70 
R I B 
base. Nectary of five scales. Stamens: filaments five, very 
short, inserted at the base of the nectary; anthers ovate- 
oblong, nearly sessile, two-celled. Pistil: germen superior, 
ovate, villous, with five streaks ; style fleshy ; stigma capi¬ 
tate, obtuse. Pericarp: capsule oblong, of one cell, and 
three valves, compressed in the middle. Seeds three. Aublet 
describes the five-scaled nectary, as five inner petals.— 
Essential Character. Calyx deeply five-cleft. Petals five. 
Nectary composed of five scales. Anthers nearly sessile. 
Capsule of one cell and three valves. Seeds three. 
1. Rian a Guianensis.—Native of woods in Aroura, where 
it flowers in August. This shrub is ten feet high, and has 
a branched trunk. Branches erect, knobbed. Leaves oppo¬ 
site, stalked, ovate-oblong, acute, toothed, smooth, rigid. 
Stipulas short, twin, opposite, acute, deciduous. Flowers 
whrte, arranged in an alternate manner, forming a terminal 
spike; each flower on a short stalk, which has four scales or 
bracteas at the base. Jussieu suspects that this plant may be 
akin to passoura. 
RIANS, a town of France, department of the Var. Po¬ 
pulation 3200. It has some manufactures of woollens; and 
rn the neighbourhood are quarries of mill-stones; 24 miles 
north-west of Brignolles, and 36 north-west of Toulon. 
RI'ANT, adj. [Fr.] Laughing; exciting laughter. 
—In such cases the sublimity must be drawn from the 
other sources; with a strict caution however against any 
thing light and riant. Burke. 
RI AO, an island in the Eastern seas; about 25 miles in 
circumference, near the west coast of Morty. Lat. 2.25. N. 
long. 128. 2. E. 
RIAPA CREEK, a river of Louisiana, in the territory of 
the Mississippi, which runs into the Mississippi. Lat. 31. 
2. N. long. 91. 17. W. 
RIAY, a river of Paraguay, in South America, which runs 
west, and enters the Yucay. 
RIAZAN, an extensive province or government of the 
central part of European Russia, lying to the south of the 
government of Vladimir, and to the east of that of Moscow, 
extending from Lat. 53. 40. to 55. 0. N. and from long. 
38. 25. to 41. 45. E. Its area is above 13,000 square miles, 
and its population is said to amount to 1 , 000 , 000 , mostly 
Russians, but intermixed with a few Tartars. It is a level 
country, with only a few elevations. The north contains a 
number of woods and marshes, but the soil of the rest is in 
general a fine black mould, producing wheat, oats, barley, 
and other corn, also hemp and flax, all of which are articles 
of export. The number of cattle, on the other hand, is rather 
below the average proportion in Russia, but the breed of 
horses is good, and great attention is paid by the peasantry 
to bees. Woollen and linen are made for domestic use, and 
a few articles, such as iron, canvas, glass, and leather, are 
exported, but the quantity is inconsiderable. The imports 
are also very limited, the only one of importance being salt, 
and the inhabitants having very little knowledge of foreign 
luxuries. This goverment, in former ages an independent 
duchy, became a province of the Russian empire, under the 
name of Pereslavl-Riasanskoi, and received its present name 
from Catherine II. It is divided into 12 circles. 
RIAZAN, the capital of the above government, is situated 
on the river Oka; 123 miles south-south-east of Moscow. 
It is the see of a Greek bishop, and has an unusual number 
of churches, great and small. The episcopal residence was 
formerly the mansion of the dukes; but the best building of 
the town is the one in which the government offices and 
courts of justice hold their sittings, in this town are ma¬ 
nufactures of linen, woollen, leather, needles, and glass; 
also iron forges. The town is small, having only about 
5000 inhabitants, and is one of the most ancient of the 
empire. 
RIB, s. [pibbe, Saxon.] A bone in the trunk. 
Why do I yield to that suggestion? 
Whose horrid image doth upfix my hair. 
And make my sealed heart knock at my ribs, 
Against the use of nature 1 Shakspeare < 
;R I B 
Any piece of timber or other matter which strengthens the 
side. 
I should not see the sandy hour-glass run. 
But I should think of shallows and of flats; 
And see my wealthy Andrew dock’d in sand, 
Vailing her high top lower than her ribs. 
To kiss her burial. Shakspeare. 
Any prominence running in lines; as, the stalks of a leaf. 
Any thing slight, thin, or narrow; a strip.—Fetching up his 
single melancholy co w from a small rib of land, that is 
scarce to be found without a guide. Echard. 
To RIB, v. a. To furnish with ribs. 
Was I by rocks engender’d, ribb'd with steel, 
Such tortures to resist, or not to feel ? Sandys. 
To enclose, as the body, by ribs. 
It were too gross 
To rib her cerecloth in the obscure grave. Shakspeare. 
RIBA, a small town of the north of Spain, in the province 
of Leon, on the river Tonnes; 6 miles east-south-east of 
Salamanca. 
RIBA DE SELLA, a small sea-port in the north of Spain, 
province of Asturia, on the coast of the Atlantic; 40 miles 
east-north-east of Oviedo. 
RIBADAVIA, a town of Spain, in Galicia, on the Minho. 
with 2400 inhabitants; 45 miles south-south-east of Santiago. 
RIBADENEIRA (Peter), a Spanish Jesuit, was a native 
of Toledo. He studied at Paris and at Padua, after which 
he taught rhetoric with reputation at Palermo. He died at 
Madrid m 1611, aged 81. His works are “ Lives of the 
Saints,” folio 1616; the “Lives of St. Ignatius Loyola, 
St. Francis de Borgia, and of the Father Lainez and Sol- 
rneron ;” “ A Treatise of the Schism of England;” another 
entitled “ The Prince,” which is full of bad political maxims; 
and the “ Library writers among the Jesuits,” 8vo. 
RIBADEO, a town of Spain, in Galicia. It is still 
surrounded with a wall, and is situated at the mouth of the 
river Eo. Population 2000; 18 miles north-east of Mondo- 
nedo. 
RFBALD, s. [ ribauld , Fr. ribaldo, Italian; ribaldr, Su. 
Goth, nebulo, which Ihre derived from hr id pugna, and 
balladr, audax ; meaning licentious, ungovernable soldiers. 
On appelloit aussi ribauds, sous Phil 1 ippe-le-bel et Philippe- 
Auguste, des soldats d’elife, choisis pour leur garde particu- 
liere. Enfin ribaud signifioit encore bandit, voleur, scelerat, 
mechant, libertin, exeommunie; homme qui procure des 
femmes de mauvais vie, qui les soutient.” Roquefort,]—A 
loose, rough, mean, brutal wretch. 
That lewd ribald with vile lust advaunst. 
Laid first his filthy hands on virgin clean, 
To spoil her dainty corps, so fair and sheen. Spenser. 
RI'BALD, adj. Base; mean. 
The busy day, 
Wak’d by the lark, has rous’d th e ribald crows. Shakspeare* 
Which rib bald art their church to Luther owes. Dry den. 
RI'BALDRY, s. \ribaudie, old Fr. ribalderia, old Ital. 
Our old word was ribaudry. “ Ditties of wanton love or 
ribaudrye." Sir T. Elyot, “ Rymes of ribaudrie." 
Spenser.] Mean, lewd, brutal language.—Mr. Cowley as¬ 
serts, that obscenity has no place in wit; Buckingham says, 
’iis an ill sort of wit, which has nothing more to support it 
than barefac’d ribaldry. Drydcn. 
RI'BAND, s. [rubande, ruban, Fr.] A fillet of silk ; a 
narrow band of silk, which is worn for ornament 
A ribband did the braided tresses bind. 
The rest was loose. Dry den. 
To RI'BAND, v. a. To adorn with ribands.—One 
that has miraculously purchased a ribanded waistcoat. 
Beautn. and FI. 
. RIBAR, a village of the north-west of Hungary; 3 miles 
north-north-east of Altoshl. 
RIBATTUTA, [Ital.] in Music, is iterating, striking, or 
sounding the same note again. 
RIBATUA, 
