EOSS, ALEXANDER M. 



ROUMANIA. 



739 



on electrical rheometry were published by the 

 Smithsonian Institution in 1852. 



ROSS, ALEXANDER MILTON, a Canadian nat- 

 uralist and author, was born December 13, 

 1832, in Belleville, Ontario, Canada. His par- 

 ents, William and Frederika Ross, were de- 

 scendants of Scotch Highlanders who came 

 to Canada from Ross-shire, Scotland, in 1785. 

 He evinced a great love for studies in natural 

 history at an early age, and embraced every 

 opportunity that offered to satisfy his craving 

 for knowledge in the field of natural science. 

 On the death of his father, which occurred in 

 his eleventh year, he was removed from school, 

 and never again enjoyed the advantages of one. 

 For many years he struggled with adverse cir- 

 cumstances, but his absorbing love for natural 

 history never abated. The supreme object of 

 his ambition has been to collect and classify 

 the fauna and flora of his native country, a 

 labor never before attempted by a Canadian. 

 The purpose of *his life has finally been at- 

 tained. He has collected and classified 570 

 species of hirds that regularly or occasionally 

 visit the Dominion of Canada; 240 species of 

 eggs of birds that breed in Canada ; 247 spe- 

 cies of mammals, reptiles, and fresh- water fish ; 

 3,400 species of insscts ; and 2,200 species of 

 Canadian flora. Dr. Ross has by his labors 

 enriched the museums of France, Russia, Eng- 

 land, Greece, Turkey, Egypt, Portugal, Italy, 

 Belgium, and Spain. His principal publica- 

 tions are the " Birds of Canada," " Butterflies 

 and Moths of Canada," "Flora of Canada," 

 "Forest Trees of Canada," "Mammals, Rep- 

 tiles, and Fresh- Water Fishes of Canada," and 

 many monographs on kindred subjects. In 

 recognition of his labors he has been elected a 

 member of nearly all the principal academies 

 and societies of science in Europe and Asia. 

 Many of the monarchs of Europe have con- 

 ferred upon him decorations of knighthood as 

 tokens of thair appreciation of his achieve- 

 ments as a naturalist. Dr. Ross is a resident 

 of Montreal, and a member of the College of 

 Physicians and Surgeons of Canada. 



ROUMANIA, a principality of southeastern 

 Europe. Prince, Charles I., son of the late 

 Prince Charles of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen, 

 born April 20, 1839. He was elected Prince of 

 Roumania, May 10, 1866, and was married No- 

 vember 15, 1869, to Elizabeth, Princess of Wied. 



The area of Roumania underwent in 1878 

 important alterations in consequence of the 

 treaty of Berlin. It had to retrocede to Russia 

 that portion of Bessarabia which had been 

 taken from Russia in 1856, and in return 

 the Dobrudja and the territory south of it, as 

 far as a line extending from Silistria to Man- 

 galia on the Black Sea, was united with Ron- 

 mania. By these changes Roumania received a 

 territorial increase of about 2,500 square miles, 

 and an addition to its population of about 

 300,000. The area of Roumania is now esti- 

 mated at about 49,262 square miles, and the 

 population at 5,376,000. 



In the budget for 1877 the receipts were es- 

 timated at 80,437,172 francs, and the expendi- 

 tures at 86,291,617, leaving a deficit of 5,854,- 

 445 francs. In the budget for 1878 the receipts 

 were estimated at 121,372,451 francs, and the 

 expenditures at 93,372,451, leaving a surplus 

 of 28,000,000 fnmcs. The public debt in Jan- 

 uary, 1879, was 609,959,499 francs. 



The standing army on a peace footing com- 

 prises 947 officers, 16,222 men, 2,739 horses, 

 and 96 guns ; on a war footing, 42,449 men. 

 The territorial army consists of 54,473 men 

 and 192 guns. The militia comprises 47,746 

 men. Thus the whole available force in time 

 of war is 144,668 men and 288 guns. The 

 war navy consists of 3 steamers, 6 sloops, 20 

 officers, and 246 men. 



The imports in 1875 amounted to 100,834,- 

 000 francs, the exports to 144,962,000. The 

 length of railroads in 1877 was 1,239 kilome- 

 tres. The number of post-offices was 243 ; of 

 letters, 6,107,768 ; of postal cards, 279,139; of 

 parcels of printed matter and samples, 4,384,- 

 740; of valuable letters, 233,884; of packages. 

 127,953. The number of telegraph offices was 

 173 ; length of lines, 4,142 kilometres, and ot 

 wires, 7,208 kilometres; number of private dis- 

 patches, 688,602, of official dispatches, 263,110, 

 and of transit dispatches, 8,343. 



For an account of the war nnd the para- 

 graphs of the treaties of San Stefano and Ber- 

 lin affecting Roumania, see TURKEY and EAST- 

 ERX QUESTION. 



The treaty of peace of San Stefano created 

 great dissatisfaction in Roumania, owing to the 

 clauses relating to that country, particularly 

 the one providing for the retrocession of the 

 Roumanian part of Bessarabia to Russia. Even 

 before the text of the treaty had become known, 

 and it had only been rumored that such a 

 provision would be made, it called forth the 

 loudest protests from the people, from the 

 Chambers, which had continued in session dur- 

 ing the war, and from Prince Charles himself. 

 After the treaty had been signed, the Rou- 

 manian Government officially declared that it 

 would not recognize any of its stipulations 

 affecting their interests. On March 26th the 

 Senate and the Chamber held a secret session, 

 in which the exchange of Bessarabia for the 

 Dobrudja was unanimously rejected. One dep- 

 uty wished to discuss the course to be taken 

 by Roumania in the event of the Congress not 

 pronouncing against the exchange ; but this 

 proposal was overruled by the previous ques- 

 tion, all the deputies present holding that Rou- 

 mania, even if deprived of Bessarabia, should 

 not accept the Dobrudja. On March 27th the 

 Minister for Foreign Affairs, in reply to a ques- 

 tion as to what attitude the Government had 

 taken with regard to the treaty of San Stefano, 

 declared that this act, as far as Roumania was 

 concerned, was null and void, having been con- 

 cluded without her participation. " We have 

 protested against it, and we shall send our pro- 

 tests to all the Powers. The treaty is a scourge 



