n u m 
having learned how much the piece is square, j 
| look, tor that number on the line. of the lira- j 
ber-measure ; the space thence to the end of 
the rule is the length which, at that breadth, 
makes a foot of timber. Thus, if the piece 
is nine inches square, the length necessary 
to make a solid foot of timber, is 21 f inches. 
If the timber is small, and under nine inches 
square, seek the square in the upper rank of 
the table, and immediately under it are the 
teet and inches that make a solid foot. If the 
I piece is not exactly square, but broader at 
] one end than the other, the method is to add 
the two together, and take half the sum for ' 
the side of the square. For round timber the 
method is to girt it round with a string, and 
to allow the fourth part for the side of the 
square; but this method is erroneous, for 
hereby you lose nearly one-fifth of the true 
solidity ; though this is the method at present 
f practised in buying and selling timber. 
The mason’s rule is twelve or fifteen feet 
long, in order to be applied under the level 
to regulate the courses, and make the pie- 
droits equal, &c. 
Everurd'is sliding Rule. See Gauging. 
RUM, a species of brandy, or vinous spi- 
| rit, distilled from sugar-canes. See Distil- 
| lation, and Spirit. 
RUMEN, in comparative anatomy, the 
| paunch, or first stomach of such animals as 
| chew the cud, thence called ruminant ani- 
| mats. See Comparative Anatomy. 
RUM EX, dock, a genus of the trigynia 
j order, in the hexandria class of plants ; and 
in the natural method ranking under the 12th 
! order, holoracese. The calyx is triphyllous ; 
j there are three connivent petals, and one 
triquetrous seed. There are 36 species ; of 
which the most remarkable are : 1. The pa- 
■ tientia, commonly called patience rhubarb. 
This was formerly much more cultivated in 
the British gardens than at present: the roots 
of this have been generally used for the 
monk’s rhubarb, and it has even- been thought 
; to be the true kind ; but others suppose the 
second sort should be used as such. 2. The 
1 aipinus, or monk’s rhubarb, grows naturally 
©n the Alps, but has long been cultivated in 
the gardens of this country. This has large 
j roots, which spread and multiply by their 
| offsets : they are shorter and thicker than the 
former, are of a very dark brown on the out- 
| cide, and yellow within. 3. The aquaticus, 
! or water-dock, grows naturally in ponds, 
I ditches, and standing waters, in many parts of 
Britain. It is supposed to be the herba Bii- 
tannica of the antienta. 4. The acutus, or 
sharp-pointed dock (the oxylapathum of the 
shops); but the markets are supplied with 
roots of the common docks, which are indif- 
ferently gathered by those who collect them 
In the fields, where the kind commonly called 
butter dock (from its leaves being used to 
wrap up butter) is much more common than 
this. These plants are but seldom cultivated, 
and so easily multiply by their numerous 
seeds, that they soon become troublesome 
weeds where they once get an entrance. 
RUMINANT, in natural history, is ap- 
I plied to an animal which chews over again 
i what it has eaten before; which is popularly 
raMed chewing the cud. Payer, in a treatise 
} De Ruminantibus et Ruminatione, shews 
| that there are some animals which really ru- 
VOL, II. 
U T F 
mlnate; as oxen, sheep, deer, goats, camels, 
hares, and squirrels; and that there are 
others which only appear to do so, as molts, 
cricke -, bees, beetles, crabs, mullets, &c. 
The latter class, he observes, have their sto- 
machs composed of muscular fibres, by which 
the food is ground up and down as m those 
which really ruminate. Mr. Ray observes, 
that ruminants are all four-footed, hairy, and 
viviparous; some with hollow and perpetual 
horns, others with deciduous ones. 
KUMPIIIA, a genus of the monogynia 
order, in the triandria class of plants, and in 
the natural method ranking with those of 
which the order is doubtful. The calyx is 
trifid; the petals three ; the fruit a tri locular 
plum. There is one species, a tree of the 
East Indies. 
RUNDLE, or Roundlle. See He- 
raldry. 
RUNDLET, or Runlet, a small vessel, 
containing an uncertain quantity of any li- 
quor, from three to twenty gallons. 
RUNNER, in the sea language, a rope 
belonging to the garnet, and to the two bolt- 
t ankles. It is reeved in a single block, joined 
to the end of a pennant, and has at one end a 
hook to hitch into any thing, and at the other 
end a double block, into which is reeved the 
fall of the tackle, or the garnet, by which 
| means it purchases more than the tackle 
would without it. 
RUNNET, or Rennet, is the juice or 
gastric fluid found in the stomachs of sucking 
quadrupeds, which as yet have received no 
other nourishment than their mother’s milk. 
In ruminating animals, which have several sto- 
machs, it is generally' found in the last, 
though sometimes in the next to it. If the 
runnet is dried in the sun, and then kept 
close, it may be preserved in perfection for 
years. Not only the runnet itself, but also 
the stomach in which it is found, curdles milk 
without any previous preparation. But the 
common method is, to take the inner mem- 
brane of a calf’s stomach, to clean it well, to 
salt and hang it up in brown paper: when this 
is used, the salt is washed off, then it is mace- 
rated in a little water during the night, and in 
the morning the infusion is poured into the 
milk to curdle it. See Digestion, Yol. I. 
p. 521, col. 3. 
RU PALA, a genus of the tetrandria mono- 
gynia class and order. There is no calyx ; 
the petals are four; stamina inserted in the 
middle of the petals; pericarpium one-celled, 
two-seeded. 
RUPERT’s DROPS, a sort of glass-drops 
with long and slender tails, which burst to 
pieces on the breaking off those tails in any 
part; said to have been invented by prince 
Rupert, and therefore called by his name. 
Concerning the cause of this surprising plne- 
nomenon scarcely any thing that bears the 
least appearance of probability has been of- 
fered. Their explosion is attended in the 
dark with a flash of light; and, by being 
i boiled in oil, the drops are deprived of their 
explosive quality. 
RUPPIA, a genus of the tetragynia order, 
in the tetrandria class of plants; and in the 
natural method ranking under the 15th or- 
der, inundatce. There is neither calyx nor 
corolla; but four pedicellated seeds. There 
is one species. 
n u t 
RUPTURE, in surgery, the same w.th 
hernia. See Surgery. 
RUSCUS, knee-holly, or butcher's broom, 
a genus of the syngenesia order, in the (li- 
oecia class of plants; and in the natural me- 
thod ranking under the 1 Ith order, sitirnen- 
tacc-se. The male calyx is hexaphy-llotis ; 
there is no corolla ; the nectarium is central, 
ovate, and perforated at the top. The fe- 
male calyx, corolla, and nectarium, are (he 
same as in the male; there is one style, with 
a trilocular two-seeded berry. r l here are 
five species. The most remarkable is the 
aculeatus, or common butcher’s broom, com- 
mon in the woods in many pa i ts of England. 
As this plant grows wild in most parts of 
England, it is rarely admitted into gardens; 
but if some of the roots are planted under 
tall trees in large plantations, they will spread 
into large clumps ; and as they retain their 
leaves in winter, at that season they will have 
a good effect. The seeds of this plant gene- 
rally lie a year in the ground before they ve- 
getate ; and the plants so raised are long be- 
fore they arrive at a size large enough to 
make any figure, and therefore it is much bet- 
ter to transplant the roots. T lie root of this 
plant is accounted aperient, and in this in- 
tention is sometimes made an ingredient in 
apozems and diet-drinks, for opening slight' 
obstructions of the viscera, and promoting 
the fluid secretions. This plant is used by 
the butchers for besoms to sweep their blocks. 
Hucksters place the boughs round their ba- 
con and cheese, to defend them from the 
mice ; for they cannot make their way 
through tiie prickly leaves. 
RUSH, in botany. SeeJuNcus. 
RUSSEL1A, a genus of the didynamia- 
angiospermia class and order. The calyx is 
five-leaved; corolla tube, very long; cap- 
sule acuminate. There is one species, a 
shrubby plant of the Havannah, 
RUSSIA COMPANY, in commerce. 
See Company. 
RUST, the oxide of a metal. Iron, for 
instance, when exposed to the air, soon be- 
comes tarnished, and gradually changed into 
a brown or yellow powder, well known by 
the name of rust. This change is occasioned 
by the gradual combination of the iron with 
the oxygen of the atmosphere, and, accord- 
ing to the new chemistry, it is now denomi- 
nated the oxide of iron. 
RUSTIC, in architecture, implies a man- 
ner of building in imitation of nature, rather 
than according to the rules of art. 
RUTA, rue, n genus of the monogynia 
order, in the decandria class of plants; and 
in the natural method ranking under the 
26th order, multisiiiqiue, The calyx isquin- 
quepartite; the petals concave ; the recepta- 
cle surrounded with 10 melliferous pores; the 
capsule is lobed. In some flowers, a fifth 
part of the number is excluded. There are 
seven species, of which the most remarkable 
is the hortensis, or common broad-leaved 
garden rue, which has been long cultivated 
for medicinal use. 
Rue has a strong ungrateful smell, and a 
bitterish penetrating taste: the leaves, when 
full of vigour, are extremely acrid, insomuch 
as to inflame anil blister the skin, if much 
handled. 
RUTHILE, an ore found in Hungary, 
Italy, apd France. It is generally crystal- 
