RHE 



RHI 



lectcd all the might of his abilities to 

 strike as it were a finishing stroke. But 

 Quintilian, with his usual judgment, 

 warns his pupil against dwelling upon 

 this topic too long. " Time," says he, 

 " soon calms real griefs ; how much more 

 easily must it dissipate the illusory im- 

 pressions which act only upon the imagi- 

 nation. Let not then the pathetic strain 

 be too long continued. If this precept 

 be not well observed, the auditor is 

 fatigued ; he resumes his tranquillity, and 

 recovering from the transitory emotion, 

 he returns under the influence of reason. 

 We ought not, then, to suffer his feelings 

 to cool; and when we have carried them 

 as far as they can go, we ought to stop, 

 and not to deceive ourselves with the 

 idea, that the mind will for any long space 

 of time be sensible to emotions which are 

 foreign to it." 



When Roman eloquence was in its 

 most flourishing state, this oratorical sub- 

 division was an object of assiduous study ; 

 and in order to excite the feelings of the 

 audience, the orator had frequent re- 

 course to sensible objects. The weeping 

 relatives of the defendant, the wounds 

 which an accused person had received 

 in fighting the battles of his country, a 

 dagger, or a bloody robe : these exhibi- 

 tions were frequently resorted to, in or- 

 der to excite compassion, or to rouse in- 

 dignation. They are, however, so incon- 

 sistent with modern usages, and especi- 

 ally with the cool and phlegmatic tempe- 

 rament of our countrymen, that the most 

 consummate prudence and skill can 

 alone adopt any of them with effect. 

 Where a Burke has failed, he must be a 

 bold man who would repeat the experi- 

 ment. 



The precise nature of the conclusion 

 of any discourse must be determined in a 

 great measure by the nature of that dis- 

 course, and the circumstances in which 

 it is delivered. Sometimes it may be ex- 

 pedient to compress in it a repetition of 

 the substance of a long train of antecedent 

 argument ; on some occasions it should 

 assume the humble tone of pathos, and 

 on others it should rise into the dignity 

 of confidence : but in all cases, as Dr. 

 Blair properly remarks, " it is a matter 

 of importance to bring our discourse just 

 to a point ; neither ending abruptly and 

 unexpectedly, nor disappointing the 

 hearers, when they look for the close, 

 and continuing to hover round the con- 

 clusion till they become heartily tired of 

 us. We should endeavour to go off with 

 a good grace ; not to end with a lan- 

 VOL. V. 



guishing and drawling sentence ; but to 

 close with dignity and spirit, that we- 

 may leave the minds of the hearers warm, 

 and dismiss them with a favourable im- 

 pression of the subject and of the 

 speaker." 



RHEUM, in botany, rhubarb, a genus 

 of the Enneandria Trigynia class and or- 

 der. Natural order oflloloracea;. Poly- 

 goneae, Jussieu. Essential character : 

 culyx none ; corolla six-cleft, permanent ; 

 seed one, three-sided. There are seven 

 species, among which we shall not ice the 

 R. palmatum, officinal rhubarb : the root 

 is perennial, thick, of an oval shape, 

 sending off long tapering branches ; ex- 

 ternally it is brown, internally of a deep 

 yellow colour ; stem erect, round, hol- 

 low, jointed, from six to eight feet in 

 height ; root leaves numerous, large, 

 rough, of a roundish figure, deeply cut 

 into lobes and irregularly pointed seg- 

 ments ; on long foot-stalks ; stem leaves 

 one at each joint, from a membranaceous 

 sheath, successively smaller upwards ; 

 flowers surrounding the branches in nu- 

 merous clusters, forming a kind of spike ; 

 corolla of a greenish white colour. It is 

 a native of China and Tartary. At the 

 end of six or seven years, when the plant 

 seems to arrive at its most perfect state, 

 one pound of rhubarb may be obtained 

 from every five pounds of the green: 

 roots, besides an equal or larger pro- 

 portion of roots fit for family use. 



RIIEXIA, in botany, a genus of the 

 Octandria Monogynia class and order. 

 Natural order of Calycanthemse. MelaS- 

 tomje, Jussieu. Essential character: ca- 

 lyx four-cleft ; petals four, inserted into 

 the calyx ; anthers declining ; capsule 

 four-celled, within the belly of the calyx. 

 There are thirveen species : all these 

 plants are found wild in America. 



RHINANTHTJS, in botany, a genus of 

 the Didynamia \nginspermia class and 

 order. Natural order of Personatx. Pe- 

 diculares, Jussieu. Essential character : 

 calyx four-cleft, ventricose ; capsule two- 

 celled, blunt, compressed. There are 

 cicfM species. 



'RHINOCEROS, in natural history, a 

 genus of maiinwl5a of the order Ferae^ 

 Generic character : horn solid, perennial, 

 conical, seated on the nose, but not ad- 

 hering to the bone This quadruped is 

 exceeded in size only by the elephant. 

 Its usual length, not including the tail, is 

 twelve feet; and the circumference of 

 its body nearly the sume. Its nose is 

 armed with a horny substance, project- 

 ing, in the full grown animal, nearly three 



4 P ~~~- . - 



