818 



RATAFIA RATLINES. 



cine, rentier it a very objectionable resource. 

 1 IK- lirowii rat measures about nine inches, and is 

 of a light l>ro\vn colour, intermingled with ash and 

 t.iwny. The colour of the throat and belly is of a 

 dirty white, inclining to gray. It has pale, flesh- 

 coloured, naked feet, with a tail of the same length 

 as the body, and covered with small dusky scales, 

 with short liairs thinly scattered between. The 

 black rat was much more common previous to the 

 introduction of the brown rat than at present. It 

 is now found only in MI nations to which the brown 

 rat has not extended, and is almost as injurious and 

 destructive, resembling it closely in manners and 

 habits. It is of a deep iron-gray, and indeed near- 

 ly of a black colour above, and of an . .-\\ colour on 

 the lower parts of its body. Its legs are nearly 

 nnkrd. and on its fore feet, instead of the rudimen- 

 tal thumb, it has a claw. The length, from the 

 no-e to the root of the tail, is seven inches; the 

 tail itself is almost eight inches long. It has been 

 a matter of dispute, whether this animal was intro- 

 duced into Europe from America, or was originally 

 taken hence to that quarter of the world. Blumen- 

 bach, who has devoted much attention to the sub- 

 ject, states it as his opinion that the black rat was 

 carried from Europe to America. Garcilaso de la 

 Vega states, that it was first introduced into South 

 America by the Europeans, about the year 1544, 

 and Geraldus Cambrensis speaks of them in Europe 

 previous to the discovery of America. 



RATAFIA. See Liqueur. 



RATAN (calamus'); a genus of palms, but wide- 

 ly differing in habit from the rest of that family, 

 and, in this respect, somewhat resembling the grass- 

 es. The species have all perennial, long, round, 

 solid, jointed, unbranching stems, extremely tough 

 and pliable, often ascending among the branches of 

 trees, but without prickles or tendrils. They grow 

 in profusion along the banks of rivers in tropical 

 Asia and the neighbouring islands. All the spe- 

 cies are very useful, and are applied to various pur- 

 poses the fruit and young stems of all furnish nu- 

 triment, and a drink is obtained from the liquid 

 which flows from wounds made in the spadix. One 

 species is even cultivated for its fruit, which is about 

 the size of a walnut, and covered with scales. Cer- 

 tain species furnish cables, cords and withes of ex- 

 ceeding strength ; others are split into strips for 

 making the seats and backs of chairs, baskets, and 

 other light and elegant articles of furniture; those 

 which are larger and firmer, and whose joints are 

 more distant, afford elegant walking-sticks ; in 

 short, the economical purposes to which the vari- 

 ous species of ratans are applied, are very numer- 

 ous, even in northern climates. A trade in ratans, 

 to considerable extent, is carried on from several of 

 the East India islands to China, which is the princi- 

 pal market for them. 



RATE ; the name of the classes into which ships 

 of war are divided in the navy, according to their 

 force and magnitude: thus the first rate compre- 

 hends all ships of 100 guns and upwards; second 

 rate includes all ships carrying from 90 to 98 guns, 

 upon three decks; third rate consists of ships from 

 64 to 80 cannon; fourth rates consist of ships from 

 60 to 60 guns, upon two decks and the quarter-deck. 

 All vessels of war under the fourth rate are usually 

 comprehended under the general names of frigates, 

 and never appear in the line of battle. They are 

 divided into two rates, viz. fifth rates, mounting 

 from 32 to 40 or 44 guns; and sixth rates, of from 

 20 to SO guns. 



RATEL (ratelus mellivorus'}; a species of ani- 

 mals allied to the gluttons, inhabiting the southern 

 part of Africa It lives on honey, which it procures 



in great quantities the bees in that part of the 

 country making their nests in burrows in tlie 

 ground, which have been deserted by some animal. 

 Sparrman gives an extraordinary and almost incre- 

 dible account of its sagacity, viz. that it will ascend 

 the highest part of the desert it inhabits to look 

 about, placing one foot above its eyes, to prevent 

 their being dazzled by the sun. The reason he as- 

 signs for its choosing this elevated situation is, that 

 it may the better hear and see the honey-guide cuc- 

 koo, which lives on bees, and serves as a guide to 

 their hives. From the toughness of its hide and 

 the stiffness of its hair, it is admirably defended, not 

 only from the stings of bees, but also from the at- 

 tacks of more formidable adversaries. The ratel 

 has a blunt nose; no external ears; a rough tongue; 

 short legs, furnished with long and straight claws, 

 deeply grooved beneath: the crown of its head and 

 upper part of its body is gray; the rest is black, 

 except that from each ear a dusky line extends to 

 the tail. The length of the body is forty inches; 

 of the tail, twelve; of the anterior claws, an inch 

 and three quarters. 



RATION, in the army; a portion of ammunition, 

 bread, drink and forage, distributed to each soldier 

 for his daily subsistence, &c. The officers have 

 several rations, according to their quality and the 

 number of attendants they are obliged to keep. 



RATIONALISM, in the philosophy of religion; 

 opposed to supernaturalism. Both words are chief- 

 ly used in Germany See Supernaturalism. 



RATISBON (in German, Regensburg), one of 

 the most ancient cities in Germany, built by the 

 Romans, and called Reginum, or Castra Regina, 

 was, as early as the second century, a commercial 

 nlace, as appears from an inscription on a temple 

 brought to light by K. T. Gemeiner. Under the 

 Agilolfingians, it was the capital of Bavaria. Af- 

 ter the deposition of this dynasty, it was under the 

 immediate protection of the German kings. It un- 

 derwent several changes, and, in 1663, was made 

 the permanent seat of the diet of the German em- 

 pire, and so continued until the dissolution of the 

 same. In 1803, the city and the bishopric of the 

 same name were given to the elector of Mayence, 

 who was now styled "arch-chancellor of the em- 

 pire." The city and bishopric were made a prin- 

 cipality, and the former see of Mayence transferred 

 to Ratisbon. When the prince-primate was mado 

 grand-duke of Frankfort by Napoleon (in 1810), 

 the principality was given to Bavaria. Ratisbon 

 has, at present, 26.100 inhabitants (mostly Luther- 

 ans), and is the chief place of the circle of the Re- 

 gen. The city lies in a fertile valley, at the con- 

 fluence of the Danube and the Regen. A bridge 

 1091 feet long (built in 1135 40) leads over the 

 Danube. The buildings are old ; the streets crook- 

 ed, but clean. The city hall, in which the diet used 

 to assemble, with the library, the cathedral, and 

 several other public buildings, deserve mention. 

 There are several good schools and learned socie- 

 ties. The manufactures consist chiefly of pottery, 

 bleached wax, soap, beer and brandy. Yarn is 

 here dyed Turkish red. There is also considerable 

 commerce. Near the city is the monument, which 

 the late archbishop and prince-primate, Charles von 

 Dalberg, erected in 1817 to the memory of Kepler, 

 who died here, Nov. 5, 1630. Respecting the bat- 

 tle of five days (from April 19 to 24, in 1809), near 

 and in Ratisbon, see EckmUhl. On the 23d, the 

 city lost 134 houses by fire, and the loss of proper- 

 ty by pillage was estimated at 1,500.000 florins. 

 Lat. 49 0' 53" N. ; and Ion. 10 6' 23" E. 



RATLINES ; small lines which traverse the 

 \ shrouds of a ship horizontally, at regular distances, 



