RHONDDA VALLEY 



RHUBARB 



695 



forests. Rilo has for generations been the focus 

 of the national Bulgarian church and the mainstay 

 of Bulgarian nationality. See Fortnightly Review 

 (April 1891). 



Rhoildda Valley, in Glamorganshire, South 

 Wales, is noted as a centre of coal-mining and for 

 its fine scenery. The railway connecting the whole 

 valley directly with Swansea through the tunnel 

 of Blaengwynte was opened in 1890. 



Rhone (Lat. Rhoddmis), the only important 

 French river which falls into the Mediterranean, 

 takes its rise in the Swiss Alps, on the western 

 side of Mount St Gothard, at an altitude of 5752 

 feet, and not far from the sources of the Rhine 

 Its entire length, from its source to its mouth 

 in the Gulf of Lyons, is 504 miles, and the area 

 of its river- basin 38,170 sq. m. It first runs in a 

 south-westerly direction through the canton of 

 Valais, along a narrow valley between the Bernese 

 and the Pennine divisions of the Alps, until near 

 Martigny it takes a sudden turn to the north and 

 pours its waters into the Lake of Geneva (q.v.). 

 It issues from the lake at its southern extremity, 

 proceeding west, and then forces a passage through 

 the Jura. The municipality of Geneva has taken 

 advantage of the strong and steady current of the 

 river where, passing through the city, it is divided 

 by an island into two arms, to utilise it for indus- 

 trial purposes. A system of 20 turbines with 4400 

 horse-power has been constructed in a building in 

 the bed of one of the arms, at a cost of 285,000 ; 

 and by this means, in 1890, 220 motors with some 

 1600 horse-power were at work. Formerly the 

 river used to disappear for some distance near Fort 

 1'Ecluse into the subterranean channel La Perte du 

 Rhone ; but the vault or covering of the gorge into 

 which it plunged has now been blown away by 

 blasting agents. At St Genis the Rhone turns 

 back suddenly to the north-west, and then once 

 more flows westwards through a more level country 

 as far as Lyons, where it is joined by its largest 

 tributary, the Saone (283 miles long), from the 

 north. From Lyons it follows a southern direction 

 past Vienne, Valence, Montelimart, Avignon, and 

 Aries, where begins its delta, embraced between 

 two main arms, tne Greater and the Lesser Rhone. 

 Its most important affluents are, on the right, the 

 Ain, Sadne, Ardeche, and Card ; on the left, the 

 Arve, Isere, Drdme, and Durance. From Lyons 

 southward the Rhone is easily navigable for good- 

 sized vessels ; but the up -navigation, owing to the 

 rapidity of the current and the sudden shifting of 

 sandbanks, is attended with considerable diffi- 

 culty, and is at times almost impracticable. On 

 account of these and other distractions, which are 

 greatest near the mouths of the river, communi- 

 cation with the Mediterranean is in great part 

 dependent upon canals. Canals likewise connect 

 the Rhone with the Rhine by the Saone, with the 

 Seine, the Loire, and the Garonne. 



Rhone, a department of France, part of the 

 runner Lyonnais, has an area of 1077 sq. m. and a 

 pop. (1891) of 806,737 (741,470 in 1881). It lies 

 almost wholly in the basin of the Rhone and the 

 Saone, its eastern boundary being formed by these 

 rivers. The surface is almost entirely hilly, being 

 broken np in all directions by low spurs of the 

 Cevennes. Corn, potatoes, wine, and fruits are 

 the principal products. Nearly one-half the area 

 is cultivated, one-eighth is vineyards, one-ninth 

 under forest, and nearly one-sixth meadows. Some 

 13 million gallons of wine are made annually. The 

 department is industrially one of the most im- 

 portant in France ; all the branches are carried on 

 at Lyons (q.v.), the capital of the department. 

 Arrondi.ssements, Lyons and Villefranche. See 

 also BOUCHES-DU RHONE. 



Rhubarb (Low Lat. rheubarbantm, from Gr. 

 rheon barbaron, literally ' barbarian rheum ; ' rheon 

 is an adjective from rha, ' the plant found near 

 the river Rha 'i.e. the Volga ; the botanical 

 name being simply rheum), a genus of plants of 

 the natural order " Poly gonacepe, closely allied to 

 Rumex (dock and sorrel), from which it differs in 

 having nine stamens, three shield-like stigmas, 

 and a three-winged achenium. The species, about 

 twenty, are large herbaceous plants, natives of the 

 central regions of Asia, with strong, branching, 

 almost fleshy roots ; erect, thick, branching stems, 

 sometimes 6 or 8 feet high ; the stems and branches 

 whilst in the bud covered with large membranous 

 sheaths. The leaves are large, stalked, entire or 

 lol>ed ; the flowers are small, whitish or red, gener- 

 ally very numerous, in large loose panicles of many- 

 flowered clusters. The roots are medicinal ; but 

 it is not definitively known what species of rhubarb 

 yields the valued rhubarb of commerce, which 

 comes from inland parts of China or Chinese 

 Tartary. The bulk of it reaches Europe now 

 direct from China, but the best, in limited quanti- 

 ties, is brought through Russia. It is commonly 

 known in Britain as Turkey Rhubarb, because it 

 was formerly brought by way of Asiatic Turkey. 



The leaf-stalks of rhubarb contain an agreeable 

 mixture of citric and malic acids, and when young 

 and tender are much used, like apples, for tarts 

 and various kinds of preserves. A kind of wine 

 may also be made of it. For these purposes 

 different kinds of rhubarb are now very exten- 

 sively cultivated in Britain, and in other temperate 

 and cold countries. A number of species have 

 l>een introduced into cultivation for their leaf- 

 stalks. The cultivated kinds, R. undnlatum, R. 

 rhaponticum, and R. hybridum, with endless 

 varieties produced by the art of the gardener, 

 all have broad, heart-shaped, undivided leaves, 

 and the leaf-stalks flattened and grooved on the 

 upper side. The leaf-stalks are often also of a 

 reddish colour, which in some of the finest varieties 

 pervades their whole flesh. Rhubarb is cultivated 

 on a most extensive scale by market-gardeners. It 



Rhubarb (Rheum officinale). 



is forced in winter and early spring by being 

 placed in pots within houses, or by having pots 

 inverted over it, and dung and straw heaped 

 around ; and forced rhubarb is more tender and 

 delicate than that which grows in open air. The 

 stalks when blanched are much less harsh in taste 

 and require less sugar to be rendered palatable. 

 It is largely grown also in many parts of the 

 United States. 



