RANUNCULUS 



RAPE 



579 



anil the leaves of some species readily produce 

 blisters ; but this property disappears when they are 

 dried or heated. Many are narcotic and poisonous ; 

 some are used in medicine, as aconite and helle- 

 bore. The seeds of Nigella satinet were formerly 

 u-ifd instead of pepper. The fruit of the May 

 Apple or Wild Lemon (Podophyllum peltatum) of 

 North America may be eaten, but is very acid. 

 Many of the order produce flowers of great beauty, 

 as some species of Ranunculus (q.v.), Anemone 

 (q.v.), Larkspur (q.v.), Peony (q.v.), Columbine 

 (q.v.), Clematis (q.v.). &c. 



Ranunculus, a genus of plants of the natural 

 order Rannnculacerc ; having five sepals; five 

 petals, with a nectariferous pore at the base of 

 each petal, often covered with a scale ; many 

 stamens situated on a receptacle, and ovaries 

 accumulated into a head. The species are numer- 

 ous, herbaceous plants, mostly perennial. Some 

 of them adorn meadows with their yellow flowers, 

 familiarly known as Buttercups ; others, known by 



Ranunculus aiiaticui, garden varieties. 



the name of Crou-foot, are troublesome weeds in 

 gardens and pastures. Many, as the Spearworts, 

 are found chiefly in moist places, and some are 

 altogether aquatic, covering the surface of ditches, 

 ponds, and rivers, where the water is shallow, with 

 a carpet of verdure exquisitely studded with beauti- 

 ful wnite flowers. One species, the Asiatic Ranun- 

 culus, or Garden Ranunculus, exclusively the 

 ranuncnlns of florists, a native of the Levant, has 

 been cultivated in Europe for almost 300 years. 

 The cultivated varieties are extremely numerous, 

 brilliantly coloured, and very symmetrical in form. 

 The ranunculus is propagated by seed, by offset 

 tubers, or by dividing the clusters of tubers. The 

 roots are often taken up in summer, after the 

 leaves die, and kept in a dry place till the be- 

 ginning of the ensuing winter or spring. The 

 ranunculus loves a free and rich soil. T)ouhle- 

 flowered varieties of some other species, with taller 

 stems and smaller white or yellow flowers, are 

 cultivated in flower-gardens, sometimes under the 

 name of Bachelors' Buttons. The acridity of many 

 species of ranuncnlns is such that the leaves, 

 bruised and applied to the skin, produce blisters ; 

 and those of R. sceleralus, a pretty common British 

 species, are said to be used by beggars to cause 

 ores, in order to move compassion. R. Thora, a 

 Swiss species, is of extreme acridity, and hunters 

 were accustomed in former times to poison darts 

 and arrows with its juice. Water distilled from 

 the leaves of R. flammula, a British species, with 

 rather tall xtem and ovato- lanceolate leaves, common 



by the sides of ditches, &c. , is an active and power- 

 ful emetic, producing almost immediate vomiting, 

 and capable of being used with great advantage in 

 cases of poisoning. Yet the leaves of R. ficaria 

 sometimes called Pilewort and Lesser Celandine, a 

 very common British species, adorning hedge-banks 

 with bright yellow flowers in spring are capable 

 of being used as a pot-herb. Pastures in which R. 

 acris, R. repens, &c. are very abundant are injured 

 by them, and they ought to be diligently grubbed 

 out ; they are particularly supposed to give an 

 unpleasant taste to milk and outter ; but it is 

 thought not improbable that a moderate mixture 

 of these plants with the other herbage is even 

 advantageous, and that they may act as a condi- 

 ment. Their acridity is lost in drying, and they 

 are not injurious to hay. The small tubers of Pile- 

 wort, or Lesser Celandine, are used for the cure of 

 htemorrhoids ; but their acridity also disappears 

 when they are boiled, and they are then a pleasant 

 article of food. R. aquatilis, a British species, 

 very abundant in streams in many parts of Britain, 

 is eaten with avidity by cattle, the acridity so 

 general in the other species being wanting in it. 



Ranz des Varhes (in German, Kuhreigen), a 

 name applied to certain simple native melodies of 

 the Swiss Alps, which are usually sung by the 

 herdsmen, and played by them when driving their 

 herds to and from the pasture, on the Alphorn or 

 Kuh-lioni (q.v.). The associations of pastoral life 

 recalled by these airs to the Swiss in foreign 

 countries have been said to produce an almost irre- 

 sistible longing for home, or nostalgia. 



Rap (contracted from rapparee, 'an Irish plun- 

 derer ), familiar in the phrase 'not a rap," was a 

 counterfeit Irish coin or the time of George I., 

 which passed for a halfpenny, though not really 

 worth a fourth of that value. There was also a 

 small Swiss coin called rappen, worth a centime. 



Rapallo. a winter health-resort of Northern 

 Italy, 17 miles by rail ESE. of Genoa, with a 

 castle and the pilgrimage church of the Madonna 

 (1557) on the Monte Allegro. Off here the 

 Venetian fleet defeated the Genoese in 1431. 

 Pop. 2025. 



Rape, or COLESEED (Brassica napw; see 

 BRASSICA), an annual plant much cultivated on 

 account both of its 

 heritage and of its oil- 

 producing seeds. It is 

 a native of Europe and 

 perhaps of England ; 

 but it is hard to say 

 where it is truly in- 

 dixi'iiong and where 

 naturalised. It is go 

 nearly allied to Bras- 

 sica rapa (Turnip), B. 

 campestris (Swedish 

 Turnip, Colza, &c.), 

 B. oleracea ( Kale, 

 Cabbage, &c. ), and 

 B. prcecox (Summer 

 Rape ) that botanical 

 distinction is difficult, 

 particularly as to some 

 of the cultivated varie- 

 ties. The root of rape 

 is slender, or in culti- 

 vation sometimes be- 

 comes carrot-shaped 

 (see NAVEW), but it 

 never becomes turnip- 

 shaped. The cultivation of rape is very general in 

 many parts of the continent of Europe, from which 

 it seems to have been introduced into England at 

 least as early as the 16th century ; and in the 17th 



Rape (Eraisica napus] : 

 a, silique. 



