whale {BalaiKi niiistiretns) . the foremost of the whale- bone whales, so called because it was considered by the earl.v whalemen of the North Atlantic the 'right' or "proper' whale among the various species they encountered. See Plate of Whale.s and Colored Plate of JIammalia. RIGI, re'ge, or RIGHI. An isolated moun- tain on the border of the cantons of Schwyz and Lucerne, Sw-itzerland. between lakes Lucerne and Zug (Map: Switzerland, CI). Altitude. 5905 feet. It commands extensive views of some of the finest Swiss scenerv. Two rack-and-pinion railways lead up to the summit. The entire mountain is covered with pastures and woods. Consult Tiirler. Der Rigi (Lucerne, 1893). RIGID BODY. See jMechanics. RI'GOR MOR'TIS (Lat., stiffness of death), or PoMT-MoRTEM KiGiDiTY. A peculiar evanes- cent stiffening of all the muscles of the body which occurs shortly after death. Both the vol- untary and involuntary muscles are affected. The condition begins immediatel.v after all indications of irritability to mechanical or electrical stimu- lation have ceased, but before putrefaction sets in. It affects the neck and lower jaw first, then the upper extremities, extending from above downward, and finall.y reaches the lower limbs. Rigor comes on more rapidly after muscular activity, is hastened bv warmth and retarded b.v cold. When death is the result of acute diseases, and the muscles are well nourished, muscular irritabilit.v is prolonged, and rigor mortis sets in late, and persists for as much as two or three days. On the contrary, when death occurs from clironic or exhausting disease, rigidit.v commences earl.v and passes off rapidl.v. Paralyzed muscles are not exempt from rigor mortis provided the paralysis has not been attended with excessive wasting of the muscular tissue. During the passage of a muscle into rigor mortis heat is de- veloped, carbonic acid is liberated, and the reac- tion of the tissue becomes acid instead of alka- line. The cause of post-mortem rigidity is now believed to be chemical, namely, the coagula- tion and separation of the muscle plasma. See Muscle. RIG- VEDA, rig' va'di. The oldest and most important of tlie four Vedas. See Veda. RIIS, res, .Jacob Auoist (1849—). An American journalist and author, born at Ribe, Denmark. He was educated in the Kibe Latin School and came to the Inited States in 1S7(I. He had a varied experience as carpenter, coal- miner, farm laborer, cabinet-maker, . traveling salesman, and newspaper reporter, became editor of the South Biookli/n Sens for a group of poli- ticians, and afterwards bought and for a tinu? managed the paper. In 1877 he beg;in reportorial work for the New York Tribune ami soon became police reporter for that pa|)er. Subsefpiently he was for man.v years police reporter for the New Y'ork .S'hii. He became prominent in tenement- house and school reform in the congested regions of lower New York, and aided greatly in the movement which introduced parks in those sec- tions. In 1890 and 1897 he was executive offi- cer of the Good Govermnent clubs, and in 1897 became secretary of the New York Small Parks Commission. The results of much of his study among the poorer classes were presented in his well-known volume, Boic the Other Half lAres (1890). Other works by him are: Out of Mul- berrg Utreet, a collection of iiction (IS'.Mii: A Ten Years' War (1900) ; and the autobiography, Tlie Making of an American (1901), first pub- lished serially in The Outlook. RIKWA, rik'va, or RTJKWA, or Lake Leo- pold.' A lake basin in German East Africa l.ving in a branch of the Rift Valley, .50 miles east of the southern end of Lake Tanganyika (Map: Africa, H 5). Length, about 100 miles: widtli, 30. High and steep mountains surround it. In the dry season, however, the greater part of the basin is a dry plain. It has no outlet, and its water is saline. The lake is rapidly drying up. It was discovered in 1880 by Thomson. RI'LEY, Charles Valentine (1843-95).^ A distinguished entomologist, born in London, Eng- land. He studied at Dieppe and Bonn, and in 1860 came to the United States. In 1808 he was appointed State entomologist of Mis.souri and he began with B. D. Walsh the publication of The American Entomologist. In 1877 he was appointed a member of the entomological commission to investigate the locust plague in the West, and in 1878 he became L'nited States entomologist, in which capacity he served until 1894, except dur- ing the yeiirs"l879 and 1880. In 1884 he became curator of insects in the United States National Museum, to which he presented his collections. His publications were very numerous. They in- clude the nine Annual Reports on the In.tecis of J/;.9.50Hn- (1868-77): Potato I'e.its (1870): Lo- cust Plague in the United States (1877); and Annual Reports of the Entomologist of the De- partment of Agriculture (1878, 1881-94). Riley was ranked as the foremo/st economic entomologist of his time. He organized the Division of Entomology- of the United States De- partment of Agriculture and was identified with the great progress made by the United Stales in the discovery of remedies for injurious insects. His work on the grapevine phylloxera gained him nuinv honors from the French Government.