REDWOOD 



Redwing. Song-bird closely related 

 to the thrush 



W. S. Ber ridge. F.Z.8. 



privation in severe weather. 

 Usually found in cultivated dis- 

 tricts, it possesses a clear and 

 loud song. 



Redwood (Sequoia giganlea) OR 

 WELLINGTONIA. Large evergreen 

 tree of the natural order Pinaceae. 

 A native of the mountains of Cali- 

 fornia, it is one of the tallest of 

 trees, attaining a height of over 320 

 ft., with a trunk diameter of 35 ft. 

 The leaves are small, and like 

 green scales, overlapping on the 

 branches and twigs. The male 

 flowers are single or several to- 

 gether at the ends of shoots : 

 the female flowers at the tips of 

 other shoots may be passed over 

 as growth buds. The cones are 



Redwood. Open cones and leaves 

 o! the giant evergreen 



oval with blunt ends, from two to 

 three and a half inches long, 

 consisting of comparatively few 

 four-pointed scales, with a de- 

 pression in the middle of each. 

 Reckoning the growth-rings as re- 

 presenting years, one specimen, of 

 which a cross-section has been ob- 

 tained, has been computed to have 

 been over 3,000 years old. 



Ree. Lough or lake of Ireland. 

 Formed by the expansion of the 

 river Shannon, it lies between the 

 cos. of Roscommon, Longford, and 

 Westmeath, and contains a num- 

 ber of small islets. It is 17 m. long 

 and from 1 to 7 m. broad. 



6524 



Reed (Phrcufmitea commit nis). 

 Large perennial herb of the natural 

 order Gramineae. It is a native of 

 Europe, Asia, Africa, America, and 

 Australia, growing on the margins 

 of lakes, streams, and up wet sea- 

 cliffs. It is of very erect growth, 

 the stout, round stems attaining 

 a height of 10 to 15 ft., with broad, 

 flat, rigid leaves. The flowers are 

 gathered in a large, oval, purplish 

 plume. The reed is the predomin- 

 ant plant in the fens of East 





Reed. Phragmites communis grow- 

 ing on the margin of a pool 



Anglia, and in the construction 

 of the floating-fens which are 

 found at the mouths of the 

 Danube and in the Black Sea. 



Reed. In music, the medium by 

 which vibrations are set up in 

 certain organ stops (oboe, tuba, 

 etc.), and in some orchestral in- 

 struments, oboe, clarinet, bassoon, 

 saxophone, ete. 

 The former are 

 generally of 

 metal, the latter 

 of a kind of large 

 grass which grows 

 in S. Europe. A 

 beating reed is 

 one in which the 

 edges of the 

 tongue slightly 

 overlap the 

 slotted plate to 

 which it is fast- 

 ened. In the free 

 reed the tongue 

 passes through 

 the opening. The 

 harmonium and 

 American organ 

 are fitted with 

 free reeds, with- 

 out pipes; in 

 other cases a pipe 

 enhances the tone 

 and resonance of 

 the organ reed. 

 In the orchestral 

 instruments the 

 tube is essential, 

 the reed being 

 merely the exci- 

 tatory medium. 



REED 



Reed. In weaving, a comb-like 

 portion of the loom, consisting of 

 vertical, parallel wires, through the 

 dents or openings of which the 

 warp threads are passed. The reed 

 serves to separate the warp threads, 

 and to beat home the weft, against 

 which its wires are driven by the 

 sley, or oscillator of. the loom. 

 See Loom ; Weaving. 



Reed, SIR EDWARD JAMES (1830- 

 1906). British naval engineer. 

 Born at Sheerness, Sept. 20, 1830, 

 he entered the 

 school of 

 naval con- 

 st r u ction at 

 Port smouth. 

 He became 

 chief con- 

 structor of the 

 navy, 1863, 

 radically 

 altering the 

 methods of 

 battleship design while holding the 

 office. He resigned in 1870, and 

 joined Sir Joseph Whitworth, after- 

 wards designing battleships for 

 several foreign navies. In 1880 he 

 was made a K.C.B., and was a 

 Liberal member of Parliament, 

 1880-95, and again, 1900-5, for 

 Cardiff. He wrote Our Ironclad 

 Ships, 1869 ; The Stability of Ships, 

 1884. He died Nov. 30, 1906. 



Reed, EDWARD TENNYSON (b. 

 1860). British artist. Born March 

 27, 1860, the son of Sir E. J. Reed, 

 he was educated at Harrow, and 

 became an artist in black and 



Sir E. J. Reed, 

 British naval engineer 



E. T. Reed. Unrecorded History. George Washington 



trying to tell a lie. Reduced from a characteristic 



drawing in Punch, by courtesy of the Proprietors 



