11 A T 



RATSCHA, or Retzka, a fortrefs of Sclavoiiia, on 

 the N. iule of tlie Save, oppofiti.- to the moutli of the Urin ; 

 35 miles S.W. of Pctcrwardc-iii. 



RATSCHITZ, a town of Moravia, in the circle of 

 BruiiJi ; 10 miles N.E. of Bninn. 



RATSUR, a town of Hindooftan, in the circar of 

 Aurunp;abad ; 65 miles E. of Aurungabad. 



RATTAK, a town of Bengal; 14 miles S.S.E. of 

 Curruckpoiir. 



RATTAN. See Ruatan. 



Rattan Canes. See Canes. 



RATTELSDORF, in Geography, a town of Bavaria, 

 in the bilhopric of Bamberg ; 9 miles N. of Bamberg. 



RATTEN. See Rateen. 



Ratten, in Rural Economy, a provincial word, ufed to 

 fignify a rat. 



RATTENBERG, in Geography, a town of the county 

 of Tyrol, with a citadel on tiie Inn ; 16 miles E.N.E. of 

 Infpruck. 



RAl^KOW, a town of the duchy of Holllein ; 6 

 miles N.N.E. of Lubcck. 



RATTLE, among the Ancients, a mufical inllrument 

 called by the Romans crepitaculum. 



Mr. Malcolm takes the tintinnabulum, crotalum, and 

 fiftrum, to have been only fo many different kinds of rattles. 



The invention of the rattle is afcribed to the famous 

 mathematician Archytas ; whence Arillotle calls it Apxi^la 

 •aXocly.yr, Archytas's rattle. Diogenianus adds the occafion 

 of the invention ; -viz. that Archytas, having cliildren, he 

 contrived this inftrument to prevent their tumbling over 

 things about the huufe. So that how much focver fome 

 inftruments have changed their ufes, the rattle, we are fure, 

 has preferved its original application. 



Rattle, or Rattel, in Commerce, a weight in Arabia ; a 

 rattleof coffee contains, at Betelfagni, i4ivakias, andafarcel, 

 or frazil, of lo maunds, or 20 rattles, contains 290 vakias ; 

 a farcel weighs zolb. 6oz. 4 dr. avoirdupois, and a bahar 

 of 40 farcels = 8 ij^lb. avoirdupois ; 10 farcels in Betel- 

 fagui are equal to 7 in Mocha ; 16 vakias of dates, candles, 

 and iron, are reckoned to a rattle ; but of all other forts of 

 goods 15 vakias make a rattle. The rattle is ufed in the 

 bazar, or market, only. At Jiddah, another fea-port of 

 Arabia, in the Red fea, the bahar contains 10 frazils, 100 

 maunds, or 500 rattles, and the rattle 15 vakias. The 

 bahar weighs 222|lb. Englifli troy, or 1831b. avoirdupois ; 

 and the maund 29 oz. 4-^ dr. avoirdupois. Kelly's Un. 

 Cambift. 



Rattle- Gray}. See Rhinanthus. 



RATTLE-A^f/. See Wolf Net. 



Rattle, Red. See Pedicularis. 



Rattle, Telloiu. See Rhinaxthus. 



RATTLE-SNAKE. See Snake. 



Rattle-snake Root, Senega-w. See MiLK-wor/. 



Rattle-snake Root, Dr. Witt's, a fpeciesof Prenanthes ; 

 which fee. 



Rattle-snake JVeed, a fpecies of £r_)>n^;;/m ; which fee. 



Rattle-snake IJlands, in Geography, a duller of fmall 

 idands at the weilern extremity of lake Erie. 



Rattle-snake Mountains, mountains of New Hamp- 

 (hire ; 38 miles N. of Concord. 



RATTLING in horfes, a term applied to a difagree- 

 able noife produced in them by the entrance of the air 

 between the internal parts of the rtieath and the prepuce 

 or covering, principally taking place in trotting or going 

 fail. 



RATTONNEAU, in Geography, a fmall idand at the 

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R A V 



entrance of the harbour of Marfeilles, which has a fortrefj 

 erefted in the 17th century by the duke of Guife. 



RATTRAY Head, a cape of Scotland, 011 the N.E. 

 -road of the county of Aberdeen ; 7 miles N. of Peterhead. 

 N. lat. 57"- 12'. W. long. I' 44'. 



RATUL AH, a town of Hindooflan, in Oude ; 1 5 miles 

 N.E. of Eyzabad. 



RATWAH, a town of Hindooftan, in the circar of 

 Gohud ; 27 miles E. of Gwalior. 



RATZE, in Commerce, the name of a fmall coin, ftruck 

 at Friburgh, &c. nearly of the fame value with the blare, 

 which, in France, is worth two lols and a denier. 



RATZEBUR, in Geography, a town of Hinder Pome- 

 rania ; 14 miles S. of New Stettin. N. lat. 53' 30'. E. 

 long. 16'-' 14'. 



RATZEBURG, a town of Germany, which gives 

 name to a principality, fituated on an idand in a large lake ; 

 the lake is 30 miles long, and 9 broad, and boats pafs by 

 It to Lubeck with goods and pafl'engers. It was burnt by 

 the Danes in 1693, and fmce that difafter the ftreets have 

 been regularly laid out, and the houfes are built after the 

 Dutch manner. In the market-place is the regency -office, 

 and here is held the chief court of juitice and the confiftory ; 

 the garnfon is quartered in barracks ; 20 miles S. of Lu- 

 beck. N. lat. 53° 43'. E. long, to' 46'. The principality 

 of the fame name is fituated between Mecklenburg and 

 Saxe-Lauenburg, and extends about 10 miles each way. 

 The foil is fertile, and produces a confiderable quantity of 

 wheat, befides feeding a number of cattle. It was con- 

 verted from a bilhopric into a principality by the peace of 

 Weilphalia. It belongs to Mecklenburg-Strehtz. 



RATZENSTEIN, a town of the duchy of Stiria ; 5 

 miles S. of Windifch Gratz. 



RATZKNITSCHA, a town of Hungary; lo miles 

 N.N.W. of Cfakathurn. 



RAVA. See Rawa. 



RAVALEMENT, Fr. equivalent, among organ -builders 

 and harpfichord-makers, to compaj's in Enghfh. The com- 

 plete fet of keys, or whole fyftem of mufical founds, (faid 

 Rouffeau in 1 768, ) inftead of confining itfelf to four oftaves, 

 like common keyed-inftruments formerly, extends now to 

 five oftaves, adding a fifth below double C, and a fourth 

 above C in alt., including five oftaves between the loweft 

 F and the higheft. (This was the common compafs of our 

 harpfichords made by Tabel, Kircknian, and Shudi, lonff 

 before 1768.) The word ravalement is confined to keyed- 

 inftruments ; there are no others of fo extenfive a compafs 

 as five oftaves. But in the year 1777, when Dr. Burney 

 firft compofed and publiflied duets " a quartre mains," or 

 for two performers on one inftrument, the ladies, at that 

 time wearing hoops, which kept them at too great a 

 diilance from each other, liad a harpfichord made by Merlin, 

 exprefsly for duets, with fix oclaves ; extending from the 

 odbave below double C in the bafe, to the oftave above C 

 in alt. in the treble. And as duets a quatre mains have 

 been compofed by all the great mafters in Europe fince 

 that time, inftruments with additional keys are now become 

 general. At firft it was only in the treble that the compafs 

 was extended, except in the inilrument above-mentioned 

 by Merhn ; but at prefent notes are added in the bafe to 

 complete the fix ottaves : and, indeed, the additional notes 

 in the bafe are better worth having for particular effefts, 

 than thofe in the treble ; which often, from the ftiortnefs 

 of the firings and feeble vibration, more refemble the tone 

 of wood than wire ; whereas the tone of thofe in the bafe of 

 large piano fortes, by the beft makers, is fo rich and full, 



that 



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