Rodentia
or RODENTS, an order of mammiferous quadrupeds occupying in many respects an intermediate place between the purely carnivorous and purely herbivorous mammalia, and so forming the connecting link between them. The order embraces rats and mice, hares, rabbits, guinea pigs, and other well-known animals. These animals have two great incisor teeth in each jaw, separated from the molar by by a wide space, with which they could hardly seize a living prey or rend flesh, but could reduce them by gnawing, whence the term rodents, or gnawers, applied to this order. The characteristic of this order is that the lower jaw has no horizontal movement except from behind forward, and vice versa, convenient for the action of gnawing; the molars of the Rodentia, consequently, have flat crowns, the enameled eminences of which are always transversal, so as to be in opposition to the horizontal movements of the jaw, and to be better adapted for trituration. The hinder parts of the body of the rodents in general exceed their anterior. Some of them enjoy a certain dexterity, using their forefeet for carrying their food to their mouth; while others again (the squirrels) climb trees with facility. Rodents are most abundant in temperate regions. In North America there are 371 species, 19 genera; 81 species, 16 genera in Europe and the N. of Asia; in Africa, 53 species, 16 genera; in India and its islands, 58 species, 10 genera; in South America and West India Islands, 89 species, 25 genera.
Only in Collier's New Encyclopedia
Rodents
the order of gnawing animals. It includes the tree squirrels, chipmunks, ground squirrels, flying squirrels, prairie dogs, woodchucks, beavers, mice, rats, muskrats, lemmings, moles, jumping mice, pocket gophers, porcupines, hares, and rabbits. There are in all about 371 species of rodents. Of these, about 170 are found in North America . A rodent may be known by its front teeth. They have the shape of chisels and are designed to cut vegetable substances, gnaw shells of nuts, etc. The front portion of the tooth, or cutting edge, consists of the hardest enamel; the rear is softer and wears away more rapidly, leaving the front edge keen and sharp. The tooth grows as fast as it wears off. Many animals that resemble the rodents in appearance belong to other orders. The bats, for instance, look like mice; but they are not rodents. They have sharp teeth, instead, suited for eating insects and fruit. Moles and shrews also have sharp teeth. They are insect eaters, not rodents. A similar remark applies to the hedgehog of Europe. A systematic notion of American rodents may be had from the special articles on SQUIRRELS; CHIPMUNK; GROUND SQUIRREL; BEAVER; MOUSE; RAT; POCKET GOPHER; PORCUPINE; HARE; RABBIT. See also PRAIRIE DOG ; WOODCHUCK; FLYING SQUIRREL .
Only in Aiton's Encyclopedia
Roderic
"the last of the Goths," whose tragic death, coincident with the downfall of the Visigothic monarchy in Spain, has inspired poets and romancers (Scott, Southey, Geibel, Dahn) to throw round him a halo of glory. According to the commonly accepted legend he was the son of a noble who was blinded by King Witiza. A conspiracy having been formed against the hated Witiza by the clergy and the nobles of Roman blood, Roderic was elevated to the throne (710). The sons of Witiza, however, bided their time, meanwhile submitting to the usurnobles per. At length certain malcontent were engaged in a plot to dethrone Roderic by Count Julian, the governor of Ceuta (in north Africa), whose daughter had been outraged by the Visigothic king. Julian brought over with him a Moorish chief named Tarik at the head of 12,000 men. Roderic met the invading army on the banks of the Guadalete, near Xeres de la Frontera, on July 26, 711. The battle raged six days; but the sons of Witiza, who commanded the wings of the Christian army, deserted during the contest, and the rout of the Visigoths was complete. Roderic either died on the field or was drowned in the Guadalete while attempting to swim his horse across. A third version, however, relates that he escaped and passed the rest of his life as a pious hermit. By this victory the Arabs became masters of southern Spain.
Only in Collier's New Encyclopedia
Roderick Dhu
rod'er-ik du, one of the principal characters in Scott's Lady of the Lake. See Lady Of The Lake
Only in Aiton's Encyclopedia
Rodgers
CHRISTOPHER RAY- MOND PERRY, an American naval officer; born in Brooklyn, N. Y., Nov. 14, 1819. In 1833 he entered the United States navy as a midshipman; was in active service during the Seminole and Mexican Wars; and in 1861 became commander. In that year, in the "Wabash" of Admiral Dupont's squadron, he was fleet-captain at the battle of Port Royal. He commanded, in 1862, an expedition to St. Augustine and up the St. Mary's river. In the attack on the defenses of Charleston, April 7, 1863, he was fleetcaptain on the "New Ironsides." He was captain appointed superin superintendent of the United States Naval Academy 1874-78, and 1881, and in the year 1874 was promoted rear-admiral. He was retired in 1881; and died in Washington, D. C., Jan. 8, 1892.
Only in Collier's New Encyclopedia
Rodgers (II)
JOHN AUGUSTUS, an American naval officer, born at Havre de Grace, Maryland, in 1848. He graduated from the United States Naval Academy in 1868, and was appointed ensign in 1869, rising successively to the rank of 08. He saw active ser- . rear-admiral in 1908 vice during the Civil War and took part in the battle of Santiago, Cuba, in July, 1898. His various other assignments included service with the torpedo service, at the Washington Navy Yard, the Naval War College, the light-house service, etc. From 1904 to 1906 he was in command of the "Illinois," and from 1908 to 1910 he was in command of the Navy Yard, Puget Sound, Washington, retiring in July, 1910.
Only in Collier's New Encyclopedia
Rodgers (III)
RAYMOND PERRY, an American naval officer, born in Washington, D. C., in 1849. He graduated from the United States Naval Academy in 1868 and was appointed ensign in 1869, rising successively to the rank of rearadmiral in 1908. He served from 1893 to 1897 as naval attaché in France and Russia, from 1897 to 1899 as executive officer of the "Iowa," taking part in the a. From 1899 to battle of Santiago, Cuba. 1901 he was in command of the "Nashville," seeing service in the Philippines, and in China during the Boxer troubles. From 1904 to 1906 he was in command of the "Kearsarge," from 1906 to 1909 chief intelligence officer of the Navy Department, and from 1907 to 1911 presi- College and C dent of the Naval War commandant of the naval station in Narragansett, Bay, retiring in December, 1911.
Only in Collier's New Encyclopedia