REED 



6525 



REEL 



Edward T. Reed, 

 British artist 



T. German Reed, 

 British entertainer 



white. In July, 

 1889, he began 

 to contribute 

 to Punch, in 

 1890 joining its 

 regular staff. 

 His most popu- 

 lar drawings 

 were the Con- 

 trasts series, 

 1890-91; Pre- 

 historic Peeps, 

 1893 ; and a series of parliamentary 

 caricatures, 1894-1912. (See Punch. 

 Reed, THOMAS GERMAN (1817- 

 88). British entertainer. Born at 

 Bristol, June 27, 1817, he early 

 acquired thea- 

 trical and mu- 

 sical experi- 

 ence, and from 

 1838-51 was 

 musical direc- 

 tor at the Hay - 

 market Thea- 

 tre.London. In 

 1855, with his 

 wife, he started 

 his popular 

 dramatic entertainments, where 

 light pieces by such writers as T. 

 W. Robertson, F. C. Burnand, and 

 W. S. Gilbert were performed, 

 among his colleagues being John 

 Parry and Corney Grain. These 

 entertainments, first at the Gallery 

 of Illustration, and later at St. 

 George's Hall, were long a feature 

 of London life, and were continued 

 for a few years after Reed's death 

 at Sheen, March 21, 1888. 



Reedbuck. Species of antelope 

 found in Central and S. Africa. It 

 is nearly 3 ft. high at the shoulder, 

 and has pale brown hair on the 

 upper parts with dingy white 

 beneath. The horns are only about 

 12 ins. long, and rise nearly straight 

 from the forehead, bending slightly 

 forward at the tips. These ante- 

 lopes were formerly very common 

 in the Transvaal, but have now 

 become rather rare. They do not 

 congregate in herds, and are always 

 found in the neighbourhood of 

 water, but never in marshes. 



Reed-Bunting OR REED -SPAR- 

 ROW (Emberiza schoenidus). Small 

 European bird. Common in most 

 parts of Bri- 

 tain, it fre- 

 quents rivers 

 or swampy 

 ground, where 

 it builds its 

 nest a m o n'g 

 the reeds or in 

 small trees. It 

 is gregarious in 

 habit, and 



^^^ feeds chiefly 



on water-plants, insects, and small 

 molluscs. The head and throat of 

 the male are black ; the back and 



wings red-brown ; the under parts 

 and a band around the neck, 

 white. The eggs are drab-coloured, 

 streaked with black and dull 

 purple. See Nest. 



Reed-mace (Typha latifolia),- 

 CAT'S-TAIL OR CLTJB-RUSH. Tall 

 perennial herb of the natural order 

 Typhaceae. A 

 native of Eu- 

 rope, N. and 

 W. Asia, N. 

 Africa, and N. 

 America, it 

 grows on the 

 margins of 

 lakes and 

 rivers, and has 

 a short, creep- 

 ing rootstock 

 from which the 

 round erect 

 stems rise to a 

 height of 7 ft. 

 The long, 

 Reed-mace. Leaves brpad, nearly 

 and flower spike fi a t leaves 

 may be 6 ft. long, with broad 

 bases sheathing the stem. The 

 female flowers are densely packed 

 in a purple - brown spike or 

 " mace " around the upper part of 

 the stem, above which is the 

 yellow " tail " of male flowers. 

 There is a smaller and less common 

 species (2*. angustifolia) growing in 

 pools and ditches, with narrower 

 leaves and with the male and fe- 

 male spikes separated by a distinct 

 interval of clear stem. It is often, 

 but wrongly, styled bulrush (q.v.). 

 Reef. Barrier of rock or sand 

 extending along the shore of an 

 island or continent. It is more 

 closely defined by the International 

 Geographical Congress committee 

 as a submarine elevation which 



reaches within 11 fathoms of the 

 surface. Such reefs are dangerous 

 to shipping, and the most common 

 are those formed by coral organ- 

 isms. In mineralogy the word is 

 used for gold-bearing veins of 

 quartz rock. See Coral ; Coral Reef. 

 Reefing. Operation of partly 

 furling sail by taking in reefs. 

 Sails have upon them a number of 



Reedbuck. Female of the antelope formerly common 

 in the Transvaal 



W. S. Xerridgt, F.Z.S. 



Reefing. First reef taken in the 

 fore-and-aft sail of a cutter or yawl 



short pieces of rope called reef 

 points. When it is necessary to 

 shorten sail by decreasing the area, 

 these points are knotted around 

 the foot of the sail. A vessel is 

 close-reefed when all possible reefs 

 have been made in her sails. 

 Shaking out a reef is untying one 

 course of reef knots and giving 

 the sail a correspondingly greater 

 area to the wind. 



Reefton. Township of S. Island, 

 New Zealand. It is 48 m. by 

 rly. N. of Westport, and has gold 

 and coal mines. 

 Pop. 600. 



Reel. Mechan- 

 ism for winding 

 yarn into hanks. A 

 simple form con- 

 sists of a skeleton 

 hexagonal revolv- 

 ing frame over 

 the arms of which 

 the yarn is wound 

 from bobbins or 

 other holders. A 

 hand warp-reel is 

 used for measur- 

 ing lengths of 

 yarns for testing 

 purposes, and an 

 indicator carried 

 upon the appara- 

 tus indicates the 

 length wound. 

 Power-driven reels 

 are used in manu- 

 facturing opera- 

 tions, and are 

 made long enough 



