R O S 



R O iS 



ROSATA Aloe. See Aloe." 



ROSATE, in Geography, a town of Italy, in the de- 

 partment of the Olona ; 9 miles S.W. of Milan. 



ROSATUM Acetum. See Acetum. 



Rosatum Vinum. See Vinum. 



ROSAZZO, in Geography, a town of Italy, in Friuli ; 

 6 miles S. of Friuli. 



ROSBACH, a town of Germany, in the county of 

 Sayn ; 8 miles E. of Hachenburg. See RosSBACH. 



ROSBEGH Point, a cape on the welt coalt of Ire- 

 land. N. lat. 52 6'. W. long. 9 ° 52'. 



ROSBOTH, a word ufed by fome authors to cxprefs 

 a foft excrefcence from any part. 



ROSCHINTZE, in Geography, a town of Pruffia, in 

 Natangen ; iz miles S. of Lick. 



ROSCHITZ, a town of Auftria ; 2 miles S.W. of 

 Schrattentaal. — Alfo, a town of Moravia, in the circle of 

 Brunn ; 8 miles W. of Brunn. 



ROSCIUS, QuintUs, 111 Biography, a Roman actor of 

 great celebrity, was a native of Gaul. He was contem- 

 porary at Rome with the celebrated acior Efopus. So 

 great were his talents for the itage, and fuch was the 

 degree of perfection to which he carried his art, that, ac- 

 cording to Cicero, a complete mailer in any other art was 

 popularly called the RosciUS of it. Rofcius was not lefs 

 efteemed for his morals and good conduct, than admired for 

 his profeffional talents. The greatelt men in the ftate were 

 his intimate friends, and the lofs of him was univerfally la- 

 mented. " Which of us," fays Cicero, alluding to Rofcius 

 in his oration for the poet Archias, " was fo rude and unfeel- 

 ing as not to be affected by the recent death of Rofcius, who, 

 though he died at an advanced age, appeared, on account 

 of his excellence in his art, worthy of immortal life." His 

 death took place in the year 61 B.C. He compofed a 

 parallel between theatrical and oratorical action, which is 

 loft. 



There are feveral pafTages in Cicero concerning Rofcius, 

 which, if the ancient actors, Romans as well as Greeks, did 

 not declaim in mufical notes, would be wholly unintelligible. 

 He tells us (de Orat.), that Rofcius had always faid, when 

 age mould diminifh his force, he would not abandon the 

 ttage, but would proportion his performance to his powers, 

 and make mufic conform to the weaknefs of his voice ; 

 which really happened : for the fame author informs us 

 (de Leg.), that in his old age he fung in a lower pitch of 

 voice, and made the tibicines play flower. 



As there were combats, or contefts, eftablifhed by the 

 ancients for the voice, as well as for other parts of the Gym- 

 najlice, thofe who taught the management of the voice were 

 called Qmao-xoi, phonafci ; and under their inltruftions were 

 put all thofe who were deltined to be orators, fingers, 

 and comedians. Roicius had an academy for declamation, 

 at which he taught feveral perfons, preparatory to their 

 fpeaking in public, or going on the ftage. He had a 

 Uw-fuit with one of them, in which Cicero pleaded his 

 eaufe. 



Thefe are proofs fufficient of the dramatic declamation 

 of the ancients being uttered in mufical tones, agreeing 

 with thofe of the mufical initruments by which they were 

 accompanied. See Declamation and Recitative. 



ROSCOEA, in Botany, being a new and very diftinCt 

 genus of the natural order of Scitaminex, was dedicated, by 

 the writer of the prefent article, to his diftinguifhed friend 

 William Rofcoe, efq. F.L.S., whofe papers in the Lin- 

 naean Society's Tranlactions, and efpecially his New Ar- 

 rangement of the order in queftion, printed in their eighth 

 volume, richly entitle him to this botanical honour. Of his 



10 



particular obfervations and difcoveries refpecting this order, 

 by which he has reduced to clear fcientific principles, what 

 had hitherto been an indigefted chaos, we fhall ipeak under 



the article Scitamineje, in its proper place Sm. Exot. 



Bot. v. 2. 97. — Clafs and order, Monandria Monogynia. 

 Nat. Ord. Scitaminex, Linn. Cannx, JulT. 



Gen. Ch. Cal. Perianth fuperior, of one leaf, tubular, 

 cylindrical, its limb iheathing, erect, undivided, mem- 

 branous at the edge. Cor. of one petal, irregular ; tube 

 fcarcely longer than the calyx, erect, ftraight, triangular 

 upwards : outer limb ringent, two-lipped ; its upper lip 

 broadeft, ereCt, obovate, acute, concave ; lower about as 

 long, in two deep, linear-lanceolate, acute, rcflexed lobes : 

 inner limb ringent, two-lipped ; the upper lip erect, fhorter 

 than the outer limb, of two cohering, half-ovate lobes, ta- 

 pering at the bafe, and embracing the organs of fructifica- 

 tion ; lower much longer and broader, fpreading, cloven. 

 Stam. Filament one, inferted into the top of the tube, ihort, 

 linear, channelled, erect ; anther much longer than the fila- 

 ment, linear, channelled, greatly incurved, bearing pollen 

 in the upper part only, its bafe extended in the form of two 

 lanceolate, horizontal, afcending, acute, membranous, 

 lobes. Pip?. Germen inferior, oval, very fmall ; ftyle 

 thread-fhaped, lodged in the groove of the filament, and of 

 the anther, to whofe curvature it conforms ; ftigma obtufi?, 

 concave, downy, juft projecting beyond the anther. Perk. 

 Capfule ? we prefume it to be analogous to that of other 

 Scitaminex. 



Eff. Ch. Anther two-lobed, incurved, terminal, em- 

 bracing the ftyle, with a cloven appendage at its bafe. 

 Outer limb of the corolla irregular ; upper lip vaulted ; 

 lower deeply divided : inner limb in three parts, two- 

 lipped. 



1. R. purpurea. Purple Rofcoea. Sm. Exot. Bot. 

 v. 2. 97. t. 108. (Hatucon Swa of the Nawars of Ne- 

 paul. ) — This plant was found at Narainhetty, in the moun- 

 tains of Upper Nepaul, by Dr. Francis Buchanan, flower- 

 ing in April 1802. It is the only fpecies, hitherto dif- 

 covered, of this very well-defined genus, which fhould be 

 arranged near Hedyciiium and K^mpferia, (fee thofe 

 articles,) to both of which genera it has fome points of af- 

 finity ; but Rofcoea is diftinguifhed from every other known 

 plant of the Scitaminex, by the irregularity of its two-lipped 

 outer limb, and the peculiar appendages to the bafe of the 

 anther. 



The ruot is perennial, of feveral, cluftered, fpreading, 

 oblong, tapering knobs, producing branched fibres. No 

 aromatic or pungent flavour is perceptible in our fpecimens. 

 Stem folitary, erect, a foot or more in height, iimple, leafy, 

 comprefted. Leaves fpreading in two ranks, alternate, ob- 

 long, pointed, folded, wavy, entire, fmooth, with many 

 oblique parallel veins ; pale at the under fide ; lomewhat 

 rounded and heart-fhaped at the bafe, running down into 

 broad, fheathing, compreffed, furrowed, purplifh footjlalhs, 

 which embrace and conceal the Item. Stipula crowning the 

 infide of the footftalk, very fhort, entire. Flowers feveral, 

 opening in fucceffion, terminal, cluftered, ieflile, erect, 

 large, and handfome, of a violet-purple, with whitifh or- 

 gans of impregnation ; the tube of the calyx of each cor- 

 cealed by the fheaths of the upper leaves. 



ROSCOFF, or Roscou, in Geography, a fea-port town 

 of France, in the department of Finifterre ; 4 miles N. of 

 St. Pol de Leon. As a fea-port it is much frequented by 

 thofe who carry on a contraband trade with England, efpe- 

 cially in wine and brandy. The inhabitants ufed formerly 

 to import Jinfeed, and export linen manufactured in the 

 country annually to the amount of 500,000 livres. Since 



the 



