RAM 



R A M 



fiiiall indofuie, witli a couple of ewes only each, tw make 

 them rell quietly ; having the ewes of the flock broiiglit to 

 them (ingly, and leaping each only once. He thinks, by 

 this judicious and accurate regulation, a ram is enabled to 

 impregnate near twice the number of ewes he would do, it 

 turned loofe among them, efpecially a young ram. And 

 he adds, that, in the old practice, fixty or eighty ewes were 

 efteemed the full number for a ram : in the new, from a 

 hundred to a hundred and twenty are allowed. Seven fcore 

 have been ferved by one ram in a feafon : this is, however, 

 much too gi-eat a number. 



And while at ride, the treatment of the ram is merely that 

 of keeping him well, and free from diforders ; fuffcring him 

 to ferve no other than the hirer's own ewes, and of thefe 

 the limited number only, and to return him fafe when he has 

 done ; generally the beginning of December : or, if the hirer 

 nas met him on the road, (which is cuftomary,) the latter, 

 in return, meets him on his journey home. And the after 

 treatment confifts in driving, by CTcry devifeable means, to 

 reload his carcafc, and make him fat and handfome for the 

 cnfuing fhow, in order that he may be let again with advan- 

 tage. 



This is the whole of the plan that was purfued in that 

 diilrift, which has led the way to fo much improvement in 

 the breeding of (heep itock ; and from which the country 

 has derived^fuch vail benefits, and fuch a number of advan- 

 tages. But though the above praftices have not been lately 

 carried on to their former extent, they are ftill very con- 

 fiderable. See Sifeep. 



It is remarked, that the praftice of hiring rams in 

 Romney Marfh is not carried on with the fame degree of 

 fpirit as it is in Leicefterfhire, and that rams were of more 

 value for the hiring feafon fome time ago than they are at 

 prefent, efpecially when the crofs of the above county took 

 place, as then from twenty to one hundred guineas were fre- 

 quently given. One grazier fome time fince let rams to the 

 amount of twelve hundred guineas ; but the rage is now 

 over, the people not being fo foolifh as to be duped out of 

 their money, without the prolpeft of being repaid. It is 

 here the praftice with fome to ride their ram lambs ; but 

 they are faid always to be injured in their growth, if not in 

 their conilitutions and difpofitions, by it. When a ram 

 dies while at ride, the lofs falls on the owner, and, befide, 

 he is not paid for the riding. The time of paying is when 

 the rams are removed from the ewes. This is done by car- 

 rying them away in carts, or leading them by ropes. The 

 ram lambs are here now moftly felefted and laved, in fuch 

 numbers as are proper for the hirers. 



Some time before the riding feafon, the graziers call and 

 agree for the hiring or purchafing of rams, the general price 

 ufually from three to five guineas ; but a fupcrior one will 

 bring ten in particular cafes, though many good ufeful ones 

 let at three guineas. Some purchafe them to ride, and im- 

 mediately afterwards fell them in the markets. The rams, 

 which are to be hired, are here fhewn all together in pafture 

 fields, which is a difadvantageous method. 



In Suffex, until lately, ten guineas were the higheft price 

 that was heard of for the fale of any ram. Now fome let 

 many of their three -years old rams for fifty ; and inferior ones 

 at thirty, twenty, and ten guineas. Some have even been 

 let fo high as one hundred guineas. 



Ram is alfo a term ufed to fignify any thing which has 

 a ftrong fmell or ta(t» 



Ram, in yljtrotiony. See Aries. ^ 



Ram of M. Montgolfier, Hydraulic, in Mechnntcs, a ma- 

 chine for raifing water to any given height, which has lately 

 attrafted much attention in France. The firft perfon who 



employed this method was Mr. Whitehurft, and it wa» 

 afterwards improved by Mr. Boullon. Its conftructioii and 

 ufc may be iufficiently uiiderJlood by the following ftate- 

 rrent. It ferves to raife water by means of the momentum 

 of a ilream of water flowing through a long pipe. The 

 paflagc of the pipe being flopped by a valve, which is raifed 

 by the Ilream, as foon as its motion becomes fufficiently 

 rapid, the whole column of fluid mufl: necefiarily concen- 

 trate its aftion almod inllantaneoully on the valve, and in 

 this manner it lofes the charaileriltic property of hydraulic 

 prellure, and afts as if it were u fingle lolid ; fo that, fup- 

 pofiiig the pipe to be perfectly elallic and incxteiifible, the 

 impulie mull overcome any prellure, however great, that 

 might be oppofed to it ; and if the valve open into a pipe 

 leading to an air-vcilel, a certain quantity of the water will 

 be forced in, fo as to condenfe the air, more orlefs rapidly, 

 to the degree that may be required, for raifing a portion of 

 the water contained in it to any given height. Young's 

 Courfe of Leftures on Nat. Philof. vol. i. 



Ram, in Mythology, the name of the highelt god among 

 the Gentoos. When a widow offered herfelf to be burnt on 

 the funeral pile of her hulband, ftie was encouraged by the 

 prefence of a number of attendants, who formed a circle 

 around her, and offered her frefh betel, intreating that, as 

 file would in a fhort time appear with her hulband in the 

 prefence of Ram, or their higheft god, (he would fupplicate 

 for various favours for them ; and above all, that fhe would 

 falute their deceafed friends, whom fhe might meet in the 

 celellial abodes, in their names. 



Ram, Battering. See Ahies. 



Ram'/'A^o/'m, in Fortification, a name given by M. Beli- 

 dor to the tenailles. 



^K'si-Head, on board a Ship, the name of a great block 

 belonging to the fore and main halliards. It hath in it three 

 fhivers, into which the halliards are put, and at its head the 

 tyes are reeved inte a hole made there for that purpofe. 



KA}>i-Head, in Geography, a cape on the S. coall of Ire- 

 land, and county of Waterford; four miles E. of Youghal 

 bay. N. lat. 51° 56'. W. long. 7° 44'. — Aifo, a cape on 

 the S.E. coaft of New Holland. S. lat. 36° 56°. E. long. 

 149° 35'. — Alfo, a cape of England, on the S. coaft of 

 Cornwall, in the Englifh Channel, between Whitefand bay 

 and Plymouth found. N. lat. 50^ 19'. W. long. 4-' 12'. 



KAM-Normwz, a town of Perfia, in Chufiftan ; 65 miles 

 S.E. of Sillier or Shuller. — Alio, one of the moll romantic 

 vaUies in Perfia, which has been lately placed under the 

 beglerbeg of Bebahan. It is fifteen furfungs in length 

 (the furfung being eftimated at 3|- Englifh miles), and from 

 fix to eight miles in breadth. The river Jeraki, entering at 

 the eaftern extremity, flows through the centre of it, when 

 meeting the Kkaorkhankende, which defcends from the 

 mountains fix miles E. of the town of Ram-Hormuz, they 

 together force a paffage through a low ridge of hills, which 

 fkirt the valley to the fouth. This fertile fpot is, at pre- 

 fent, in the hands of five hoftile chiefs ; the firft of whom 

 is an Arab, who refides in a mean village, fituated at the 

 W. end of the valley, and built aniidft the ruins of the an- 

 cient city of Ram-Hormuz. The remaining four are Per- 

 fians, and brothers, who have each a caftle, or fortified vii- 

 lage ; from which they make frequent fallies, and carry off ■ 

 the corn and cattle of their rivals. A great battle was I 

 fought in this valley, between Artaxerxes Babegan, and 

 Artabanes, in which the former vvas viclorious, and firft 

 afl'umed the title of " Shah en Shah," or king of kings. 

 Kinr.eir's Perf. Emp. 1813. 



R.^m's IJland, an ifland in lough Neagh, Ireland, 

 about two miles from the fhore, and containmg about fix 



acres. I 



