64 R H O 
RHODOMAN (Laurence - ), a learned German, was born 
in 1546, at Sassowerf, in Upper Saxony. He studied at the 
College of Iifeld, under Michael Neander, and acquired such 
a knowledge of classical literature, that he became an able 
instructor both in public and private. He taught in several 
seminaries of learning, and was professor of Greek at Jena 
for seven years. His chief service to literature was by his 
Latin versions of Diodorus Siculus, and Quintus Calaber. 
He also wrote a “ History of Martin Luther” in Greek 
verse ; “ Troica seu Historic Tr’oganae Epitome,” Gr. and 
Lat. verse; “ Historise Ecclesise ej usque Politise,” Gr. verse 
with a Lat. translation ; “ Historise sacrae Gr. Lat. Lib. ix. ; 
and several other pieces in the two languages. Moreri. 
RHODOMELON, a name given by the ancients to a 
confection made of roses, quinces, and honey, used as a 
grateful astringent and detergent in many cases. 
RHODOMONTA'DE. See Rodomontade. It is 
written, improperly, rhodomontade. 
RHODON, from pobov, rosa, an old name applied to some 
composititions, where roses were the chief ingredient, as 
diarrhodon, &c. 
RHODOPE, a famous courtezan and player on the flute, 
in antiquity, was born in Thrace. She was at first a slave in 
the same house as iEsop. Charaxus, the brother of Sappho, 
was violently enamoured of her, and having purchased her, 
gave her liberty. She established herself at Mucrates, where 
she became a courtezan, and amassed immense riches. Pliny 
says that she built, at her own expence, the most beautiful of 
the Egyptian pyramids; but Herodotus and Bayle from his 
authority, reject this tale; nor do they give any more credit to 
the following story. 
One day, when she was bathing, and her attendants watch¬ 
ing her clothes, an eagle pounced upon one of her shoes, and 
carrying it away, flew with it to Mem phis, where he let it 
fall near king Psammiticus. This prince, admiring the beau¬ 
ty of the shoe, ordered the officers of his household to seek 
throughout all Egypt, the person to whom the shoe apper¬ 
tained. She was found and brought to him; and he es¬ 
poused her. But she had before married iEsop. 
RIIODOPHUS Gallinula, a name given by some 
authors to the bird more usually known by the name 
Tringa. 
RHODORA,[poSopov, rosy.] in botany, a genus of the 
class decandria, order monogynia, natural order ofbicornes, 
rhododendra, ( Juss.) —Generic Character.—Calyx: pe¬ 
rianth one-leaved, five-toothed, permanent. Corolla: petals 
three, unequal: the two upper ones lanceolate, equal; the 
lowest concave, oblong, subtrilobate; the middle lobe small¬ 
er, concave. Stamina: filaments ten, filiform, declined, the 
length of the corolla. Anthers roundish, twin. Pistil: 
germ ovate. Style filiform, declined, a little longer than the 
stamens. Stigma five-cleft, thickish. Pericarp: capsule 
ovate, five celled. Seeds very many, minute.— Essential 
Character. —Calyx five-toothed. Petioles three, -unequal. 
Stamina declined. Capsules five-celled. 
Rhodoracanadensis is the only species; it is chiefly distin¬ 
guished from the rhododendrons by its three-petalled corolla, 
and appears to be generically distinct from them; but has 
nothing of the herb of rhododendron. It has the habit rather' 
of azalea. The stem is upright, somewhat branched, round, 
ash-coloured, two feet high. Leaves alternate, oblong, 
almost entire, scarcely nerved, with the midrib prominent 
underneath; the upper surface'almost naked, bright green, 
the lower pubescent, glaucous, spreading, two inches long, 
one inch wide; on round petioles, flatted on one side, 
pubescent, eight times shorter than the leaf. Flowers in 
umbels, on short pedicels, purple, the upper lip with darker 
spots. . 
Rhodora agrees with rhododendron in having the calyx 
inclined ; the filaments villose at the base, ascending a little 
at the end, inserted into the receptacle; the anthers biper- 
forated ; the style a little declined; the capsule fastened ob¬ 
liquely to the calyx; the receptacle of the seeds five-cor¬ 
nered : but the corolla is absolutely three-parted in rhodora, 
R H O 
whereas it is bell-wheel-shaped, with an inclined five-parted 
nearly equal border in rhododendrum; the seeds are mar¬ 
gined all round in this, but in that they are scarcely aug¬ 
mented at each end.—Native of Newfoundland ; whence it 
was introduced by Sir Joseph Banks. 
Propagation and Culture. —It is raised with great dif¬ 
ficulty from seeds, like other shrubs, in which they are so 
very small. It may be propagated by slips or cuttings; and 
thrives best in a good moist sandy loam. 
RIKEADE/E, in botany, the 27th natural order, among 
the fragmenta of Linnaeus; of which there is no explanation 
in his Praelectiones, published by. Giseke. The genera 
referred hither, at the end of the Gen. PI., are argemone,. 
chelidonium,papaver, podophyllum, sanguinaria, bocconia. 
RHCEAS, an old name for a diminution of thecaruncula 
lachrymalis. 
RHCETUM orRHCETiUM, a town of Asia Minor, in the 
Troade, on the coast of the Hellespont. According to Stra¬ 
bo, it was built on an eminence near the tomb of Ajax. 
The promontory called “ Rhcetium” was four miles distant 
from that of Siaeum. 
RHOGME, in Surgery, a rupture or fracture. 
RHOITES, the name of a medicine among the ancients, 
which is a sort of rob of the juice of pomegranates. 
Dioscorides describes it as the simple juice of the fruit, 
evaporated over the fire to the consistence of an extract; 
but Paulus iEgineta gives the receipt to be three parts juice 
of pomegranate, and one part honey, boiled to the evapo¬ 
ration of a third part. 
RHOMB, s. £ rhombe , Fr. rhombus, Lat. 'pop,!3os, Gr.] 
In geometry, a parallelogram or quadrangular figure, having 
its four sides equal, and consisting of parallel lines, with two 
opposite angles acute, and two obtuse: it is formed by two 
equal and right cones joined together at their base. Tre- 
vouxi 
Save the sun his labour, and that swift 
Nocturnal and diurnal rhomb suppos’d 
Invisible else above all stars, the wheel 
Of day and night. Milton. 
RHOMBIC, adj. Shaped like a rhomb.—Many other 
sorts of stones are regularly figured ; the asteria in form of a 
star, and they are of a rh'ombick figure. Greta. 
RHOMBITES, a river of Asiatic Sarmatia. Ptolemy. 
RHOMBO, in Ichthyology, the name of a peculiar fish, 
of the turbot kind, called rhombus.aculeatus by Aldrovand, 
Gesner, and other writers. It is very common in the 
markets at Venice, and is caught in the neighbouring seas, 
and in many other places. See Pleuronectes Maximus. 
RHO'MBOID, or Rhombo'ides, s . [po/z/3oej§v;?, Gr.] A 
figure approaching to a rhomb.—See them under sail, in 
all their lawn and sarcenet, with a geometrical rhomboides 
upon their heads. Milton, 
RHOMBOIDAL, adj. Approaching in shape to a 
rhomb. 
RHOMBOIDEUS, the name of a rhomb shaped muscle of 
the back. 
RHOMNUS. See Peuronectes. —Rhomnus is also the 
name of a shell-fish, the Cylindrus. 
RHON, a river of India, among the people called Gan- 
darii. Steph. Byz. i 
RHONE, a river of France, formed by the union of three 
springs, which rise in mount Susberg, a part of the Grim- 
sell, at the eastern extremity of the Valais. It passes 
through the lake of Geneva to Seissel, &c. and thence to 
Lyons, where it joins the Saone, and after watering Vienne,. 
Valence, Viziers, Avignon, Arles, &c. discharges itself by 
several mouths into the Mediterranean. 
RHONE, mouths of the, Bouches de Rhone, one of the 
twelve departments of the south-east region of France, bounded 
on the north by the county of Venaissm, oh the north-east by. 
the department of the lo wer Alps, on the east by the department 
of the Var, on the south by the Mediterranean, and on the 
west by the department of the Gard; 5315 kiliometres. ia 
extent. 
