R A I 



R A 1 



wliich arc covered at their bafo by a bluei(h-brown flvin ; the 

 under part of the body is pale or whitifh. 



AiiNAK. Body orbicular, filvery ; tail round, witho\it 

 a fin, and furniflicd with two fpines. It ir.habits the Red 

 fea ; the teeth are 



Nat. Ord. Sarnuntaecx, Linn, ^j'pa 



granulate. 



C. Uncertain. 



OM.MivS«ni;i[|T. Tail round and fpoUed. It inhabits 

 the Red fea, and very much refembles the R. p.iftinaca. 



T.A.rAUA. Tail round; body beneath fnowy. It in- 

 habits the Red fea. When juft taken, it beats violently 

 with its lins. 



ScilouKiE. Body u ith a feu- remote fpines. It in- 

 habits the Red fea. Tiic Arabians ma.kc fcabbards for 

 tlieir fwords out of its (Icin. 



MuLA. Beneath fnowy ; tail round, variegated. It in- 

 liabits the Red fea, and approaches the fhores by night. 

 The fpine on its tail inflifts a danir^rous wound. 



Rapk.n.sis. Back witli a fingle fni ; the tail is fhort, 

 pinnate at the end ; the body is imooth and unarmed ; and 

 the fnout is a little obtufe. It inhabits near the Cape of 

 Good Hope, is fhaped fomething like the torpedo, except 

 that it has a fin on the back. The body is fmall and orbi- 

 cular ; above it is convex, beneath flat. 



RA.TABARRY, in Geography, a town of Bengal ; lo 

 miles S. of Dacca. N. lat. 23^ 24'. E. long. 90^ 2^6'. 



RAJACOTTY, a town of Thibet ; 60 miles N.N.W. 

 of Sirinagur. 



RA.TAGUNGE, a town of Affam ; 16 miles S. of 

 Gentiah. 



RAJAGIIR, a town of Hindooftan, in Bahar ; 35 miles 

 • W.S.W. of Gayah. — Alfo, a town of Hindooftan, in 

 Guzerat ; 10 miles N.E. of Champaneer. 



RAJAHUN, a town of Hindooftan, in the circar of 

 Cicacole ; 12 miles W. of Cicacole. 



RAJAKERA, a town of Hindooftan, in tlie province 

 , of Agra. 



RAJAMUNDRY, a circar of Hindooftan, bounded 

 on the N. by the cn-car of Cicacole and Golconda, on the 

 E. by the bay of Bengal, on the S. by the circar of Ellore, 

 and on the W. by Golconda. It is croffed by the Bain 

 Gonga from N. to S. — Alfo, the capital of the above- 

 mentioned circar, fituated between Ellore and Cicacole, on 

 the Godavery. Its principal riches confift of forefts of 

 teak-wood. N. lat. 17°. E. long. 81° 57'. 



RAJANAGUR, a town of Bengal ; 25 miles S. of 

 Dacca — Alfo, a town of Hindooftan, in the circar of Ra- 

 jamundry ; 7 miles N.E. of Rajamundry. 



RAIANIA, in Botany, fo called in honour of our im- 

 mortal naturalift, the Rev. John Ray, the moft accurate in 

 obfervation, the moft philofophical in contemplation, and 

 the moft faithful in defcription, amongft all the botanifts of 

 his own, or perhaps any other, time. His life will be given 

 hereafter, in its proper place. Plumier, who eftabUftied 

 this genus, finding the name Rata preoccupied by zoolo- 

 gifts, contrived to call the plant Jan-i?tf!a; which Linnaeus 

 turned about into Re!Jama,.^\\\ retaining the idea of the 

 Chriftian name, combined with the other. But fuch an 

 idea is ludicrous to Englifh ears, and is happily not, in 

 general, perceived. We prefume to alter the orthography 

 in one letter, writing the word as it is always pronounced, 

 and deducing it regularly from the Latin Ralus, by which 

 name the perfon commemorated is known all over the 

 literary world. — Plum. Gen. 33. t. 29. Linn. Gen. 525. 

 Schreb. 692. Willd. Sp. PI. v. 4. 788. Mart. Mill. 

 Did. V. 4. Ait. Hort. Kew. v. 5. 391. Juft'. 43. La- 

 marck Illuftr. t. 818. Gaertn. t. 14.— Clafs and order. 



Dinfcia Hcxandila. 

 ra^'i, JufT. 



Gen. Ch. Male, C,d. Perianth bell-fhaped, in fix deep, 

 oblong, pointed fegmcnts, moft fpreading in their upper 

 part. Cor. none. Stam. Filaments fix, briille-lhapeu, 

 ihorter than the calyx ; anthers finiple. 



Female, Cal. Perianth fuperior, of one leaf, bell-fliaped, 

 in fix deep fegments, permanent, withering. Cor. none. 

 Ptjh Germcn inferior, comprefTod, with a prominent bor- 

 der at one fide, three-celled ; ft vies three, the length of the 

 calyx ; ftigmas obtufe. Pcric. Capfule membranous, of 

 three cells, without valves, crowned by the calyx ; two of 

 the cells barren, almoft obliterated, without wings ; the 

 third fertile, comprefi'ed, extended into a very large, half- 

 ovate, membranous wing. Seed folitary, nearly elliptical, 

 compreftl-d. 



EfT. Ch. Male, Calyx in fix deep fegments. Corolla 

 none. Female, Calyx in fix deep fegments. Corolla 

 none. Styles three. Capfule membranous, with one wing. 

 Seed folitary. 



Seftion I . Leaves fimpk. 



\. R. hnjlnta. Halberd-leaved Raiania. Linn. Sp. 

 PI. 1461. (Jan-Raia fcandens, folio oblongo, angullo et 

 auriculato ; Plum. Gen. 33. Bryonia fru6tu alato, foliis 

 auriculatis ; Plum. Amer. 84. t. 98.) — Leaves haftate ; 

 fonievvhat heart-fhaped at the bafe. — Gathered by Plumier, 

 about Port-de-paix in the ifland of Hifpaniola. Root peren- 

 nial, fometimes large and ovate ; fometimes four or five 

 inches longj, and two thick, round at each end, like a fau- 

 fage. Its fubftance refembles that of a radifii, without any 

 internal fibres ; the bark thin, afh-coloured, a little rugged 

 and warty ; the flefii very white, tailing like a bean. This 

 root throws up only one very {lender, long, climbing, 

 fm'ooth, knotty Jlem, thickeft at the bafe, where it is ac- 

 companied by feveral fibrous radicles. We prefume it to 

 be annual. I^eaves fcattered, fpreading, on fhort ftalks, 

 fmooth and membranous, about three inches long ; heart- 

 ftiaped, dilated, abrupt, and feven-ribbed at the bafe ; then 

 fuddenly elongated into a nearly linear, entire, central, 

 three-ribbed lobe, bluntirti, with a fmall point ; the under 

 fide paler, and rather downy. Supulas in pau-s, awl-(haped, 

 minute. Flo-wcrs fmall, whitifh, in fimple, axillary, droop- 

 ing clufters. BraSeas minute, ovate, acute, folitary at the 

 bafe of each partial ftalk. Fruit, as Plumier fays, Lke half 

 that of a maple-tree, of a filvery hue when young, but after- 

 wards tawny. 



2. R. cordata. Heart-leaved Raiania. Linn. Sp. PI. 

 1461. Ait. n. I. (Jan-Raia fcandens, foliis tamni ; Plum. 

 Ic. 148. t. 155. f. I.) — Leaves ovate; fomewhat heart- 

 fhaped at the bafe ; feven-ribbed. — Native of the Weft 

 Indies, from whence it was lent to Kew garde.n, in 1786, 

 by Mr. Alexander Anderfon. It flowers in the ftove in 

 July, and we cannot but wi(h fome .accurate botanift would 

 publifh a good figure and defcription of the plant, out of 

 refpeft to its name. Plumier reprefents the habit of the 

 root, Jlem, &c. much hke the foregoing ; but the haves are 

 regularly ovate, pointed, more or lefs heart-fhaped at their 

 bale, and fumifhed with feven ribs continued from that part 

 to the point. Thefe ribs are connected by numerous tranf- 

 verfe veins. Inflorefcence, flowers, and fruit, much as in 

 R. hajlata, but having feeo no fpecimen, we can fay nothing 

 refpefting the Jlipulas or braSeas, none of which are noticed 

 in the plate. 



3. R. ovata. Ovate-leaved Raiania. Swartz Ind. Occ. 



V. I. 638. Mart. Mill. Dia. n. 4. — " Leaves ovate, 



pointed, three-ribbed." — Native of bufhy places, on the 



hills of Hiipaniola. Stevi ftirubby, twining, thread-fliaped, 



X X 2 ' fubdivided} 



