694 



RHODIUM 



HHODOPE 



after they had ohtained the sovereignty <if the tea. 

 The only rule that we know now, atthNgb tin- 

 entire code was adopted liy the Romans under 

 Antoninus I'm-. U the principle of general aver- 

 age : ' If a cargo he jettisoned to lighten tin- tdiip, 

 all contribute to make good the lues incurred for 

 the Iienelit of all.' The mediwval naval law of the 

 Khodians was not of Kliodian origin. It consisted 

 of four distinct parts, of very different dates, but 

 mostly of practical value. 



Rhodium (sym. Kh, at wt. 104, sp. gr. 

 12-1 ) is one of the metals of the platinum group. 

 It is a white, very hard metal, resembling alum- 

 inium rather than silver. It fuses leas easily than 

 platinum. It is ductile and malleable when pure 

 and after fusion, and insoluble in all acids ; but 

 when alloyed in small quantity with platinum, 

 copper, bismuth, and lead it dissolves with them 

 in aqua regia. It usually forms about one-half 

 per cent of the ore of platinum, from which it U 

 extracted by a somewhat complicated process. 

 Three oxides, two sulphides, and a chloride of 

 rhodium have been obtained and examined by 

 chemists. The chloride unites with several soluble 

 chlorides to form crystal I isable double salts, which 

 are of a rose colour (whence the name rhodium, 

 from the Gr. rtiodon, 'a rose'). The metal was 

 discovered in 1803 by Wollaston. 



Rhododendron (Gr., 'rose-tree'), a genus of 

 trees and shrubs of the natural order Ericea 1 , hav- 

 ing ten stamens, a very small calyx, a bell-shaped 

 or somewhat funnel-shaped corolla, and a capsule 

 splitting up through the dissepiments. The buds 

 in this and nearly allied genera, as Azalea (q.v.), 

 are scaly and conical. The species are numerous ; 

 they have evergreen leaves, and many of them are 

 of great beauty both in foliage and in (lowers. A 

 few small species are natives of continental Europe 

 and of Siberia ; but the greater number belong to 

 the temperate parts of North America, and to the 

 mountains of India. K. maximum, so designated 

 when the far larger Indian species were unknown, 

 is common in Hritain as an ornamental shrub. It 

 is a large shrub or small tree, which forms im- 

 penetrable thickets on many parts of the Alleghany 

 Mountains, and has a magniticent appearance when 

 in flower. The leaves are large, oblong, acute, 

 stalked, leathery, dark green and shining above, 

 rusty brown beneath. The flowers are large, in 

 umbellate corymlis. varying in colour from pale 

 carmine to lilac. This species is quite hardy in 

 Britain ; as is also 11. )>onii<-iim, a very similar 

 species, xvith narrower and more pointed leaves, 

 which are of the same colour on lioth sides, a native 

 of western Asia, and apparently also of the south 

 of Spain. R. Catatobiente, a native of the southern 

 parts of the Alleghanies, with large purple (lowers ; 

 X. Caumtirum, the name of which indicates its 

 origin ; and R. tirborcum, a native of Nepal, with 

 very dense heads of large scarlet (lowers, and leaves 

 4-6 inches long, attaining in it native country:. 

 bright of :t or 40 feet, are also fine speciee, and 

 well known. Most of the extremely name 

 varittiM now common in our gardens ami shnili 

 beries have been produced from them by hybrid!* 

 ing or otherwise. Many splendid species of rhodo- 

 dendron were discovered in the Himalayas, the 

 Khasia Hills, and other mountainous partaof India. 

 by Dr Hooker and others ; and many of them have 

 Keen introduced into cultivation in Europe. 

 R. fitlrnnrri in described as in foliage the most 

 superb of all, the leaves being 18 or 19 inches long. 

 It is a tree .Id .V) feet high, with leaves only at the 

 extremities of the branches. It grows ineastern 

 Nepal at an altitude of 10,000 feet. 11. a 

 has flowers 4J inches long, and eqnallv broad, 

 clustered, and very beautiful. R. Maddeni, R. 



ii, R. Edgtwortliii, and others have white 

 flowers. R. Dalhouma is remarkable as an epi- 

 phyte, growing on magnolias, laurels, and oaks. 

 It is a slender shrub, iK-aring from three to six 

 white lemon-scented bells, 41 inches long, at the 

 end of each branch. R. A iittalii has fragrant 



Rhododendron arboreum. 



white flowers, said to be larger than those of any 

 other rhododendron. All these belong to the 

 Himalayas. In more southern latitudes, as on the 

 Neilgherry Hills and on the mountains of Cevlon, 

 R. nobile prevails, a timber-tree 50 to 70 feet nigh, 

 every branch covered with a blaze of crim-n 

 flowers. R. Keysii and R. Thibaiidiense, also 

 natives of the north of India, have flowers with 

 nearly tubular corolla. It. fcrnii/ixntm and R. 

 hirtutum are small species, shnil>s from 1 to 3 

 feet in height, natives of the Alps, and among the 

 finest ornaments of alpine scenery. They are called 

 Alpenrose (Alpine Rose) by the Germans. They 

 have small carmine-coloured flowers in umbellate 

 clusters. The mountain-slopes glow with their 

 blossoms in July and August. The flora of the 

 Himalayas contains a number of similar small 

 species. R. anthopogon and R. sctosum, dwarf 

 brain with strongly-scented leaves, clothe the 

 mountains in eastern Nepal, at an elevation of 

 12,000 feet and upwards, with a green mantle, 

 brilliant with flowers in summer. R. nivale is the 

 most alpine of woody plants, spreading its small 

 woody branches close to the ground at an elevation 

 of 17,000 feet in Sikkim. It. /n/ymnicum, a pro- 

 cumlx'iit shrub, with small flowers, grows as far 

 north as human settlements have reached in Europe. 

 Asia, and America. Some of the species of this 

 genus possess narcotic properties. An oil obtained 

 from the buds of R. ferrugiiir urn and R. hirstitmn 

 is used by the inhabitants of the Alps, under the 

 name Olio di Marmotta, as a remedy for pains in 

 the joints, gout, and stone. R. chrysanthwn, a 

 low shrub, with golden yellow flowers, a native of 

 SiUeria, is also used in gout and rheumatism. R. 

 cinnabarinum, a Himalayan species, poisons goata 

 which feed upon it, and when used for fuel causes 

 Inflammation of the face and eyes. But the flowers 

 nf /,'. iirln, n inn are eaten iii India, and Europeans 

 make a palatable jelly of them. 



It hod ope. the ancient name of a monntain- 

 chain (7474 feet) extending along the borders of 

 Macedonia and Thrace. The Tin ks call it Dosjtad 

 '. I he Bulgarian! l)ejtj>ot<i Dngh, Wli titles 

 liaving reference to the numerous (Greek) mo&at 

 Series that stud it* sides. Of these the most. 

 Famous is tin- vast fortress monastery of Kilo, in 

 the north-west of the range, standing on it* 

 southern side in the midst of magnificent pine 



