Reclus
JEAN JACQUES ELISÉE, a French geographer; born in Sainte- Foix la Grande, France, March 15, 1830. In consequence of his extreme democratic views he left France after the coup d'état of 1851, and spent the next seven years in England, Ireland, North and Central America, and Colombia. He returned to Paris in 1858 and published "Journey Marthe" (1861), and an introduction to to the Sierra Nevada of Sainte the "Dictionary of France" (1864). For being concerned the Communes of in the Communistic outbreak of 1871 he was banished from France, but returned under an amnesty in 1879. While living in exile great masterpiece, "New General Gein Switzerland he began his ography" (14 vols. 1876-1889). Reclus ography" (vols. 1876-1889). great work, a physical geography entitled "The Earth" "History of a Brook" (1866); besides (Eng. trans. 1871 and 1887); "Terrestrial Phenomena" (1873) and "Hi "History of a Mountain" ain" (1880). Died 1905.
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Recognizance
or RECOGNI- SANCE, in law an obligation of record, which a man enters into before some court of record or magistrate duly authorized, with condition to do some particular act; as, to keep the peace, to pay a debt, or the like. Also the verdict of a jury impaneled upon assize.
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Recoil Escapement
An escapement in which the teeth are pressed backward, or recoiled by the pallets, after coming to rest, as in the Anchor Escapement.
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Reconnaissance
the act or process of reconnoitering; a preliminary survey or examination; specifically applied to: (1) The examination of a territory, district, etc., or of an enemy's position, for the purpose of directing military operations. (2) The examination or survey of a region in reference to its general geological character. (3) A preliminary examination of a county or district in reference to its general natural character, preparatory to a more particular survey for the purposes of the construction of public works, as of a road, canal, railway, etc.
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Record Office
The New, an office building in London for the custody of state papers. It is a fireproof structure in the Tudor style. It is situated in Fetter Lane near Chancery Lane, in the very thick of London, three miles from the Houses of Parliament. There are 228 rooms arranged like the cells of a penitentiary. Each compartment is 24 feet long and eleven feet wide. The rows of rooms are separated by passages paved with brick. The entire building is fireproof; the floors, frames, and ceilings are of iron. The doors are of slate. Public records of value were gathered here from the Tower and from the Chapter House of Westminster Abbey and elsewhere in 1866. Among the priceless documents are William the Conqueror's Doomsday Book , in two parchment volumes, the resignation of the Scottish throne by David Bruce, a treaty of peace between Henry VIII and Francis I, numerous deeds of monasteries in England and Wales exacted by Henry VIII, as well as charters, first copies of laws, and many other state papers. Although the building is open to the public from ten to four o'clock, it is visited rarely except by those who have business or who are interested in historical documents. Scholars may inspect the papers without fee. Authorized clerks will furnish fair copies at eighteen cents per page of seventy-two words.
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Recorder
a musical instrument, sembling a flageolet in shape. The instrument was wider in the lower half than in the upper; its tones were soft and pleasing, and an octave higher than the flute.
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Recorder
in England, the chief judicial officer of a borough or city, exercising within it, in criminal matters, the jurisdiction of a court of record, whence his title is derived. The appointment of recorders is vested in the crown, and the selection is confined to barristers of five years' standing. The same name is given to similar legal functionaries elsewhere, as in some American cities.
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Rectangle
in geometry, a parallelogram or quadrilateral figure whose angles are all right angles. An equilateral rectangle is a square. A rectangle is said to be contained by any two of the angles; thus, if A B and B C represent two adjacent sides, the rectangle is said to be contained by A B and B C, or, as it is sometimes expressed , it is the rectangle under A B and B C. The area of a rectangle is equal to the product of its base and altitude. Rectangles having equal bases are to each other as their altitudes; rectangles having equal altitudes are to each other as their bases.
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Rectangular Cupola
This style of cupola is not often met with at this day, the common round or oval one having taken its place almost everywhere. The sides of these cupolas were usually composed of four cast-iron plates which rested vertically on a solid foundation of stone or brick, and were held together by bolts at the corners. The widest plates were about one third longer than the others, and it is one of these wide plates which faces the foundry, being provided with a breast-hole at the bottom, which answers for tap-hole, and furnishes means for raking out when done melting. In order that the greatest quantity of metal possible might be gathered on the bottom before a tap was made, it was customary to pierce each side with several holes about 8 inches apart, one above the other, so that by means of a flexible hose or a sliding pipe the tuyeres might be raised as the metal accumulated, the blast being suspended during the process of raising the pipe and making the lower holes good with suitable plugs. The height of these cupolas was about three times the length of the long side, and the hole was lined with ordinary square fire-brick, the bottom being made with sand as now. See CUPOLA; BREAST-HOLE.
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Rectify
to refine or purify spirit or common alcohol by a process of distillation, with the aid of certain herbs, essences, and other flavoring ingredients. More strictly, to separate the lighter portions of any liquid, and render pure and homogeneous any alcohol, ether, or volatile oil, by repeated distillation. In geometry, to construct a straight line equal in length to a definite portion of. (Said of a curve.) To rectify the globe in astronomy or geometry, to bring the sun's place in the ecliptic on the globe to the brass meridian, or to adjust it in order to prepare it for the solution of a proposed problem.
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