ROC 
on the east side, and several feet thick on the west, gave way, 
and fell into the valley which separates the lake of Zug from 
that of Lauwertz. One part of the mountain fell into the lake 
of Lauwertz, which caused such an agitation in the waters of 
the lake, that they overthrew a number of houses, chapels, 
mills, &c., along the northern shore. Upwards of 1000 
persons were the victims of this calamity. A society of 
thirteen travellers were on the road from Arth to Schwetz ; 
nine who walked first perished, the other four escaped. In 
this convulsion enormous pieces of rock were carried through 
the air to prodigious distances. The lake of Lauwertz has 
lost about a quarter of its extent. That rich plain, before so 
beautiful, now presents a mountain of 100 feet in height, 
li league in length, and as much in breadth. The villages 
of Goldau and Rotheu, consisting of 115 houses; that of 
Busingen, of 126; and that of Kuflock, have totally disap¬ 
peared. Of Lauwertz, which had 25 houses, there remain 
ten buildings, all much damaged. Twenty years previously. 
General Psyffer predicted this catastrophe, from the know¬ 
ledge he had of the nature of the mountain. A professor of 
Schwitz said, that above Spietsfleu there was a lake of water 
which had undermined the rock for several years, and that 
below there was a cavern of great depth, where the waters 
were ingulphed. The quantity of water which had fallen 
during the preceding years hastened the catastrophe, and the 
rains of some preceding weeks decided it. On the 10th, 
800 persons were employed digging for the bodies of those 
who were destroyed by the falling of the mountain. In 
forming a channel to draw off the waters, between 30 and 40 
labourers were swallowed up by a torrent of muddy water 
which broke in upon them suddenly.— Annual Register, 
1806, p. 449. 
In the mountainous parts of North Wales, Cumberland, 
and Westmoreland, similar effects, on a diminutive scale, 
are taking place, and the scattered masses of rock, spread 
widely over the sides and feet of the hills, prove that they 
have once had a greater elevation. 
To ROCK, v. a. [rocquer , Fr. Dr. Johnson.—Descended 
from the Icel. hrocka, to shake, or be shaken. Serenius 
adds the Dalecamp. ruclca, oscillare.] To shake; to move 
backwards and forwards.—If, by a quicker rocking of the 
engine, the smoke were more swiftly shaken, it would, like 
water, vibrate to and fro. Boyle. 
The wind was laid ; the whispering sound 
Was dumb; a rising earthquake rock'd the ground. 
Dry den. 
To move the cradle, in order to procure sleep. 
Leaning her head upon my breast. 
My panting heart rock'd her asleep. Suckling. 
High in his hall, rock'd in a chair of state. 
The king with his tempestuous council sate. Dry den. 
To lull; to quiet. 
Sleep rock thy brain. 
And never come mischance between us twain ! S/iakspeare. 
To ROCK, v. n. To be violently agitated; to reel to and 
fro.. 
The rocking town 
Supplants their footsteps; to and fro they reel 
Astonish’d. ■ Philips. 
ROCK, a village of England, in Northumberland; 5 
miles north-north-west of Alnwick. 
ROCK BUTTER, in Mineralogy, a saline mineral, formed 
in the fissures of rocks of alum-slate. It occurs both massive 
and stalactitical, and sometimes pulverulent. It has a grey¬ 
ish-white or a straw-yellow colour, and a sweetish and some¬ 
what acidulous astringent taste, like alum. It is indeed a 
kind of native alum. The feel is somewhat greasy, from 
which and its colour it has received its name. 
ROCK CASTLE, a river of the United States, in Kentucky, 
which runs south-west into the Cumberland, near the Lons: 
Shoals. 6 
Vol. XXII. No. 1491. 
ROC 165 
ROCK CORK, Suber Montanum, a flexible and some¬ 
what elastic mineral, found in mineral veins. It is some¬ 
times massive, and sometimes in laminae or plates: these 
have been called rock-leather and rock-flesh. The common 
colour is a yellowish-grey of various shades: it is sometimes 
a yellowish-brown and cream-colour. It has a fibrous struc¬ 
ture, and but little lustre. The fractured surface is delicately 
uneven. This mineral is opaque, and very soft, yielding to 
the nail. It breaks with great difficulty, and cracks when 
handled: it is so light as to swim on water, and is almost in¬ 
fusible in the flame of the blow-pipe. 
The constituent parts, as given by Bergmann, are, silex 
56.2; magnesia 26.1; alumine 2; lime 12.7; iron 3. 
Total 100. 
Rock-cork approaches in its nature to asbestus, from 
which it differs principally by the promiscuous arrangement 
of the fibres. 
ROCK CRYSTAL, the purest variety of crystallized 
quartz. This stone is sometimes employed in jewellery, 
and is differently named, according to the places from 
whence it is procured, as Bristol stone, Scotch pebbles, &c. 
ROCK FISH, a common English name for the Gobius, 
which see. 
ROCK FISH CREEK, a river of the United States, in 
Virginia, which runs into James river. Lat. 37. 37. N. 
long. 78. 54. W. 
ROCK. GERMANDER, in botany, a species of Ve¬ 
ronica, which see. 
ROCK HALL, a post village of the United States in Kent 
county, Maryland. 
ROCK HILL, a township of the United States, in Bucks 
county, Pennsylvania. Population 1508. 
ROCK LANDING, a post village of the United States, in 
Halifax county, North Carolina, at the head of the great falls 
of the Roanoke; 12 miles above Halifax. 
ROCK-OUZEL, a name of a bird. 
ROCK POINT, an elevated bluff point on the south-east 
coast of the peninsula of Alaska, so called by Captain Cook 
in 1778. Lat. 55. 10 N. long. 198. 50. E. 
ROCK POINT, a cape on the north coast of the island, 
of Cumbava. Lat. 8. 8. S. long. 118.35. E. 
ROCK RIVER, a river of America, which runs into Lake 
Michigan. Lat. 37.37. N. long. 83.35. W. 
ROCK ROSE, the plant Cistus. 
ROCK SPRING, a post village of the United States, in 
Nelson county, Virginia. 
ROCK TOWN, a small sea-port on the Grain coast of 
Africa. Lat. 4. 35. N. long. 7.50. W. 
ROCK AWAY, a township of the United States, in 
Morris county. New Jersey on Rockaway river. 
ROCKBEARE, a parish of England, in Devonshire; 5 
miles west of Ottery St. Mary. Population 363. 
ROCKBRIDGE, a county of the United States, in the cen¬ 
tral part of Virginia. Population 10,318, including 1724 
slaves. Chief town Lexington. 
ROCKBURN, a parish of England, in Southamptonshire ; 
3| miles north-west of Fordingbridge. 
ROCKCASTLE, a county of the United States, in Ken¬ 
tucky. Population 1731. 
ROCKDALE, a township of the United States, in Crawford 
county, Pennsylvania. 
ROCK-DOE, s. A species of deer. — The rock-doe 
breeds chiefly upon the Alps; a creature of admirable swift¬ 
ness; and may probably be that mentioned in the book of 
Job: her horns grow sometimes so far backward, as to reach 
over her buttocks. Grew. 
ROCK-PIGEON, s. A sort of pigeon which builds in 
rocks by the sea-coast.—Pigeons or doves are of several sorts; 
as wood-pigeons, and rock-pigeons. Mortimer. 
ROCK-RUBY, s. A name given improperly by lapi¬ 
daries and jewellers to the garnet, when it is of a very strong, 
but not deep red, and has a fair cast of the blue. Hill.— 
Rock-ruby is of a deep red, and the hardest of all the kinds. 
Woodward. 
2 U 
ROCK- 
