RHALUIS 



the earliest known mammals. 

 They are widely distributed, oc- 

 curring in Great Britain, Europe, 

 Asia, America, and Australasia. 



Rhallis, DEMETRIOS( 1841-1921 ). 

 Greek statesman. Born at Athens, 

 he became prominent in poli- 

 tics in 1890, when chosen leader 

 of the new Young Greek party. 

 In April, 1897, he became premier 

 following the fall of the Delyannis 

 ministry after the Greek defeats in 

 Thessaly, resigning in Oct. Presi- 

 dent of the chamber Feb.-July, 

 1903, he was premier in the latter 

 month, resigning in Dec. He was 

 again premier, June-Dec., 1905, 

 and in 1909. In 1915 he was minis- 

 ter of justice, in 1916-17 minister 

 of finance. Throughout the Great 

 War he sided with King Constan- 

 tino against M. Venizelos. He was 

 premier from Nov., 1920, to Feb. 5, 

 1921, and died Aug. 19, 1921. 



Rhamnaceae OB BUCKTHORN 

 FAMILY. Large natural order of 

 trees and shrubs. Natives of warm 

 and temperate regions, they have 

 undivided leaves and small green 

 or yellow flowers. They have 

 'purgative properties, and some of 

 the species are used in medicine 

 and in dyeing. See Buckthorn 

 (Rhamnus). 



Rhamnus. Ancient city of 

 Greece, in Attica. It was a port on 

 the N.E. coast, 24 m. N.E. of 

 Athens and 8 m. N.E. of Marathon. 

 It had several temples, notably 

 one of Nemesis, built about 450 

 B.C. ; another was dedicated to 

 Dionysus. Excavations have re- 

 vealed remains also of a theatre 

 and a fine statue of Themis. 



, Rhatany. Foliage, flowers, and 

 seeds ; inset, single flower 



Rhamphorhynchus (Gr. rham- 

 phos, crooked beak ; rhynchos, 

 snout). <-i Extinct flying reptile. 

 One of the Pterodactyls, little is 

 known about it, the only remains 

 being found in the fine-grained 

 lithographic stone of Bavaria, and 

 those only consisting of part ft the 

 wings. See Pterodactyl. 



Rhampsinitus. Classical name 

 of the Egyptian Rameses the 

 Third. He is chiefly remembered 



6588 



in connexion with the story told 

 of his treasure-house by Herodo- 

 tus. The architect left a secret 

 way into the treasure-house for 

 his own enrichment, and at his 

 death bequeathed the knowledge 

 to his two sons, who promptly 

 made use of it. Rhampsinitus 

 tried by many stratagems to dis- 

 cover who robbed him, but was 

 always outwitted by the thief. 

 In various forms the story that 

 of the Master Thief cycle of tales 

 is found among many different 

 peoples. Pausanias, in his De- 

 scription of Greece (Bk. ix, 37), 

 gives a similar account of the 

 treasure-house of one Hyrieus. 



Rhapsodists. In ancient 

 Greece, professional reciters of the 

 Homeric or other epic poems. 

 The earlier rhapsodists sang to a 

 harp, the later chanted the poems. 

 Such recitations were a great 

 feature of Greek life, and the re- 

 citers were held in high esteem. 

 See Greek Literature. 



Rhapsody (Gr. rhaptein, to sew 

 together, compose ; ode, ode). 

 Fragment of an epic poem recited 

 by a minstrel. A rhapsody in the 

 modern sense is a musical composi- 

 tion of the fantasia type, generally 

 founded on some national air, 

 though not necessarily in variation 

 form. Standard examples are by 

 Brahms, Henselt, and Liszt. Gener- 

 ally, the term implies any extra- 

 vagant utterance or composition. 



Rhatany (Kramer ia triandra). 

 Shrub of the natural order Poly- 

 galaceae. It is a native of Peru. 

 It has alternate, oval, leathery 

 leaves, covered with silvery hairs. 

 The flowers are bright scarlet and 

 irregular in form. The dried root 

 with its red-brown bark is well- 

 known in medicine, affording a 

 form of tannic acid used as a tonic 

 and as an astringent. The infusion 

 is blood-red. K. argentea, from 

 Brazil, with purple-brown bark, is 

 used for the same purpose. 



Rhayader. Market town ol 

 Radnorshire, Wales. It stands on 

 the Wye, with a station on the 

 Cambrian Rly., 14 m. from Llan- 

 idloes. It is chiefly an agricultural 

 centre, having been long famous 

 for its sheep fairs. The town grew 

 up around a castle built about 

 1180 by the English to defend the 

 district against the attacks of the 

 Welsh. The chief building is S. 

 Clement's Church, a Gothic build- 

 ing restored. The scenery a- 

 round the town is very beautiful. 

 Near are the valleys of the Elan 

 and the Claerwen, wherein are the 

 huge reservoirs that supply Bir- 

 mingham with water. The name 

 means in Welsh the falls of the 

 Wye, there having been a water- 

 fall here at one time. Pop. 1,000. 



RHEA 



-- Rhea. In Greek mythology, 

 daughter of Uranus, Heaven, and 

 Ge, the Earth. She was the wife of 

 Cronos (q.v.), by whom she was the 

 mother of Zeus, Demeter, Hera, 

 Poseidon, and Pluto. Rhea, origin- 

 ally a Cretan divinity, became 

 early identified with the Phrygian 

 goddess of nature and fertility, 

 Cybele, whose worship at Pes- 

 sinus was conducted with clash- 

 ing cymbals and extravagant 

 Oriental rites. In art, Rhea is 

 represented as wearing a mural 

 crown, and with lions either sitting 

 by her throne or drawing her 

 chariot. See Atys ; Corybantes. 



Rhea OR AMERICAN OSTRICH. 

 Genus of running birds. They 

 occur only in S. America and re- 

 semble small ostriches except 

 that the head and neck are feath- 

 ered, the feet have three toes 

 instead of two, and the tail is 

 rudimentary. Three species are 

 usually recognized, the common 

 rhea, Darwin's rhea, and the long- 

 billed rhea. The general colour of 

 the plumage of all three is grey, 

 but it differs in tone and the 

 species vary in size, the common 

 rhea being the largest. The birds 

 are found in small companies on 

 the plains, several hens consorting 

 with a cock and laying in a com- 

 mon nest. As in the case of the 

 ostrich, the cock bird undertakes 

 the task of incubation. The birds 

 are extremely fleet of foot, and 

 their colour makes it difficult to 

 see them at even a moderate dist- 

 ance. They are hunted by horse- 

 men armed with the bolas, a cord 

 with a stone or weight at each end, 

 and their feathers are used for 

 making brooms. 



Rhea. South American running 

 bird allied to the ostrich 



Gambler Bolton, F.Z.S. 



