historical recollections of Roman conquests and defeats, of the chivalric exploits of the feudal period, of the wars and negotiations of modern times, of the coronations of emperors whose bones repose by its side; on whose borders stand the two grandest monuments of the noble architecture of the middle ages; whose banks present every variety of wild and picturesque rocks, thick forests, fertile plains, vineyards sometimes gently sloping, sometimes perched among lofty crags, where industry has won a domain among the fortresses of nature; whose banks are ornamented with populous cities, flourishing towns and villages, castles and ruins, with which a thousand legends are connected, beautiful and romantic roads, and salutary mineral springs; a river whose waters offer choice fish, as its banks offer the choicest wines; which, in its course of 900 miles, affords 630 miles of uninterrupted navigation, from Bàsle to the sca, and enables the inhabitants of its banks to exchange the rich and various products of its shores; whose cities, famous for commerce, science, and works of strength, which furnish protection to Germany, are also famous as the seats of Roman colonics, and of ecclesiastical councils, and are associated with many of the most important events recorded in history-such a river it is not surprising that the Germans regard with a kind of reverence, and frequently call in poetry father Rhine, or king Rhine. (See Byron's verses on the Rhine, in Childe Harold, canto iii, stanzas 55-61.) Since the French revolution, the Rhine has been frequently called in France the natural boundary between France and Germany: with equal reason the Elbe might be called so, and perhaps would have been called so, had the French empire continued, as it had extended already to that river at one point.* After The river here takes the name of Rhine, and is 230 feet wide. It passes through the Bodensee (lake of Constance, q. v.). From Reichenau to Bàsle it is navigable at intervals, sometimes only by rafts. Before it falls into the lake of Constance, it forms the cataract of Schaffhausen, in the canton of Zürich, where the river is closely compressed by rocks, and falls with great fury eighty feet. having traversed or touched several cantons of Switzerland, also Austria, Baden, France, Bavaria. Hessia, Nassau, Prussia and the Netherlands, it divides into several branches. Hardly has it entered Holland (at Emmerich), when it sends off to the left a considerable branch, the Waal, which joins the Meuse at Woudrichem. Somewhat lower down, a little above Arnheim, on the right, a branch is formed which occupies the bed of a canal constructed by Drusus; this is the New-Yssel, which, after having joined the OldYssel, at Doesburg, takes the name of Yssel, or Over-Yssel, and empties into the Zuyder-Zee. Arrived at Wyk-byDuurstede, twenty-seven miles east of Arnheim, the Rhine divides into two branches; one of which, the chief continuation of the river, is called Lech, and joins the Mense: it forms on its right the NederYssel, which also joins the Meuse; the other branch, formerly the most considerable, but now small, is now called the Crooked Rhine (Kromme-Rhyn), and takes its course to Utrecht, where again it splits: the north-west branch is called Vecht, and empties into the Zuyder-Zee; the other, western branch, called Old Rhine (Oude-Rhyn) empties into the North sea, two leagues froin Leyden. It formerly disappeared in the downs of Katwyk, formed in 860; but it has been conducted by a canal from Leyden to the The sea. The most important rivers which flow into it are, the Aar, Kinzig, Murg, Neckar, Maine, Nahe, Lahn, Moselle, Erit, Ruhr, Lippe: the most important places on the banks are Constance, Schaffhausen, Basle, Spire, Manheim, Worms, Mentz, Bingen, Coblentz, Bonn, Cologne, Dusseldort, Wesel, Emmerich, Aruheim, Utrecht, Leyden. The whole basin of the Rhine is about 180 leagues long, and 100 leagues wide, where it is the widest, and comprises about 10,000 square leagues. The canal of the Rhone and Rhine unites these two rivers by means of the Saône • the great canal of the North uniting the Rhine with the Meuse and the Nethe, and thus with the Scheldt. In the article Danube, we have spoken of the projected Rhine rises in the Swiss canton of the Grisons (q. v.), from three chief sources. The first comes from the mountain called Crispalt, north-east of the St. Gothard, and unites at Dissentis with the second, which comes from the Lucmanian mountain: both unite with the third, which comes from a glacier in the mountain of Adula, about twenty leagues distant from Reichenau, the point of confluence of all three. Rivers are, generally speaking, poor means of political separation, because they are, in fact, means of connexion rather than of separation. Mountains and languages furnish far more effectual lines of demarkation. The only reason why rivers have often been taken as frontiers is, beeause they are lines drawn by nature, which can be easily designated in treaties. canal which was to unite the Danube and the Rhine, the Black sea and the Northern ocean. The Rhine furnishes excellent salmon (called Lachse when they as cend the river in spring, coming from the sea, and Salmen when they descend in autumn to the sea), sturgeons, lampreys, pikes, and excellent carps. From Strasburg to Spire, the Rhine is about 1100 feet wide; at some parts of the Rheingau, it is 1800; at Cologne, 1300. At Schenkenschanz, where it enters the Netherlands, it is 2150 feet wide. Its depth from Bâsle to Strasburg is between ten and twelve feet; at Mentz, twenty-four; at Dusseldorf, fifty. When the snow melts in Switzerland, the Rhine rises from twelve to thirteen feet above its common level. The mean descent of the river is about seven feet a mile; its current runs about 288 feet in a minute, or about three and a third iniles per hour. Vessels of from 300 to 450 tons go up the river to Cologne, those of 125 to 200 to Mentz, those of 100 to 125 to Strasburg. Steam-bonts and "water diligences" render communication easy. The congress of Vienna, in 1815, declared the navigation of all the German rivers free; but this ordinance has not been carried into effect as regards the Danube (q. v.), and it was not till after fifteen years' negotiation between the various powers, and after 563 protocols had been drawn up on the subject that the navigation of the Rhine was made free, in the year 1831. Three books contain every thing necessary for a journey along the Rhine: one, by Lange, comprehends the journey from Mentz to Dusseldorf, the most romantic part south of Basle; another, by Aloys Schreiber, comprehends the whole course of the Rhine, with excursions into neighboring parts; the third is by Ch. A. Fischer-Newest Guide from Mayence to Cologne (Frankfort, 1827). There exist excellent representations of the scenery of the Rhine, semi-perspective and semi-topographic, very ingenious productions, which afford the traveller the highest gratification.See, also, the Panorama of the Rhine, from Mayence to Cologne, by Delkeskamp (Dresd. and Frankf., 1825, in 80 engravings), also Primavesi's Course of the Rhine from its Sources to its Mouth, drawn from Nature (1818), and HistoricoStatistical Panorama of the Rhine, from Bingen to Coblentz, by Dahl (Heidelberg, 1820). Aloys Schreiber's book contains a catalogue of all the works on the Rhine or relating to it. RHINE; one of the eight circles of Ba varia, commonly called Rheinbaiern, separated from the rest of the kingdom, on the left bank of the Rhine. It is chiefly composed of the former French department Mont-Tonnere. The Mont-Tonnere, 2100 feet high, is the summit of the Vosges (q. v.), which traverse the circle. Inhabitants, 517,081; square miles, about 3000. RHINE, DEPARTMENTS OF THE UPPER AND LOWER. (See Department.) RHINE, CONFEDERATION OF. (See Confederation of the Rhine.) RHINE,LOWER (in German, Niederrhein), a Prussian province, with the title of a grand-duchy, formed by the congress of Vienna, in 1815, containing 1,127,297 inhabitants and 6100 square miles, embraces both banks of the Rhine, and is bounded by the Prussian provinces of JuliersCleves-Berg and Westphalia, by Nassau, Hesse-Darmstadt, France, the Netherlands, and several smaller territories. The Hundsrück (q. v.) traverses the province of the Lower Rhine between the rivers Nahe and Moselle, and joins the Vosges. The Eiffel and the High Veen are ridges of hills coming from the Ardennes. The province furnishes game, fish, grain, fruits, flax, hemp, wine, wood, silver, iron, copper, lead, calamine, marble, slate, sand and mill stones, basalt, tufa, porphyry, alum, sulphur, coals, and mineral waters. In some parts much manufacturing industry exists. Much cloth is made in and near Aix-la-Chapelle. The other manufactures are linen, silks, leather, iron and steel wares. The inhabitants are mostly Catholics; in the southern part French is spoken in some places. The province is divided into three governments-Aix-laChapelle, Treves, and Coblentz. Aix-laChapelle (q. v.) is the chief place. The province comprehends the chief part of the ancient archbishopric of Treves, the abbeys of Prüm, Cornely-Munster, Malmedy, part of the old archbishopric of Cologne, of the duchy of Luxemburg and Juliers, &c. RHINOCEROS. This is a large animal, belonging to the order of pachydermata, having each foot divided into three toes, and furnished with one or more horns on the snout. There are several species, the best known of which are the Indian, or one-horned, and the African, or two-horned.-One-horned rhinoceros, This species. is a native of India, particularly of that part beyond the Ganges. It is a clumsy and deformed looking animal: a single black horn, placed near the end of the nose, makes its specific character. The upper lip is very large, and overhangs the lower: it is furnished with strong muscles, and is employed by the animal somewhat as the elephant uses his trunk. The ears are large, erect and pointed. The skin is naked, rough, and extremely thick; about the neck it is gathered into large folds; a fold also extends between the shoulders and fore legs, and another from the hinder part of the back to the thighs. The tail is slender, flat at the end, and furnished at the sides with very stiff, black hairs. The legs are very short. This animal was well known to the ancients, and was introduced into the games of the circus by Pompey; in all probability it is the reem (unicorn) of the Bible. From the time of the fall of the Roman empire, howev er, it was lost sight of so completely, that, prior to the sixteenth century, naturalists were of opinion, that it had never existed, or, if so, that it was extinct. When the Portuguese, however, doubled the cape of Good Hope, and opened the way to India, these animals again became known, and many were introduced into Europe. The first that appeared in England was in 1684. The rhinoceros lives in shady forests adjoining rivers, or in the swampy jungles with which its native country abounds. Though possessed of great strength, and more than a match for either the tiger or the elephant, it is quiet and inoffensive unless provoked. The female produces one at a birth. The growth of the young is very gradual, as, at the age of two years, it scarcely attains half its height. The sight of the rhinoceros is by no means acute, but, on the contrary, its senses of smelling and hearing are very vivid. Its chief food is canes and shrubs. It was for a long time supposed that the tongue was hard and exceedingly rough; but recent observations have shown that it does not present these peculiarities. The flesh somewhat resembles pork in taste, though of a coarser grain and stronger taste.-Two-horned rhinoceros. This species is a native of Africa, and resembles the preceding in many particulars, but differs in being provided with an additional horn, of a smaller size, situated nearer the forehead; the skin also is not thrown into the folds so remarkable in the Indian species; at least, this is the account given by Sparrman, whilst Bruce represents it as having them. The two-horned rhinoceros was better known to the ancients than the lastmentioned kind, and is represented on many of their coins, especially those of Domitian. The rhinoceros is greatly in ferior to the elephant in docility, and has never been made sociable to man. The skin is used for whips and walking-canes, and of the horns drinking-cups were made, which were highly esteemed by the East Indians, as they imagined that if poison were put into them, the liquor would ferment till it ran out of the vessel. Martial informs us, that Roman ladies used these horns as cases to hold their essence bottles and oils. The skin of the rhinoceros is also used by the Javanese for shields. rin, the art of forming). The art of RHINOPLASTIC (from pw, the nose, and restoring the nose, when lost by disease or external injury, was early practised, in India, by the Bramins, and is even now practised by the descendants of this caste, the Coomas, by means of a piece of skin cut from the forehead. In 1442, Branca, a Sicilian physician, operated by means of dividual; and, after him, this method was a piece of skin cut from the arm of the inpreserved in the family of the Bajani as a secret, until Caspar Tagliacozzi (born in 1546, died in 1599) practised it in Bologna, and made it public in 1597. He pursued the method of taking the skin from the arm. This method was last practised by Molinetti, in the beginning of the seventeenth century. In 1816, Gräfe, a German physician, attempted the formation of the nose from the skin of the arm upon a young soldier who had lost his nose by a sabre cut. The method differed but little from that of Tagliacozzi.-See Gräfe's Rhinoplastic (Berlin, 1818, quarto). RHODE ISLAND, one of the U. States, includes what was formerly known by the name of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations; it originally consisted of two plantations, or provinces. This state is bounded north and east by Massachusetts, south by the Atlantic ocean, and west by Connecticut; length 49 miles; breadth 29; square miles 1350; population in 1810, 76,931 ; in 1820, 83,059, including 48 slaves; in 1830, 97,212, including 14 slaves; lat. 41° 22′ to 42° 3′ N.; lon. 71° 6' to 71° 38′ W. In the north-west part of the state, the country is hilly and rocky, but in other parts it is mostly level. The soil is better adapted to grazing than tillage, except on the island of Rhode Island, which has an excellent soil, adapted to the growth of every thing that is suited to its climate. A considerable part of the state has a thin soil, and affords small crops of New England productions; but the country near Narraganset bay is generally very fertile. Great numbers of cattle and sheep are produced on the islands, and on the margil of the bay; and butter and cheese, cider, many kinds of fruit, corn, rye, barley, and oats, are produced in abundance. The rivers and bays afford a great variety of excellent fish. Iron in abundance, small quantities of copper, limestone, and a mine of anthracite, are the minerals and fossils that have hitherto been found. The rivers are the Pawtucket, Providence, and Pawtuxet. Narraganset bay extends from south to north through nearly the whole length of the state, and embosoins Rhode Island, Connecticut, Prudence, Patience, Hope, Dyer's, and Hog islands. Block island, in the Atlantic, south of the state, is the most southerly land belonging to it. The exports of Rhode Island consist principally of flax-seed, lumber, horses, cattle, beef, pork, fish, poultry, and cotton and linen goods. Its manufactures have greatly increased within the last ten years, and add greatly to its wealth. The value of its exports of domestic produce, during the year ending September 30, 1829, was $337,468. Its tonnage in 1828 was 43,106. Since these periods, the commerce of the state has rapidly increased. The commercial and manufacturing interests of Rhode Island are principally centred in Providence. This has become one of the most important cities of New England, and contains now about one fifth of the population of the state. Newport is somewhat less than half the size of Providence, and the other towns are not large. The general assembly of Rhode Island meets four times in a year: at Newport on the first Wednesday of May, which is the commencement of the political year, and again at the same place in June; in October, it meets alternately at Providence and South Kingston; and in January at East Greenwich, Bristol, or Providence. Brown university is situated at Providence. At the same place there is a seminary styled the Friends' boarding-school, and there are eight or ten academies in the state. (See Providence.) The state now pays $10,000 annually for the support of free schools; and this sum is divided among the several towns, according to their population. This, however, affords but imperfect means for the education of the poorer classes of society. In 1831, the Baptists in Rhode Island had sixteen churches, twelve ministers, 2600 communicants; the Methodists ten preachers, 1,100 members; the Congregationalists ten churches, ten ministers, 1000 communicants; the Unitarians two societies, two ministers; the Sabbatarians about 1000 communicants; the Six Principle Baptists about eight churches and 800 communicants. There are many Friends, and some of other denominations. The settlement of Rhode Island was commenced, at Providence, in 1636, by the celebrated Roger Williams, a minister, who was banished from Massachusetts on account of his religious opinions. (For further information respecting the history, see Providence, and New England) RHODE ISLAND; an island situated in Narraganset bay; lat. 41° 25′ N.; lon. 71° 20 W. The state of Rhode Island takes its name from this island. It is about fifteen miles from north to south, and three and a half wide, and is divided into three townships, Newport, Portsmouth and Middletown. It is a noted resort for invalids from southern climates. The island is very fertile, pleasant, and healthful; and many travellers call it the Eden of Americe. It suffered greatly by the war of the revolution, but has been, in a considerable degree, restored to its former beauty and value. About 40,000 sheep are fed on the island, besides neat cattle and horses. There is a coal-mine on the north part of the island, but the coal is not, at present, much esteemed. RHODES (Podos, from jodov, a rose, or from focos, noise of waters); an island in the Grecian archipelago, lying between Crete (Candia) and Cyprus, ten miles from the southern coast of Asia Minor; thirty-six miles in length, and fourteen in breadth; 450 square miles. Rhodes was, in ancient times, sacred to the sun, and was celebrated for its serene sky, its soft climate, fertile soil, and fine fruits. The republic of Rhodes was an important naval power, and planted colonies in Sicily, Italy and Spain. The beauty and size of its works of art were admired in all Greece, and it was much visited by the Romans on account of them. The commercial laws of the Rhodians were adopted, as the basis of marine law, on all the coasts of the Mediterranean, and some fragments of them still retain their authority. (See Commercial Law.) This rich and powerful republic took an important part in several of the Roman wars, and was first made a Roman province in the reign of Vespasian. In 1309, after the loss of Palestine, the knights of St. John occupied the island, and were thence called the knights of Rhodes. In 1480, they repelled an attack of the Turks, but, in 1522, were obliged to surrender the island to Soliman II. (See John, Knights of St.) The population is differently estimated, by Savary at 36,500, of which about one third are Greeks, with an archbishop. The island is governed by a pacha, who is under the capudan pacha or high-admiral and governor of the islands of the Archipelago. The revenue of the sultan from the island is estinated at 90,000 piasters. The productions are corn, wine, oil, cotton, fruits, wax, honey, &c. The capital, Rhodes (lon. 28° 12′ E.; lat. 36° 26 N.), has a population of 6000 Turks. The suburb Neachorio is inhabited by 3000 Greeks, who are not permitted to reside within the city. The town is surrounded by three walls and a double ditch, and is considered by the Turks as impregnable. It has two fine harbors, separated only by a mole. The celebrated colossus probably stood here. (See Colossus.) RHODIUM; a new metal, discovered among the grains of crude platina by doctor Wollaston. Its specific gravity is 11. It readily alloys with every other metal, except mercury. One sixth of it does not perceptibly alter the appearance of gold, but only renders it more fusible. When pure, it is brittle, and requires a much higher temperature for its fusion than any other metal, unless it be iridium. It is insoluble in all acids. Doctor Wollaston made silver pens, tipped with rhodium, which, from its great hardness, were not liable to be injured by use. RHODODENDRON MAXIMUM, or DWARF ROSE BAY; one of the most ornamental shrubs of North America. It is generally about ten feet high, but sometimes reaches to twenty or twenty-five, with a trunk four or five inches in diameter. The leaves are large, oval, oblong, coriaceous, smooth and shining; the flowers large, rose-colored, with yellow dots on the inside, and are disposed in an elegant terminal cluster. It is most abundant about the Alleghany mountains, where it sometimes forms impenetrable thickets, presenting a magnificent appearance when in flower. The wood is hard, compact, and fine-grained, but inferior, in these respects, to that of the mountain-laurel, and has not hitherto been applied to any useful purposes. Two other species of rhododendron inhabit the more southern parts of the Alleghanies. The species of rhododendron are shrubs, with alternate, entire, evergreen leaves, and ornamental flowers, usually disposed in terminal corymbs. About eighteen species are known, which inhabit the cold and temperate parts of the northern hemisphere, and especially mountainous districts. One, the R. Lapponicum, grows as far north as civilized man has penetrated, and, in common with other arctic plants, is found, within the U. States, only on the summits of the White mountains of New Hampshire. An Oriental species, sometimes seen in our green-houses, resembling the R. maximum, but with brilliant scarlet flowers, hardly yields in magnificence to any production of the vegetable creation. All the species are cultivated in gardens on account of the beauty of their flowers. RHONE (Rhodanus); a great river in the south of Europe, which rises in the central and highest part of Switzerland, at the foot of mount Furca, only five miles from the source of the Rhine. I flows in a western direction through a long and wide valley of the Swiss canton of the Valais, and, being swelled by a number of mountain streams, it passes through the lake of Geneva. Flowing southward, and being joined by the Saone and other streams, such as the Isère, the Drôme, the Ardeche, and the Durance, it discharges itself, after a course of nearly 500 miles, by three mouths, into the part of the Mediterranean called the gulf of Lyons, where its branches form the island of Cainargue. The principal cities on the Rhone are Geneva, Lyons, Vienne, Avignon, Beaucaire and Arles. It is the most rapid river of Europe. The navigation down the stream is easy, but the upward can be performed only by draught or steam. (See Canals.) It carries down large quantities of earth, which it deposits at its mouth. Below Lacluse, the river plunges, with great noise, into a cavity of the rocks, and disappears for the distance of sixty paces. Several miles below this place, at a point called Malpertuis, it again almost entirely disappears under the rocks. RHÖNGEBIRGE; a range of mountains in Germany, extending from Kaltennordheim to beyond Bischofsheim, about 30 miles in length; it traverses the northwest of Bavaria, and part of Hesse Cassel, approaching the Thuringian forest on the north, and the Spessart towards the south. The highest summit is the Kreutzberg, 2800 feet high. RHUBARB (rheum); a genus of plants, mostly inhabiting the interior of Asia. It belongs to the family polygoneæ, together with the docks, which it somewhat resembles. It is one of the few genera which have nine stamens, the enneandria of Linnæus. The roots and leaves are remarkably large, and the flowers inconspicuous, but disposed in very ample panicles. The seeds are provided, at the angles, with a membranous wing. The roots of all are mildly purgative, com |