RIGOR MORTIS 



RING 



727 



abstract dynamics a rigid system is a collocation 

 of particles which, however much they may move 

 as a whole, never alter their mutual relative posi- 

 tions. Such a system has no true physical exist- 

 ence, since there is no known substance which 

 can resist deformation. Nevertheless, those sub- 

 stances which yield but slightly to deforming 

 stresses all solids practically are regarded as 

 possessing a certain rigidity, which is measured by 

 the ratio of the deforming stress to the deformation 

 produced. The greater this ratio is, the more 

 nearly does the substance approach the condition 

 of the ideal rigid body, whose behaviour under the 

 action of given forces forms the subject-matter of 

 what it is usual to call Rigid Dynamics. The pro- 

 perty of rigidity itself, as descril>ed above, falls to 

 lie discussed under the general subject of elasticity. 

 Of ordinary substances steel possesses the highest 

 rigidity. See ELASTICITY, ETHER, MATTER. 



Rigor Mortis. See DEATH. 

 Kilivi'da, the first and principal of the four 

 Vedas. See VEDA. 



Rilievo. See RELIEF. 

 Rilo. See RHODOPE. 



Killl illi. a city of Italy, stands on the shore of 

 the Adriatic, 69 miles by rail SE. of Bologna ; it is 

 still surrounded with walls, and contains many 

 mediaeval buildings. The cathedral, the temple 

 altered and built to commemorate the unhallowed 

 love of Sigisnmndo Malatesta and Isotta degli 

 Atti, a beautiful Renaissance structure, dates from 

 1446-50 ; the church of St Giuliano is adorned with 

 pictures by Veronese, and St Girolamo with a 

 picture of that saint by Guercino. The ancient 

 castle of the Malatesta is now used as a prison. 

 The little river on which the city stands is spanned 

 by a white marble Roman bridge, 236 feet long, 

 with five arches. Beside one of the gates stands the 

 triumphal arch, 48 feet high, erected in honour of 

 Augustus. The spot where Ciesar stood to address 

 his soldiers after crossing the Rubicon (about 10 

 miles N\V. of Rimini) is marked in one of the 

 squares by_ a monumental pillar. The city manu- 

 factures silks and sail-cloth. Pop. 10,838, with 

 siilmrlis 19,158. One of these suburbs, half a mile 

 distant on the seashore, is much visited for sea- 

 bathing. Originally an Umbrian, and then for 

 everal centuries an Etruscan city, Rimini ( Arim- 

 inum) fell into the hands of the liomans in 286 B.C. 

 They made it the northern terminus of the Flam- 

 inian Way from Rome, and the southern ter- 

 minus of the /Emilian Way to Piacenza and of the 

 Popilian Way to Venice, and utilised the advan- 

 tages of its position as a seaport for communicating 

 witli the east side of the Adriatic. After being 

 battled for by Goths and Byzantines, and held by 

 the latter, the Lombards, and the Franks, it 

 became a shuttlecock between the emperor and the 

 poi>e. At last, weary of this alternation of masters, 

 neither of whom profited her, Rimini put herself 

 under the protection of the House of Malatesta 

 ( 1237 ), whose chiefs soon made themselves absolute 

 masters of her fortunes. ' Amongst the tragic 

 episodes that marked the family history of these 

 rulers may be mentioned the killing of Francesca 

 (q.v.) da Rimini and her lover by his brother, and 

 the story of Parisina, the subject of Byron's poem. 

 The most famous, or rather infamous, member of 

 the family was Sigismundo (1417-68), a brave and 

 skilful sofdier, a scholar, a patron of the fine arts, 

 but a man of brutal animal passions, and with no 

 sense of right ami wrong. The head of the house 

 sold his rights over Kirnini to the Venetians in 

 1503 ; but the pope wrested them to himself in 

 1528, and kept them until 1860. See Vriarte's 

 Un Condottiere au XV. Sttcle: Rimini ( 1882 ). 



Rimouski, a Canadian town, stands on the 

 south shore of the St Lawrence, at the influx of 

 the Rimouski River, 182 miles by rail NE. of 

 Quebec. It is the seat of a bishop, a summer 

 watering-place, and a telegraphing station for 

 arrivals and departures of ships. Pop. 1417. 



Rinderpest. See CATTLE-PLAGUE. 



Ring (Sax. ring or hring) is any circle or 

 section of a cylinder. Rings of gold, silver, and of 

 other metals and materials have been worn in all 

 times and countries, and while they have been 

 used to decorate the ears, neck, nose, lips, arms, 

 legs, and toes, finger-rings have always occupied 

 the most important and significant place among 

 such ornaments. From the earliest period of 

 civilised relationships the finger-ring was a con- 

 venient means for carrying the signet of its wearer. 

 In Genesis, xxxviii. 17, 18, we read that Judah left 

 his signet as a pledge with his daughter-in-law ; 

 and in chap. xli. 42 it is narrated ttiat Pharaoh 

 delivered to Joseph his royal signet as a token of 

 deputed power and authority. From the fact that 

 these ancient rings carried engraved signets early 

 ring-lore is intimately mixed np with the origin 

 ami development of gem and seal engraving. 

 Herodotus mentions the wearing of finger-rings 

 l>y the Babylonians ; and from Asia the habit prob- 

 ably passed into Greece, although the Homeric 

 poems mention ear-rings alone. In the later Greek 

 legends the ancient heroes are described as wealing 

 rings, and every freeman throughout Greece seems 

 afterwards to have possessed one. The Lace- 

 daemonians wore iron rings. The Romans are said 

 to have derived the use of rings from the Sabinps ; 

 their lings were at first, as those of the Greeks, 

 signet-rings, but made of iron. Every free Roman 

 had a right to wear one ; and down to the close of 

 the republic the iron ring was worn by those who 

 affected the simplicity of old times. Ambassadors, 

 in the early age of the republic, wore gold rings as 

 a part of their official dress a custom afterwards 

 extended to senators, chief- 

 magistrates, and in later 

 times to the equites, who 

 were said to enjoy the.; 

 iiiuiiili anrei, from which 

 other persons were ex- 

 cluded. It became cus- 

 tomary for the emperors to 

 confer tliejus annuliaurei 

 on whom they pleased, 

 and the privilege grew 

 gradually more and more 

 extensive, till Justinian 

 embraced within it all 

 citizens of the empire 

 whether ingenui or litter- 

 tint. Rings entered into 

 the groundwork of many 

 oriental superstitions, as 



in the legend of Solomon's ring, which, among its 

 many magical virtues, enabled the monarch to 

 triumph over all opponents, and daily to transport 

 himself to the celestial spheres, where he learned 

 the secrets of the universe. The Greeks mention 

 various rings endowed with magic power, as that 

 of Gyges, which rendered him invisible when its 

 stone was turned inwards; and in old Saxon ro- 

 mances a similar ring legend is incorporated. The 

 ring of Polycrates (q.v.), which was flung into the 

 sea to propitiate Nemesis, was found by its owner 

 inside a fish ; and there were persons who made a 

 lucrative traffic of selling charmed rings, worn for 

 the most part by the lower classes. By many 

 Mussulmans at the present day a ring having en- 

 closed in it a verse from the Koran is worn aa 

 an amulet. 



