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RICE. 



He was the author of numerous comedies, and trans- 

 lated several pieces from the French. \\ e huve 

 also by him an Histoire du Thtdtre Jtalien. His 

 wife Helen (born 16S6) distinguished herself on the 

 stage, and by her poetical compositions, which pro- 

 cured her admission into several Italian academies. 

 Their son Francesco, born at Mantua in 1707, died 

 at Paris in 1772, was more successful as a dramatic 

 writer than as an actor. Besides his comedies, 

 which were very popular, he wrote a work entitled 

 L Art du Thiatre (Paris, 1750). His wife, born at 

 Paris in 1714, is esteemed one of the best French 

 novelists. She suffered much from the neglect of 

 her husband, and died in poverty, in 1792. Her 

 complete works have been several times published 

 (best edition, Paris, 1818, 6 vols., 8vo.) 



RICE (oryza sativa). This important article of 

 food is now cultivated in all the warmer parts of 

 the globe. It was long known in the East before 

 it was introduced into Egypt and Greece. Pliny, 

 Dioscorides and Theophrastus mention it as being 

 brought from India; but it was little cultivated in 

 their time upon the borders of the Mediterranean. 

 It was introduced into Carolina about the year 1697, 

 and is now cultivated extensively in many parts of 

 the south of Europe. In Britain, the chief supply 

 ofrice is from Carolina ; and this is considered far 

 superior to the India rice, which is small, meagre, 

 and the grains frequently broken. Immense dis- 

 tricts of country would have remained desolate and 

 irreclaimable, if nature had not granted to a simple 

 grass the property of growing exclusively in inun- 

 dated and marshy grounds. It has altered the face 

 of the globe and the destiny of nations ; for there 

 can be no doubt that it is to this grain that the 

 Chinese and Hindoos owe their early civilization. 

 An immense population in those and the surround- 

 ing countries is now dependent on the rice crops , 

 and when these fail, thousands perish of hunger. 



The culm of the rice is from one to six feet 

 high, annual, erect, simple, round, and jointed; 

 the leaves are large, firm, and pointed, arising 

 from very long, cylindrical, and finely striated 

 sheaths ; the flowers are disposed in a large and 

 beautiful panicle, somewhat resembling that of the 

 oat. The seeds are white and oblong, but vary in 

 size and form in the numerous varieties. It is im- 

 portant to be acquainted with these varieties, in 

 order to choose which are best suited to certain 

 soils or localities ; some are preferable on account 

 of the size and excellence of the grains ; others, 

 from their great bearing, or the time of ripening ; 

 others, again, from their more or less delicacy with 

 respect to cold, drought, &c. The Hindoos, Chi- 

 nese, Malays, and the inhabitants of the neigh- 

 bouring islands have paid most attention to the 

 cultivation of these varieties. One species only of 

 rice is known. Rice can be profitably cultivated 

 only in warm climates ; and here it is said to yield 

 six times as much as the same space of wheat lands. 

 The Chinese obtain two crops a year from the 

 same ground, and cultivate it in this way from 

 generation to generation on the same soil, and 

 without any other manure than the mud deposited 

 by the water of the river used in overflowing it. 

 After the waters of the inundation have withdrawn, 

 a few days are allowed for the mud to become par- 

 tially dry ; then a small plot is enclosed by an 

 embankment, lightly ploughed and harrowed, and 

 the grain, previously steeped in dung diluted with 

 animal water, is then sown very thickly on it. A 

 thin sheet of water is immediately brought over it, 

 either by a stream or the chain-pump. In the 

 mean time, other spaces are preparing for being 

 planted in a similar manner. When the plants are 



six or seven inches high, they are transplanted in 

 lurrows made by the plough, so as to stand about 

 a foot apart every way : water is then brought 

 over them, and kept on till the crop begins to 

 ripen, when it is withheld ; so that when the har- 

 vest arrives the field is quite dry. It is reaped 

 with a sickle, threshed with a flail, or the treading 

 of cattle, and the husk is taken off by beating it in 

 a stone mortar, or passing it between flat stones, as 

 in a common meal mill. The first crop being cut 

 in May, a second is immediately prepared for, by 

 burning the stubble, and this second crop ripens in 

 October or November. After removal, the stubble 

 is ploughed in, which is the only vegetable manure 

 such lands can be said to receive. In Japan, Cey- 

 lon, and Java, aquatic rice is cultivated nearly in 

 the same manner. A rice plantation requires con- 

 stant attention. The proprietor must make daily 

 visits, in order to see that the various aqueducts, 

 flood-gates, and embankments of the different com- 

 partments are all in order, and that the water con- 

 stantly remains at the same height. The maturity 

 of the grain is ascertained by the yellowness of the 

 straw, and it is harvested much in the same manner 

 as other grains, with this difference, that in certain 

 districts the tops only are cut. Rice, when stowed 

 in the granary, is subject to the depredations of a 

 small curculio; but it is found that this insect 

 attacks it only when enveloped in the husks. 

 Aquatic rice is cultivated by the Chinese, even in 

 the midst of rivers and lakes, by means of rafts 

 made of bamboo, and covered with earth. Moun- 

 tain rice is cultivated on the mountains of the 

 eastern islands and of Cochin-China, much in the 

 same way as our barley ; but it is to be observed, 

 that it is planted at the commencement of the 

 rainy, and reaped at the beginning of the dry 

 season, and also that these mountains receive from 

 the atmosphere a much greater proportion of mois- 

 ture than lower districts. There is a kind of rice 

 hardy enough to grow on the edge of the Himalaya 

 snows, and which may probably, at some future 

 time, prove a valuable acquisition to the European 

 cultivator. Rice is even cultivated in the south of 

 Germany, and, from long culture in a compara- 

 tively cold country, has acquired a remarkable 

 degree of hardiness and adaptation to the climate 

 a circumstance which has frequently been alluded 

 to as an encouragement to the acclimating of 

 exotics: it is found that rice seeds direct from 

 India will not ripen in Germany at all, and even 

 Italian or Spanish seeds are much less early and 

 hardy than those ripened on the spot. A crop has 

 been obtained in England, on the banks of the 

 Thames. In some parts of the East, rice is freed 

 from the husks by immersion in hot water, by which 

 the grains are slightly swelled, and burst the enve- 

 lopes. 



As an article of diet, rice has been extolled as 

 superior to almost any other vegetable. Large 

 quantities are annually imported into Europe, and 

 it is highly esteemed in puddings and numerous 

 other culinary preparations. On account of its 

 being destitute of gluten, it cannot be made into 

 bread, like wheat. Indeed, on account of its ex- 

 cellence and cheapness, it claims attention us a 

 general article of sustenance for the poorer classes 

 of society ; as it is well known that a quarter of a 

 pound of rice, slowly boiled, will yield more than 

 a pound of solid and nutritive food. However, it 

 has been found that, in Europe, the poor constantly 

 reject the use of rice when potatoes are to be had , 

 and, in truth, it does not seem to be so well adapted 

 to European constitutions as that root. The inha- 

 bitants of the East obtain from rice a vinous li jiior, 



