ROA 



ROB 



made much greater in the beginning than 

 toward the end of its course, where it 

 should be almost insensible. 



RIVINA, in botany, a genus of the 

 Tetrandria Monogynia class and order. 

 Natural order of Holoracex. Atriplices, 

 Jussieu. Essential character : calyx four- 

 leaved, permanent ; berry containing one 

 lens-shaped seed. There are four species. 

 ROAD, an open way, or public passage, 

 forming a communication between one 

 place and another. The Romans took 

 the most pains in forming roads, and the 

 labour and expenses they were at in ren- 

 dering them spacious, firm, straight, and 

 smooth, is incredible. They usually 

 strengthened the ground by ramming it, 

 laying it with flints, pebbles, or sand, and 

 sometimes with a lining of masonry, rub- 

 bish, bricks, &c. bound together with 

 mortar. In some places in the Lionois, 

 F. Menestrier observes that he has found 

 huge clusters of flints cemented with 

 lime, reaching ten or twelve feet deep, 

 and making a mass as hard and compact 

 as marble, and which, after resisting the 

 injuries of time for 1600 years, is still 

 scarce penetrable by all the force of ham- 

 mers, mattocks, &c. and yet the flints it 

 consists of are not bigger than eggs. The 

 most noble of the Roman roads was the 

 Via Appia, which was carried to such a 

 vast length, that Procopius reckons it five 

 days journey to the end of it, and Leip- 

 sius computes it at 350 miles : it is 12 feet 

 broad, and made of square free-stone, 

 generally a foot and a half on each side ; 

 and though this has lasted for above 1800 

 years, yet in many places it is for several 

 miles together as entire as when it was 

 first made. 



The ancient roads are distinguished 

 into military roads, double roads, subter- 

 raneous roads, &c. The military roads were 

 grand roads, formed by the Romans for 

 marching their armies into the provinces 

 of the empire ; the principal of these 

 Roman roads in England are, Watling- 

 street, Ikenild-street, Foss-way, and Er- 

 minage-street. Double roads, among the 

 Romans, were roads for carriages, with 

 two pavements, the one for those going 

 one way, and the other for those return- 

 ing the other: these were separated 

 from each other by a causeway raised in 

 the middle, paved with bricks, for the 

 conveniency of foot passengers; with 

 borders and mounting stones 'from space 

 to space, and military columns to mark 

 the distance. Subterraneous roads are 

 those dug through a rock, and left vault- 

 ed t as that of Puzzoli near Naples, 



which is nearly half a league long, and 13 

 15 feet broad, and as many high. 



ROAD, in navigation, is a place of an- 

 chorage at some distance from shore, 

 where vessels usually moor, to wait for a 

 wind or tide proper to carry them into 

 harbour, or to set sail. When the bot- 

 tom is firm, clear of rocks, and sheltered 

 from the wind, it is called a good road ; 

 and when there is but little land on any 

 side, it is termed an open road. 



The roads in his Majesty's dominions 

 are free to all merchant vessels belong- 

 ing to his subjects and allies. Captains 

 and masters of ships, who are forced by 

 storms, &c. to cut their cables, and leave 

 their anchors in the roads are obliged to 

 fix marks, or buoys, on pain of forfeiting 

 their anchors, &c. Masters of ships 

 coming to moor in a road must cast 

 anchor at such a distance, as that the 

 cables, See. do not mix, on pain of an- 

 swering the damages ; and when there 

 are several vessels in the same road, the 

 outermost to the sea-ward is obliged to 

 keep alight in his lanthorn in the night- 

 time, to apprise vessels coming in from 

 sea. 



ROASTING, in metallurgy, the sepa- 

 ration of volatile bodies from those which 

 are more fixed, by the combined action 

 of air ami fire ; and is generally the first 

 process in the separation of metals from 

 their ores : it differs from sublimation 

 only in this, that in this operation the 

 volatile parts are dissipated, when re- 

 solved into vapours : whereas, in that 

 they are preserved. 



ROBBERY, is a felonious taking away 

 of another man's goods from his person, 

 or presence, against his will, putting him 

 in fear, on purpose to steal the same. The 

 value is immaterial. 



If a man force another to part with his 

 property, for the sake of preserving his 

 character from the imputation of having 

 been guilty of an unnatural crime, it will 

 amount to a robbery, even though the 

 party was under no apprehension of per- 

 sonal danger. If any thing is snatched 

 suddenly from the head, hand, or person 

 of any one, without any struggle on the 

 part of the owner, or without any evi- 

 dence of force or violence being exerted 

 by the thief, it does not amount to rob- 

 bery. But if any thing be broken or torn 

 in consequence of the sudden seizure, it 

 would be evidence of such force as would 

 constitute a robbery ; as where a part of 

 a lady's hair was torn away by snatching 

 a diamond pin from her head, and an ear 

 was torn by pulling off an car.ring ; each 



