383 
R 0 S 
springs of Reichenhall. Population 1700 5 38 miles west of 
Salzburg. 
ROSENIA, (so called by Thunberg, in honour of two 
brothers of the name of Rosen, both eminent as physicians 
and botanists), in Botany, a genus of the class syngenesia, 
order polygamiasuperflua, natural order composite discoidese, 
corymbiferse ( Juss.) —Generic Character. Common calyx 
of many leaves, imbricated; scales ovate, obtuse, undivided, 
smooth, transparent, with a brown, opaque, longitudinal 
line. Corolla compound, radiated; florets of the disk per¬ 
fect, tubular, five-cleft; those of the radius female, ligulate, 
convolute, arched. Stamina: (in the perfect florets) filaments 
five, very short; anthers united into a cylindrical tube. 
Pistil (both in the disk and radius): germen small, style 
thread-shaped; stigma cloven. Pericarp none, except the 
unchanged calyx. Seed (in both kinds of florets) angular, 
smooth; down, of two kinds of capillary scales; the two 
innermost of the radius generally setaceous and longest; 
the outermost capillary, united at the base into several parcels. 
Receptacle composed of lanceolate, membranaceous scales.— 
Essential Character. Receptacle chaffy. Seed-down of 
two kinds, chaffy. Corolla radiated. Calyx scariose. 
Rosenia glandulosa, stem shrubby, round, smooth, 
wavy, erect, much branched, generally more than two feet 
high. Branches and branchlets alternate, three or four to¬ 
gether, in a cluster, spreading, striated : the branchlets 
lateral, very short, leafy. Leaves somewhat clustered, ap¬ 
proximating, sessile, ovate, obtuse, undivided, slightly con¬ 
cave, chiefly glandular at the margin, downy, thickish, im¬ 
bricated half as long as the nail. Flowers capitate, terminal. 
Thunberg. 
ROSE-NOBLE, s. An English gold coin, in value 
anciently sixteen shillings.' They are so named because 
stamped with a rose.—The succeeding kings coined rose- 
nobles and double rose-nobles. Camden. 
It must be observed, that the value of this coin varied 
much in different reigns. When first struck in the 
reign of Edward III. it was the penny of gold; and was cur¬ 
rent at 6s. 8 d., and consequently formed half a “ mark,” so 
called as being a grand limited sum in account (Marc, limes, 
Goth.) 8 oz. in weight, and §ds of the money pound. This 
as one half of the commercial pound of 16 ounces, is some¬ 
times called “ selibra.” The noble, was so called from the 
nobility of the metal, being of the finest gold then or now 
used in the world for coinage; and it was attended by its half 
and quarter: the proportion of silver to gold being then 1 to 
11. This coin was sometimes called the “rose-noble,” from 
both sides being impaled in an undulating circle, resembling 
the outline of an expanded rose, together with its half and 
quarter; and these continued the only gold coins till the 
angels of Edward IV. 1465, stamped with the angel Michael 
and the dragon, and the angelets, equal to half the angel, or 
3r. 4 d. were substituted in their place. Antiquaries likewise 
assert, that gold being scarce in Henry V.’s time, that prince 
diminished the noble, retaining its former value; but that 
Henry VI. restored it to its size, and caused it to pass for 10s. 
under the new name of ryal. Accordingly, the noble of 
Henry V. weighs only 108 grains now, while those preceding 
his reign weigh 120. This speaks gold to have increased in 
value about 10 per cent. The old noble of Edward III. and 
Richard II. at 120 grains, passed but for 6s. 8d .; but in the 
fifth year of Edward IV. 1465, the angel was of equal value, 
though but 80 grains in weight; which shews gold to have 
increased in value then no less than 30 per cent. Certain it 
is that the ryal of 10s. and the angel of 6s. 8 d. with their di¬ 
visions of half and quarter, were the sole gold coins till, in 
1485, Henry VII. published the double ryal, or sovereign of 
20?. accompanied by the double sovereign of 40?. 
ROSENTHAL, a small town in the south of Bohemia; 
20 miles south of Budweis, with 1200 inhabitants. 
ROSENTHAL, a small town on the west of Germany, in 
Hesse-Cassel ; 12 miles north of Marburg. Population 1100. 
ROSENTHAL, a village of Prussian Silesia, in the county 
of Glatz, with 850 inhabitants ; 14 miles south of Glatz. 
R O S 
ROSENTHAL, or Rozmital, a small town in the south 
of Bohemia, on the river Lomnitz; 40 miles south-south¬ 
west of Prague, with 1100 inhabitants. 
ROSEOLA, a term of Willan’s, denoting a rose-coloured 
efflorescence of the skin, not elevated, nor contagious. See 
Pathology, p. 352, where the disease is termed Exan- 
thesis Roseola. 
ROSES, Islands of, two small islands in the Indian sea 
near the eastern coast of Africa. Lat. 17. S. 
RO'SET, s. [ rosette , Fr. Cotgrave.'] A red colour for 
painters.—Grind ceruss with a weak water of gum-lake, 
roset, and vermillion, which maketh it a fair carnation. 
Peach am. 
ROSETO, a river of Italy, in the south of the kingdom of 
Naples, which runs into the gulf of Taranto. 
ROSETO, a small town of Italy, in the central part of the 
kingdom of Naples, Principato Ultra, with 2800 inhabitants; 
13 miles west-south-west of Lucera. 
ROSETTA, Rossetta, or Rasciiid, a town of Egypt, 
of considerable size and population, founded in the eighth 
century, as some have said; though Elmacin informs 11s, 
that it was built during the reign of Elmetouakkel, caliph of 
Bagdad, towards the year 870 of our era, and under the 
pontificate of Cosma, patriarch of the Jacobites at Alex¬ 
andria. Others date its foundation at a much later period ; 
and Belon, who travelled in Egypt in 1530, says that 
this town was much smaller than Faoue, but at present it 
is much larger. It has borne the Arabic name Raschid 
ever since the time of Edrissi, the geographer, in 1153, 
and of this the Europeans have made Rosetta or Rossetta. 
Some have erroneously asserted, that it was built on 
the spot where Canopus was situated ; whereas the Canopic 
branch of the Nile is the lagoon of Maadie, and the ruins of 
Canopus are at Aboukir. Rosetta affords no trace of anti¬ 
quity ; nevertheless, it is certain, says Sonnini, that it cannot 
be far from the place where stood Metelis or Metilis, of 
which Strabo and Ptolemy make mention, and which was 
on the western bank, and near the mouth of the Bolbitic 
branch of the Nile. The heaps of sand, which this river is 
continually accumulating, no longer permit vessels to reach 
as far as Faoue. Although Rosetta was built at the mouth of 
the river, it is already two leagues from it. According to 
Abulfeda it was very inconsiderable in the 13th century; nor 
was it much increased for 200 years after this time. But when 
the Ottomans added Egypt to their conquests, they neglected 
the support of the canals. Thus, the canal of Faoue ceasing 
to be navigable, Rosetta became the emporium of the 
merchandize of Alexandria and Cairo. Commerce soon 
made it flourish, and it is at this day one of the handsomest 
towns in Egypt. It extends along the western bank of 
the Nile, and is above a league in length, by a quarter of 
a mile in breadth. Although it has no remarkable place, 
nor any one street quite regular, yet all the houses, being 
built with terraces, and well disposed, have, by Savary’s 
description of it, an air of cleanliness and elegance, which 
is very agreeable;' to which Sonnini adds, that here are seen 
long streets formed by two rows of shops, in which are 
found all sorts of goods; the necessaries of life being very 
plentiful, and procured at a low price. Within the houses 
are spacious apartments, well ventilated by a great number 
of windows, which are always open. The blinds and trans¬ 
parent linen, which they stretch over them, keep out the rays 
of the sun, afford a moderate light, and mitigate the exces¬ 
sive heats. The only public buildings worthy of notice are 
the mosques, with their lofty minarets, of light architecture, 
and constructed with much boldness. .They thus produce a 
very picturesque effect into a town where all the roofs are flat, 
and throw great variety in the picture. The houses in ge¬ 
neral have a view of the Nile, and of the Delta, which form 
a most magnificent spectacle. The river is always covered 
with vessels, mounting and descending with oars, or under 
sail. The tumult of the harbour, the "joy of the mariners, 
their noisy music, exhibit a moving and animated scene. 
The Delta, that immense garden, where the earth is never 
weary 
