RE 



4936 



READE 



Razors were used by the men in Egypt, the 

 cradle of civilization; they preferred clean- 

 shaven to bearded faces. Julius Caesar wore 

 neither beard nor mustache. In the English 

 army regulations there still stands a curious 

 order to the effect that no soldier shall shave 

 his upper lip; if a man in the English navy 

 wishes to use a razor he must shave both beard 

 and mustache. These olden-time orders, how- 

 ever, are not strictly obeyed. The United 

 States army and navy regulations permit the 

 use of the razor as one prefers. 



RE , ray, the god of the sun in ancient Egyp- 

 tian mythology. After Re had brought order 

 out of the original chaos, which was the world, 

 he reigned in peace until in his old age the 

 gods became unruly and Isis led a rebellion 

 against him. In this rebellion even mankind 

 joined, and all must have perished had not Re 

 himself called back the goddess Hathor, whom 

 he had sent to destroy them. But the weight 

 of his years told on his spirit, and finally he 

 willingly resigned his rule and retired to the 

 heavens, where he rests on the back of the 

 celestial cow. In Egyptian art, Re is a hawk- 

 headed man holding the royal scepter in one 

 hand, the symbol of life in the other. His head 

 is crowned with a disk and serpent. 



REACTIONS, reak'shunz. In chemistry 

 certain substances may be brought into con- 

 tact with each other without any chemical 

 change; each substance remains exactly what it 

 was before. There are others, however, known 

 as agents, which affect each other strongly. 

 The chemical change which results is known as 

 a reaction. Often reactions seem to the begin- 

 ning student very curious; two substances may 

 be transformed into another, or into more than 

 one other, which possesses not the least resem- 

 blance to either of the original agents, and yet 

 nothing has been added or subtracted. Thus 

 if hydrochloric acid is poured on caustic potash, 

 water and chloride of potassium are formed. 

 To the chemist, however, the process is per- 

 fectly simple. Hydrochloric acid is HC1 and 

 caustic potash is KOH (see CHEMISTRY, sub- 

 head Chemical Symbols}, and the combination 

 may be expressed as KOH+HC1; while water 

 is HoO and chloride of potassium is KC1, and 

 the combination may be written HoO+KCl. 

 The reaction may thus be expressed as KOH+ 

 HCl=H 2 0-fKCl. It is evident, now, that on 

 each side of the equation there are two atoms 

 of hydrogen (H), one atom of oxygen (0), one 

 atom of potassium (K) and one atom of chlo- 

 rine (Cl). 



This subject of reactions plays a very large 

 part in the study of chemistry. The doctrine 

 of chemical affinities, the atomic theory, the 

 question of chemical compounds are all bound 

 up with it. The reader is referred, therefore, 

 to the general article CHEMISTRY in Volume II, 

 and to the references listed at the end of that 

 article. 



READ, reed, OPIE PERCIVAL (1852- ), an 

 American novelist and humorist, born at Nash- 

 ville, Tenn. After a very brief school course. 

 he became a newspaper reporter at Franklin. 

 Ky., served on various Arkansas and Ohio 

 papers until 1883, and in that year established 

 a humorous journal which became famous 

 The Arkansas Traveler. After 1891 he engaged 

 in literary work in Chicago, making that city 

 his home. Such fiction as A Kentucky Colonel, 

 A Tennessee Judge, Old Ebenczcr and A Yan- 

 kee from the West has gained a wide reading, 

 because of the charm of local color, the unique 

 characters portrayed and the appeal to the 

 emotions. He has achieved a degree of success 

 on the lecture platform. 



READ, THOMAS BUCHANAN (1822-1872), an 

 American poet and painter, best known for his 

 stirring ballad of the War of Secession Sheri- 

 dan's Ride. He was born in Chester County, 

 Pennsylvania, and his early youfti was spent on 

 his father's farm. The Boston Courier pub- 

 lished his first verses in 1843. In 1850 Read 

 went to Rome to study painting, for he was 

 chiefly interested in art. The Lost Pleiad, The 

 Water Sprite and Sheridan and His Horse are 

 among his best-known paintings. His writings 

 include Lays and Ballads, The New Pastoral 

 and The House by the Sea. Female Poets of 

 America, compiled by him in 1848, contained 

 illustrations reproduced from portraits he him- 

 self had painted. 



The following stanza from Sheridan's Ride 

 illustrates its rhythm and martial spirit: 



Up from the South at break of day, 



Bringing to Winchester fresh dismay, 



The affrighted air with a shudder bore, 



Like a herald in haste to the chieftain's door, 



The terrible grumble, and rumble, and roar, 



Telling the battle was on once more 



And Sheridan twenty miles away. 



And wider still those billows of war 



Thundered along the horizon's bar ; 



And louder yet into Winchester rolled 



The roar of the red sea uncontrolled, 



Making the blood of the listener cold, 



As he thought of the stake in that fiery fray 



And Sheridan twenty miles away. 



READE, reed, CHARLES (1814-1884), an Eng- 

 Lsh dramatist and author of many novels. 



