RANSOM 



Ransom 1 1 at. redemptio). 

 Money paid for the release of a 

 prisoner. In medieval warfare it 

 was usual for knights and others of 

 high rank who were taken prisoners 

 in battle to be ransomed, the money 

 being in the nature of a prize for 

 the victor. England paid a large 

 sum for Richard I and France for 

 King John. The practice prevailed 

 until about 1 800, when the method 

 of exchanging officers according to 

 rank was substituted. Ransoms 

 were also paid to release captured 

 ships and to save towns from being 

 sacked. See Raisuli, Ahmed. 



Ranters. Puritanical sect which 

 flourished during the Common- 

 wealth. Denying the Scripture and 

 all outward manifestation of re- 

 ligion, they taught the presence of 

 God in everything in nature, and 

 were virtually pantheists. After 

 the frenzy of the Commonwealth, 

 the sect died out, but the name 

 was revived about 1850, and given 

 to the Primitive Methodists on 

 account of the style of their 

 denunciatory preaching. 



Rantzau, COUNT ULRICH KARL 

 CHRISTIAN VON. Name by which 

 Count Brockdorff- Rantzau (q.v.) is 

 more commonly known. 



Ranula (Lat., little frog). Cystic 

 swelling on the floor of the mouth 

 due to obstruction and distension 

 of the duct of one of the sublingual 

 or salivary glands. The treatment 

 consists in removing a part of the 

 wall of the cyst, which then dis- 

 appears. In some cases it is ne- 

 cessary to remove the whole cyst. 

 The swelling is so named from its 

 fancied resemblance to a frog. 



Ranunculaceae OR BUTTERCUP 

 FAMILY. Large natural order of 

 (mostly) herbs, natives of temper- 

 ate and cold regions. Both leaves 

 and flowers vary greatly in their 

 forms in the numerous genera. 

 The fruit is either a single-seeded 

 nutlet (achene), a many-seeded bag 

 (follicle), splitting along one side, 

 or a berry. The juices of the plants 

 are usually very acrid, and in many 

 cases highly poisonous. Such well- 

 known genera are included as 

 clematis, anemone, helleborus,' 

 aquilegia, delphinium, and aconi- 

 tum, as well as the typical genus 

 ranunculus. See Anemone; But- 

 tercup ; Clematis ; Hellebore, etc. 



Ranunculus. Genus of annual 

 and (mostly) perennial plants, of 

 the natural order Ranunculaceae. 

 The most popular wild member, the 

 buttercup, is one of 28 natives of 

 Britain. Others have been intro- 

 duced into gardens from abroad 

 at various dates since 1596. The 

 old garden ranunculus (R. asiati- 

 cus) is tuber- rooted, and should be 

 planted in February, in good loam, 

 and well watered. The varieties 



6490 



are innumerable, and the flowers 

 of all shades and colours. The roots 

 should be taken up annually in 

 autumn, and stored in sand, in \ 

 cool place. 



Ranz des Vaches (Swiss Fr., 

 calling the cows). Melody played 

 on the Alpen horn (q.v.). Its Ger- 

 man name is Kuhreigen or cow- 

 call. On account of its pastoral 

 association composers have fre- 

 quently introduced one of the 

 many melodies into their works for 

 the sake of local colour, as, for ex- 

 ample, Rossini in his opera William 

 Tell, and Beethoven in his Pastoral 

 Symphony. 



Rao, SIR DINKAR (1819-96). In- 

 dian statesman. Born Dec. 20, 

 1819, he became, after long and 

 honourable service in Gwalior, 

 prime minister of the state, and re- 

 duced its finances to order, estab- 

 lishing a sound government. Loyal 

 to Britain during the Mutiny, de- 

 spite the defection of all the troops, 

 he held his office until 1859. His 

 reputation was so high that in 1875 

 he was appointed one of the three 

 Indian commissioners to try the 

 gaekwar of Baroda, who was 

 chareed with an attempt to poison 

 the British resident. Rao was a 

 member of the legislative council, 

 highly esteemed by all parties, and 

 was made an hereditary raja. He 

 died Jan. 9, 1896. 



Rao, SIR MADHAVA (1829-91). 

 Indian statesman. Born in Madras, 

 he was early imbued with the ad- 

 vanced social and political ideas 

 which he attempted to put into 

 practice when he became prime 

 minister of Travancore, 1857. Un- 

 able to awaken sympathy in the 

 maharaja, he resigned and was 

 later employed by the British gov- 

 ernment in reorganizing the state 

 of Baroda. Retiring from public 

 life in 1882, he devoted himself to 

 sociologv and literature, dying 

 April 4," 1891. 



Rap. Counterfeit Irish copper 

 coin current in the time of George 

 I. It passed as a halfpenny, though 

 intrinsically it was worth only a 

 quarter of its nominal value. De- 

 rived from the word rapparee, 

 used of Irish armed freebooters, 

 the word survives in the expression 

 " not worth a rap," i.e. valueless. 



Rapallo. Small seaport and fav- 

 ourite health resort of the Italian 

 Riviera, in the prov. of Genoa. 

 Sheltered by mountains, at the 

 head of the Gulf of Rapallo, 16 m. 

 by rly. E.S.E. of Genoa, it has a 

 castle, now used as a prison, inter- 

 esting churches, a zoological gar- 

 den, and a Roman bridge. In the 

 vicinity is a popular pilgrimage 

 church. Lace and olive oil are the 

 principal manufactures. Tunny 

 fishing is an industry. Pop. 12,000. 



RAPE 



Rapallo, TREATY OF. Treaty 

 signed by Italy and Yugo- 

 slavia, Nov. 12, 1920. It settled 

 various territorial disputes arising 

 out of the Great War. By the pact 

 of Rome, April 8, 1918, Italy recog- 

 nized the unity and independence 

 of the Yugo-Slav nation, and the 

 freedom of the Adriatic, but when 

 the latter, following the cessation 

 of hostilities, occupied Carinthia, 

 Italy demanded the annexation of 

 Fiume and other places on the east- 

 ern Adriatic. (See Annunzio, Ga- 

 briele d' ; Fiume.) 



By the treaty the frontier be- 

 tween the two nations was fixed, 

 and Italy renounced Dalmatia, but 

 Zara, together with its commune, 

 and several adjacent communes, 

 were placed under Italian sove- 

 reignty. Both powers .recognized 

 the independence of Fiume, and 

 former Austrian or Hungarian sub- 

 jects within the territories placed 

 under Yugo-Slavia were given the 

 option of claiming Italian nation- 

 ality within one year, and were ex- 

 empted from transferring their 

 domicile out of Yugo-Slavia should 

 they do so. The treaty involved 

 sacrifices for the latter, for by it 

 400,000 Slavs passed under Italian 

 rule. Finally it settled the Adriatic 

 question, giving Yugo-Slavia pos- 

 sessions on the coast. Both nations 

 ratified the treaty early in 1921. 

 See Italy ; Yugo-Slavia. 



Rape (Lat. rapa or rapum, tur- 

 nip). Cruciferous forage crop which 

 may either take the place of ordin- 

 ary roots in a rotation or be grown 

 as a catch crop, and is an excellent 

 sheep feed. There are two kinds, 

 the smooth-leaved summer rape 

 (Brassiea campestris) or dwarf, and 

 the rough-leaved winter rape 

 (Brassica napus) or giant. Swede 

 and turnip are derived from these 

 respectively, but have developed 

 enormously thickened roots. The 

 dwarf variety is suited to calcare- 

 ous soils, and the giant to heavier 

 kinds, especially those of the fen 

 districts. The method of cultiva- 

 tion and manuring is the same as 

 for turnip, and careful preparation 

 of the seed-bed is necessary. The 

 seed is either drilled (5 Ib. per 

 acre) or broadcasted (up to 10 Ib. 

 per acre). Giant rape is commonly 

 sown in May or June, and is ready 

 to be fed off in the autumn. As 

 a catch crop for providing spring 

 fodder it is put in during July or 

 August. See Brassica ; Turnip. 



Rape (Lat. rapere, to seize). In 

 "English law, the carnal knowledge 

 of a woman without her consent. 

 Rape is not necessarily forcible. It 

 may be committed by fraud, e.g. 

 by personating a woman's hus- 

 band. It is punishable by penal 

 servitude for life or a less period, 



