R A G 



Jake Storfio, and in tlie province of Medclpadia, changes 

 its name to Indal. 



RAGUSA, a fnuU republic, fituated on tlie caftcrn 

 fliorcof tile Adriatic, and nevertliclefs regarded as an Italian 

 ftate. It has a population of about 56,000 perfons, on an 

 extent of 352 fquare miles. As tliis llate is adjacent to the 

 territory formerly belonging to the Venetians in Dalmatia, 

 its government was formed on tlie model of the Venetian 

 ariitocracy. Its religion is the Catholic, and its language 

 the Slavonic, though mott of the inhabitants Ipeak Italian. 

 The fee is archiepilcopal, with fix fuffragans, and its com- 

 merce is confiderable. The chief magillrate of the arifto- 

 cracy in this.ifland, called the " reftor," is changed every 

 month. Here is alio a council of ten, and a great council 

 compofed of all the nobles above twenty years of age, and 

 thefe nominate the " Prcgadi," a fenate of fixty, which 

 fuperintends all llate affairs, receives and deputes ambafla- 

 dors, and confers offices. The revenue of Ragn fa was for- 

 merly ettimated at a ton of gold, or about 10,000/. llerling. 

 This fmall republic has found it neceffary to engage the pro- 

 teftion of the Turks, for which it pays a tribute of about 

 20,000 fequins ; though the commerce is beneficial to the 

 Ottomans, in fupplying them with am.munition. Jealoufy of 

 their neighbours induces the Ragufans to (hut the gates of 

 their city, except for a few hours in tlie day. The capital is 

 Ragufa ; audit has been lately annexed, together with Dal- 

 rsatia, to the kingdom of Italy. It now (1814) probably 

 waits for a new allotment. The Ragufans have many coun- 

 try-houfes at Gravofa, another fea-port town. Stagno is 

 another little town, fubjedl to Ragufa. Of the Ragufan 

 ifles, the chief is Milet, or Melada, fertile in oranges, le- 

 mons, and good wine. On the north there is a tolerable 

 haven, with a town of the fame name. Three or four little 

 ifles in that neighbourhood alfo acknowledge the fovereignty 

 of Ragufa. 



Ragusa, the capital of the above-mentioned ifland, is an 

 ancient city, being the Ragufium of the Romans, and in 

 the tenth century it became the metropolis of Dalmatia. 

 In the 13th century it was conquered by the Venetians, and 

 afterwards for a time fubjedt to the crown of Hungary. 

 It is a well-built city, and its commerce is not inconfiderable. 

 The harbour might be rendered capable of a firm defence ; 

 and the circumjacent ifles are beautified by nature and art. 

 Earthquakes, however, have been terrible ; and that of 

 ,1667 dedroyed 6000 perfons ; 248 miles N.W. of Saloniki. 

 N. lat. 42° 58'. E. long. 18° 18'. 



Ragufa keeps accounts in ducats of 40 groffetti, each 

 groffetto being divided into 6 foldi ; but at the public, offices 

 accounts are moftly kept in perperi of 12 grofletti. For- 

 merly the ducat reprefented a real coin ftruck at Ragufa, and 

 had a fixed value ; but fince it has become a money of ac- 

 count, it is always equivalent to the Turkifli piaftre, and 

 therefore liable to a change of value. At Ragufa no gold 

 coins are Itruck ; its fdver are the old tallari or d611ars, com- 

 monly called Viflini or Ragufine, weighing i oz. 7 car. 

 (Ragufa wt.), containing 17 parts of pure filver to 13 of 

 alloy, and reckoned at i-i ducat, or 60 grofletti; but on 

 account of the depreciation of the ducat, the value of the 

 tallari has been proportionably raifed in weight. The new 

 tallari, called libertine, weighing i oz. 10 car. and "contain- 

 ing 9 parts of pure filver to 6 of alloy, was valued at 

 So groffetti. But fince the year 1796, ducats have been 

 coined of 40 groffetti, weighing i an ounce ; alfo perperi 

 of 12 grofletti, weighing 20 carats, and half perperi in pro- 

 portion : thefe three coins contain 9 parts of pure filver, 

 and 1 1 of alloy. The grofletti, none of which have been 

 lately coined, are ftill in circulation ; they weigh the 60th 



II A II 



part of an ounce, and bear the fame value with the paras 

 of Conltantinople. The dncat of 1796 is worth l^^J. 

 fterling, which is nearly the value of the Tarkifh piallrc. 

 The tallaro, or Ragnfiiia of 1759, '» worfethan the Enghfli 

 itandard 40Z. zdwt.; its weight is i8dwt. 7^ gr., con- 

 tent in pure filver 256.4 gr., and its value in fterling 2s. 1 if </. 

 That of 1794 is worfe 3 oz. i9dwt., its weight 18 dwt. 

 17! g""-! its content in pure filver 267.6 gr., and value in fter- 

 ling 3J-. lie/. The ducat of 1797 worfe 5 oz. 11 dwt. ; its 

 weight 8 <lwt. r/Jgr., content in pure filver 97 gr., and va- 

 lue in fterling u. l-^J. The tallaro or Ragufina has upon it 

 the head of the chief magiilratc, or reftor ; legend rector 

 REip. KiiACUsiN : reverfe, arms of the city, legend, nucAr. 

 ET SEM. REIP. RAC, 1. e. ducat and half of the republic of 

 Ragufa. Pieces of 1 794, &c. bear the head of a woman, with 

 RESPUBL. RHACUs., revcrfe, a fhield, with the word liber- 

 TAS, inclofed by two branches, over which is a crown, le- 

 gend, nucE dec fide et just. The ducat bears the whole 

 length of a bifliop, legend, auspicils tuis a dec : reverfe, 

 arms of the city, legend, ducat itEip. hhacu.sin.t;. 



The pound with which gold and filver are weighed at Ra- 

 gufa confilts of 12 ounces ; the ounce is divided into 6 faggi ; 

 the faggio into 22 carats, and the carat into 4 grains. But the 

 pound of commercial weight is equal to 5607 Englifh grains, 

 or 12 oz. I3dr. avoirdupois ; the former being 5062I Eng- 

 lifh grains. The ell of Ragufa meafures 227^ J'rench lines, 

 or 20i Englifli inches. Kelly's Un. Cambift. 



RAGWORT, in Botany. See Othonna, Senecio, 

 and SoLiDAGO. 



Ragwort, in Agriculture, a very pernicious plant of 

 the weed kind, which is fometimes termed feagrim. It has 

 a green ftalk in its early ftate, but, as it advances in age, in- 

 clining to violet or purple, efpecially downwards. Its 

 flowers are yellow, and thick-fet, and compofed each of a 

 number^pf fmall pointed leaves. It runs to feed in the latter 

 end of fummer. The fmell, both of the ftalk and leaves, 

 which are jagged, as well as the flower itfelf, are fo offen- 

 five to animals, as that hardly any will feed upon it, except 

 when almoft ftarved. 



It has been propofed to deftroy it by picking out the 

 roots, and feeding the land clofe with fheep. It moftly af- 

 fefts meadows and pafture lands when the foils are good. 

 RAHA, in Geography. See Jericho. 

 RAHABAH, or Rabba, town of Arabia Deferta, 

 near the Euphrates, on the road by which caravans travel 

 from Syria to the Arabian Irak ; no miles S.W. of Moful. 

 N. lat. 35° 5'. E. long. 40° 21'. 



Rahabah Melil Ben Tauk, a town of Afiatic Turkey, 

 in the province of Diarbekir, on the Euphrates ; 50 miles 

 S. of Kerkifich. 



RAHABY, a town of the defert of Syria, containing 

 about five or fix thoufand inhabitants, fituated on a plain, 

 furrounded with date-trees ; 70 miles N. of Mefghid Ali. 



RAHANPOUR, a town of Bengal ; 42 miles N.W. of 

 Nattore. 



RAHAPA, a fmall iiland in the Eaft Indian fea, near the 

 E. coaft of Borneo. N. lat. 4° 58'. E. long. 114^4'. 



RAHAS, in Ichthyology, a name given by fome authors 

 to the torpedo, or cramp-ii(h. 



RAHEINA, in Geography, a bay on the W. coaft of 

 Mowhee, one of the Sandwich iflands. N. lat. 20° 50'. 

 E. long. 203'' 19'. 



RAHEMAT, a large lake in the Arabian Irak, 90 

 miles in circuit, near Mefghid AH. 



RAHENSTEIN, a town of Bohemia, in the circle of 

 Saatz ; 19 miles S.W. of Saatz. 



RAHMANIE', a town, or rather village, of Egypt, 



huilt 



