20 



RUFF 



RUFIJI 



length, and each one in bent inwards in turn to 

 touch the pUtil, and when the |x>llen in shed it 

 bends back again ), and glaucous evergreen leaves 

 with small oblong leaflet*, the terminal leaflet* 

 obovate. It is not a native of Britain, bnt is 

 frequently cultivated in gardens. It wan formerly 

 called Herb of Grace (see HamJet, act iv. scene 5), 

 it was used for sprinkling the people with 



Common Rue ( Ruta yrareoleni). 



holy water. It was in great repute among the 

 ancients, having been hunt; almut the neck as an 

 amulet against witchcraft in the time of Aristotle. 

 It is the Piganon of Hippocrates. Rue is still 

 employed in medicine as a powerful stimulant, but 

 the leaves must lie used fresh, as they lose their 

 virtues by drying. The smell of rue, when fresh, 

 i very strong, and to many very disagreeable ; yet 

 the Iranians used it much for flavouring food, and 

 it is still so used in some parts of Europe. The 

 leaves chopped small are also eaten with bread 

 and butter as a stomachic, but they must lie used 

 sparingly, as they are acrid enough to blister the 

 skin if much handled, and in large doses act as a 

 narcotic poison. All their properties depend on an 

 acrid volatile oil, which is itself used for making 

 Syrup of Rue, eight or ten drops of oil to a pint of 

 syrup ; and this, in doses of a teasponnful or two, 

 is found a useful medicine in flatulent colic of 

 children. The expressed juice of rue, mixed with 

 water, and employed as a wash, is believed to 

 promote the growth of the hair. 



KllIT ( M'f -lot' v /iiiffH'i.1-). a bird, the sole repre- 

 sentative of the genus, belonging to the Sandpiper 

 (i|.v.i sub-family of the Snipe family (Scolopa- 

 cidir). In tin- Itriti-h l-.li-.-, it is now little more 

 than a visitor in it* spring ami autumn migrations, 

 owing to the draining of its marshy breeding-places 

 ami tin? practice of capturing it in spring whi'ii 

 game is out of season. It is more common on the 

 east than on the west coast of England. The same 

 is true of the east coast of Scotland, where it is 

 found from Berwick to the Orkneys and Shi-t lands, 

 bat it ha* been recorded from the* Outer II-lnidi->. 

 As a straggler it is found on the Faroes and Ice- 

 land, in Canada, in some of the eastern United 

 States, and it lias been found once in Barbadoes 

 mod once on the Upper Orinoco. It breeds over 

 the greater part of northern Europe ; it is found as 

 a migrant cm-r tin- rest of Europe, the southern 

 shores of the Mediterranean, and the east and west 

 coast* of Africa as far as the Cape ; in Asia it 

 extends from Siberia to Japan, Burma, and India. 



The male bird, the Ruff, is about a foot long. In 

 spring it sheds the feathers of the face ; curled 

 tufts of f fin hers appear on the sides of the head ; 

 and an erectile run is develoj>ed which lasts for a 

 couple of month-. This ruff, as well as the feaihi-i- 

 on the back, shows even- variation of colour in 

 different birds ; but each bird annually regains its 

 own peculiar colour. After moulting the neck 

 and upper breast are of a bull colour . the under 

 parts dull white ; the feathers of the upper parts 

 are dark brown with buff margins ; and the primary 

 wing-feathers are dusky brown. The female, the 

 Reeve, is about one-fourth smaller in size, and 

 shows very much the same colours as the moulted 

 male. In habit these birds are polygamous; the 

 males fight for possession of the females, and in 

 battle the mil' serves for defence. The nest is 

 made among the coarse grass of a dry tussock in a 

 moist swampy place. The eggs, four in number, 



Ruff ( ifockltet pugntuc ). 



are grayish green marked with reddish brown. The 

 food consists of insects ami their larva-, worms, 

 seeds, rice, and other vegetable substances. When 

 captured and being fattened for the table, the birds 

 are fed on boiled wheat, bread and milk, and 

 bruised hemp-seed. 



1C II Mr. or POPE (Aceritia cernua), a small fresh- 

 water fish of the Perch family (Percida?), abundant 

 in the lakes, slow rivers, and ditches of many parts 

 of the middle of Europe and of England. It is five 



Ruffe, or Pope (Acerina cernua). 



or six inches in length, of an olive-green colour 

 mottled with brown, and has only one dorsal fin. 

 The flesh of the ruffe is highly esteemed for the 

 table. 



K ll till, or LUFIJI, the chief river of German 

 East Africa, which rising far in the interior enters 

 the sea through a delta opposite the island of 

 Mafia. Shoals and bars at the month prevent the 

 access of large ships ; but the river is navigable by 

 smaller boats throughout great part of its course. 

 The valley is extremely fertile. 



