804 



RHODE ISLAND RHONE. 



ridenie. Brown university is situated at Providence. 

 .\t tin- -aiiic \ -lace tliere is a seminary styled the 

 Friends' boarding-school, and tliere are eight or 

 ten academies in the state. (See Providence.) 

 -:.ite n<>\v jmys 10,000 dollars annually for the 

 support of tree ;>cliools ; and this sum is divided 

 among the several towns, according to their popu- 

 lation. This, however, affords but imperfect means 

 for the education of the poorer classes of society. 

 In 1831, the Baptists in Rhode Island had sixteen 

 churches, twelve ministers, 2600 communicants; 

 the Methodists ten preachers, 1,100 members ; the 

 'onirre^;itionalists ten churches, ten ministers, 1000 

 communicants ; the Unitarians two societies, two 

 ministers; the Sabbatarians about 1000 communi- 

 cants ; the Six-Principle Baptists about eight 

 churches, and 800 communicants. There are many 

 Friends, and some of other denominations. The 

 settlement of Rhode Island was commenced at 

 Providence, in 1636, by the celebrated Roger Wil- 

 liams, a minister, who was banished from Massa- 

 chusetts on account of his religious opinions. (For 

 further information respecting the history, see Provi- 

 dence, and New England}. 



RHODE ISLAND; an island situated in Nar- 

 raganset bay; lat. 41 25' N. ; Ion. 71 20' W. 

 The state of Rhode Island takes its name from this 

 island. It is about fifteen miles from north to 

 south, and three and a half wide, and is divided 

 into three townships, Newport, Portsmouth, and 

 Miililletown. It is a noted resort for invalids from 

 southern climates. The island is very fertile, plea- 

 sant, and healthful ; and many travellers call it the 

 Eden of America. It suffered greatly by the war 

 of the revolution, but has been, in a considerable 

 degree, restored to its former beauty and value. 

 About 40,000 sheep are fed on the island, besides 

 neat cattle and horses. There is a coal-mine on 

 the north part of the island, but the coal is not, at 

 present, much esteemed. 



RHODES ('Vaiif, from ^3, a rose, or from $*, 

 noise of waters) ; an island in the Grecian archipe- 

 lago, lying between Crete (Candia) and Cyprus, 

 ten miles from the southern coast of Asia Minor ; 

 thirty-six miles in length, and fourteen in breadth ; 

 450 square miles. Rhodes, was, in ancient times, 

 sacred to the sun, and was celebrated for its serene 

 sky, its soft climate, fertile soil, and fine fruits. 

 The republic of Rhodes was an important naval 

 power, and planted colonies in Sicily, Italy, and 

 Spain. The beauty and size of its works of art 

 were admired in all Greece, and it was much 

 visited by the Romans on account of them. The 

 commercial laws of the Rhodians were adopted, as 

 the basis of marine law, on all the coasts of the 

 Mediterranean, and some fragments of them still 

 retain their authority. (See Commercial Law.} 

 This rich and powerful republic took an important 

 {art in several of the Roman wars, and was 

 first made a Roman province in the reign of Ves- 

 pasian. In 1309, after the loss of Palestine, the 

 knights of St John occupied the island, and were 

 thence called the knights of Rhodes. In 1480, 

 they repelled an attack of the Turks, but, in 1522, 

 were obliged to surrender the island to Soliman II. 

 (See John, Knights of St). The population is dif- 

 ferently estimated, by Savary at 36,500, of which 

 about one third are Greeks, with an archbishop. 

 The island is governed by a pacha, who is under 

 the capudan pacha or high-admiral and governor of 

 the islands of the Archipelago. The revenue of 

 the sultan from the island is estimated at 90,000 

 piasters. The productions are corn, wine, oil, cot- 

 ton, fruits, wax, honey, &c. The capital, Rhodes 

 (Ion. 28 \2f E.; lat. 36 2C' N.), has a population 



of 60OO Turks. The suburb Neachorio is inhabited 

 by iiOOO Greeks, who are not permitted to reside 

 within the city. The town is surrounded by three 

 walls and a double ditch, and is considered by the, 

 Turks as impregnable. It has two fine harbours, 

 separated only by a mole. The celebrated colossus 

 probably stood here. See Colossus. 



RHODIUM ; a new metal, discovered among 

 the grains of crude platina by doctor Wollaston. 

 Its specific gravity is 11. It readily alloys with 

 every other metal, except mercury. One sixth of 

 it does not perceptibly alter the appearance of gold, 

 but only renders it more fusible. When pure, it is 

 brittle, and requires a much higher temperature for 

 its fusion than any other metal, unless it be indium. 

 It is insoluble in all acids. Doctor Wollaston made 

 silver pens, tipped with rhodium, which, from iis 

 great hardness, were not liable to be injured by 

 use. 



RHODODENDRON MAXIMUM,or DWARF 

 ROSE BAY ; one of the most ornamental shrubs 

 of North America. It is generally about ten feet 

 high, but sometimes reaches to twenty or twenty- 

 five, with a trunk four or five inches in diameter. 

 The leaves are large, oval, oblong, coriaceous, 

 smooth, and shining ; the flowers large, rose- 

 coloured, with yellow dots on the inside, and are 

 disposed in an elegant terminal cluster. It is most 

 abundant about the Alleghany mountains, where it 

 sometimes forms impenetrable thickets, presenting 

 a magnificent appearance when in flower. The 

 wood is hard, compact, and fine-grained, but infe- 

 rior, in these respects, to that of the mountain- 

 laurel, and has not hitherto been applied to any 

 useful purposes. Two other species of rhododen- 

 dron inhabit the more southern parts of the Alle- 

 ghanies. The species of rhododendron are shrubs, 

 with alternate, entire, evergreen leaves, and orna- 

 mental flowers, usually disposed in terminal corymbs. 

 About eighteen species are known, which inhabit 

 the cold and temperate parts of the northern hem- 

 isphere, and especially mountainous districts. One, 

 the R. Lapponicum, grows as far north as civilized 

 man has penetrated, and, in common with other 

 arctic plants, is found, within the United States, 

 only on the summits of the White mountains of New 

 Hampshire. An Oriental species, sometimes seen 

 in our green houses, resembling the R. maximum, 

 but with brilliant scarlet flowers, hardly yields in 

 magnificence to any production of the vegetable 

 creation. All the species are cultivated in gardens 

 on account of the beauty of their flowers. 



RHONE (Rhodanus); a great river in the south 

 of Europe, which rises in the central and highest 

 part of Switzerland, at the foot of mount Furca, 

 only five miles from the source of the Rhine. It 

 flows in a western direction through a long and 

 wide valley of the Swiss canton of the Valais, and, 

 being swelled by a number of mountain streams, it 

 passes through the lake of Geneva. Flowing 

 southward, and being joined by the Saone and 

 other streams, such as the Isere, the Drome, the 

 Ardeche, and the Durance, it discharges itself, 

 after a course of nearly 500 miles, by three mouths, 

 into the part of the Mediterranean called the gulf 

 of Lyons, where its branches form the island of 

 Camargue. The principal cities on the Rhone are 

 Geneva, Lyons, Vienne, Avignon, Beaucaire, and 

 Aries. It is the most rapid river of Europe. The 

 navigation down the stream is easy, but the upward 

 can be performed only by draught or steam. (See 

 Canals.) It carries down large quantities of earth, 

 which it deposits at its mouth. Below Lacluse, 

 the river plunges, with great noise, into a cavity of 

 the rocks, and disappears for the distance of sixty 



