RAFAT 



Rafat. Village of Palestine, 

 known also as Refat, 20 m. E. of 

 Jaffa, in the foothills of Mt. 

 Ephraim. Along with Kefr (q.v.), 

 it was captured by the British, 

 April 9, 1918. It was from the coast 

 to Rafat that Allenby launched 

 his final offensive against the 

 Turks, Sept. 19, 1918. See Pales- 

 tine, Conquest of ; Shechem. 

 Battle of. 



Raff, JOACHIM (1822-82). Swiss 

 composer. Born at Lachen, 

 Schwyz canton, May 27, 1822, he 

 studied science, but turned to 

 music, being early encouraged by 

 Mendelssohn. Closely associated 

 with Liszt from 1850, he was an 

 enthusiastic supporter of Richard 

 Wagner, publishing a book, Die 

 Wagner-Frage, in 1854. He settled 

 in Wiesbaden, 1855, became direc- 

 tor of the Conservatoire of Frank- 

 fort-on-Main, 1877, and died there 

 on June 24, 1882. Among his 

 numerous works are violin con- 

 certos and sonatas, several operas, 

 and the programme symphonies 

 Im Walde and Lenore. 



Raffaellino della Colle (1490- 

 1566). Italian painter. He was 

 born at Colle in Tuscany, and 

 studied under Raphael, whom he 

 helped in the Vatican and Far- 

 nesina palaces at Rome. Later he 

 became a pupil of Giulio Romano 

 (q.v. ). His principal works are the 

 Resurrection and the Assumption, 

 both at Borgo San Sepolero. 



Raffia Work. The manufacture 

 of a variety of articles from bast 

 dyed in different colours. Raffia 

 has long been used in Kindergarten 

 and other schools for young children 

 as a good and inexpensive medium 

 for manual training. It is usually 

 obtained ready dyed. It is damped 

 slightly and is then twisted on a 

 board cut in the shape of the re- 

 quired object, or it may be plaited 

 and used to make various articles, 

 just as straw plait is used, with the 

 advantage that it is more pliable 

 and therefore easier to handle. 



When raffia is used for coarse 

 but very effective embroidery, it is 

 more satisfactory for the work- 

 woman to dye the raffia herself to 

 the exact colours required. Some- 

 times raffia is used as any other 

 thread would be used, and em- 

 broidered straight on to the ma- 

 terial ; in other cases motives in 

 raffia work are first made and then 

 applied to the material in the same 

 way as in other applique work. 



Raffles, SIB THOMAS STAMFORD 

 (1781-1826). ~ British adminis- 

 trator. Born at sea, off the coast 

 of Jamaica, July 5, 1781, he en- 

 tered the service of the East India 

 Company in 1795, and ten years 

 later was sent to Penang, where he 

 acquired great proficiency in the 



6465 



RAGAZ 



Hf bridge supported 



I on rafts, and a raft 



I port is a square 



I hole which some 



I ships have for load- 



i ing and unloading 



I timber. Rafts are 



I also carried on 



I ships as part of 



I their life-saving 



I equipment. 



^ v. 



native languages. In 1811 he was 

 made lieutenant-governor of Java, 

 a position which he occupied with 

 distinct ion 

 until the cession 

 of the island to 

 Hollandinl816. 

 In 1818 he be- 

 came governor 

 of Bencoolen, 

 Sumatra, and 

 by his advice 

 Singapore was 

 Sir Stamford Raffles, acquired by the 

 British administrator E Company> 



1819. He proceeded thither in 

 3822 to establish a government. 

 He died July 5, 1826, having re- 

 turned to England two years pre- 

 viously. During his residence in 

 the East, Raffles made extensive 

 scientific observations. See Life, 

 D. C. Boulger, 1897. 



Rafflesia. Genus of leafless and 

 stemless parasites of the natural 

 order Rafflesiaceae. They are 

 natives of the East Indies. The 

 vegetative portion of the plant con- 

 sists of threads, like the mycelium 

 of a fungus, in the tissues of 

 species of vines and figs, the only 

 external evidence of its presence 

 being afforded when the huge 



Rafflesia. Flower of R. arnoldi, tbe 

 leafless and evil-smelling parasite 



flower-bud breaks forth. The first 

 species, discovered by Dr. Arnold 

 and Sir Stamford Raffles in 1818, 

 was R. arnoldi, three feet across 

 the opened flower. It is very suc- 

 culent, and the petals, etc., vary 

 from a quarter to three-quarters of 

 an inch thick, of a reddish tint, 

 and a smell like carrion which in- 

 duces flies to fertilise it. 



Raft (mid. E., spar, rafter ; cf. Gr. 

 oropJios, roof). Collection of pieces 

 of timber fastened together for sup- 

 port on the water. It is used for 

 planks sent down to their desti- 

 nation by being allowed to float 

 down a river. A raft bridge is a 



Raft. Life-saving raft designed by 

 H. J. Matson. It is made to fall 

 upright in the water, either side 

 being available for use. It contains 

 a hatch with water tanks and food 

 compartments. The lower illustra- 

 tion shows the raft on deck, ready 

 for sliding overboard if required 



Rafter. One of the sloping 

 timber beams in a roof, which sup- 

 port the weight of the roof cover- 

 ing. They are usually 2 ins. wide 



Rafter. Roof of Merchant Adven- 

 turers' Hall, York, showing rafters 



Courtesy of Country Life, Ltd. 



and from 3 to 5 ins. deep for short 

 spans where they receive inter- 

 mediate support, as from a purlin, 

 but vary in width from If ins. to 

 2| ins., and in depth up to 10 or 

 12 ins. for long spans without In- 

 termediate supports. They are 

 generally spaced about 12 ins. 

 apart centre to centre. See Building. 

 Ragaz OE RAGATZ. Watering- 

 place of Switzerland, in the canton 

 of St. Gall. Situated at the en- 

 trance of the narrow valley of the 

 Tamina, 31 m. S.E. of St. Gall and 

 1 m. from Pfafers (q.v.), it has 

 various baths fed by the mineral 

 waters of Pfafers, a kursaal, etc. 

 Some 30,000 invalids annually 

 visit the resort. The resident pop. 

 is less than 2,000. 



N 8 



