RATIO 



4933 



RATTLESNAKE 



two are almost identical. The ratel eats insects, 

 frogs, birds and rats. It is very fond of honey, 

 and is sometimes called honey badger. 



RATIO, ra'shio, the relation which one 

 quantity has to another quantity of the same 

 kind. The only way in which two quantities 

 can be compared is by division. Now a frac- 

 tion is always an expression of division. Ratio 

 iierefore expressed by a common fraction, 

 as % and n /. The fraction -.-. expresses 

 the ratio of 2 to 3. The fraction J % expresses 

 ratio of 11 to 8. These ratios, instead of 

 Dg written as fractions, are also expressed 

 as 2:3 and 11:8. Ratio cannot exist between 

 two quantities of different kinds. For instance, 

 to find the ratio between 4 quarts and 6 pints, 

 the quarts must first be reduced to pints or 

 the pints to quarts, 4 quarts=i8 pints. The 

 ratio of 8 pints to 6 pints=%=%, or 4:3. 

 -3 quarts. The ratio of 4 quarts 

 to 3 quartsrr% or 4:3. See PROPORTION. 



RATIONALISM, rash'unal i'zm, a term 

 which has come from a Latin word meaning 

 reason, in the broadest sense means reason, as 

 opposed to faith. As the Christian religion 

 <1 and the power of the Church increased, 

 a good deal of arbitrary authority came to be 

 cised in matters of faith. As learning in- 

 creased, men revolted more and more against 

 my authority in matters of belief. They ques- 

 tioned not only the authority of the Church 

 but also that of the Bible, and certain scholars 

 claimed that one could believe nothing u: 

 it could be proved. Many philosophers taught 

 that such instinctive feelings as love, trust. 

 confidence, courage and fear could have no 

 influence on bdi.j; that only the reasoning 

 mind could say what was to be believed. Vol- 

 taire, Lord Bacon, Descartes and Kant are a 

 few of the men who taught rationalism in 

 is forms. 



RAT'ISBON, or REGENSBURG, ra'gcns 

 boorK, an ancient city of Bavaria, capital of 

 Upper Palatinate. It is pleasantly situ- 

 ated on the right bank of the Danube, oppo- 

 site the mouth of the Rcgen, sixty-five miles 

 northeast of Munich. It is a city that seems 

 to have neglected to keep pace with modem 

 progress, for its narrow, crooked streets and 

 curious old houses with their turret,,! roofs 

 are as they were in medieval days. There are 

 many buildings of historic interest, including 

 tho fifteenth century Rathaus, where the ses- 

 M of the imperial diet were hcKl from 

 1663 to 1806. The chief manufactures in> 

 iron and steel wares, pottery, parquet flooring 



and lead pencils, while a brisk transit trade is 

 carried on in salt, grain and timber. Originally 

 a Celtic town bearing the name of Radasbona, 

 Ratisbon was later made a frontier fortress by 

 the Romans. Subsequently it became the capi- 

 tal of the dukes of Bavaria. In 1245 it was 

 declared a free imperial city by Frederick II. 

 and for a long time was the seat of many im- 

 portant diets. In 1810 Ratisbon was ceded to 

 Bavaria. Population in 1910, 52,624. 



RATON, ratohn', N. MEX., the county seat 

 of Colfax County, situated in the northeastern 

 part of the state, eight miles from the Colorado 

 state line and 111 miles northeast of Las Vegas. 

 It is on the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe, 

 and the Santa Fe, Raton & Eastern railroads, 

 and is a division point of the Santa Fe System, 

 which maintains railroad shops employing 350 

 men. The population in 1910 was 4,539. Ra- 

 ton has a fine courthouse and city hall, public 

 library, state hospital for miners, county high 

 school and public parks. Extensive coal fields 

 are adjacent to the city, and the principal 

 business interests are coal mining and stock 

 raising. Three thousand men are employed by 

 one company. The city has also ice and brick 

 plants, a creamery, and a greenhouse with a 

 large shipping trade. Raton was settled in 1880 

 and incorporated as a city in 1891. 



RATTAN', a group of tropical palms, the 

 long, slender stems of which form the rattan 

 of commerce. In the countries where the rat- 

 tan palms grow the natives use the stems to 

 make ropes and mats, and they are extensively 

 imported by American and European countries 

 for use in the manufacture of umbrella handles, 

 walking sticks, furniture, baskets and chair bot- 

 toms (see CANE). The natives prepare the 

 stems for shipment by cut t inn them into 

 lengths of five to twenty feet and tying the 

 pieces into bundles. They free the stems from 

 tin- leaves and outer covering by pulling them 

 through a notch in a tree or board. Strength. 

 i:lity and durability are the special quali- 

 uhu-h make, rattan a valuable comns. 

 product. The finest grades come from the 

 island of Borneo, and other \aluublc rattans 

 are produced in Burma, Ceylon, Malaysia and 

 Sumatra. Some species of rattan palms yield 

 diblc fruit, and the young shoot* an i at. n 

 like vegetables. 



See the subhead Habits of Growth, under the 

 heading PALM. 



RATTLESNAKE, raf'lsnayk. the name of 

 a group of American reptiles whose distinguish- 

 ing characteristic is the possession of n horny 



