Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 17.djvu/177

* RING OF THE NIBELUNGEN. 107 RINGWORM. ing renounoc'il love, and he fabrioatos tho mighty rin};. Ho also causes the magie Taiiihelm (cap) to be made. Wotan, chief of the gods, has promised to give Frt^a to the (iiants for buiUling his castle. They, however, accept in lieu the treas- ure which Alberic has amassed by means of the ring. The maddened Alberic curses the ring and its jiossessor. In the ^y(llkiire, Siegmund draws the fateful magic sword from the tree-trunk, and wins the love of Sieglinde. Brunhilda disobeys Wotan b,v tr,ving to shield Siegmund in his mortal contest with the lawful Hunding and thus having favore<l Siegmund's union with Sieglinde, the mother of the future Siegfried. Brunhilda is condenmed b.y Wotan to helpless sleep, encircled h,V fire. In ^Siegfried, the hero at length appears, having been reared b,v Mimi, the Niliclung. He forges a. magic sword (Needful), and Uills the dragon which guards the fateful ring after which Wotan had lusted and thus foredoomed the reign of the gods. Siegfried also kills Mimi, who had intended to betray him. A bird tells him of the sleeping Brunhilda surrounded by fire. He seeks the spot, plunges through the fire, finds the Val- k.vrie and wins her. In Gotterdiimmcrunri. Sieg- fried gives her the ring on his setting out for fresh exploits, but keeps his wonderful sword and the Tarnhelm. Through magic, he falls in love with Gutrune, and proposes to give Brun- hilda to Gunther. Siegfried wrests the ring from Brunhilda. She perceives his faithlessness and eonsents to his murder by those jealous of him. Hagen kills him, and the despairing Valkyrie mounts the funeral pyre with the dead Siegfried. The Rhine daughters regain the ring and the Valhalla l)urns. RING-OXJZEL, or MooK Blackbird. A Eu- ro])ean thrush (Merula torquata). well known in the less frequented parts of Great Britain, where it does great harm to ripening fruit. It is blackish brown, each feather edged with gray, and is conspicuously marked with a white cres- centic throat-patch, from which it receives its name. In its notes, manner of nesting, and be- havior generally it is much like an American robin. RING-PLOVER. A plover of the t.vpical genus yligialitis. the species of which are char- acterized among other peculiarities by the dark ring or gorget around their necks. The Ameri- can ringed plover, or 'ringneck' {.Egialitis semi- pnlmutu) is dispersed in summer all over North America and breeds throughout Canada. An- other species often called 'ring-plover' by the gunners is the piping plover {^■Egialitis meloda). Consult Coues, Birds of the Northwest (Wash- ington. 1874). RING-SNAKE. The common snake of Great Britain (Tropidonotus natriac), so called because of the collar-like whitish markings behind the head. See Watek-Snake. RINGSTRASSE, ring'striis-se (Ger.. Ring Street). A broad boulevard encircling what was the inner city of Vienna and containing a large number of magnificent public buildings. On or near it are situated the exchange, university, museums, houses of Parliament, the Court the- atres, the town hall, the new Imperial palace, and several parks. RING-TAILED IGUANA. An iguana (Cy- rhira rariuata) of Jamaica, especially numerous in the hills near Kingston, which is about four feet iu total length, and olive-green, with the tail marked with blackish bands. These iguanas feed mainly on grass, are timid, galloping to tho trees on the least alarm, and are uneatable, on account of a niipat disagreeable odor. RINGWALDT, riny'viilt. Bartholom.us (15;iO-i10). A German didactic poet, born In Frankfort-onthc-Oder. In l.>78 he became pastor of a Protestant congregation at Langenfeld. He wrote some church hvnuis. of which all caught the swing of the popidar poetry of the time, and one beginning "Herr Jesu Christ, du hiichstea tint" is still well known. They were republished in 1858. But he is more at home in diilactic poetrv. in which he decries the evils of the day, even those within the Protestant body. Dir liiii- irrc Wiihrheit (1.58.5)- is an encliiridion. l)iv cliristliche Wurnunff des trciicn EcLarls (1588) with its hero, who describes heaven and hell, gave Ringwaldt a rare opportunity for satire and the book was long popular. A third work, (S'/jccw/hhi Mundi (1592), is cast in drannitic form and in greater degree portra.vs cmitempo- rary manners. Consult Hoffmann von Fallers- leben. llinyualdt und tichnwlch (Breslau, IS.'J.'i). RINGWORM. A contagious parasitic skin disease due to the trichoiihtjtoit fungus. It at- tacks the scalp, the bod.v, and the beard, ami according to its location is denominated tinea- tonsurans, tinea cireinata, and liiiea aiicusis. All three forms are exceedingly contagious and spread by contact, and by the use of h.nts. brushes. cond>s, towels, and razors in common. Itingworni of the scalp usuallv begins in the form of small circumscribed patclies, the skin of which is mor(! or less raised, pink, swollen, and covered with branny scales. As the disease progresses the patches become the seat of vesicles and pustules. The hair follicles are afl'ected,. and the hairs are seen to be broken off short, twisted and bent, and if placed under the microsco|)e mav he ob- served to be quite opaque, and converted into a mass of fungus spores. As a result of the loss of hair, baldness, more or less conqflete. but tem- porarv, exists over areas sometimes as large as a silver dollar. Itching is a constant .symp- tom. Sometimes inflammation is severe, with the formation of a boggi- swelling, which exudes pus at nian.v points. This condition is known as Icerion and is apt to result in permanent bald- ness of the part affected. Ringworm of the body occa.sionally co-exists Avith tinea tonsurans, but often oicurs alone. The disease begins as a small re<ldish. scaly spot of papules, at first irregular in shape, but soon assuming a circular form. As the area increa.ses in size the papides change to vesicles. The spot heals in the centre as it spreads at the periphery. This variety of ringworm affects the face, neck, and arms "most frequently. Tinea si/rosis, or ringworm of the beard, is sometimes called 'bar- l5er*s itch.' See iTcn. The essential point in the treatment of the varieties of ringworm affecting the hairj- portions of the body is to apply to the roots of the hair one of the various parasiticides, but before this can be done the hair nuist be removed. This is done by shaving the affected areas and pulling out the loosened and diseased stumps with a pair of forceps. Crusts and scales must be loosened with hot water or oily applications. Among the parasiticides which act most effectively arc sul-