Page:Willich, A. F. M. - The Domestic Encyclopædia (Vol. 3, 1802).djvu/519

491&#93; Tn'Srltain ; and that the English root has proved to be fully equal to the best sort obtained from Tur- ke}' and China. Beside the utility of the roots, the seeds of such plants as are raised in England, possess a consi- derable portion of the medicinal pro|>erties of the former : its leaves impart an agreeable acidity to soups, similar to that of sorrel : a strong infusion in white wine, of pieces of the roots, that were not sutiicientiy thick for drying, has been given with great success in the dysente- ries sometimes incident to cattle. - — A marmalade is likewise prepar- ed from the fresh stem, by strip- ping off the bark, and boiling the pulp with an equal quantity of honey or sugar. Tiiis, we under- stand, affords a mild and pleasant laxative, especially for children, to whom it is highly salubrious. — Lastly, Prof. Pallas informs us, that M. SiEVERS, nn apothecary, has discovered a resinous elastic gum, which, in the month of August, exuded from the leaves and flower-stalks of the Siberian rhubarb, on Vv-ounding them with a knife ; and which bore perfetl re- semblance to the Caoutchouc, or India rubber. — By a deco6tion of this root in alum-wnter, the Kirghis impart a beautiful orange colour to their leather and wool : a similar tint maybe given to cloth j and, on adding gret-n vitriol, a line olive shade will be the result. ■ — It has farther been conjeftured, that, wiih a solution of tin, or bismuth, rhubarb would alibrd a beautiful red dye. RiB-GRASs. See Ribwort Plan- tain, RIBS (Cosice), in the human frame, are certain long bones of a semicircular fip.ura. There are R IB [49 1' twenty-four in number, namely, twelve on each side the twelve ver- tebrse of the back, or the spinal column. They are divided into se- ven ^/-we, which are upperniost, and live spurious, or false ribs, which are softer and shorter ; only the first of the latter being joined to the extremity of the breast-bone, while the gristly eijds of the rest are combined with each other, and thus leave a greater space for the dilata- tion of the stomach and bovs-els. It is farther remarkable, that the carti- lages throughout the ribs, are harder in the female than in the male sub- je(ft, obviously with the view of enabling the former to support more ^sily the weight of their breasts ; — that the last of the false ribs is perceptibly shorter than the rest, and is not joined to them, but in some persons to the obi que de- scending muscle ; — that Nature has providently not construfted the ribs Lke the other solid, artku/atcd hones; in order to admit of such a degree of expansion in the thorax or chest as is re quisite to perform the important process of breathing. Hence, if in an easy inspiration th.' cavity ot the thorax is ; aised 1-Sth of an inch, and tiie midriff descends only Ij inches, it will afford roonj for 52 cubic i:ches of air to enter ; so that, in an ordinarr inspiration, the lungs are distended with 70,and sometimes 100, inches of atmospheric air. — Lastly, theribs serve to defend the vital organfi, an 1 to impart adhesion to the mus- cles. The principal casualties incident to the ribs, areJraFliires, and liixa- ticns. The former may be easily ascertained, on pressure with the finicrs. The symptoms are sel- dom accompanied Witii aggravating circumstances^ and the patient speedily