TO THE ENCYCLOPÆDIA BRITANNICA (NINTH EDITION.) 1 A DICTIONARY OF ARTS, SCIENCES AND GENERAL LITERATURE BY W. H. DE PUY, DD., LL.D., THE WIDELY KNOWN EDITOR OF THE "PEOPLE'S CYCLOPEDIA," VOLUME III CHICAGO R. S. PEALE COMPANY 1892 Gub of a. c. Finney 5-21-41 AMERICAN REVISIONS AND ADDITIONS TO THE ENCYCLOPÆDIA BRITANNICA RA RAALTE-RAFINESQUE AALTE, a cantonal town of the Netherlands, in the province of Overyssel, eleven miles northeast of Deventer. The trade is chiefly in agricultural produce, cattle, wool, wood and bark for tanning purposes. Population, 5,570. RAASAY, one of the Western Isles. It belongs to the group of the Inner Hebrides, and lies between the Isle of Skye and the mainland; the Sound of Raasay separating it from the former, and Applecross Sound from the latter. It is thirteen miles in length by two and a half miles in greatest breadth. Population, 389. RABBIT. The so-called "rabbits" native to North America are really hares. They live in forms, or rude nests on the surface of the ground, whereas true rabbits live in burrows. The latter are born blind and hairless. But the so-called rabbits.can see at their birth and have a coating of hair. The only true rabbit known in the United States is the common domesticated rabbit introduced from Europe. The "jack rabbits" of the Far West are long-legged hares usually white, and exceedingly swift runners. The Texas rabbits are also large and very long-eared hares; so are the California rabbits. See Britannica, Vol. XX, p. 192-3. RABIES. See HYDROPHOBIA in these Revisions and Additions, and also Britannica, Vol. XX, pp. 199-202. RACALMUTO, or RAGALMUTO, a town of Sicily, in the province of Girgenti, on the crest of a hill twelve miles northeast from Girgenti. It is said to be of Saracenic origin, has a castle, built by Frederick Chiaramonte in the 14th century. Population about 10,500. RACCONIGI, a town of Italy, pleasantly situated on the Maira, twenty-four miles south of Turin. Its palace surrounded by a small but handsomely laid-out park, is one of the country residences of the royal family. Silk fabrics and twist, and woolen cloths are manufactured. Population, 10,350. RACCOON. Beside the true North American raccoon there are found in the southwestern States and in Mexico two carnivorous mammals similar to raccoons, which are popularly called "coon-bear" and "civet." Their fox-like head and ears gave them also the name of "raccoon-fox." They are smaller than true raccoons, having ringed tails and arboreal habits. They are easily tamed, and become sociable and very playful in captivity. Fron tiersmen keep them often in their cabins as pets. See Britannica, Vol. XX, p. 202-3. RACINE, a city of Wisconsin. Population in 1890, 21,022. See Britannica, Vol. XX, p. 203. RACZ or O BECSE, a town of Hungary, in the Servian Wojwodschaft, on the right bank of the Theiss, twenty-six miles northeast of Peterwardein. Population, 11,000. RADIATION, LUNAE. Mr. C.Vernon Boys has been making measurements of the heat of the moon by means of his very delicate radiomicrometer. His method as reported in "Popular Science News” of. September, 1891, was to focus the rays of the moon on the face of the radiomicrometer by a reflecting telescope of 16 inches aperture. In the case of a new moon, he found that the heat coming from its disk dimin ished as you passed from the convex to the concave edge, and that from the dark surface was so slight as not to affect the apparatus. The maximum radiation of heat come from points of the disk itself, not from its limbs. At full moon the maximum point was at the center of the disk. The side of the moon which had been exposed to the sun for fourteen days was not warmer than that which had been exposed for seven days. RADIOMICROMETER, an instrument for the measurement of small amounts of heat and for the indication of minute charges of heat. It consists of a very small antimony-bismuth thermo-electric couple, having its ends joined by a copper-wire hoop, and suspended by a fine thread in a strong magnetic field. RAE, JOHN, a Scotch traveler, born in the Orkney Islands about 1813. He became a surgeon in the Hudson Bay Company's service in 1833; explored British America and visited the shores of the Arctic Ocean; was with several expeditions in search of Sir John Franklin and was the discoverer of the first traces of Franklin's fate. RAFINESQUE, CONSTANTINE SCHMALTZ, an eccentric naturalist, born at Constantinople in 1784, died at Philadelphia in 1842. His father was a Frenchman and his mother was of a German family. He came to America in 1802, and wrote and published several scientific works. In 1818 he was made professor of botany in Transylvania University at Lexington, Ky.; but soon quarrelled with its authorities. He studied the languages and customs of the Indians. In 1830 he went to Philadelphia and published there various magazines and histories, also a poem, called The World or (1301) |