REAUMUR RECONNOITRE. 



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shooters, and of light cavalry ; and one species of 

 troops must aid the other, according to the nature 

 of the ground. The cavalry is effectual in a level 

 country ; the infantry assists them if they are re- 

 pulsed, and occupies the narrow passes ; while the 

 chasseurs, or sharp-shooters, keep the assailants in 

 check. 



REAUMUR, RENE ANTOINE FERCHAULT DE, a 

 philosophic naturalist, was born, in 1683, at Ro- 

 chelle, studied under the Jesuits at Poitiers, and 

 afterwards went through a course of law at Bourges. 

 But his tastes led him to the observation of nature ; 

 and, having made himself acquainted with the 

 mathematical sciences, he went to Paris in 1703. 

 His relative, the president Henault, introduced him 

 to the savans of the metropolis ; and, in 1708, he 

 was chosen a member of the academy of sciences, 

 to which he had presented some memoirs on geo- 

 metry. For nearly fifty years he continued to be 

 one of its most active members, his labours em- 

 bracing the arts, natural philosophy, and natural 

 history. He was appointed to assist in the de- 

 scriptive accounts of arts and trades published by 

 the academy ; and, in executing his part of the 

 undertaking, pointed out the way to various im- 

 provements, by the application of the principles of 

 physics and natural history. He made important 

 observations on the formation of pearls, and dis- 

 covered in Languedoc mines of turquoise (q. v.); 

 but among his most useful researches must be reck- 

 oned those of which he gave an account in his 

 Traiti sur VArt de convertir le Fer en dcier, et d' 

 adoucir le Fer fondu (1722). As a natural philo- 

 sopher, he is principally celebrated for the inven- 

 tion of an improved thermometer, which he made 

 known in 1731. (See Thermometer.} The fabrica- 

 tion of porcelain also occupied much of his atten- 

 tion, and led him to the discovery of a kind of 

 enamel, called the porcelain of Reaumur, in 17S9. 

 His Memoires pour servir d I Histoire des Insectes 

 place him in the first rank of modern naturalists. 

 He died October 18, 1757. 



RECIFE; a city of Brazil, capital of the pro- 

 vince of Pernambuco, situated at the entrance of 

 the Capibaribe into the Atlantic. The name of 

 Pernambuco is applied to the two cities of Recife 

 and Olinda, which are nearly three miles distant 

 from each other. Population of Recife, 25,000 ; of 

 Olinda, 4000 ; lat. 8 4' S.; Ion. 34 52' W. Some 

 parts of Recife are handsomely built, with broad 

 but unpaved streets, and several neat squares. 

 Among the public buildings are an episcopal 

 palace, several handsome churches and convents, 

 hospitals, a theatre, &c. The upper harbour (Mos- 

 queiro) is formed by a chain of rocks running 

 parallel with the city. The lower harbour (Pogo) 

 is capable of receiving ships of 400 tons burthen, 

 but is exposed. The commerce, which is exten- 

 sive, is rapidly increasing. The environs are fer- 

 tile, and are adorned with many fine gardens and 

 country-seats. The heat of the climate is tempered 

 by sea-breezes, but changes of temperature are very 

 sudden. 



RECITATIVE (Italian recitativo) ; a species of 

 musical recitation, forming the medium between 

 song and rhetorical declamation, and in which the 

 composer and performer, rejecting the rigorous 

 rules of time, endeavour to imitate the inflections, 

 accejits, and emphasis of natural speech. But, 

 though the rules of time and rhythm are not to be 

 strictly observed, the recitative is written in time, 

 and generally in f time. In its approach to speech, 

 therefore, the recitative is mostly syllabic song, i. e., 

 each syllable has generally but one tone, and the 

 tones themselves are less prolonged than in song 



strictly so called. Hence the recitative has not a 

 distinct, developed melody, and a regular modula- 

 tion ; it may, according to the meaning of the 

 words, pass with comparative freedom through the 

 various tones. On the other hand, the tones of the 

 recitative are generally musical tones, of distinct 

 height or depth (we say generally, because in the 

 recitativo parlante, in the opera buffa, the tones 

 become completely those ot speech). When the 

 recitative approaches still more to the strict song, 

 in respect to time and melody, the arioso origi- 

 nates. In short, the recitative may be called a 

 declamation in musical tones. Such a declamation 

 requires a language between prose and lyric poetry. 

 The recitative consists mostly of narrative and of 

 poetical reflection ; but it is capable of passing 

 quickly from subject to subject, serves for dialogue, 

 and to prepare important changes in great musical 

 pieces. For this reason, it is introduced in cantatas, 

 operas, and oratorios, between the songs, and is, as 

 it were, the prose of music. As the music of reci- 

 tative is free, so the words need not any artificial 

 rhythm. The recitative includes the simple (by 

 some also called the parlante} and the accom- 

 panied, or, more properly, the obligato. In the 

 simple recitative, accompaniment also takes place, 

 but it consists only in simple accords, which are 

 given continuously, or interruptedly. In the obli- 

 gato recitative, the instrumental accompaniment 

 is of more importance. In the recitative, much is 

 left to the singer, in respect to time, rhythm, and 

 melody, which requires in him much musical judg- 

 ment and knowledge of harmony, in order to agree 

 with the obligato accompaniment. The force and 

 beauty of this species of composition depends, in a 

 considerable degree, on the character of the lan- 

 guage in which it is used. As that is more or less 

 accented and melodious, the more or less natural 

 and striking will be the recitative. The recitative 

 seems to be much older than the song. Giac. Pesi, 

 Cuccini, and Cl. Monteverde, are celebrated as 

 having introduced the modern recitative, and Cesti 

 and Giacomo Carissimi, masters of the papal 

 chapel, in the first half of the seventeenth century, 

 as improvers of the same. (See the article Opera.) 

 Leon, da Vinci and Nic. Porpora are said to have 

 first applied the obligato recitative. In the grand 

 and expressive recitative, Gluck and Handel are 

 the chief masters. In the modern opera, Mozart 

 is distinguished, also, in this respect ; for instance, 

 in his recitative between Tamino and the priest, in 

 the first act, and the great recitative in Don Juan, 

 ' Oh, heaven ! what see I ?" the latter is obligato. 



RECKONING, in navigation. See Navigation. 



RECOGNIZANCE, in law, is an obligation of 

 record which a man enters into before some court 

 of record, or magistrate duly authorized, with par- 

 ticular conditions ; as to appear at the assizes, or 

 quarter-sessions, to keep the peace, &c. 



RECOIL, or REBOUND; the starting back- 

 ward of a fire-arm after an explosion. This term 

 is particularly applicable to pieces of ordinance, 

 which are always subject to a recoil, according to 

 the sizes and the charges which they contain. To 

 lessen the recoil of a gun, the platforms are gene- 

 rally made sloping towards the embrasure. 



RECONNOITRE (from the French") means, in 

 military language, to inform one's self by ocular 

 inspection of the situation of an enemy, or the 

 nature of a piece of ground. It is one of the most 

 important departments of the military art, and must 

 precede every considerable movement. A pene- 

 trating eye, an acute ear, a calm and sagacious 

 judgment, and much knowledge of military opera- 

 tions, are indispensable for rcconnoitering with 



