RAM 



6480 



f AMBAUD 



Jan., 1921. Ralph Roister Dois- 

 ter is based on the Miles Glori- 

 osus of Plautus. The plot con- 

 cerns the unsuccessful wooing by 

 the vainglorious Ralph of the 

 wealthy widow Dame Christian 

 Custance. Matthew Merygreeke, 

 the fun-loving and good-natured 

 friend of Ralph, is Udell's own 

 creation. See Representative Eng- 

 lish Comedies, ed. C. M. Gayley, 

 vol. i, 1903. 



Ram. Usual name for the male 

 of the sheep. The female is known 

 as ewe. See Sheep. 



Ram. Projecting bow of a 

 ship, used for sinking other ves- 

 sels. Until the introduction of gun- 

 powder it represented practically 

 the only means of destroying an 

 enemy ship, short of boarding and 

 setting fire to it. In the galleys 

 of the Greeks and Phoenicians, 

 dating from about 700 B.C. on- 

 wards, the ram usually assumed 

 the form of a trident, one spur 

 projecting below the water-line and 

 two above, and with the speed and 

 handiness given by several banks 

 of rowers the weapon became 

 one of considerable power. The 

 ram first appears in English his- 

 tory in the third Crusade. It 

 dropped out of use as ships 

 increased in size and solidity of 

 construction, and disappeared with 

 the sailing era. 



When steam rendered ships 

 again independent of the wind, and 

 the substitution of iron and steel 

 for wood made them more sus- 

 ceptible to serious damage below 

 water, the ram returned to favour. 

 It was used largely, but with 

 relatively little effect, in the Ameri- 

 can Civil War ; but the successful 

 ramming of the Italian flagship 

 Re d' Italia by the Austrian flag- 

 ship Ferdinand Max, in the battle 

 of Lissa, July 20, 1866, gave the 

 ram a prestige which largely 

 influenced naval construction for 

 twenty years. It again fell into 

 desuetude owing to the develop- 

 ment of the torpedo and the 

 quick-firing gun making it hazar- 

 dous for a ship to approach bows- 

 on upon another's broadside. Opin- 

 ion was also influenced by three 

 peace-time catastrophes, viz. the 

 sinking of the British battleship 

 Vanguard by the Iron Duke, 

 Sept. 1, 1875 ; of the German 

 battleship Grosser Kurfurst by the 

 Konig Wilhelm, May 31, 1878; 

 and of the British battleship 

 Victoria by the Camperdown, 

 June 22, 1893. 



In the Great War the ramming 

 manoeuvre was frequently and suc- 

 cessfully employed against sub- 

 marines, the first German boat 

 sunk, the U15, having been de- 

 stroyed by this means by the light 



cruiser Birmingham, Aug. 9, 1914. 

 Fast and handy craft, such as de- 

 stroyers, are particularly suited 

 for this work, and their multiplica- 

 tion was one of the principal anti- 

 submarine measures adopted by 

 the British admiralty. The largest 

 vessel destroyed by deliberate 

 ramming in the Great War, other 

 than a submarine, was the Ger- 

 man destroyer G194, cut in two 

 by the light cruiser Cleopatra, 

 March 25, 1916. 



Ram. In engineering, a plunger 

 driven out of a cylinder by water 

 under great pressure to exert a 

 strong squeezing or lifting force. 

 A ram pump is one which raises 

 water by means of the latter's own 

 velocity. See Hydraulic Machin- 

 ery ; Pump. 



Ram, as used in British naval con- 

 struction ; left, broadside view ; 

 right, end on 



Ramabai, PANDITA (d. 1922). 

 Indian reformer. Daughter of a 

 Brahman, she travelled and studied 

 in Great Britain and the U.S.A. 

 She organized a home for high- 

 caste widows at Poona and a set- 

 tlement for orphans at Mukti. Her 

 death was announced, April 15, 

 1922. 



Ramadan. Ninth month of the 

 Mahomedan year, May 9-June 9 

 of the Christian calendar. Sancti- 

 fied as the month in which the 

 Koran was revealed to the Prophet, 

 it is kept as a strict fast, no food, 

 smoking, or any form of self-grati- 

 fication being permitted on any 

 day between dawn and sunset. In 

 addition there are many extra de- 

 votional practices, especially dur- 

 ing the last ten days. In Ramadan 

 the life of the Mahomedan world is 

 carried on by night. 



Ramadie. Town of Mesopo- 

 tamia. On the Euphrates, it is 

 59 m. W. by N. of Bagdad. The 

 battle of Ramadie was fought 

 between the British and the Turks, 

 Sept. 28-29, 1917. On Sept. 26 

 General Maude concentrated a 

 force for its capture. The place was 

 strongly held by the Turks. 



On Sept. 28 a flanking move- 

 ment from the S. compelled the 

 enemy to withdraw from the Mus- 

 haid Ridge, 4m. from Ramadie, and, 



screened by the ridge, cavalry 

 crossed the Aziziyeh Canal, thence 

 getting astride the Aleppo road to 

 cut off the Turks' retreat. Infantry, 

 including the Dorset* and the 5th 

 Gurkhas, attacked and secured posi- 

 tions facing the enemy's main line. 

 ' By nightfall the Turks were 

 hemmed in against the Euphrates. 

 Early next morning they made a 

 determined effort to break through 

 the cavalry, but were driven back 

 into Ramadie. The infantry at- 

 tacked from the S.E. and S., the 

 39th Garhwalis seizing the bridge 

 across the Aziziyeh Canal, and the 

 90th Punjabis pushing through the 

 town and capturing Ahmed Bey, 

 the Turkish commander. At 11 

 o'clock the whole Turkish force 

 surrendered, the prisoners number- 

 ing 3,454 un wounded and 192 

 wounded men. The booty com- 

 prised 13 guns, 12 machine guns, 

 two armed launches, and large 

 quantities of supplies. See Meso- 

 potamia, Conquest of. 



Ramah. Name meaning a 

 height, and used in the Bible for a 

 number of places which are diffi- 

 cult to identify. One was the site 

 of Rachel's tomb. The modern Er 

 Ram (Ramah), E. of the Nablus 

 road, and 6 m. N. of Jerusalem, 

 was associated with the life of the 

 prophet Samuel, and figured hi the 

 wars between the ten tribes and 

 the tribe of Judah. It was cap- 

 tured by the British Dec. 28, 1917. 



Ramayana. One of the two 

 great epics of ancient India, Maha- 

 bharata being the other. De- 

 scribed as the Indian Odyssey, it 

 tells of the wanderings and adven- 

 tures of Rama, a prince banished 

 from his country. The period, 

 about 1000 B.C., is regarded as the 

 Golden Age of India, the period 

 of the Kosalas, to whom Rama be- 

 longed, and the Videhas, from 

 whom came his devoted wife Sita. 

 Rama and Sita are the Hindu 

 ideals of perfect man and perfect 

 woman. The poem, dating from 

 some unknown time, and attributed 

 to one Valmiki, has been added to 

 again and again until it consists of 

 48,000 lines. An Italian edition and 

 translation, 1843-67, first made it 

 known to European readers. A 

 large part of it. was published in 

 English verse by Ralph Griffith, 

 1868-74, and a prose translation 

 has been issued at Calcutta. A con- 

 densed translation in verse is by 

 Romesh Dutt, 1899. See The 

 Indian Epics: Stories of the 

 Ramayana and Mahabharata, J. C. 

 Oman, new ed. 1899. , 



Rambaud, ALFRED NICOLAS 

 (1842-1905). French historian and 

 politician. Born at Besan9on, July 

 2, 1842, he became professor of his- 

 tory at Caen, 1871, and at Nancy, 



