RUB 
RUB 
ROT 
*r»ary, arid the other with.vellow, whence it is 
called the gold-striped ‘rosemary. These 
plants grow naturally in the southern parts of 
Francs-, Spain, and Italy ; where, upon dry 
roeky : soils hear the sea,' they thrive prodigi- 
ously, and perfume, the air in such a manner 
;iS: to be, smelt at a great distance from the 
land. They are, however, hardy enough to 
bear the cold of our ordinary winters, provid- 
ed, tljey are planted upon a poor, dry, gravelly 
sod, on which they ail endure the cold much 
better than in a richer ground, where; grow- 
ing more vigorously in summer, they are 
more apt to be injured by frost in winter; nor 
•will they have, such a ; . strong aromatic scryi-t 
as those on a dry and barren soil. They are 
to be propagated either by slips or cuttings. 
llosei.n,ary has a fragrant smell, and a warm 
pungent bitterish taste, approaching to those 
of lavender: the leaves and tender tops, are 
strongest ; next to those, the cup of the 
flower; the Hovers themselves are consider- 
ably the weakest, but most pleasant. Aqueous 
liquors extract a great share of the virtues of 
rosemary leaves by infusion, and elevate 
them in distillation : along with the water 
arises a considerable quantity of essential oil, 
of an agreeable strong penetrating smell. 
Pure spirit extracts in great perfection the 
whole aromatic flavour of the rosemary, and 
elevates- very little of it in distillation'. Hence 
the resinous mass left upon extracting the 
spirit, proves an elegant aromatic, very rich 
in the peculiar qualities ot the plant. r l he 
flowers of rosemary give over great part of 
their flavour in distillation with pure spirit ; 
by watery liquors, their fragrance is much 
injured; by beating, destroyed. 
ROT All A, a genus of the monogynia or- 
der, in the triandria class ot plants. T he 
calyx is tridentate : there is no corolla ; the 
capsule is trilocular and polyspermous. There 
is one species, an annual ot the East Indies. 
' ROTA NO: See Calamus. 
ROTATION, in geometry, a term chiefly 
applied to the circumvolution of any surface 
round a fixed and immoveable line, which is 
called the axis of its rotation; and by such 
rotations it is, that solids are conceived to be 
generated. 
The late ingenious M. de Moivre shews how 
solids, thus generated, may be measured or 
cubed. His method is this: for the fluxion of 
such solids, take the product of the fluxion of 
the absciss, multiplied by the circular base ; and 
suppose the ratio of a square to the circle in- 
scribed in it to be — : then the equation ex- 
x 
pressing the nature of any ciicle, whose dia- 
meter is d, is yy — dx — xx. 1 herefore 
4 "1.. tJL is the fluxion of a portion of the 
n 
sphere; and, consequently, the portion itself 
A\dxx — xf-* 3 , and the circumscribed cylinder 
is 4dxx ~~ x ; and therefore the portion of the 
n 
sphere is to the portion of the circumscribed 
cylinder, as \d — yx to d x. 
ROTI1IA, a genus of the class and order 
syngenesia polygamia aequalis. The calyx is 
many-leaved in a single row; woolly recept. 
jn the ray chaffy in the disk villose-seeds ; in 
the ray bald in the disk pappose. There is 
one species. . . 
ROTONDO, or Rotundo, in architec- 
ture, an appellation given to any building 
that is round both within and without, whe- 
ther it is a church, a saloon, or the like. 
ROTTBOELLIA, a genus of the digynia 
order, in the triandria class of plants, 'l he 
rachis is jointed, roundish, and in many cases 
filiform : the calyx is ovate, lanceolated, flat, 
simple, or - bipartite ; the florets are alternate 
on the winding rachis. There are 17 species, 
grasses of Africa and the East Indies. 
ROTTEN-STONE, a mineral found in 
Derbyshire, and used by mechanics for all 
sorts of finer grinding and polishing, and 
sometimes for cutting of stones. According 
toFerber, it is a tripoli mixed with calcareous 
earth. See Tripoli. 
ROUND, in a military sense, signifies a 
walk which some officer, attended with a party 
of soldiers, takes in a fortified place around 
the ramparts, in the night-time, in order to 
see that the Gentries are watchful, and every 
thing in good order. 
The gentries are to challenge the rounds at 
a distance, and rest their arms as they pass, 
to let none come near them; and when the 
round comes near the guard, the centry calls 
aloud, who comes there? and being answer- 
ed, the rounds; he says, stand; and then 
calls the corporal of the guard, who draws 
his sword, and calls also, who comes there ? 
and when lie is answered, the rounds, he who 
has the word advances, and the corporal re- 
ceives it with his sword pointed to the giver’s 
breast. In strict garrison the rounds go 
every. quarter of an hour. 
ROUNDELAY, a kind of antient poem, 
thus termed, according to Menage, from its 
form, because it turns back again to the first 
verse, and thus goes round. This poem is 
little known among us, but is very common 
among the French, who call it rondeau. It 
consists commonly of thirteen verses, eight 
whereof are in one rhyme, and five in ano- 
ther. It is divided into couplets, at the end 
of the second and third of which the begin- 
ning of the roundelay is repeated, and that 
if possible in an equivocal or pausing sense. 
ROUT, in law. See Riot. 
ROUSSEA, a genus of the tetrandria rao- 
nogynia class and order. The calyx is four- 
leaved; corolla one-petalled, bell-shaped, 
four-cleft, inferior; berry quadrangular, many 
seeded. There is one species, a small shrub 
of St. Mauritius. 
ROXBURGH IA, a genus of the octan- 
dria monogynia class and order. The calyx 
is four-leaved; corolla Tour-petalled ; necta- 
rines four, awl-shaped; anthers linear; cap- 
sule one-celled, two-valved; seeds many. 
There is one species, native of Coromandel. 
ROYEN I'A, a genus of the digynia order, 
in the decandria class of plants; and in the 
natural method ranking under the 18th or- 
der, bicornes. The calyx is urceolated; the 
corolla monopetalous, with the limb revo- 
luted; the capsule is unilocular and quadri- 
valved. There are seven species, herbs of 
the Cape. 
RUBIA, madder , a genus of the monogy- 
nia order, in the tetrandia class of plants ; 
and in the natural method ranking under the 
47th order, stellatie. The corolla is mono- 
petalous and cainpanulated ; and there are 
two monospermous berries. There are seven 
species, of which the most remarkable is the 
tinctorum, or dyer’s madder, so much used 
by the dyers and callico-printers. This hath 
(50 7 
a perennial root, and annual stalk : the root 
is composed of many long, thick, succulent 
fibres, almost as large as a man’s little finger; 
these are joined at the top in a head like aspa- 
ragus, and run very deep into the ground. 
From the upper part, or head of the root, 
come out many side-roots, which extend just 
under the surface of the ground to a great 
distance, by which it propagates very fast ; 
for these send, up a great number of shoots, 
which, if carefully taken off in the spring soon 
after they are above ground, become so many 
plants. These roots are of a reddish colour, 
. somewhat transparent; and have a yellowish 
pith. in the middle, which is tough, and of a 
bitterish taste. From this root arise many 
large four-cornered jointed stalks, which in 
good land will grow live or 'six feet long, and, 
if supported, sometimes seven or eight : they 
are armed with short herbaceous prickles ; ana 
at each joint are placed five or six spear- 
shaped leaves: their upper surfaces are 
smooth ; the branches are terminated by 
loose branching spikes of yellow flowers, 
which are cut into four parts resembling 
stars. These appear in June, and are some- 
times succeeded by seeds, which seldom ripen 
in England. For its principal uses, see 
Dyeing, and Calico Printing. 
Madder-root is used in medicine. The 
virtues attributed to it are those of a deter- 
gent and aperient; whence it has been usu- 
ally ranked among the opening toots, and 
recommended in obstructions df the viscera, 
particularly of the kidneys, in coagulations of 
the blood from falls or bruises, in the jaundice, 
and beginning dropsies. It is an ingredient 
in the icteric decoction of the Edinburgh phar- 
macopoeia. 
It is observable, that this root, taken inter- 
nally, tingek the urine of a deep red colour ; 
and in the Philosophical Transactions we 
have an account of its producing a like effect • 
upon the bones of animals who had it mixed 
With their food: all the bon.es, particularly, 
the more solid ones, were said to be changed, 
both externally and internally, to a deep red ; 
but neither the fleshy nor cartilaginous parts 
suffered any alterations: some of these hones 
macerated in water for many weeks together, 
and afterwards steeped and boiled in spirit of 
wine, lost none of their colour, nor communi- 
cated any tiiige to the liquors. This foot, 
therefore, was concluded to be possessed of 
great subtilty of parts, and its medical virtues ■ 
hence to deserve inquiry. The same trials, . 
however, made by others, have not been, 
found to produce the same effects as those 
above mentioned. Of late the root has come 
into great reputation as an eminenagoguc. 
RUBRIC, in the canon law, signifies a ti- - 
tie or article in certain antient law-books; thus.- 
called because written, as the titles of the 
chapters in our antient bibles are, in red let* - 
ters. Rubrics also denote the rules and di- 
rections given at the beginning, and in the 
course of, the liturgy, for the order and man- 
ner in which the several parts of the office are 
to be performed. There are general rubrics 
and special rubrics, a rubric for the communi- 
on, &c. In the Romish Missal and Brevi- 
ary are rubrics for matins, for lauds, for trans- - 
lations, beatifications, commemorations, &c. 
RUBUS, the bramble, a genus of the po- 
lygamia order, in the icosandria class of 
plants ; and in the natural order ranking un- • 
der the 3 5 tli order, senticosae. . The. calyxjs.. 
