ROS 
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R 0 R 
over the back. It is far from being shy or timorous, and is 
delighted at Ihe sight of men; when tired with play or with 
running, it will open its mouth and pant, and loll out its 
tongue as the dogs do. 
ROQUE TIMBAUT, a small town in the south-west ot 
France, department of the Lower Garonne. Population 
1200 ; 8 miles north-east of Agen. 
ROQUEVA1RE, a small town in the south-east of France, 
department of the mouths of the Rhone, on the small river 
Veaune. Tt is noticed for its muscadel wine, of which large 
quantities are cultivated in the neighbourhood; also for its 
capers, raisins, figs, almonds, and other fruits. In the neigh¬ 
bourhood there is a coal-mine. Population 3100 ; 14 miles 
north-east of Marseilles, and 15 south-by-east of Aix. 
ROQUITE, a river of the Sahara, in Western Africa, 
which falls into the Atlantic. 
RORAAS, an inland town in the north of Norway, in the 
bishopric of Drontheim. It stands on a mountain of great 
height, and occupies the most elevated inhabited situation in 
this country. Frost and snow prevail here during almost the 
whole year, and the cattle can scarcely be put out to pasture 
till Midsummer. It contains 3000 inhabitants, whose princi¬ 
pal means of subsistence arise from the copper mines in the 
neighbourhood, which give employment to 200 workmen, 
and bring to the crown nearly 7000/. of annual income; 
67 miles south-south-east of Drontheim. 
RO'RAL, adj. [_r or alls, Lat.] Dewy. Coles. 
These see her from her dusky plight 
With roral wash redeem her face, 
And prove herself of Titan’s race; 
And mounting in loose robes the skies. 
Shed light and fragrance as she flies. Green. 
RORARIUS (Jerome), was a native of Pordenone in 
Italy, who, about the middle of the 16th century, appeared 
in the character of nuncio from Pope Clement VII. at the 
cpurt of Ferdinand, King of Hungary. He was the author 
of a curious and not ill-written book, entitled, “ Quod Ani¬ 
mal ia Bruta Ratione utantur melius Homine;” in which he 
undertook to shew, not only that beasts are rational creatures, 
but also that they make a better use of their reason than man. 
Among the proofs which he brings forward, will be found a 
great number of singular particulars, relating to the ingenuity 
of beasts, and the perversity of man. This work, after lying 
concealed in the obscure recesses of libraries for near 100 
years, was introduced to the world by the celebrated M. 
Naude, who published it at Paris, in the year 1645 ; and it 
has been reprinted in Holland more than once. Bayle, to 
whom we are indebted for these particulars, has taken the 
opportunity, when commenting upon them, of introducing 
much learned and curious matter relating to the capacity of 
brutes, and the opinions of ancient and modern writers on 
the question, whether they have a rational soul ? which will 
afford no little entertainment to readers who take pleasure in 
such speculations. 
RORA'TION, s. [ roris, Lat.] A falling of dew. John¬ 
son. 
RORGEN, a small town of the Prussian province of the 
Lower Rhine, near Aix-la-Chapelle, with 3000 inhabitants. 
ItO.'RID, adj. [ roridus , Lat.] Dewy.—A vehicle con¬ 
veys it through less accessible cavities into the liver, from 
thence into the veins, and so in a rorul substance through 
the capillary cavities. Brown. 
RORIDULA, [dimin. from Ros, dew.] In botany, a 
genus of the class pentandria, order monogynia.—Generic 
Character. Calyx: perianth five-leaved ; leaflets lanceolate, 
equal, permanent. Corolla: petals five, oblong, equal, 
larger than the calyx. Stamina: filaments five, awl-shaped, 
shorter by half than the corolla; anthers inserted above their 
base, awl-shaped, semibifid, gaping at the top; nectary 
from the scrotiform base of the anther protruded downwards. 
Pistil: germ oblong; style filiform, the length of the stamens; 
stigma truncate, subtrilobate. Pericarp: capsule oblong, 
three-cornered, three-celled,. three-valved; partitions con¬ 
trary to the valves. Seeds solitary, oval, angular on one 
side.— Essential Character. Calyx five-leaved. Corolla 
five-petalled. Anthers scrotiform at the base. Capsule 
three-valved. 
Roridula dentata.—This is a suffruticose plant, with the 
habit of Drosera. Leaves clustered, alternate, sessile, half¬ 
embracing, awl-shaped, with filiform teeth, ciliate. Scape 
branched into peduncles; which are axillary and terminating,- 
few-flowered in a sort of spike, each pedicel having one 
bracte. The whole plant, like Drosera, is viscid with glan¬ 
dular hairs. Capsule pyramidal, acuminate, roundly three- 
cornered : partitions fastened to the axis, and separating in 
such a manner from the valves when ripe, that a three-sided 
pyramidal column remains in the midst. In each cell is one 
seed, biggish, ovate, compressed a little, flatfish on the 
back, obscurely angular on the belly, deeply honey-combed 
with very minute excavations in longitudinal rows, of a red¬ 
dish ferruginous colour. The seeds are fastened to the axis 
of the capsule, a little above the base.—Native of the Cape 
of Good Hope. 
RQRI'FEROUS, adj. [ros and fero, Lat.] Producing 
dew. Johnson. 
RORI'FLUENT, adj. [ros and Jiao , Lat.] Flowing 
with dew. Johnson. 
RORIPA, or Rorippa, a name which Scopoli gave to 
Sisymbrium ; see that article. 
RORSCHACH, or Roschach, a small town in the north¬ 
east of Switzerland, on the lake of Constance, about six miles 
from the place where the Rhine enters that lake. Its situa¬ 
tion is uncommonly beautiful. Its harbour is the best on the 
lake, and the trade in corn is considerable. The inhabitants 
manufacture and bleach linen, and carry on also a traffic in 
wine and salt. Population 2800; 6 miles north-east of St. 
Gall. 
ROS Solis, Sun Dew, a plant so called from the clear 
drops of viscid moisture, standing on the bristles which clothe 
its foliage; most abundant and conspicious in hot bright 
weather. See Drosf.ra. 
ROS Vitrioli, among the old Chemists, sometimes used 
for the first phlegm distilled from vitriol in balneo Marise. 
ROSA, [from the Celtic ros or rhos, or from the Greek 
pouo-io?.] In botany, a genus of the class icosandria, order 
polygynia,natural order of senticosae, rosacea: (Juss.J— Generic 
Character. Calyx: perianth one-leaved; tube ventricose, 
contracted at the neck, with the border spreading, five- 
parted, globular; segments long, lanceolate-narrow (in 
some of them two alternate ones appendicled on both sides; 
two others, also alternate, naked on both sides;, the fifth 
appendicled on one side only.) Corolla: petals five, obcor- 
date, the length of the calyx, inserted into the neck of the 
calyx. Stamina: filaments very many, capillary, very short, 
inserted into the neck of the calyx ; anthers three cornered. 
Pistils: germs numerous, in the bottom of the calyx ; styles 
as many, villose, very short, compressed close by the neck 
of the calyx, inserted into the side of the germ ; stigmas 
blunt. Pericarp none; berry fleshy, turbinate, coloured, 
soft, one-celled, crowned with the rude segments, contracted 
at the neck, formed from the tube of the calyx. Seeds 
numerous, oblong, hispid, fastened to the inner side of the 
calyx. The calyx of the pericarp resembles a berry.— Essen¬ 
tial Character. Calyx pitcher-shaped, five-cleft, fleshy, 
contracted at the neck. Petals five. Seeds very many, 
hispid, fastened to the inner side of the calyx. 
This genus can scarcely be mistaken. It consists 
of shrubs, which for the most part are prickly. The 
leaves are unequally pinnate, with wing-shaped stipules 
fastened to the common petiole. The flowers are either 
solitary or in a sort of corymb at the ends of the branches; 
in their natural state they have five petals, which are often 
large and generally red, but sometimes white, seldom yellow. 
The tube of the calyx becomes a sort of berry, crowned 
with the border; and being of a globular shape in some 
species, and ovoid in others, the genus divides commodiously 
into two sections. 
But though the genus be easy, it is very difficult to deter¬ 
mine 
