RAVEN 



4935 



RAZOR 



(Genesis VIII, 7), which flew to and fro till 

 the waters were dried up. Elijah, by the brook 

 Cherith, was fed by ravens (/ Kings XVII, 6), 

 and in both the Old and New Testaments the 

 bird is mentioned in illustration of God's care 

 for his creatures. Pliny, the Latin naturalist 

 and writer, tells the story of a raven that raised 

 the water in a bucket to a drinking level by 

 dropping in pebbles. 



The Scandinavian peoples held the raven in 

 veneration, and when the Danes came against 

 England in the ninth century their flag bore a 

 black raven on a red field. The Indians of 

 Northwestern North America regard the bird 



THE RAVEN 



as the visible representation of some mystical, 

 unseen being, and its image is the totem of 

 some tribes (see TOTEM). Its black color has 

 long made the raven an omen of disaster and 

 death to superstitious minds. Poe, in his poem 

 The Raven, makes it the symbol of his weird 

 and melancholy mood, as illustrated by the 

 lines : 



Take thy beak from out my heart and take thy 



form from off my door. 

 Quoth the Raven, Nevermore. 



Ravens are found in Asia, Africa and 

 America. They have been known to measure 

 twenty-six inches in length and to have a wing 

 breadth of three feet. They live as long as a 

 man, and are said to mate for life. Their nests 

 are built in the late winter on cliffs or in an- 

 il ings. The eggs are from four to 

 seven in number and are of a light greenish 

 color, blotched with brownish spots. The mis- 

 take ilio raven is destructive to crops 

 has caused its extinction in some localities, but 

 it is now considered to be beneficial in dot : 

 ing the small rodents that are the farmer's real 

 enemies. 



Consult Newton's Dictionary of Bird*. 



RAY, a group of fish including six different 

 families. The general characteristic of the 

 group is their possession of expanded and fleshy 

 pectoral fins, which are seemingly continuations 

 of the body. In some cases these form with 

 the body a flat disk. The six families are repre- 

 sented by the sawfish, the shark rays, the elec- 

 tric rays, the skates, the sting rays, and the 

 eagle rays, or devil fish. 



Related Subject*. The reader is referred to 

 the following articles in these volumes : 

 Devil Fish Sawfish 



Electrical Fish Sting Ray 



Skate 



RAYMOND, ra'mund, a town in the extreme 

 southern part of Alberta, twenty-six miles south 

 of Lethbridge, forty miles northeast of Cards- 

 ton, and about thirty-five miles directly north 

 of the United States boundary. It is on a 

 branch of the Canadian Pacific Railway. The 

 town and its vicinity are inhabited largely by 

 Mormons, who have developed this section by 

 dry farming. The region is especially noted for 

 sugar beets, and Raymond has a large refinery. 

 Wheat and live stock are also raised in consid- 

 erable quantities. The town has several grain 

 elevators and other business establishments. 

 Population in 1911, 1,465; in 1916, 1,206. 



RAZOR, ra'z'r, an instrument used to re- 

 move beard from the face. The modern razor 

 has a blade from three to four inches in length, 

 made of the finest steel, with a rounded back, 

 sloping to a very fine edge. The blade is gen- 

 erally bound by a rivet to two pieces of metal, 

 ivory or bone, between which the blade rests 

 when not in use, closing like a springless knife. 

 Sheffield, England, once produced the world's 

 best razors, but many German factories have in 

 recent years equaled the best Sheffield product. 

 America has not yet produced blades equal to 

 the European product. The high quality razors 

 made in England usually cost from six to 

 twenty shillings ($1.50 to $5) or more, if 

 mounted in elaborate handles. German-made 

 razors are sold for considerably less, the aver- 

 age being about $1 to $4, the difference in price 

 being due to differences in labor conditions 

 rather than in quality. 



There is an increasing demand for what are 

 known as "safety razors." These have short. 

 rectangular blades mounted at such an angle in 

 holders that it is almost impossible to cut ones 

 face during the operation of shaving. S:n 

 razors have ready sale in the United States and 

 in Canada and cost from $1 to $5, though more 

 expensive kinds may be bought. 



