R A M 



K A M 



decoration, appear ranges of finall femicireular arches 

 fpringing from plain oftagon pillars ; the capitals of the piers 

 which lupport it alfo difplaying feme curious f( ulpture. 

 Among the fcpukhral memorials here, arc fcveral in memory 

 of the Sparkhngs of Ellington, and the Manftons of Man- 

 fton-court, an ancient manlioii, fituated about two miles to 

 the north- weft of St. Lawrence, now converted into a farm- 

 houfe. Minfter, another village in this vicinity, derives its 

 name from a church or nunnery founded here in 670, by 

 Domneva, wife to Merw:ild, fon of Penda, king of Mercia. 

 Ih the early part of life (he had been left, with her fifter 

 Ermengitha, and her brothers Ethelred and Ethclbr^ght, 

 under the guardianfhip of her uncle Egbert, king of Kent, 

 who murdered the princes, and in expiation of the crime 

 offered to give to Domneva whatever fhe (hould afl<. The 

 lady demanded as much land as a tame deer would run over 

 at one courfe, to endow a monaftery, which was accordingly 

 granted to her. When her buildings wereraifed, fhe placed 

 therein 70 nuns, and, taking the veil herfelf, became their 

 firft abbefs. She was fuccecded by her daughter St. Mil- 

 dred, from whom the abbey afterwards was denominated St. 

 Mildred's abbey. This ellablifhment was frequently plun- 

 dered by the Danes during the eighth and ninth centuries, 

 and at length was fet fire to, and totally deftroyed, together 

 with the nuns, the clergy, and many of the people who had 

 fled hither for fanftuary. The poffeffions of this abbey were 

 fubfequently granted to the monks of the monaftery of St. 

 Auguftine, in C.uiterbury, by king Canute, and by them 

 the body of St. Mildred was removed to their own abbey. 

 The parifh church of Minfter, which occupies the fcite of 

 the ancient nunnery, appears to have been originally founded 

 about the time of the conqueft, but it has undergone many 

 alterations, and confequently exhibits various ftyles ofarchi- 

 tefture. The nave, which is the oldeft portion of it, is 

 divided from the aides by fcmi-circular arches fpringing from 

 ftiort maflive columns. The chancel is vaulted with ftone, 

 as is likewife part of the tranfept. Beauties of England and 

 Wales, vol. viii. by E. W. Brayley. Hiftory of Kent, by 

 Edward Hafted, efq., 8vo. edit. vol. x. Lewis's Hiftory 

 of the Ifle of Thanet, 4to. 



RAMSHAGUR, a town of Bengal ; 5 miles S. of Di- 

 nagepour. 



RAMSHYDA, a town of Sweden, in the province of 

 Nericia ; 28 miles N. of Orebro. 



RAMSIN, a town of Saxony ; 3 miles W. of Bitter- 

 feld. 



RAMSONS, in Botany, a name given to the broad- 

 leaved wild allium. See Allium. 



RAMSTADT, in Geography, a town of HefTe-Darm- 

 ftadt ; 3 miles S.E. of Darmftadt. 



RAMTCHIEU, a lake of Thibet, formed by t^ree 

 feparate rivulets, and furrounded with an incruftation, ot a 

 white colour and faltifti tafte. This fubftancc is collefled 

 and employed for cleanfing and wafhing woollen and cotton 

 cloths, as a fubftitute for foap, to which the inhabitants of 

 the adjacent country are utter ftrangers. Near this lake is 

 a large monaftery, called Lubchea Goomba, feated amidft 

 rocks, which protrude their bafes into the lake, and are 

 bordered with a white foam, produced by its agitated waves. 

 The banks of this lake are perforated with innumerable bur- 

 rows of a imall animal, to which they give the name of rat, 

 larger than a mufk rat, of a cinereous grey, without a tail, 

 conceived by Mr. Turner to have been the daman of Ifrael 

 and Egypt, or the Schaphan of the Hebrews. The lake is 

 nlfo frequented by great abundance of water-fowl, vi'ild 

 geefe, ducks, teal, and ftorks, which, on the approach of 

 winter, take their flight to milder regions. Prodigious 



numbers of fauraiTes, the largeft fpecies of the crane kind, 

 are here feen at certain feafons of the year, fo that any 

 quantity of eggs may be coUefted. The lake gradually 

 narrows, and from its northern edge fends off a fmall brook ; 

 and at the other extremity it difcharges itfelf into a much 

 larger lake. This lake, it is faid, is lield iu high refpeft 

 by the inhabitants of Bootiui, whofe fuperftition leads theni 

 to confider the increafe or decrcafe of its waters as por- 

 tentous of good or evil to their nation. They fancy it to 

 be a favourite haunt of their chief deities. Turner's Thibet, 

 p. 212, &c. 



RAMTEAK, or Ramtegu, a town of Hindooftan, in 

 the circar of Goondv.'ana, held facred by the Hindoos, who 

 pretend that Ram collefted his army here, prior to his ex- 

 pedition ap" nil Rawun at Lanka, or Ceylon. The Hin- 

 doos believe all the Europeans to have defcended from 

 Rawun, and Ceylon to be an immenfe mountain ot gold in- 

 vifible to them. Near the town is a temple, in which they 

 offer up their facrifices and devotions; 15 miles N.E. of 

 Nagpour. N. lat. 21" 23'. E. long. 79° 57'. 



RAMTRUT, in Mythology, the name of a deity wor- 

 ftiipped by the Kanazins, a people of Hindooftan, where 

 he has a celebrated temple, at Onor. The charafters under 

 which he is reprefented more refemble thofe of a monkey 

 than of a man. ' 



RAMULOSE Leaf, in Botany. See Leaf. 

 RAMUNDA, or RoMLA Boda, in Geogru.phy, a town 

 of Sweden, in Nericia. 



R AMU RAH. See Ramgur. 

 RAMUS, Petek, in Biography. See Ramists. 

 Ramus, in Anatomy. This word, fignifying braneh, 

 and the term ramification, are ufed in defcribing the arteries, 

 veins, and nerves, the divifions and fubdivifions of which 

 bear fome analogy to the branching of a tree. In the fame 

 way we fpeak of trunhs of arteries, &c. and defcribe them 

 as branching out. 



Ramus, in the Anatomy of Plants, a name given to the 

 firft or lateral branches, which go off from the petiolum, or 

 middle rib of a leaf. The fubdivifions of thefe are called 

 furculi ; and the final divifions of thefe into the moft mi- 

 nute of all, are by fome called capillamenta : but in general, 

 both thefe kinds are comprehended under the name of for' 

 cuius. 



RAMUSIO, or Rannusio, Giambatista, in Biography, 

 an early colleftor of voyages and travels, the fon of Paolo, an 

 eminent lawyer, defcended from a learned and diftinguiftied 

 family of Venetian citizens, was born at Venice in 1 485. 

 He was in early life deputed by the ftate upon public bufi- 

 nefs to Switzerland, Rome, and France ; and in the latter 

 country he fo much ingratiated himfelf with Lewis XH., 

 that he was by him caufed to travel through almoft the 

 whole of his kingdom. As a reward for his fcrvices, he 

 was made fecretary of the council of ten at Venice, which 

 poft he at length refigned ; and returning to Padua, em- 

 ployed himfelf in compiling his great work, " Raccolta 

 delle Navigazioni e de Viaggi," which was publiftied at 

 different periods between the years 1554 and 1559, in three 

 volumes folio. He had prepared a fourth volume, which 

 was burnt at the printer's. Ramufio died at Padua in 

 1557 ; of courfe, a part of his work was given to the world 

 after his deceafe. Ramufio was author of a treatifc " De 

 Nili Incremento." He was a man of great learning, and 

 was extremely converfant in hiftory, geography, and the 

 ancient languages : he had fome knowledge in aftronomy, 

 and held a correfpondence with many learned men and well 

 informed perfons, both in Italy and Spain. It was by their 

 afliftance, and at the defire of Fracaftoro, that he compofed 



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