RED 



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RED 



rule. 1. A clergyman who has the charge 

 and cure of a parish, and has the tithes, 

 &c. : the parson of an unimpropriated 



parish. 2. The chief elective officer in 



some universities, and the head-master of 

 a principal school, in Scotland. 



REC'TUM (Lat.). The last portion of 

 the large intestines, so named by the old 

 anatomists from an absurd notion that it 

 was straight. 



RECUR'RENT, Lat. recurrens, returning. 

 A recurrent crystal is one whose facets 

 being counted, in annular ranges from 

 one extremity to the other, furnish two 

 different numbers, which succeed each 

 other several times, as 4, 8, 4, 8, &c. 



RECUR'RENT NERVE. A branch of the 

 par vagum, given off on each side, in the 

 upper part of the thorax, is so called be- 

 cause reflected so as to run along the 

 trachea to the larynx. 



RECUR'RINQ SE'RIES. In algebra, a se- 

 ries so constituted that each succeeding 

 term is connected with a certain number 

 of terms preceding it, by some invariable 

 law. 



RECUR'VATE, Lat. recurvattts, or recurvus, 

 recurved. Bowed or turned backward: 

 applied to leaves, &c. 



RECUR'VIROS'TRA (Lat.), from recurvus, 

 and rostrum, a beak. A genus of birds : 

 the Avosets, which approximate closely to 

 the Snipes, but are strongly characterised, 

 from these and all other birds, by the 

 strong upward curvature of their beak. 

 Order, Grallatoria; family, Longirostres, 

 Cuv. 



RE'CUSANT, from recusans, refusing. In 

 English history, the recusants are those 

 who refuse to acknowledge the supremacy 

 of the Crown in matters of religion. 



REDAN'. In fortification, a work in- 

 dented or formed with salient and re- 

 entering angles, so that one part may 

 flank and defend another : written some- 

 times redent and redens, from Lat. re- 

 cedens, receding. 



RED-BIRD. The name of several Ame- 

 rican birds, as the red summer bird, Tan- 

 ayra cestiva ; the red tanager, Tanagra 

 rubra ; the Baltimore oriole or hang- nest. 



RED BOOK OF THE EXCHEQUER. An an- 

 cient English record, containing various 

 treaties relating to the times before the 

 Conquest. 



RED COR'AI.. Corallium rubrum. A 

 branched zoophyte, somewhat resem- 

 bling, in miniature, a tree deprived of 

 its leaves and twigs. It consists of a 

 bright red stony axis, invested with a 

 fleshy substance of a pale blue colour, 

 studded over with stellular polypi. 



RED'DLE. Red chalk. A species of ar- 

 gillaceous iron ore, which occurs in 

 opaque masses, having a compact tex- 

 ture and hardness similar to chalk. The 

 beat comes from Germany. 



REDEEMABLE. Capable of redemption ; 

 that may be re-purchased. Annuities are 

 often, and debts are always redeemable. 

 Some annuities are self-redeeming^ 



REDEMPTION, from re and emo, to pur- 

 chase. Re-purchase. In law, a condi- 

 tional contract, whereby the equity of re- 

 entering lands, &c. ; is retained, on repay- 

 ing the purchase-money and legal charges. 

 REDEMP'TION ISTS. A religious order, 

 founded in Naples in 1732. 



RED-LEAD. Minium. A red oxide of 

 lead, generally regarded by chemists as a 

 sesquioxide. It is prepared by exposing 

 massicot for about 48 hours to the flame 

 of a reverberatory furnace. 



RED-LIO.UOR. A crude acetate of alu- 

 mina employed in calico-printing, and 

 prepared from pyrolignous acid. 



RED MARL. In geology, another name 

 for the new red sandstone. 



REDOUBT'. In fortification, a small fort, 

 mostly square, and defended only in front, 

 used in trenches, lines of circumvallation, 

 &c. Redoubts usually consist of two 

 parts, a rampart and parapet. 



RED SAUN'DERS. Santalum rubrum. A 

 wood capable of communicating a red 

 colour to spirituous liquors. The chief of 

 these woods (if not the only one), is that 

 of the Pterocarpus santalinus, which is 

 itself of a garnet-red colour and ex- 

 tremely hard. It grows on the Coro- 

 mandel coast and other parts of India, 

 especially Ceylon. The old wood only is 

 employed as a dye-stuff, and the colour- 

 ing matter which it yields is known to 

 chemists by the name of santaline. 



RED-SNOW. In botany, the uredo niva- 

 lis, a minute fungus of the arctic region 

 which gives the colour to the red snow. 



REDU'CINO SCALE. Surveying scale. A 

 broad thin slip of box or ivory, with 

 several lines and scales of equal parts 

 upon it ; used by surveyors for turning 

 chains and links into roods and acres by 

 inspection, and also for reducing maps and 

 draughts from one dimension to another. 



R.EDUCT'. In building, a quirk or a 

 little piece taken out of a larger, to make 

 it more regular and uniform. 



REDCC'TIO ADABSURDCM. SecAssuHDUM. 



REDUC'TION. 1. A reducing : reduco, to 

 reduce. In arithmetic, the bringing of 

 numbers of different denominations into 

 one denomination, as the reduction of 

 71. 5s. 8$d. to farthings. This is called 

 reduction descending: when the reverse 

 operation is performed, as bringing far- 

 things to pounds sterling, it is called re- 

 duction ascending. 2. In algebra, Sic., 



the reduction of equations is the clearing 

 them of all superfluous quantities and 

 bringing them to their lowest terms. The 

 same applies to surds, fractions, &o. - 

 3. In me'vHurgy, the operation of bring- 

 ing metallic substances, which \-,-t ve tortt 



