RAPP 



RASK 



1847. The EconomitN practi-e rigid eeon v, live 



live* of cclihacv, Binl have acquired great wealth, 

 consisting ,.f oil territory mill other real estate, rail- 

 Waystoek, hank shaii.-. \Ve. Tin- Haimoiiy Society 

 is a voluntary association living under certain rule's 

 of their own adoption, to which every one who is 

 admitted must subscribe, and, while the pro|.ei ty of 

 the iixtoriiitiiin is held in common, unv ix-ixm" on 

 becoming a ineiiilier renounces nil rigla to claim 

 any of the common tat.' should he afterwards dc- 

 ire to withdraw. At nni> time tin- membership 

 numliered 600, but at present there are less than 100. 

 K;i||. .Ii v\, CHI-NT, a French genetal. was 

 Imrn ul Colinar. in the French depailnient of Haut- 

 Rhin, '.'Till April 1772. He was intended for the 

 church, but hut taste for a military life led him to 

 enrol himself (17S8) in the mounte<l 'chasseurs' 

 of the French army. Rapp distinguished himself 

 by (hushing gallantry in ( ierinany and F.gypt, and 

 mi the ileath of MMb at Marengo lie MeUM 

 aide-dc camp to Na|>oleon. His brilliant charge 

 at Austerlitz upon the Russian Impeiial Guard 

 was rewarded with the grade of general of division 

 (1805). For liis Her vices at Lobau he wax named 

 a Count of the Empire (1809). He opposed the 

 Russian expedition, but accompanied the Emperor 

 throughout the whole of it. Hi- obstinate defence 

 of Danzig for nearly a year against a powerful 

 Russian army gained fur him greater renown, and 

 his chivalrous ami considerate treatment of the 

 unfortunate inhabitants during the siege was 

 warmly appreciated bv them. The Russians, con- 

 trary to tlie articles of capitulation, sent Rapp and 

 liis gairison prisoners to Russia, and lie did not 

 return to France till .July 1814. On reaching 

 Paris he was well received by Louis XVIII.; l>ut 

 in 1815 he went over to his 'old master, and was 

 ap|niintrd commander in chief of the army of the 

 Rhine, and peer of France. After "Waterfoo Kapp 

 again submitted to Louis. Re-creatod a peer of 

 France (1819), he held various offices about the 

 court, and died at Paris, 8th November 1821. See 

 his Memoirs (1823), and Spach's Bioyraphie* 

 Altaciennct ( 1871 ). 



Kamialiailliock. a river of Virginia, rises in 



Illue Kidgu of the Allegliany I 

 ceives the Kapidan (altove this point it is some- 



the 



Mountains, re- 



times called the North Fork), and Mows about 

 miles south-east to < 'hcsa|icake I lay. It is tidal 

 and navigable to Frederickshurg. The Rappa- 

 hannock and the Rapidan were the scenes of some 

 of the bloodiest battles of the Civil War. at Frede- 

 riekshurg, Chancellorsville, and the Wilderness. 



Rappee' ( Fr. rApt), a coarse kind of snull'. See 

 TOBACCO. 



RappcrKW} I. on the north shore of the Lake 



01 /urich, has an old castle tilted up in l.sii'.i by a 

 Polish nobleman as a Polish National Museum; 

 I-ip. 2800. 



RaratonKn. See COOK ISLAMIS. 



Rnrey. See HORSE, Vol. V. p. ''.>:>. 



Rns ( = ITeb. roffi ), an Arabic word, signifying 

 ' head," ' promontory,' iK-curs in the names of ninny 

 capes on the Arabian and north African coasts, 

 and also in Sicily and Malta. 



Rn.shOK, affections of the skin, characterised 

 by a red nparfleU elllorescencc, difTuited or in 

 patches, OMppemring under pressure, and usually 

 ending in desijuamation. To this division of 

 cutamiiiis disorders belong Measles, Scarlatina 

 (or Scarlet Fever), Erysiiielas, Erythema, Roseola 

 (or Scarlet Rash), and Nettle Rash. Of these 

 rashes Measles, Scarlatina, and Erysipelas are 

 rather to be regarded as fevers or |I|IMM| diseases 

 than as cutaneous diseases in the true sense of 

 the phrase. 



Knshl (from the initials of lUbl.i Shelomo 

 l/aaki. often ei roneoiisly railed Jarchi), the 

 greatesi .le\vis|i commentator and exegete, was 

 iMirn alKiut 1040, at Troves, in France. Philology, 

 philosophy, medicine, astronomy, civil and ecclesi- 

 astical law, and exegesis were tlie chief branches of 

 his learning ; and to a rare proficiency in them in- 

 united a complete mastery over tlie whole i 

 of Scripture and the Talmudical sources. In order 

 further In perfect himself for his- gigantic task he 

 travelled for seven years, visiting the schools of 

 Italy, Greece, Germany, Palestine, F.gyiit. Hi- 

 chief work is his Commentary on the whole of the 

 Old Testament. Rosin's style is extremely biiei 

 and concise, yet clear ami pregnant; oWuic and 

 alwtruse only to those who lack the necessary pie 

 liminary knowledge. According to the fashion of 

 its day, it is replete with allegoriea.1 or rather 

 poetical illustrations, gathered from the wiile lieKU 

 of the Midrosh within and without tlie Talmud. 

 This Commentary entirely translated into Latin 

 by lireitlmupt, and partly also into German \\a- 

 the first book ever printed in Hebrew ( Reggio, 

 1474). Of his numerous other works may be men 

 tioned his Commentary on the Itabyloniiin" Talmud ; 

 a Commentary to the Ptrf.-e Aboth; the Pardet, 

 treating of Laws and Ceremonies; a Collection of 

 Legal Votes and Decisions ; a Commentary on 

 Midi ash Kabl.ah; a Book of .Medicine: .-IIH! a 

 Poem on the Unity of God. He died 13th .luly 

 110.">; and such was his piety and his surpassing 

 eminence that later generations wove a shining 

 garland of legends around his head. 



Rask, RASMUS CHRISTIAN, philologist, was 

 IHIIII at Briindekilde, near Odense, in the island of 

 Fiinen, 22d November 1787, studied at Copenhagen. 

 and in 1808 published his first work on the rules of 

 the Icelandic language. During the years 1807- 

 12 he occupied himself with drawing up gram- 

 matical systems for most of the Germanic, Slavonic, 

 and Romance tongues, and in comparing them with 

 those of India, lie then visited Sweden, and in 

 1813 proceeded to Iceland, where he lived for three 

 \ears. On his return to Copenhagen he was 

 appointed sub librarian to the university, and in 

 1818 published his splendid researches concerning 

 the origin of the Icelandic, language. After spend 

 ing a year ( 1817 ) in Stockholm, where he published 

 his admirable Anglo-Saxon grammar and the lirst 

 critical edition of the Snorra Eilila and the Kdiln 

 ^iii-iii niiiltir, he went to St Petersburg, ami then- 

 devoted himself for two years to the study of the 

 oriental languages, principally Sanskrit, Persian, 

 and Arabic, while at the same time he also 

 ncipiired a competent knowledge of Russian and 

 Finnish. Thus equipped, he proceeded to Astra- 

 khan, and then commenced a journey through the 

 country of the Turkomans, the Caucasus, Persia 

 (adding meanwhile the Mongol and Manchii dia- 

 lecU to his already enormous linguistic aci|iiisi- 

 t ons), and finally Ceylon, where he made himself 

 acquainted with Singhalese and Pali, and wrote 

 his Singalariik Skriftlaere (1822). In 1823 Rask 

 i etui ned to Copenhagen, laden with learning and 

 iaie manuscript treasures, of which the greatest 

 part was presented to the university. In ISA") he 

 wan appointed professor of Literary History, in 

 1828 of Oriental Languages, and in 1831 of Ice 

 landic. Hut his immense lalmurs had exhausted 

 bis energies, and he died, 14th Noveml.cr 1H.T2, at 

 tin- early age of forty-five, a victim of hard work. 

 lla.sk also wrote on Frisian grammar (1825), on 

 ancient Kgyplian chronology ( 1827 ), on Hebrew 

 ohranotog) < IS-JS), grammars' of several languages, 

 and a great number of miscellaneous articles in the 

 learned journals of the North, which were collected 

 after his death, and published (3 vols. 1834-38). 

 There are English editions of his Anglo-Saxon, 



