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Reciprocal proportion, in arithmetic, 
is when, in four numbers, the fourth is less 
than the second, by so much as the third is 
greater than the first ; and vice versa. Tins 
is tiie foundation of the inverse, or indirect 
rule of three ; thus, 4 : 10 : : 8 ; 5. See 
Rule. Reciprocal proportion is of great 
use in determining the laws of motion. 
RECIPROCALLY, one quantity is reci- 
procally as another, when the one is greater 
in proportion as the other is less ; or when 
the one' Is proportional to the reciprocal of 
the other. Thus a is reciprocally as 6 when 
o is always proportional to i . So also in me- 
chanics, to perform any given effect, the less 
the power is, the greater must be the time 
in performing it, or as we have formerly ob- 
served, what is gained in power is lost in 
time. If p denote any power or agent, and 
t the time of performing a given work, then 
p is as 
and # is as - , that is, p and t are 
p ’ 
reciprocally proportional to each other. 
RECITAL, in law, is the rehearsal or 
making mention, in a deed or writing, of 
something which has been done before. 
RECKONING, or a Ship’s Reckoning, 
in navigation, is that account, whereby at 
any time it may be known where the ship is, 
and on what course or courses she is to 
steer, in order to gain her port ; and that 
account, taken from the log-board, is called 
the dead reckoning. 
RECOGNIZANCE, in law, is an obli- 
gation of record, which a man enters into 
before some court of record, or magistrate 
duly authorized, with condition to the 
same particular act ; as to appear at the as- 
sizes or quarter sessions, to keep the peace, 
&c. If the party does not comply with it, 
the recognizance is estreated into the Ex- 
chequer. In some cases the court will 
upon motion respite, and in some discharge 
the recognizance ; but all parties should be 
careful to apply in good time to the court 
where the recognizance is to be returned. 
RECOIL, or Rebound, the starting 
backward of a fire-arm, after an explosion. 
This term is particularly applicable to 
pieces of ordnance, which are always sub- 
ject to a recoil according to the sizes and 
the charges which they contain. To lessen 
the recoil of a gun, the platforms are gene- 
rally made sloping towards the embrasures 
of the battery. 
RECONNOITRE, in military affairs, 
implies to view and examine the state of 
things, in order to make a report thereof. 
Reconnoitring parties are those sent to ob- 
serve the country, and' the enemy, to re- 
mark the routes, conveniences, and incon- 
veniences of the first ; the position, march, 
or forces of the second. 
RECORD, an act committed to writing 
in any of the King’s courts ; during the term 
wherein it is written, is alterable, being no 
record ; but that term once ended, and the 
act duly inrolled, it is a record, and of that 
credit, which admits of no alteration on 
proof to the contrary. 
RECORD ARE, or Recordari Facias, in 
law, a writ directed to the sheriff, to re- 
move a cause depending in an inferior 
court, or court of ancient demesne, hun- 
dred, or county, to the King’s Bench or 
Common Pleas. 
RECO'VERY, in law, the name of a 
species of conveyance of great effect and 
much utility. Common recoveries were 
invented by the ecclesiastics to elude the 
statutes of mortmain ; and afterwards en- 
couraged by the courts at law, in order 
to put ap end to all fettered inheritances, 
and bar not only all estates tail, but also all 
remainders and reversions expectant there- 
on. A common recovery is so far like a 
fine, that it is a suit or action, either actual 
or fictitious ; and in it, the lands are 'reco- 
vered against the tenant of the freehold ; 
which recovery by a supposed adjudication 
of the right, binds all persons, and vests a 
free and absolute fee simple in the reco- 
verer. And a common recovery is now 
looked upon as the best assurance, except 
an act of parliament, tlrat purchasers can 
have. 
There must be three persons at least to 
make a common recovery, a recoverer, a 
recoveree, and a vouchee. The recoverer 
is the plaintiff or demandant, tliat brings 
the writ of entry. The recoveree is the 
defendant or tenant of -the land, against 
whom the writ is brought. The vouchee, is 
he whom the defendant or tenant vouebeth 
or calls to warranty of the land in demand, 
either to descend the right, or to yield him 
other lands in value, according to a supposed 
agreement. And this being by consent and 
permission of the parties, it is therefore said 
that a recovery is suffered. 
A common recovery may be had of such 
things, for the most part, as pass by a fine. 
An use may be raised upon a recovery, as 
well as upon a fine ; and the same rules are 
generally to be observed and followed for 
the guiding and directing the uses of a reco- 
very, as are observed for the guidance and 
