RACK. 
RADISH. — 9 
eligible, a stable yard for instance, let the earth | dress itself to some useful purpose. “It must be 
be removed, 6 feet deep and 3 wide, A foot from 
this square hole, let another be dug of the same 
depth, and 4 feet wide,—the latter to be bricked 
all round, and divided from the smaller space by 
a brick partition, open at the bottom large 
enough to admit a full grown rabbit. Down this 
party wall an iron plate is to be slided at plea- 
sure, by a rope from above. This forms the 
communication between the two apartments, 
the former of which, the smaller, we will call the 
warren, the latter, the trap. Light covers of wood, 
- or even of tarred sailcloth, stretched and nailed 
on a frame of wood, are to be adapted to each 
space, either with hinges, fastened to a lower 
frame, or entirely moveable. The trap, or larger 
bricked compartment, is also the feeding place, 
into which not only garden vegetables may be 
thrown, but troughs containing bran and oats 
are to be let down, fastened to the ends of sticks 
of a convenient length, perhaps 4 feet. As soon 
as the stock of rabbits is placed in their future 
home, the animals will begin to burrow in the 
warren (the brick-work will prevent them from 
doing this in the other space) ; and when they 
are hungry, they will naturally pass through 
their door to obtain the food which will await 
them in the trap. The iron sliding door of com- 
munication will of course never be let down but 
for an express purpose,—the chief obviously being 
to catch and select them while they are assem- 
bled at their meal.” 
RABIES. See HypropHosta. 
RACE. A variety or breed of horses or cat- 
tle or other domesticated animals; also, a trial 
of speed between two or more animals, particu- 
larly between two or more horses. See the arti- 
cles Ractne and Horss. 
RACEME. See INFLORESCENCE. 
RACEMIC ACID. A vegetable acid found 
readily in the grapes of certain districts, and 
probably occurring more or less in all grapes, 
It is nearly akin to tartaric acid, not only in 
being naturally associated with it, but in having 
a similar and even isomeric constitution. 
RACHIS. The flexuous axis of the inflores- 
cence of the grasses; also the petiole and midrib 
of the frond of ferns. 
RACING. A trial of speed, under stringent 
conditions, and in the way of public gaming and 
amusement, between two or more trained race- 
horses, We have said enough respecting race- 
horses in the article Horsr; we have not a word 
to say respecting the gaming and the general 
spirit of the English race-course except to de- 
nounce them as immoral; and we need not 
usurp the functions of the Racing Calendar in 
detailing the rules and practices of the turf, as 
nobody is likely to consult us for such informa- 
tion. We shall merely say that, if ever racing 
can be made to comport in any tolerable degree 
with right feeling or common sense, it must both 
renounce gaming and cruelty, and directly ad- 
obvious,” says an able writer, who is very far from 
according with us in dislike to the thing itself, 
“that the practice of racing should be such as 
to encourage and promote the qualities desired 
to be perpetuated, and such as are of the great- 
est public value. Thus in Persia, continued 
speed being the object required, the race is pro- 
tracted for several days, so as to be a severe test 
of endurance,—a quality of considerable impor- 
tance in travelling from one part of the country 
to the other, and in transmitting expresses. On 
the contrary, in South America, where sudden 
speed is useful, and commonly called for in tak- 
ing wild cattle, the race is exceedingly short, 
In these instances, the qualities sought to be en- 
couraged are those of the greatest and most,com- 
mon use. So in England something besides speed 
being requisite, it should be the study of those 
possessing influence in these matters, to direct 
the public taste to the encouragement of quali- 
ties of national importance, Marshal Marmont 
judiciously observes on this topic, that ‘ Les en- 
couragemens, les prix, les primes, devraient étre 
calculés sur des épreuves applicables aux besoins 
des divers usages publics et domestiques et non 
pas étre la recompense d'un mérite idéal.’” 
[ Winter’s Horse in Health and Disease. ] 
RACK, See Hay-Rack. 
RADIATED FLOWERS. Composite flowers 
which have their outer florets in a radiated or 
stellate arrangement. They are distinguished 
by their form from discous flowers. 
RADICLE. The part of the embryo of a plant 
which, in germination, descends through the soil 
and becomes the root. The name radicles is also 
given to the rootlets or radical fibres of a plant, 
to distinguish them from the main body of the 
root. 
RADIOLA. A curious, little, annual, British 
plant, of the carnation order. It grows in sandy 
situations, and has a height of only one or two 
inches, and carries white flowers in July and 
August. It constitutes a genus of itself, and is 
called specifically mzlegrana, and popularly all- 
seed. Its generic name radiola signifies ‘a little 
ray, and alludes to the radiated form of its 
capsule. 
RADISH,—botanically Raphanus. A genus 
of herbaceous plants, of the cruciferous order. 
It is nearly allied to the mustard genus, but may 
readily be distinguished from it by the form of 
its pods, which are many-celled or divided into 
several joints. Two species grow wild in Bri- 
tain; two have been introduced from other 
countries; and several more are known. One of 
the indigenous species is noticed in the article 
CHARLOcK; and one of the introduced species, in 
the article Lanpra. The other indigenous spe- 
cies, Raphanus maritimus, is a tap-rooted weed 
of the sea-coasts of Britain, commonly about 3 
feet in height, and carrying yellow flowers from 
May till July. 
