ROE 
Vienna. In 1640 he was elected a representative of the 
University of Oxford, and made several speeches upon im¬ 
portant occasions, especially an excellent one at the council 
table against debasing the coin. Whilst yet a member of 
parliament, he was sent, in 1641, to the Diet at Ratisbon, 
to negotiate for the restoration of the late King of Bohemia’s 
son to.the Palatinate, an order at the same time being made 
that he should retain his seat in the house. After his return, 
the King created him a privy-counsellor, and chancellor of 
the order of the Garter. The view of the approaching 
national disturbances embittered, and perhaps shortened, his 
life, which was terminated in 1644. He left the character of 
a very able and upright minister, a true patriot, and an ac¬ 
complished gentleman." Besides the writings above-men¬ 
tioned, he left in manuscript a “ Compendious Relation of 
the Proceedings and Acts of the Imperial Dyet held at Ratis¬ 
bon in 1640 and 1641;” and a “Journal of several Pro¬ 
ceedings of the Knights of the Garter.” 
ROE, a river of Ireland, in the county of Donegal, which 
runs into Lough Foyle; 2 miles north-west of Limavaddy. 
ROE, a small island near the west coast of Ireland, in Clew 
bay; 7 miles west of Newport Pratt. 
ROE-STONE, Oolite, in Mineralogy, a variety of lime¬ 
stone, so called because it is composed of small round glo¬ 
bules, supposed to resemble the roes of fishes, imbedded in 
a calcareous cement. These globules are composed of con¬ 
centric lamellae, and are evidently the result of crystallization. 
They vary in size from a grain of mustard-seed to that of a 
pea; when they are as large as the latter, it is called pea- 
stone. Roe-stone is one of the secondary lime-stones, which 
may be considered as belonging to the chalk-formation. It 
lies under chalk in various parts of England, being sepa¬ 
rated from' it by beds of sand and clay. It is found also in 
many parts of Europe, but, according to Humboldt, is 
not met with in South America. Some of the strata of this 
stone are extensively used for the purposes of architecture : the 
most distinguished are the Ketten stone in Northamptonshire, 
the Bath fire-stone in Somersetshire, and Portland stone in 
the island of Portland. Portland stone is of a yellowish- 
white colour: the more compact varieties, when closely 
inspected, shew a tendency to crystalline arrangement; it is 
composed of carbonate of lime, with a small admixture of silex 
and alumine. 
The island of Portland is properly an isthmus, situated in 
Weymouth bay, in the British Channel, -The stone is got in 
every part of the island, but the quarries at Kingston are the 
most productive. According to Mr. S.meaton, the first 
stratum in the quarry is a dark coloured reddish earth, about 
one foot thick. To this succeed six feet of stone of an 
inferior quality, called cap. Immediately under this lies the 
roe-stone or free-stone, which is ten or twelve feet deep; 
and beneath this bed there is flint or clay. In some parts 
irregular veins of quartz run through the roe-stone. The 
stratum of stone that is wrought for sale lies nearly parallel 
with the upper surface of the island; and, in general, the 
cover of earth and rubbish upon it is thin. Several beds of 
stone lie continuous one above another, varying in thickness 
from two to four feet, and sometimes more. 
Portland stone was brought into repute in the reign of 
James I., and was employed in the construction of the ban- 
quetting-house at Whitehall. After the great fire in Lon¬ 
don, this stone was generally used by sir Christopher Wren, 
in the construction of the new public edifices, as St. Paul’s 
cathedral, the monument, and almost every building of note 
in the metropolis. 
The different beds of roe-stone abound in marine organic 
remains, of which the pear encriniteis perhaps the most re¬ 
markable. In the lower beds are found the hippocephaloides, 
or horse-head muscles, which, according to Mr. Townson, 
are not casts, but petrifactions of the fish itself, and do not 
represent the interior surface of the shells, from which they 
are perfectly distinct. The stratum also contains the Anomia 
Spinosa of Linnaeus. The spines are extremely delicate,' 
and in some specimens me more than half an inch in length; 
from which circumstance we may infer, that the calcareous 
ROE 183 
earth of this stratum was deposited in an extremely com¬ 
minuted state, and in a tranquil element, otherwise it is. 
almost impossible to conceive that these spines could have 
remained unbroken. 
ROEBUCK (John), M. D. was born at Sheffield in 
Yorkshire, in the year 1718. His father was a manufacturer 
of Sheffield goods, and by his ability and industry procured 
a considerable fortune. He intended John to follow his 
own lucrative employment; but he was powerfully attached 
to other pursuits, and his father did not discourage his rising 
genius, but gave him a liberal education. 
Having completed his studies at school, he was sent to the 
university of Endinburgh, where he studied medicine and 
chemistry in particular, which then began to attract some 
attention in Scotland. He was much distinguished among 
his fellow students by his logical and metaphysical acuteness, 
and by great ingenuity in his arguments. At Edinburgh 
he formed an acquaintance with Mr. Hume, Dr. Robert¬ 
son, and other literary characters. 
Having completed his medical studies, and being 
wholly attached to the practice of physic, he spent some 
time at the university of Leyden, where he obtained a de¬ 
gree in medicine. He afterwards settled as a physician at 
Birmingham, a place which then began to make a rapid 
progress in arts, manufactures, and population, and where a 
favourable opening was presented to him by the death of 
an aged physician. But it was soon found that his industry 
and studies were turned to other subjects than those of his 
profession, and in a particular manner to that of chemistry, 
the utility of which he was anxious to extend to the arts and 
manufactures. In the prosecution of this idea, he fitted up 
a laboratory in his own house, where every moment of his 
time was spent, not necessarily devoted to the duties of his 
profession. 
In this manner he was led to the discovery of certain 
improved methods of refining gold and' silver, and an in¬ 
genious method of collecting the smaller particles of these 
metals, which manufacturers had formerly lost. He also 
discover ed improved methods of making sublimed harts¬ 
horn, and many other articles of equal importance. 
The extensvie use of sulphuric acid in chemistry led many 
to various methods of obtaining it, and Dr. Roebuck attempted 
to prepare it in such a manner as to reduce the price, for 
which purpose he substituted leaden vessels in the room of 
lass; and he had the good fortune to effect his benevolent 
esign. He established a manufacture of this useful article 
at Prestonpans in Scotland, in the year 1749, which was 
opposed by Dr. Ward, but without success, as Roebuck’s 
discovery did not come within Dr. Ward’s patent. By 
concealment and secrecy Dr. Roebuck and his partner pre¬ 
served the advantages of their industry and ingenuity for a 
number of years, supplying the public with sulphuric acid 
at a much chaper rate than had been formerly done. 
He found it expedient to give up his medical profession 
altogether, and he resided in Scotland during the greater 
part of the year. He made some discoveries in the smelting 
of iron-stone, greatly facilitating that process by using pit 
coal instead of charcoal. He and his partner therefore pro¬ 
jected a very extensive manufactory of iron, for which they 
soon procured a sufficient capital, as their friends had much 
confidence in their integrity and abilities. Dr. Roebuck at 
length made choice of a spot on the banks of the river Car - 
ron as the most advantageous situation for the establishment 
of their iron manufactory, abundance of iron-stone, lime¬ 
stone, and coal, being found in its immediate vicinity. The 
preparations for this establishment were^finished in the end of 
the year 1759, and the first furnace was blown on the 1st of 
January 1760, after which a second was in a'short time erected 
These works turned the attention of Dr. Roebuck to the 
state of coal in the neighbourhood of that place, and to the 
means of procuring the extraordinary supplies of it which 
the iron-works might require in future. He therefore became 
lessee of the extensive coal and salt works at Borro9townness, 
the property of the Duke of Hamilton, in which he sunk, in 
the course of a lew.years, not only his own, but a consider¬ 
able 
