S3G 



REGIOMONTANUS REGULUS. 



the various -ervices, may be stated at about 1800. 

 A colonel or lieutenant-colonel generally commands 

 H regiment. Artillery is also sometimes divided 

 into regiments in time of peace (e. g. in France and 

 !'iu>sia.) Regiments were first formed in France 

 in 155S, and in England in 1660. By the act of 

 c.iimic^ ot March 2. 1821, the military peace 

 establishment of the l/nited States of America is 

 composed of four regiments of artillery, consisting 

 each of nine companies, and seven regiments of in- 

 fantry, consisting each of ten companies ; each com- 

 pany consisting of forty-two privates. 



REGIOMONTANUS, whose real name was 

 John M tiller, and who, according to the custom of 

 his time, assumed that of Regiomontanus, in allu- 

 sion to the place of his birth, Konigsberg (King's 

 mountain), in Franconia, was born in 1436. He 

 exhibited great precocity of talent, and, having re- 

 ceived a classical education at Leipsic, placed him- 

 self under Purbachius (Peurbach), the professor of 

 mathematics at Vienna. Under so able an instruc- 

 tor, he made the greatest proficiency, and became 

 one of the first astronomers as well as mechanics of 

 that age. Regiomontanus, together with Pur- 

 bachius, accompanied cardinal Bessarion to Rome 

 in 1461, where Beza gave him further instructions 

 in Greek literature, which enabled him to complete 

 a new abridgment in Latin of the Almagest of 

 Ptolemy (Venice, 1496), and to correct many errors 

 in the former translation, made by George of Tre- 

 bizond. In 1471, he built an observatory at Nurem- 

 berg, and established a press ; but, after a stay of 

 little more than three years, returned to Rome, on 

 the invitation of Sixtus IV., who employed him in 

 the reformation of the calender, and rewarded his 

 services by raising him to the bishopric of Ratis- 

 bon. He died in 1476, according to some, of the 

 plague, according to others, by poison administered 

 by the son of George of Trebizond, out of revenge 

 for his having exposed the errors of his father. 

 Regiomontanus was the first in Germany to apply 

 himself to the cultivation of the neglected science 

 of algebra. He made great improvements in trigo- 

 nometry, into which he introduced the use of tan- 

 gents. His refutation of a supposed discovery of 

 the quadrature of the circle, and his numerous writ- 

 ings on various subjects of natural philosophy, dis- 

 play extensive learning and great acuteness. His 

 astronomical observations from 1475 to 1506 (under 

 the title Ephemerides) are very accurate. Of his 

 works, the most valuable are his Calendarium ; De 

 Reformations Calendarii ; Tabula magna primi 

 Mobilis ; De Cometce Magnitudine Longitudineyue ; 

 De Triangulis. His life has been written by Gas- 

 sendi (Opera, vol. v.) 



REGIUS PROFESSORS. Henry VIII. founded 

 five lectures in Oxford and Cambridge, viz. divinity, 

 Hebrew, Greek, law and physic, the readers of 

 which lectures are in the universities' statutes called 

 regii professores. Professors in other universities 

 who receive their appointments from the crown are 

 called regius professors. 



REGNARD, JOHN FRANCIS ; a comic poet, born 

 at Paris, Feb. 8, 1655. Having received a good 

 education, and being set free from restraint by the 

 death of his father, he went to Italy in 1676 or 

 J 077. He was fond of play, and, being very fortu- 

 nate, was returning home with a considerable addi- 

 tion of property, when he was captured by an 

 Algerine corsair, and, being sold for a slave, was 

 carried to Constantinople. His skill in the art of 

 cookery rendered him a favourite with his master ; 

 but at length he was ransomed, and returned home. 

 He did not, however, remain there long ; for in 

 April, 1681, he set off, in company with others, on 



a journey to Lapland, and after going as far north 

 as Torneo, he returned through Sweden, Poland, 

 and Germany. Regnard then retired to an estate 

 near Dourdan, eleven leagues from Paris, where 

 he died in September, 1709. He wrote an account 

 of his northern tour, a number of dramatic pieces 

 (the best of which are the Joueter, Ligataire Uni- 

 versel, Distrait, and Retour Imprevu), poems, and 

 other works, which have been often published, in 

 six vols., 8vo, and four vols., 12mo. 



REGINER, MATHURIN, a French satirist, was 

 born at Chartres in 1573, and died at Rouen in 

 1613. His poetical talents gained him powerful 

 friends, and the cardinal Frangoise de Joyeuse took 

 him to Rome, whither he also afterwards accompa- 

 nied the French ambassador Philippe de Bethune. 

 Some valuable benefices, which were conferred 

 upon him, enabled him to lead a life of ease and 

 pleasure, His works consist of satires, epistles, 

 elegies, odes, epigrams, &c.; but his satires, sixteen 

 in number, are the principal basis of his reputation. 

 Persius and Juvenal are his models, which he sur- 

 passes in the licentiousness of his pictures. His 

 colouring is vigorous, but his style is incorrect, 

 and his jests are often low and indecent ; yet lie is 

 not destitute of true poetical turns, delicate wit, and 

 a pleasing humour. 



REGNIER DESMARAIS, FRANCOIS SERAPHIN, 

 born in Paris in 1632, died in 1713. While yet at 

 college, he translated the Batrackomyomachia, and 

 after travelling in the train of several men of dis- 

 tinction, he became secretary of legation to the 

 duke de Crequi, French ambassador at Rome. 

 Such was his knowledge of Italian, that an ode 

 written by him in that language was believed to be 

 by Petrarch, and the academy della Crusca chose 

 him a member of their body. He was equally well 

 acquainted with the Spanish. In 1670, he was 

 admitted into the French academy, of which, in 

 1684, he became perpetual secretary. His labours 

 in the compilation of the Dictionnaire de I' Academic, 

 were of the greatest value, and he was the author 

 of the grammar which appeared under the name of 

 the academy in 1676. In his eightieth year, he 

 collected his poems under the title of Patsies 

 Francoises, Latines, Italiennes, et Espagnoies. 

 His historical works are of less value. 



REGULAR denotes any thing that is agreeable 

 to the rules of art ; thus we say a regular building, 

 verb, &c. A regular figure, in geometry, is one 

 whose sides, and consequently angles, are equal. 

 All regular figures may be inscribed in a circle. 



REGULATOR OF A WATCH; the small 

 spring belonging to the balance, serving to adjust 

 its motions, and make it go faster or slower. 



REGULUS, MARCUS ATTILIUS, a Roman general, 

 celebrated for his patriotism and devotion in the 

 service of his country, was made consul a second 

 time about 256 B. C., and with his colleague, 

 Manlius Vulso, commanded in the first war against 

 Carthage. Notwithstanding the little experience 

 which the Romans then had in naval warfare, the 

 consuls defeated a superior Carthaginian fleet, and 

 effected a landing in Africa. Here Regulus fol- 

 lowed up his victories so successfully, that in a 

 short time he presented himself before the capital 

 r of the enemy. Carthage, deprived of its fleet, and 

 not accustomed to military operations by land, sued 

 for peace. Regulus, more of a soldier than a poli- 

 tician, persisted, with the Roman haughtiness, in 

 his demand of unconditional submission. The 

 Carthaginians preferred to die rather than to accept 

 such terms, and at this juncture were joined by a 

 small body of Spartan volunteers under Xanthippus. 

 The Grecian general gave battle to Regulus under 



