RAN 



RAN 



thut rank in the army, independent of their ftaff appoint- in the circar of Sanore ; 20 miles W. of Bifnagur. N. lat. 



ment. But aids-de-camp do not poITefs any rank in that ca- 15° 18'. E. h>ng. 75^ 37'. 



pacity with regard to tlie army. The latter conftitute a RANNYCOTTA, a town of Thibet ; 35 miles S. of 



part of the general's family, and are paid out of his allow- Gangotri. 



ance ; they are in faa the mere carriers of his orders in the RANNYDEE, a town of Bengal ; 1 1 miles S. of Cur- 

 ■ " -"■ -• ruckdeagh 



field, and his domellic inmates at home, &c. The former 

 belong to the brigade, and are a neceffary part of its effec- 

 tive force. It has been judicioufly ordained, that both the 

 one and liie other fliould be regular officers. 



There is likewile a fort of brevet rank which exifts in the 

 feveral regiments belonging to the Britifn fervice, and is con- 

 fined to the rank and tile, or corporals and private foldicrs. 

 Thus a lance-ferjeant is a corporal who does the duty of 

 ferjeant without the pay or emoluments of the latter ; and a 

 lance-corporal is a private foldicr who does the duty of cor- 

 poral. So that hmce, which comes from lanfquenet, and 

 ought therefore to be written lans-ferjeant, &c. is the abbre- 

 viation of that word, which lignifies a private foldier, and is 

 derived from, the German, and when put before ferjeant or 

 corporal, points out, that a private foldicr has the brevet 

 rank of one of thofe fituations. Captains of companies ap- 

 point or reduce lance -fcrjeants or corporals, according to their 

 judgment. 



Rank, in refpcft of (hips. See Rate. 

 Rank and File, denote men carrying the fire -lock and 

 Handing in the ranks. Thus corporals are included in the 

 return which is made under that head. 



Ranks and Files, are the horizontal and vertical lines of 

 foldlers, when drawn up for fervice. 

 Rank Keel, in Ships. See Keel. 

 Rank Modus, in Law. See Modus. 

 Rank is alfo a term provincially applied to fignify any 

 fort of crop of large growth. Handing thick or clofe on 

 the ground, as corn, peafe, beans, &c. and even trees in 

 woods. The term is often ufed to denote corn or grafs 

 crops, which are of fuch llrong growths as to be laid down 

 or lodged. 



RANKAH, in Geography, a town of Bengal ; 25 miles 

 W.N-W. of Palamow. 



RANKERAH, a town of Hindooftan, in Candeifh ; 25 

 miles S. of Burhanpour. 



RANKNESS in Cheefe, \n Rural Economy, a. term fig- 

 nifymg its ftrong pungent quality arifing from the impu- 

 rity of the rennet or iteep, either in confequence of negleft 

 of the veflels holding it, the want of fait, or the imperfetl 

 feparation of the curdy matter from the whey, by which fer- 

 mentation and partial putrefaiSion occur and produce this 

 tafte. See Cheese and Dairying. 



RANKPORE, in Geography, a town of Hindooftan, in 

 Guzerat ; 45 miles E. of Radunpour. 



RANNEE, a town of Hindooftan, in Orifla ; 30 miles 

 S.S.W. of Balafore. 



RANNEL-BAUK, in Rural Economy, a word provinci- 

 ally ufed to fignify the wooden bar or bank laid acrofs the 

 cottage chimney, for hanging the pot-hooks on, &c. 



RANNIGUNGE, in Geography, a town of Bengal; 

 76 miles N.N.E. of Dacca. 



RANNING, a town of the duchy of Wurzburg ; five 

 miles N. of Schweinfurt. 



RANNISERAI, a town of Hindooftan, in Allahabad; 

 35 miles N.W. of Gazypour. 



RANNUTSCH, a town of Thibet; 36 miles E. of 

 Jemlah. N. lat. 30^42'. E. long. 82° 15'. 



RANNY, in Rural Economy, a provincial word, applied 

 to the fmall field-moufe. 



Ranny Bcdnore, in Geography, a town of Hindooftan, 



RANNYGONG, a town of Hindooftan, in Dowlata- 

 bad ; 15 miles S.S.W. of Amednagur. 



RANNYGUNGE, a town of Bengal ; 35 miles N. of 

 Dinagepour. 



RANNYPOOKRA, a town of Bengal; 30 miles 

 W.N.W. of Rogonatpour. 



RANG, a fmall ifland in the N. part of the gulf of 

 Bothnia. N. lat. 65"^ 43'. E. long. 22° 52'. 



RANRAN, a town of Cochinchina, and the capital of 

 a province. N. lat. 12° 30'. E. long. 108"^ 56'. 



RANSACKEN, a town of the duciiy of Wurzburg; 

 3 miles S. of Wurzburg. 



RANSOM, a fum of money paid for the redemption of 

 a perfou out of (lavery, or for the liberty of a prifoner of 

 war. 



With regard to prifoners of war, it is allowed that there 

 is no obligation of releafing thofe who are detained as luch, 

 tiiy after fatisfaftion has been obtained. Whoever makes a 

 juft war has a right, if he thinks proper, to detain his pri- 

 foners till the end of the war ; and then, in releafing them, 

 he may juftly require a raiifom, either as a compeiifation at 

 a peace, or, if the war continue, for diminifliiiig his enemy's 

 prifoners, at the fame time that he ftrengthens him with the 

 return of foldiers. Prifoners of war, among European na- 

 tions, are exchanged or ranfomed during the war ; and this 

 is generally itipukited in a previous cartel. If fovereigns at 

 war have agreed on a cartel for the exchange or ranfom of 

 prifoners, they are faithfully to obferve it no lefs than every 

 other convention ; but if, as was formerly the general prac- 

 tice, the itate leaves to every prifoner, at leaft during the 

 war, the care of redeeming himfelf, fuch particular conven- 

 tions offer many queftions, of which fome of the principal 

 are the following. He who has acquired a lawful right of 

 demanding a ranfom from his prifoner, may transfer his 

 right to a third perfon. This was praftifed in the laft ages. 

 But as the perfon taking a prifoner is obliged, for the fake 

 of his reputation, to treat him with juftice and humanity, 

 he is not to transfer his right, in an unlimited manner, to 

 one who might probably abufe it. When he has agreed 

 with his priioner, concerning the price of the ranfom, he 

 may transfer the right to whom he pleafes. On the conclu- 

 fion of an agreement made with a prifoner for the price of 

 his ranfom, it becomes a perfect contraft, and cannot be re- 

 ceded from, under a pretence that the prifoner is difcovered 

 to be richer than was imagined ; for there is no manner of 

 neceffity that he ftiould be rated according to the wealth of 

 a prifoner, becaufe that is not the fcale for meafuring the 

 right of detaining a prifoner of war. But it is natural to 

 proportion the price of the ranfom to the prifoner's rank and 

 character ; the liberty of an officer of diftinftion being of 

 greater confequence than that of a private man, or inferior 

 officer. If the prifoner has not only concealed, but dif- 

 guifed his rank, it is a fordid fraud, and gives a right for 

 annuUing the agreement. If a prifoner, having agreed on 

 the price of his ranfom, dies before payment, it has been 

 queried whether this price be due, and whether the heirs 

 are obliged to difcharge it ? Unqueftionably, fays Vattel, 

 they are obliged to it, if the prifoner died in the polfeffion 

 of his liberty ; for, from the moment of his releafe, in con- 

 fideration of which he hadproraifed a fum, this fum becomes 

 due, and does not at all belong to his heirs ; but if he had 



not 



