Rhomb
or RHOMBUS, in geometry, an oblique parallelogram whose sides are all equal. The diagonals of a rhombus bisect each other at right angles. The area of a rhombus is equal to half the product of its diagonals. Fresnel's rhomb, in optics, is an apparatus for converting plane into circularly polarized light. It is a parallelopiped of glass, of such length and angles that a ray of light entering one small end at right angles, twice suffers total reflection within the rhomb at an angle of about 54° (depending on the polarizing angle of the glass), and finally emerges at right angles from the opposite small end. When the beam of light is plane polarized, and the rhomb is so arranged that its reflecting faces are inclined at an angle of 45° to the plane of polarization, the beam emerges circularly polarized.
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Rhubarb
ru'barb, a heavy-leafed relative of the dock, sheep sorrel, buckwheat, and smartweed. The similarity may be noticed in juice and seed. Common rhubarb is thought to be a native of southern Siberia. The clustered root-stocks are dried for the druggist; the leaf-stalks are the famous "pieplant" of American markets. There is very little sentiment connected with pieplant, but it is a substantial addition nevertheless to the kitchen garden. Gardeners vie with each other in producing mammoth tender stems by banking the growing plant. Medicinal rhubarb
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Rhyme
more correctly RIME, in poetry, a correspondence in sound of the ng word or syllable of one line terminating of poetry with the terminating word or syllable of another. To constitute this correspondence in single words or in syllables it is necessary that the vowel and the final consonantal sound (if any) should be the same, or have nearly the same sound, the initial consonants being different. If the rhyme is only in the last syllables, as in forgave and behave, it is called a single rhyme; if in the two last syllables, as bitter and glitter, it is called a double rhyme; if in the last three syllables, as callosity and reciprocity, it is called a triple rhyme. Rhymes which extend to more than three syl lables are almost confined to the Arabians and Persians in their short odes (gazelles), in which the same rhyme, carried through the whole poem, extends sometimes to four and more syllables. The modern use of rhymes was not known to the Greeks and Romans; though some rhymed verses occur in Ovid. It has been used, on the other hand, from time immemorial among the Chinese, Hindus, Arabs, and other Oriental nations. Rhyme began to be developed among the western nations in the Latin poetry of the Christian Church. It is found used as early as the 4th century. The early English, German, and Scandinavian poems are distinguished by alliteration instead of rhymes.
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Rhymer
THOMAS, of Erceldoune, or Earlston, Berwickshire, England, otherwise called THOMAS THE RHYMER; a half-legendary Scotch poet or romancer of the 13th century. He is mentioned by Barbour, Blind Harry, and Wyntoun, was credited with prophetical powers, and his "Prophecies," a collection of oracular rhymes, were long popular in Scotch folk lore. The old metrical romance of "Sir Tristram" is doubtfully ascribed to him.
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Rhynchonella
in zoology, the typical genus of Rhynchonellidæ. Shell trigonal, acutely beaked, usually plaited; dorsal valve elevated in front; ventral flattened, or hollowed along the center. Known recent species four, from the North Polar regions ns and New Zealand. Known species 332, from the Lower Silurian onward. Found in Europe, Asia, and North and South America.
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Rhyolite
also known as Liparite and Nevadite, a group of volcanic rocks, rocks, containing a high percentage of silica, and possessing in many cases a vitreous character. The name Liparite is derived from the Lipari Islands, where quantities of Rhyolites are found.
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Rhys
ERNEST, an English editor and writer, born in London, in 1859. He was educated in the public schools in Wales and England, and became a mining engineer in 1877. He abandoned this career in 1885 to engage in writing and lecturing on literary subjects. He several times visited the United States, delivering lectures. He was the editor of the "Camelot Series" of reprints and translations, and also edited several of the Elizabethan dramatists. He was also editor of the "Everyman's Library" series. His writings include "Welsh Ballads and Other Poems" (1898); "The Fiddler of Carne" (1896); "The Whistling Maid" (1900); "Lyric Poetry" (1913); and "Rabindranath Tagore" (1915).
JOHN (rīs), a Celtic philologist; born in Abercaero, Cardiganshire, Wales, June 21, 1840. He was Professor of Celtic in Oxford from 1877 and principal of Jesus College from 1895. He published "Lectures on Welsh Philology" (1877); "Celtic Britain" (1882); "Studies in the Arthurian Legends" (1891); "The Welsh People" (1901). He died in 1915.
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Rhythm
in general a measured succession of divisions or intervals in written composition, music, or dancing. The rhythm of poetry is the regular succession of accent, emphasis, or voice stress; or a certain succession of long and short (heavy and light) syllables in a verse. Prose also has its rhythm, and the only difference (so far as sound is concerned) between verse and prose is, that the former consists of a regular succession of similar cadences, divided by grammatical pauses and emphases into proportional clauses, so as to present sensible responses to the ear at regular proportioned distances. In music, rhythm is the disposition of the notes of a composition in respect of time and measure; the measured beat which marks the character and expression of the music.
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Rialto
. See Venice
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Riazan
or RYAZAN, Russia, capital of the province of the same name, 120 miles S. E. of Moscow, situated on the Trubezh river. It was noted before the World War for the excellent cutlery produced in its factories and was also an important center of the textile industry. The population is about 48,000. The province of Riazan is drained by the Oka river, has an area of 16,254 square miles and a population of about 2,700,000.
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Rib
in anatomy, one of the long curved bones which form the walls of the chest. They extend in an oblique direction from the vertebræ of the back to the sternum in front. There are usually 12 on each side; but in some rare cases 13 have been found, in others only 11. They are distinguished into "true" and "false"; the former being the seven upper ribs, which are articulated to the sternum; the latter the five lower ones, which are not immediately attached to that bone. The use of the ribs is to cover and defend the lungs and heart; and their articulations with the vertebræ and sternum admitting of a slight motion, they assist in respiration. See ANATOMY: THORAX. In shipbuilding, one of the timbers of a ship, which have their base in the keel as a backbone, and serve to maintain generally the cavity of the vessel. In architecture, one of the curvilinear timbers to which, in an arched or covered plaster ceiling, the laths are nailed. In botany, the principal vein or nervure which proceeds from the petiole into the blade of a leaf. In mining, a pillar of coal left for the support of the roof of a mine.
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