REA 



615 



R EB 



is the largest of the Passerinae which in- 

 habit Europe. It is found in most parts 

 of the globe ; is easily tamed, and may be 

 taught to speak tolerably well. 



RAV'ISSANT, in heraldry, expresses the 

 posture of a wolf half raised, as it were, 

 just springing forward on its prey. 



RAT, Fr. rate. 1. A line of light, pro- 

 ceeding from a radiant point through a 

 translucent medium. It issupposed to be 

 described by a particle of light. A collec- 

 tion of parallel rays constitute a beam, 

 and a collection of diverging rays form a 

 pencil. The mixed solar beam contains, 

 (1.) calorific rays, producing heat and ex- 

 pansion, but not vision or colour; (2.) 

 colorific rays, producing vision and colour, 

 but not heat or expansion ; (3.) chemical 

 rays, producing certain effects on the 

 composition of bodies, but neither heat, 

 expansion, vision, or colour; (4.) mag- 

 netic rays, inducing magnetism. This last 

 power seems to belong to the violet rays. 

 2, In ichthyology, see RAIA. 



RAT'AHS. The non-Mohammedan sub- 

 jects of Turkey. 



RAT'ONNANT, in hwaldry, signifies dart- 

 ing forth rays, as the sun does when it 

 shines out. 



RATS, Lat. radii. In botany, the spread- 

 ing marginal florets of a compound radiate 

 flower. 



RAZE'E (Fr.). Applied to any vessel cut 

 down to an inferior class. 



RA'ZOR-BACK. In ichthyology, one of the 

 largest species of the whale tribe, being 

 sometimes found above ninety feet long. 



RA'ZOR-BIIL. Cut- water. 1. An aquatic 



fowl, the Alca tarda, Lin. 2. The same 



name has been given also to the Black 

 Skimmer, the JRhynchops nigra, Lin. from 

 the Antilles. 



RE. In grammar, an inseparable parti- 

 cle, used by the Latins, and from them bor- 

 rowed by us, to denote iteration, or back- 

 ward action ; as in return and reaction. 



REACH. Among seamen, the distance 

 between two points on the banks of a 

 river, in which the current flows in a 

 straight course. 



REAC'TION. In physics, the reciproca- 

 tion of any impulse or force impressed, 

 made by the body on which impression is 

 made. Thus it is a law that action and 

 reaction are equal and contrary. 



REA'DER. In ecclesiastical affairs, one of 

 the five inferior orders in the Romish 

 church. In the English church, a deacon 

 who conducts divine service in churches 

 and chapels, where no one has the cure. 



REA'GENTS, Tests. Aname,in chemii- 

 try, for those substances which are used to 

 discover the presence of other substances 

 in solution. Thus hydrochlorate of baryta 

 (solution of chloride of barium) is a re- 

 agent or test for the presence of sulphuric 

 acid in solutions. See TEST. 



REAGGRAVA'TION. In ecclesiastical law, 

 the last monitory, published after three 

 admonitions, and before the last excom- 

 munication. 



RE'AL, Lat. rartis, from res, thing. 1. In 

 law, pertaining to things fixed, perma- 

 nent, or immoveable. Thus lands and te- 

 nements are called real estate, in contradis- 

 tinction to personal or moveable property. 

 A real action concerns real estate, and 



real assets consist in real estate. 2. In 



Spain, the name of a silver coin (real of 

 plate), varying in value from 6jd. to 5d., 

 and also of a money of account (a real 



vellon) worth about 2jd. to 3d. 3. The 



doctrine of the real presence. See TRAN- 



SCBSTANTIATION. 4. Real property, in 



law, consists in lands, tenements, and he- 

 reditaments. 



REAL'GAR. Red orpiment. A native 

 sulphuret of arsenic (arsenic 70, sulphur 

 30), of a red colour, sometimes employed 

 as a pigment. It occurs in primitive 

 mountains. 



RE'ALISTS. Scholastic philosophers, who 

 maintained that things, not words, were 

 the objects of dialectics : opposed to the 

 nominalists. 



REAM (Saxon). A quantity of paper. 

 The ream of writing, &c., paper is 20 

 quires ; but a. printer's ream is 21J quires 

 (516 sheets). Two reams make a bundle. 



REAP'ING-MACHINE. An implement of 



husbandry for cutting down corn, instead 

 of reaping it with the sickle. 



REA'SON, Sax. raed, from raeswian. 1. 

 The power or faculty of the mind by 

 which man deduces one proposition 

 from another, or proceeds from premises 

 to consequences, and from facts to causes. 

 ^2 Exercise of reason ; reasoning. 



REBA'TE. 1. In commerce, discount or 



deduction from the stipulated price. 



2. In heraldry, an abatement of the bear- 

 ings in a coat of arms. 3. In architec- 

 ture, a groove sunk on the edge of any 

 piece of material. 



REBECK', Ital. ribeca. A three-stringed 

 fiddle. 



REBEI/LION, from re, and bello, to war. 

 An open and avowed renunciation of 

 the authority of the government of 

 one's own country ; differing from insur- 

 rection, which may be a rising in oppo- 

 sition to a particular law or acts, with- 

 out design to renounce wholly all 



