RAJ 



aiv at other times prominent, are with- 

 drawn into their sockets, a circumstance 

 very naturally attaching both to the con- 

 densation and discharge of the subtle flu- 

 id. Specimens have been seen of this 

 fish weighing fifty and even eighty 

 pounds. It commonly lies in forty fa- 

 thom water, and is supposed to stupify 

 its prey by this extraordinary faculty. It 

 is sometimes nearly imbedded in the 

 sands of shallows, and is stated, in these 

 cases, to give to any one who happens to 

 tread upon it, an astonishing and over- 

 whelming shock. On dissection, it was 

 found to exhibit no material difference 

 from the general structure of the ray, 

 excepting with respect to the electric or 

 galvanic organs, which have been minute- 

 ly examined and detailed by the cele- 

 brated anatomist, John Hunter. He states 

 them " to be placed on each side of the 

 cranium and gills, reaching thence to 

 each great fin, and extending longitudi- 

 nally from the anterior extremity of the 

 animal to the transverse cartilage which 

 divides the thorax from the abdomen." 

 From the whole description, it appears, 

 that these organs, as Mr. Shaw observes, 

 constitute a pair of galvanic batteries, 

 disposed in the form of perpendicular 

 hexagonal columns ; while, in the gym- 

 notus electricus, the galvanic battery is 

 disposed lengthwise on the lower part of 

 the animal. It is stated, that the torpedo, 

 in its dying state, communicates shocks 

 in more than usually rapid succession, 

 but in proportional weakness, and in seven 

 minutes, in these circumstances, three 

 hundred and sixty small shocks were dis- 

 tinctly felt. On the same authority (that 

 of Spallanzani) it is reported, that the 

 young torpedo can exercise this power at 

 the moment after its birth, and even pos- 

 sesses it while a foetus, several of these 

 having been taken from the parent fish, 

 and been found to commmunicate per- 

 ceivable shocks, which, however, were 

 more distinctly felt when these animals 

 were insulated on a plate of glass. 



RAJ ANIA, in botany, so named in me- 

 mory of John Ray, our celebrated natu- 

 ralist ; a genus of the Dioecia Hexandria 

 class and order. Natural order of Sar- 

 mentuceae. Asparagi, Jussieu. Essential 

 character: calyx six-parted; corolla 

 none : female, styles three ; germ inferi- 

 or, three celled, with two of the cells ob- 

 literated ; seed one, with one wing. 

 There are seven species ; these are climb- 

 ing plants, by means of the stem twisting 

 tgwards the left; the root is tuberous; 



KAI 



the flowers in axillary spikes or racemes 

 They are all natives of the West Indies. 

 RAIL, in architecture, is used in differ- 

 ent senses, as for those pieces of timber 

 which lie horizontally between the pan- 

 nels of wainscot ; for those which lie over 

 and under the balusters in balconies, 

 staircases, and the like ; and also for those 



Eieces of timber which lie horizontally 

 om post to post in fences, either with, 

 poles or without. 



RAIL, (see RALLUS) ortyg-ometra, in or- 

 nithology, a genus of birds of the order ot 

 Grallx, the beak of which is shorter than 

 the toes : it is of a compressed form, and 

 terminated in a point ; but the two chapa 

 are equal in length. It is of the size of 

 the common magpie, and is an elegant 

 bird, of a bright- brown colour, variegated 

 with black spots ; it is common in rich 

 pastures, where its constant note is crex, 

 creoc. 



RAIN. See METEOROLOGY. 



RAIN gauge, a machine for measuring 

 the quantity of rain that falls. There are 

 various kinds of rain-gauges : that used at 

 the apartments belonging to the Royal 

 Society at Somerset-house, is thus de- 

 scribed. The vessel which receives the 

 rain is a conical funnel, strengthened at 

 the top by a brass ring twelve inches in 

 diameter. The sides of the funnel, and 

 inner lip of the brass ring, are inclined to 

 the horizon in an angle of more than 65, 

 and the outer lip is an angle of more than 

 50, which are such degrees of steepness, 

 that there seems no probability either 

 that any rain which falls within the funnel, 

 or on the inner lip of the ring, shall dash 

 out, or that which falls on the outer lip 

 shall dash into the funnel. 



Plate XIII. Misc. fig. 9, represents one 

 of the best construction of rain-gauges. 

 It consists of a hollow cylinder, having 

 within it a cork-ball attached to a wooden 

 stem, which passes through a small open- 

 ing at the top, on which is placed a large 

 funnel. When this instrument is placed 

 in the open air in a free place, the rain 

 that falls within the circumference of the 

 funnel will run down into the tube, and 

 cause the cork to float ; and the quantity 

 of water in the tube may be seen by the 

 height to which the stem of the float is 

 raised. The stem of the float is so gra- 

 duated, as to show by its divisions the 

 number of perpendicular inches of water 

 which fell on the surface of the earth 

 since the last observation. It is hardly 

 necessary to observe, that after every 



j 



