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R U S 
R U S 
RUSCUS [derivation unknown], in Botany, a genus of 
the class dioecia, order syngenesia, natural order of sarrnen- 
tacem, asparagi (Juss.J — Generic Character:—I. Male. 
Calyx: perianth, six-leaved, form erect-spreading; leaf¬ 
lets ovate, convex, with the lateral margin reflexed. Corolla: 
petals none ; unless the alternate calyx-leaves be called so: 
nectary central, ovate, the size of the calyx, inflated, erect, 
coloured, perforated at the top. Stamina : filaments none ; 
anthers three, spreading, placed on the top of the nectary 
itself, united at the base.—II. Female. Calyx: perianth, 
as in the male. Corolla: petals as in the male; nectary 
hs in the male. Pistil: germ oblong-ovate, concealed 
within the nectary; style cylindric, the length of the 
nectary; stigma obtuse, prominent beyond the mouth of 
the nectary. Pericarp: berry, globular, three-celled. Seeds 
two, globular.—There is a species with hermaphrodite flow¬ 
ers, in which the calyx is globular, with the mouth six-cleft 
only. This genus has a great affinity to asparagus and 
medeola (Juss.J—Essential Character. Calyx six-leaved. 
Corolla none. Nectary central, ovate, perforated at the top. 
Female style, one. Berry three-celled. Seeds two. 
1. Ruscus aculeatus, or prickly butcher’s broom.—Leaves 
ovate,mucronate-pungent,above floriferous,naked; branches 
stiff; roots thick, white, twining about each other, putting 
out frequent fibres like those of asparagus, oblique, striking- 
deep in the ground; stem suffruticose, tough, stiff, green, 
round, striated, from eighteen inches to three feet in height, 
sending out from the sides many short branches', having many 
leaves on them, nearly of the same shape and size with those 
of the myrtle, but very stiff, and ending in sharp prickly points. 
The female flowers are succeeded by berries, which are red, 
bigger than those of asparagus and almost as large as some 
cherries, of a sweetish taste; having two large orange- 
coloured seeds in each, gibbous on one side, flat on the 
other, and extremely hard. The flowers come out in March 
and April, and the seeds ripen in winter—Native of Europe, 
but not in the northern parts. 
2. Ruscus hypophyllum, or broad-leaved butcher’s broom. 
—The roots of this have large knotty heads, with long thick 
fibres like those of the preceding sort; from which arise 
many tough limber stalks near two feet high; leaves stiff, 
ovate-oblong, ending in points, more than two inches long 
and almost one broad, placed alternately. Flowers produced 
on the under surface of the leaves, near the middle, sitting 
close to the mid-rib ; they are small and herbaceous. The 
female flowers are succeeded by small red berries about the 
size of those of Juniper. Native of Italy and Africa. It 
flowers in May and June. 
3. Ruscus hypoglossum, or double-leaved butcher’s broom. 
—Leaves floriferous underneath, beneath the leaflet; root 
like the preceding; stems about ten inches high. On the 
middle of the upper surface comes forth a small leaf of the 
same shape ; and at the same point, from the bosom of the 
small leaves come out the flowers, which are of a pale yellow 
colour. The berries are almost as large as those of the first 
sort; they are red, and ripen in winter.—Native of Italy, 
Idria, Hungary, and Africa about Algiers. 
4. Ruscus androgynus, or climbing butcher’s broom.— 
This sends out pliant stalks which rise seven or eight feet high, 
and have several short branches proceeding from their sides. 
Leaves stiff, about two inches long, and one inch broad 
towards their base, where they are rounded to the foot-stalk, 
but they end in acute points ; many longitudinal veins run 
from the foot-stalk to the point. The flowers are produced 
in clusters on the edges of the leaves, and are white. Berries 
yellowish red, not so large as those of the first sort.—Native 
of the Canary Islands. It flowers most part of the summer. 
5. Ruscus racemosus, or Alexandrian laurel. — Raceme 
terminating, hermaphrodite. Roots like those of the 
other species. Stalks slender and pliable; they rise 
about four feet high, and send out many side-branches. 
Leaves oblong, acute-pointed, about two inches long, and 
one-third of an inch broad, rounded at the base, smooth, of 
a lucid green, placed alternately, and sessile. Flowers in 
long bunches at the ends of the branches, of an herbaceous 
yellow colour. Berries like those of the first sort, but smaller ; 
ripening in winter.—Native of Portugal. 
Propagation and Culture.— 1 , 2, 3, 5. All these sorts 
being very hardy, and thriving in almost any soil or situa¬ 
tion, are very proper for planting round the verges of close 
woods, or under large trees : being ever-green, they make a 
good appearance in winter, after the deciduous trees have 
cast their leaves. They are easily increased by parting their 
roots in autumn. They may also be propagated by the seeds, 
but it is seldom done. 
4. This is a green-house plant; but should be placed where 
it may have free air in mild weather, as it only requires to be 
screened from frost. This is also propagated by parting the 
roots, as the former. 
RUSE, s. [French.] Cunning; artifice; little stratagem; 
trick ; wile; fraud; deceit. “ A French word neither 
elegant nor necessary,” says Johnson, “ but we have no 
English word that can supply it.”—I might here add much 
concerning the wiles and ruses, which these timid creatures 
use to save themselves. Pay. 
RUSH, s. [pipe, pupc, Sax. reis, Icel, raus Goth. 
Chaucer, rish.~\ A plant.—A rush hath a flower composed 
of many leaves, which are placed orbicularly, and expand in 
form of a rose ; from the centre of which "rises the pointal, 
which afterwards becomes a fruit or husk, which is generally 
three-cornered, opening into three parts, and full of roundish 
seeds : they are planted with great care on the banks of the 
sea in Holland, and in order to prevent the water from 
washing away the earth ; for the roots of these rushes fasten 
themselves very deep in the ground, and mat themselves near 
the surface, so as to hold the earth closely together. Miller. 
—He taught me how to know a man in love ; in which cage 
of rushes I am sure you are not a prisoner. Shakspeare. 
RUSH-CANDLE, s. A small blinking taper, made by 
stripping a rush, except one small stripe of the bark, which 
holds the pith together, and dipping it in tallow. 
Be it moon or sun or what you please; 
And if you please to call it a rush-candle. 
Henceforth it shall be so for me. Shakspeare. 
RUSH'LIKE, adj. Resembling a rush; weak; impotent. 
Ne yet did seeke their glorie to advance. 
By only tilling with a rush-like lancet. Mir. 
To RUSH, v. n. [hpeoran, beopan, pieopan,Sax. driusan, 
Goth, to fall, or rush, drus, a fall.] To move with violence; 
to go on with tumultuous rapidity. 
To RUSH, v. a. To push forward with violence.—Con¬ 
sideration, in a most special manner, we owe to our souls ; 
for without it, we shall, as rash unadvised people use to do, 
rush them into infinite perils. Wh. Duty of Man. 
Him while fresh and fragrant time 
Cherisht in his golden prime. 
The rush of death’s unruly wave 
Swept him off into his grave. Crashaw. 
RUSH (The), a sand-bank near the east coast of Ireland, 
and county of Wexford, about four miles’long, and hardly 
one broad, a little to the south of Glasscarrick point. 
RUSH (Benjamin), an eminent physician, and professor 
of the institutes and practice of medicine in the university 
of Pennsylvania, was bom near Bristol, in the state of 
Pennsylvania, on the 5th January, 1745. His father cul¬ 
tivated a farm, and carried on the trade of a gun-smith. He 
died while Benjamin was yet young. His widow, a most 
excellent woman, upon whom the education of young Rush 
thus necessarily devolved, placed him, at an early age, 
under the direction of Dr. Finley, afterwards better known 
as the president of Princeton college, New Jersey, an able 
scholar and faithful teacher, by whom he was taught the 
rudiments of classical knowledge. 
From the academy of Dr. Finley he was removed to the 
college of Princeton, where he finished his classical educa¬ 
tion, and was admitted to the degree of A. B. in 1760, when 
he 
