Rush
Rush names 3 different subjects across the 6 encyclopedias on this shelf. Each is set out below.
Rush a genus of plants of the natural order Junceæ
Collier's New Encyclopedia (1921)
a genus of plants of the natural order Junceæ, having a glumelike (not colored) perianth, smooth filaments, and a many-seeded, generally three-celled capsule. The species are numerous, mostly natives of wet or marshy places in the colder parts of the world; some are found in tropical regions. The name rush perhaps properly belongs to those species which have no proper leaves; the round stems of which, bearing or not bearing small lateral heads of flowers, are popularly known as rushes. The soft rush (J. effusus) is a native of Japan as well as of Great Britain, and is cultivated in Japan for making mats. The common rush (J. conglomeratus) and the soft rush are largely used for the bottoms of chairs and for mats, and in ruder times, when carpets were little known, they were much used for floor covering. The stems of the true rushes contain a large pith or soft central substance, which is sometimes used for wicks to small candles called rushlights. There are 20 or 22 British species of rush. They are often very troublesome weeds to the farmer. Thorough drainage is the best means of getting rid of them. Many marshy and boggy places abound in some of the speboggy cies having leafy stems and the leaves jointed internally, popularly called sprots or sprits, as J. acutiflorus, J. lamprocarpus, and J. obtusiflorus. They afford very little nourishment to cattle; but are useful for making coarse ropes for ricks. The stage was also strewed with rushes in Shakespeare's time, as well as the churches with rushes or straw according to the season of the year, and anciently rushes were scattered in the way where processions were to pass. To order fresh rushes was a sincere mark of honor to a guest. The strewing of the churches grew into a religious festival conducted with much pomp and circumstance. This ceremonious rush-bearing lingered long in the northern counties of England, and has been occasionally revived in modern times, as at Grasmere in 1884, etc.
Rush BENJAMIN, an American physician
Collier's New Encyclopedia (1921)
BENJAMIN, an American physician; born in Philadelphia, Dec. 24, 1745; he was graduated at Princeton in 1760; studied medicine in Philadelphia, Edinburgh, London, and Paris; and in 1769 was made Professor of Chemistry in the Philadelphia Medical College. Elected a member of the Continental Con gress, he signed the Declaration of Inde pendence (1776). In April, 1777, he was appointed surgeon-general, and in July physician-general, of the Continental army. His duties did not prevent him from writing a series of letters against the articles of confederation of 1776. In 1778 he resigned his post in the army because he could not prevent frauds on soldiers in the hospital stores, and returned to his professorship. He was a founder of the Philadelphia dispensary, the first in the United States, and of the College of Physicians, was active in the establishment of public schools, was a member of the state conventions which ratified the Federal Constitution and formed the State constitution. He next became Professor of the Theory and Practice of Medicine at Philadelphia, to which chair he added those of the Institutes and Practice of Medicine and Clinical Practice (1791); and of the Practice of Physic (1797); and during the epidemic of 1793 he was as successful as devoted in the treatment of yellow fever. In 1799 Rush was appointed treasurer of the United States Mint, which post he held till his death. He was called "the Sydenham of America" and his medical works brought him honors from several European sovereigns. He wrote "Medical Inquiries and Observations" (5 vols., 1789-1793); "Essays" (1798), and "Diseases of the Mind" (1812). He died in Philadelphia, April 19, 1813.
Rush RICHARD, an American statesman
Collier's New Encyclopedia (1921)
RICHARD, an American statesman; born in Philadelphia, Pa., Aug. 29, 1780; son of the preceding. He was graduated at Princeton College in 1797; studied law in Philadelphia; was appointed attorney-general of Pennsylvania in 1811, and was attorney-general of the United States from 1814 to 1817. In 1817 he was temporary Secretary of State under President Monroe, and was by him appointed minister to England, from whence he was recalled in 1825 by President Adams, who made him Secretary of the Treasury. In 1828 he was candidate for the vice-presidency on the same ticket with President Adams, who was nominated for re-election, and received the same number of electoral votes. In 1836 President Jackson appointed him commissioner to obtain the Smithsonian legacy, then in the English Court of Chancery, in which he was successful, and returned in 1838 with the entire amount, $515,169. In 1847 he was appointed minister to France. At the close of President Polk's term he asked to be recalled and spent the rest of his life in retirement. He died in Philadelphia, Pa., July 30, 1859. He left "Memoranda of a Residence at the Court of St. James," two volumes (1833-1845); "Washington in Domestic Life" (1857); "Occasional Productions, Political, Diplomatic" (1860); etc.
What Has Changed in the Last Century
Collier's called Benjamin Rush "as successful as devoted" in treating the 1793 yellow fever epidemic; modern medicine judges his heroic bleeding and mercury purges to have harmed rather than helped, and the disease was shown in 1900 by Walter Reed's commission in Cuba to be spread by mosquitoes, confirming Carlos Finlay's 1881 hypothesis. Rush is nonetheless still honoured as a founder of American psychiatry — his 1812 "Diseases of the Mind" was the first American textbook on the subject, and his likeness long appeared on the American Psychiatric Association's seal. Of Richard Rush's work, the Rush–Bagot agreement he negotiated in 1817 to limit warships on the Great Lakes remains in force, and the Smithsonian money he retrieved from Chancery founded an institution now running some twenty museums. The botanical account still stands, and the Grasmere rush-bearing the entry mentions as "occasionally revived" is now a fixed annual event; a reader searching "Rush" today, though, is likelier to want the Canadian rock trio active from 1968 to 2018.
Written for this edition, 2026.