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years almoft an entire fti-anger to men of letters, engaged 

 in the religious education o( the young. About the year 

 17150 his paffion for mathematical Studies revived with great 

 ardour, and he produced a work entitled " General Ana* 

 lyiis, containing New Methods of refoiving Problems of 

 every kind, and of all degrees to infinity." This work 

 was immediately adopted by the Academy of Sciences, and 

 conftitutes the eleventh volume of the " Memoirs." This 

 volume was foon to be followed by three others ; thefe, 

 however, did not make their appearance, which was pro- 

 bably owing to a change in M. Richer's ltudies. By an 

 accidental perufal of a fragment of Manetho, high prieft 

 of Heliopohs, in Egypt, lie was induced to devote his 

 whole attention to the molt profound refearches in ancient 

 hiftory. Notwithstanding the obfeurity of this relic of 

 antiquity, lie conceived that he thoroughly underftood it, 

 and that'it furnifhed him with a clue, by the aid of which he 

 could unravel all the difficulties of ancient hiftory, facred 

 and profane. Under the influence of this perfuaiion, he 

 laboured night and day in attempting to illuftrate it, till 

 he had produced two immenfe folio volumes, which no one 

 would undertake to print. As a fpecimen of his labours, 

 he publifhed " A Chronological Series of the Kings of 

 Egypt, determined according to three fimple Dynafties, 

 from the Fragment of Manetho." He died about the year 

 1756. 



RICHERIA, in Botany, a genus dedicated by Vahl, 

 to the much neglefted memory of Peter Richer de Belleval, 

 firft profeflbr of Botany, as well as of Anatomy, at Mont- 

 pellier, to whom Henry IV. of France committed the 

 care of ellablilhing a public garden in that univerfity. 

 This defio-n was executed in the molt fkilful and fplendid 

 manner. Belleval publifhed a catalogue of the garden in 

 1598, and a French treatife, in 1605, recommending an en- 

 quiry into the native plants of liangucdoc. This lalt was 

 accompanied by five plates, intended as a fpecimen of a 

 future work, for which he fubfequently prepared a number 

 of engravings, rude and ft iff in execution, but exhibiting 

 many rare fpecies. He never lived to publifh thefe, and 

 the plates remained neglefted in the hands ot his family, 

 till Gouan r< covered them, and lent lmprefiions to Linnaeus. 

 At length Gillibert obtained the plates, and publifhed them 

 in 1796. The two pamphlets above-mentioned were re- 

 publifhed in 1785, by the celebrated and unfortunate 

 Brouffonet ; along with a treatife on the White Mulberry, 

 by Olivier de Serres, originally printed in 1603. Richer 

 de Belleval lived to fee his garden deftro)ed by the fury of 

 civil war, and was beginning to reftore it, when he died 

 in 1623, aged 65. His nephew accomplished the re- 

 eftablifhment of the garden, on a more extenfive fcale. 

 M. Dorthes of Montpellier publifhed, in 1786, Recherches 

 fur la Vie et les Ouvrages de Pierre Richer de Belleval, in 

 which every thing, that could be collected on the fubjeft, 

 is recorded. Some writers erroneoufly mention Belleval as 

 the firft botanift who gave copper-plate figures of plants. 

 This honour is due to Fabius Columna, whofe Phytdiafanos 

 appeared in 1592. We mull not omit to mention, that 

 Scopoli has named a genus BJlcvnlla, a name, or fome- 

 thing like it, which Belleval himfelf was fond of giving to 

 the "Lily of the Valley. BruguLre, in 1775, called a 

 Madagafcar plant Ricberia, but his genus has not been 

 eftabhfhed.— Vahl Eel. g. v. 1. 30. Willd. Sp. PI. v. 4. 

 1 1 22. Mart. Mill. DicL v. 4. — Clafs and order, Poly- 

 gamia Dioecia ; Dioecia Pentandria ; or rather Pentandria 

 Monogynia. Nat. Ord. Euphorbia, Juff. 



Gen. Ch. Male, Cal. Perianth of one leaf, permanent, 

 in four or five ovate, acute, downy fegmenls. Cor. Petals 



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four or five, roundifh, the length of the calyx. Nectary four 

 or five glands, at the bafe ot the imperfect germen. Stam. 

 Filaments four, five, or fix, between the glands of the 

 neevtary, erect, longer than the calyx ; anthers oblong, two- 

 lobed, erect. Pijl. Rudiment of a germen Superior, coni- 

 cal, villous, ftyle and ftigma wanting. 



Female, Cal. an* Petals like the male. Ncdlary a rim 

 round the bafe of the germen, Stam. none. Pifl. Ger- 

 men fuperior, ovate ; ftyle very Short ; ftigmas three, re- 

 volute, channelled above. Perk. Capfule coated, ovate, 

 fmooth and even, of three cells, witli iix valves, feparating 

 at the bafe. Seeds Solitary, pulpy-coaled, pendulous from 

 the top of the central cole 



Eft'. Ch. Male, Calyx four or five-cleft. Petals four 

 or five. Neftary four or five glands, at the bafe of the 

 imperfefl germen. Stamens four or five. 



Female, Cal. and Cor. like the male. Nedlary a rim at 

 the bafe of the germen. St) le very fhort. Stigmas three, 

 revolute. Capfule coated, of three cells and fix valves, 

 fplitting at the bafe. Seeds iolitary, pulpy. 



I. R. grandis. Vahl. Eclog. v. 1. 30. t. 4. — Gathered 

 by Ryan, on the fulphur mountain in the ifland of Mont- 

 ferrat. A tree of a great fize. Leaves alternate, ftalked, 

 oblong, acute, entire, coriaceous, fmooth, veiny, fix or 

 feven inches in length ; very much contracted at the bafe. 

 Spikes axillary, fohtary, longer than the footftalks, lax. 

 Capfule the fize of a hazel-nut. The difcoverer of this 

 rare tree is faid to have found fome of the flowers perfect 

 as to Jlamens as well as pi/lil. Hence, notwithstanding the 

 flight differences in the neQary, we fhould incline to place 

 the genus in Pentandria Monogynia. 



RICHFIELD, in Geography, a town of America, in 

 Otfego county, New York, taken from Otfego townfhip, 

 and incorporated in 1792. 



RICHFORD, the north-eafternmoft townfhip of Frank- 

 lin county, Vermont, Situated on Miffifcou river ; contain- 

 ing 442 inhabitants. 



RICH-HILL, a poft-town of the county of Armagh, 

 Ireland ; 62 miles N.W. from Dublin, and four miles E. 

 from Armagh. 



RICHLAND, a diftria of South Carolina, bounded 

 S. and S.W. by Congaree and Broad rivers, and E. by 

 Wateree river, which divides it from Kerfhaw and Cler- 

 mont counties. — Alfo, a townfhip of Bucks' county, in 

 Pennfylvania, containing 1317 inhabitants. 



RICHMAN's ISLAND, a Small American ifland on the 

 coait of Cumberland county, in the State of Maine ; four 

 leagues N. from Wood ifland and one league W. of Port- 

 land. Few vefiels put in here, except coalters. Wood 

 illand is in N. lat. 43° 50'. W. long. 69 37'. 



RICHMOND, a borough and market-town in the wapen- 

 take of Gilling-Weft, north riding of Yorkfhire, England, is 

 Situated on the banks of the river Swale, at the distance of 

 48 miles N.W. from York, and 293 miles N.N.W. from 

 London. It was anciently much celebrated for its caftle, 

 which w?.s founded by the firft earl of Richmond, Alan, fon of 

 Hoel, count of Brittany. This nobleman, who was nearly 

 related to William, duke ot Normandy, accompanied that 

 prince in his expedition to England ; and in reward for 

 his fervices, received from him all the forfeited eftates of the 

 brave Edwin, earl of Mercia. This grant was made durino- 

 the time William was engaged in the Siege of York, and 

 is peculiarly remarkable on account of its brevity. Alan 

 immediately after married Hawife, the conqueror's daugh- 

 ter ; and being thus loaded both with riches and honour, 

 built the caftle, and part of the town of Richmond, to pro- 

 tect his family and his eftates againft the disinherited and 



outlawed 



