RECULVER 



growths, or threadworms. Pro- 

 lapse of the rectum is a condition 

 in which a part of the tube pro- 

 trudes through the anal orifice. It 

 occurs in children and weakly 

 persons, or may be the result of 

 chronic constipation, piles, and 

 other disorders of the rectum. In 

 the early stages cure may be hoped 

 for by relieving the cause of the 

 condition, particularly in children. 

 In adults, operative treatment may 

 be necessary. Ulceration of the 

 rectum may be due to chronic 

 inflammation, dysentery, tuber- 

 culosis, or syphilis. 



Reculver. Place in Kent, Eng- 

 land, the site of the Roman Regul- 

 bium. It is on the S. shore of the 

 Thames estuary, 3 m. E. of Herne 

 Bay. There are some remains of a 

 fortress, and two towers, known 

 as The Sisters, 

 standing out boldly 

 on the cliff, form a 

 well-known land- 

 mark. They are 

 remains of an Early 

 English church 

 and belong to 

 Trinity House. 

 The present chu rch , 

 S. Mary's, which 

 is modern, contains 

 some relics of 

 the earlier one. 

 British and Roman 

 coins have been 

 found here. 



Recusant (Lat. 

 recusare, to refuse). 

 Name formerly applied to those 

 who refused to conform to the 

 Church of England. The word 

 was mostly used in the 16th and 

 17th centuries with reference to 

 Roman Catholics who evaded the 

 penal laws which obliged them 

 to attend services in the Eng- 

 lish churches. While the poor re- 

 cusants were imprisoned and 

 exiled, the fines imposed on 

 the wealthier recusant county 

 families were a considerable 

 asset to the exchequer. See 

 Toleration. 



Red. One of the primary colours. 

 The red rays of light are the least 

 reflected by the spectrum. Red 

 colouring matters may be divided 

 into three classes : ( 1 ) natural ; 

 (2) synthetically prepared ; (3) 

 mineral. The first includes lima- 

 wood, barwood, camwood, etc., 

 madder, cochineal, etc. ; the second 

 alizarin, etc. ; and the third ferric 

 oxide, red lead, sulphide of mer- 

 cury, etc. Many of these colours are 

 described under their separate 

 names in this work. See also Dyes ; 

 Light; Pigment. 



Red Admiral (Vanessa atal- 

 anta). Common British butterfly. 

 The expanse of the wings measures 



6516 



nearly 3 ins. The ground colour 

 of the fore wings is velvety black 

 at the tips with white spots ; then 

 comes a scarlet band, and the base 

 of the wings is brownish. The 

 hind wings are brown with a 

 scarlet border. On the under side 

 the fore wings are black with a red 

 bar and several narrow red and 

 blue stripes. The hind ones are 

 brown beneath, mottled with grey 

 and black. The insect is common 

 in gardens and hedgerows towards 

 autumn. The caterpillar is green 

 with yellow spines, and feeds on 

 nettles. See Butterfly, col. plate. 

 Redan. Military term for a V- 

 shaped salient pointing towards 

 the enemy. With the advance of 

 modern military science it is 

 almost obsolete, being chiefly re- 

 membered in connexion with the 



RED CHALK 



Reculver, Kent. The towers called The Sisters, a well- 

 known landmark for mariners 



redans defending the south side 

 of Sevastopol, against which a 

 costly and unsuccessful attack was 

 launched by the British, Sept. 5, 

 1855. See Crimean War ; Malakoff ; 

 Sevastopol. 



Red Bean (Sophora secundi- 

 fiora). Small evergreen tree of the 

 natural order Leguminosae. It is a 



Red Bean. Foliage and flower spike 



native of Texas. The glossy leaves 

 are broken up into oval leaflets, 

 and the violet flowers are in long 

 sprays. The seed-pods contain five 

 or six hard, glossy, scarlet beans 

 which contain a poisonous alkaloid 

 having physiological effects similar 

 to the action of tobacco. They 

 were formerly much used by the 

 Indian tribes as an intoxicant, the 

 bean being reduced to powder and 

 dissolved in mescal, the spirit dis- 

 tilled from the fermented sap of 

 the agave. Half a bean produced a 

 delirious exhilaration, followed by 

 a sleep lasting two or three days ; 

 a whole bean would kill a man. 



Redcar. Urban dist. and sea- 

 side resort of Yorkshire (N.R. ), 

 England. It is 8 m. from Middles- 

 brough, with a station on the N.E. 

 Rly. There is a fine beach, with 

 good bathing and golf links. A 

 racing centre, two meetings are 

 held annually. The urban district 

 includes Coatham. Pop. 10,500. 



Red Chalk. In geology, bed 

 4 to 10 ft. in thickness found in the 

 counties of Norfolk and Lincoln- 

 shire, England. It occurs beneath 

 the lower chalk and is equivalent 

 to the gault in the S. of England. 



Redan. Interior of tbe earthwork, defending the south side of Sevastopol, 



which tbe British vainly attempted to capture in 1855. From a sketch taken 



after the evacuation of the fortress by the Russians 



