RAN 



613 



RAT 



on the side of iin elevated work, or against 

 a salient angle on each side of an enter- 

 ing angle. 



RAM'PANT, Fr. from ramper. In archi- 

 tecture, a term applied to an arch whose 

 abutments spring from an inclined plane. 

 In heraldry, a term applied almost exclu- 

 sively to the lion, when in the attitude of 

 attack, being reared on his hinder legs. 



RAM'FART, Fr. rampart. An elevation 

 of earth, &c., raised for the purpose of 

 covering a place from the direct fire of an 

 enemy. It is made of sufficient thickness 

 to resist cannon-shot, and is formed into 

 bastions, curtains, &c. The name is also 

 applied to the space left void between the 

 wall of a city and the houses next to it. 



RAMPHAS'TOS. In ornithology, the ge- 

 neric name of the Toucans, climbing birds 

 (Scansoria) , easily distinguished from all 

 other birds by their enormous beak, which 

 is almost as thick and long as their body : 

 hence the name from {etfiQos, a beak, by 

 way of pre-eminence. The Toucans are 

 confined to the hot parts of America, 

 where they live in flocks, feeding on fruit, 

 insects, birds' eggs, &c. 



RA'MCS. The Latin word for branch : 

 applied in botany to the primary division 

 of a stem into lateral stems. 



RA'NA. The frog. 1. A genusof Batra- 

 chians, having four legs in their perfect 

 state but no tail, although the young (the 

 tadpole), is at first furnished with a long 

 fleshy, tail. Rana is the Latin name, a 

 sua voce dicta ; ^oe.r^x.os > tne Greek 

 name. The tree-frogs and toads have 

 been separated from the genus as consti- 

 tuted by Linne. See HTLA and BUFO. 



2. In anatomy, the name of an artery ; 

 the second branch of the external carotid. 



RAN'DOM SHOT. A shot discharged with 

 the axis of the gun above the point blank 

 direction. 



RANGE, Fr. rangte. 1. In gunnery, the 

 path of a ball, &c., or the line which it 

 describes from the mouth of the piece to 

 the point where it lodges. Also the dis- 

 tance to which such ball or bomb is 



thrown. 2. In ships, the ranges are 



two pieces of timber, that go across from 

 side to side : the one on the forecastle a 

 little abaft the foremast, and the other in 

 the beak-head before the mouldings of 

 the bowsprit. 



RAN'NY. In England, the shrew-mouse. 

 In India, the wife of a rajah. 



RAN'TERS. Primitive Methodists, which 

 originated in Staffordshire, 1807, under 

 Hugh Bourne, who also wrote their his- 

 tory. The praying people, in returning 

 home (from camp meetings) were accus- 

 tomed to sing through the streets of Bel- 

 p?r, and this circumstance procured them 

 ttie name of Ranters. 



SUwrs'cuLus. Crowfoot. A very ex- 



tensive genus of herbaceous plants. Poly- 

 andriaPolygynia. Name from ratio, a 

 frog, because found in fenny places, where 

 frogs abound. The spearwort, least, small 

 and great, the pilewort,the golden locks, 

 with 12 other species, are indigenous in 

 Britain, and there are about 40 exotic 

 species. 



RANZ DE VACHE. In music, a favour- 

 ite national air among the Swiss shep- 

 herds, played upon the bag-pipes. 



RAPE. 1. A division of a country, mean- 

 ing sometimes the same as hundred, and 

 at other times signifying a division con- 

 sisting of several hundreds. 2. A bien- 

 nial plant of the turnip kind, the Sras- 

 sica najnis of botanists. It is indigenous, 

 and is cultivated partly for its seed, from 

 which an oil is expressed, and partly for 



its leaves as food for sheep. 3. A violent 



defloration of women. 



RAPE-CAKE. The adhering masses of 

 the husks of rape-seed, after the oil 

 has been expressed : commonly used for 

 manure. 



RAPHA'NIA. The Cripple-disease, so 

 named from raphanus, the radish or char- 

 lock, because it has been thought to be 

 brought on by eating the seeds of a species 

 of raphanus. It forms a genus in Cullen's 

 Nosology : class Neurosis : order Spasmi. 



RAPH'ANTS. The Radish: a genus of 

 plants. Tetradynamia Siliquosa. Name 

 pot,$otv<y;, borrowed from the Greek. The 

 wild and sea-radish are indigenous ; the 

 garden-radish is a native of China, &c. 



RA'PHE. Pajty. A suture. 1. Applied in 

 anatomy to parts which appear as if they 



were sewed together. 2. In botany, the 



vascular cord between the nucleus of an 

 ovule and the placenta, when their bases 

 are separated. 



RAPTO'RIOUS, from rapio, to snatch. An 

 epithet for animals which dart on their 

 prey, and also for certain parts of insects 

 adapted for seizing prey. 



RAREFAC'TIOJJ, from rare and facio, to 

 make. In physics, the diminution of the 

 density of a body, as of a gas by the 

 agency of heat, whereby it occupies more 

 space without accession of new matter. 



RA^KO'LNIKS, Russian, raskolo, divi- 

 sion. The largest body of dissenters 

 from' the Greek church in Russia. 



RASP. A description of file, on which 

 the cutting prominences are distinct, 

 being raised by punching with a point, 

 instead of cutting with a chisel. SeefiLH. 



RAT, Sax. met. A small quadruped. 

 The rats of this country are the Black 

 Rat, (Mus rattus, Lin.), and the Norway, 

 or Brown Rat, (Mug decumanus, Pall.) 

 In other countries there are Musk Rats, 

 (see FIBER), and Field Rats. See ARVICOLA- 



RATAFI'A, \ A generic name, in Frnnc" 



RATIFI'A. ) and Spain, for liquors com- 



