he visited Rome; but returned to Westminster, and died there in 1401. He wrote Historia ab Hengista ad an. 1348, in two parts, still remaining a MS.; his principal work is a Description of Britain, first published in Latin at Copenhagen, in 1767, and more recently in Latin and English, with a commentary and maps by Mr. Hatcher, 1809, 8vo.

RICHARD (Louis Claude Marie), one of the most eminent modern botanists, was born at Versailles September 4th, 1754, and the son of the keeper of the royal gardens at Auteuil. He studied at the college of Vernon, and the Mazarin College, Paris. Here he partly supported himself by making drawings for architects, and at the same time assiduously applied himself to botany, anatomy, and zoology. While very young, he presented several memoirs to the Academy, which attracted the notice of Jussieu, who gave him the use of his library and cabinet. In 1781 he sailed from France on a voyage of research to French Guyana with the title of naturalist to the king, and returned in 1789, bringing with him a herbal of 1000 plants, most of which were newly discovered, beside other collections in natural history. During the political disturbances of the period his labors were neglected; but, when the school of medicine was established, he was appointed professor of botany; and, on the formation of the Institute, he was a member of the first class in the section of zoology. He was also a corresponding member of the Royal Society of London, and of the legion of honor. He died June 7th, 1821. The researches of Richard were chiefly directed to the comparative anatomy of plants, on which he published a number of valuable Memoirs, besides which he was the author of Demonstrations Botaniques, ou Analyse du Fruit considéré en general, 1803, 8vo.

RICHARDIA, in botany, a genus of the monogynia order, and hexandria class of plants; natural order forty-seventh, stellata: CAL. sexpartite coR. monopetalous, and subcylindrical; and there are three seeds. Species one only, a herb of Vera Cruz.

RICHARDS (Nathaniel), a dramatic writer in the reign of Charles I., and a fellow of Caius College, Cambridge, where he took his degree of A. B. in 1634. He wrote tragedy entitled Messalina, published in 1640, which was acted with applause. He also wrote some poems, published in 1645.

Criticism as it relates to painting; 2. An Argument in behalf of the Science of a Connoisseur, bound in 1 vol. 8vo. In 1722 came forth An Account of some of the statues, bas-reliefs, drawings, and pictures, in Italy, &c., with Remarks by Mr. Richardson, senior and junior. The son made the journey; and from his notes, letters, and observations, they both at his return compiled this work. In 1734 they published a very thick 8vo., containing explanatory notes and remarks on Milton's Paradise Lost, with the life of the author, and a treatise on the poem. Besides his pictures and commentaries, we have a few etchings by his hand, particularly two or three of Milton, and his own head. The sale of his collection of drawings, in February 1747, lasted eighteen days, and produced about £2060.

RICHARDSON (Samuel), a celebrated English novel writer, born in 1688. He was educated as a printer, and, though he is said to have understood no language but his own, yet he acquired great reputation by his three novels, entitled Pamela, Clarissa, and Sir Charles Grandison. A stroke of the palsy carried off Mr. Richardson, after a few days' illness, upon the 4th of July 1761. Besides the works above-mentioned, he is the author of an Esop's Fables, a Tour through Britain, 4 vols., and a volume of Familiar Letters upon business and other subjects. The most eminent writers, both of our own and of other countries, have paid their tribute to the transcendant talents of Mr. Richardson, whose works have been published in almost every language and country of Europe. Dr. Johnson, in his introduction to the ninety-seventh number of the Rambler, which was written by Mr. Richardson, observes that the reader was indebted for that day's entertainment to an author, from whom the age has received greater favors; who has enlarged the knowledge of human nature, and taught the passions to move at the command of virtue.' In his life of Rowe, he adds, 'It was in the power of Richardson alone to teach us at once esteem and detestation; to make virtuous resentment overpower all the benevolence which wit, and elegance, and courage, naturally excite; and to lose at last the hero in the villain.'

RICHELET (Cæsar Peter), a French writer, born in 1631, at Chemin in Champagne. He was the friend of Patru and Ablancourt. He compiled a dictionary of the French language, of which the best edition is that of Lyons, 3 vols. folio, 1728. He also collected a small dictionary of rhymes He died in 1698.

works. The king having recalled him to court, he was made a cardinal in 1622, and two years after first minister of state, and grand master of the navigation. In 1626 the Isle of Rhe was preserved by his care, and Rochelle taken, having stopped up the haven by the famous dike which he ordered to be made there. He accompanied the king to the siege of Cazal, and contributed to the raising of it in 1629. He also obliged the Huguenots to the peace of Alets, which proved the ruin of that party: he took Pomeral, and succored Cazal, when besieged by Spinola. In the mean time the nobles found fault with his conduct, and endeavoured to persuade the king to discard him. The cardinal, however, instead of being disgraced, from that moment became more powerful than ever, and obtained a greater ascendancy over the king's mind; and he now resolved to humble the excessive pride of the house of Austria. For that purpose he concluded a treaty with Gustavus Adolphus king of Sweden to carry the war into the heart of Germany. He also entered into a league with the duke of Bavaria; secured Lorrain; raised a part of the princes of the empire against the emperor; treated with the Dutch to continue the war against Spain; favored the Catalans and Portuguese till they shook off the Spanish yoke; and, after having carried on the war with success, was about to conclude it by a peace, when he died in Paris on the 4th of December, 1642, aged fifty-eight. He was interred in the Sorbonne, where a magnificent mausoleum was erected to his memory. This great politician made the arts and sciences flourish; formed the botanical garden at Paris, called the king's garden; founded the French Academy; established the royal printing-house; erected the palace afterwards called Le Palais Royal, which he presented to the king; and rebuilt the Sorbonne with a magnificence that appears truly royal. Besides his books of controversy and piety, there go under the name of this minister A Journal, in 2 vols. 12mo.; and a Political Testament, 12mo.; all treating of politics and state affairs. Cardinal Mazarine pursued Richelieu's plan, and completed many of the schemes which he had begun, but left unfinished.

RICHLIEU, CHAMBLY, or Sorel River, a river of Lower Canada, which flows from Lake Champlain in a northerly course, and joins the St. Lawrence.

RICHLIEU ISLANDS, a cluster of islands in the St. Lawrence, situated at the south-west entrance of Lake St. Peter, nearly 100 in number. Several of them are cleared, and afford good pasturage for cattle. They lie very low, and abound in wild fowl.

RICHMOND, a market town, borough, and parish of Yorkshire, pleasantly situate on the river Swale, which encompasses nearly half the the town. It sends two members to the imperial parliament. It has a market on Saturday, two churches, and many handsome houses of stone. It had anciently a castle, built by Alan, earl of Richmond, one of the followers of William the Conqueror. It is forty-four miles north-west of York, sixty south-east of Lancaster, and 234 N. N. W. of London.

RICHMOND, a rich, populous, and elegant village of England, in Surrey, seated on the bank of the Thames. It was anciently called Sheen, which in the Saxon signifies resplendent. It had a royal palace, in which Richard II. and Edward I., II., and III. resided, and the latter died in it. In 1497 it was burnt, but Henry VII. rebuilt it in 1501, and gave the place its present name, from his title of earl of Richmond, before he was king. He and his grand-daughter queen Elizabeth died in it. Richmond is famous for its beautiful royal gardens, which in summer are open to the public every Sunday; as well for its elegant and extensive park. It has also a fine observatory. An elegant stone bridge of five arches was bere erected over the Thames in 1777. It is nine miles W.S.W. of London.

RICHMOND, a county of Virginia, bounded on the north by Westmoreland county, on the northeast by Westmoreland and Northumberland counties, on the south-east by Lancaster county, and on the south-west by the Rappahannock.

RICHMOND, a city, port of entry, and the metropolis of Virginia, in Henrico county, on the north side of James River, between fifty and sixty miles, by the course of the river, above City Point, and 150 miles from its mouth, immediately below the falls, at the head of tide water, and opposite Manchester, with which it is connected by two bridges: twenty-five miles north of Petersburg. The city was formerly divided into two sections, the upper or western part, called Shockoe Hill, and the lower part Richmond, separated by Shockoe Creek, a small rivulet; but these distinctions are now going out of use, and the sections are united together. The situation is highly picturesque, beautiful, and healthy; and Richmond is one of the most flourishing, wealthy, and commercial cities in the United States.

It contains about 800 houses built of brick, many of them elegant, and about 600 built of wood; a glass-house, a sugar refinery, an iron foundry, a rolling and slitting mill, a cotton manufactory, eight tobacco warehouses, two insurance offices, three banks, including a branch of the United States bank; a capitol, or state-house, a house for the governor, an armory, a penitentiary, a court house, a jail, an alms house, two market houses, a public library containing about 3000 volumes, a museum, a Lancasterian school, and eight houses of public worship; two for Episcopalians, one for Presbyterians, one for Baptists, two for Methodists, one for Friends, and a Jews' synagogue.

The falls extend nearly six miles, in which distance the river descends eighty feet. A canal with three locks is cut on the north side of the river, terminating at the town in a basin of about two acres. Few cities, situated so far from the sea, possess better commercial advantages than Richmond, being at the head of tide water, on a river navigable for batteaux 220 miles above the city, and having an extensive and fertile back country, abundant in the production of tobacco, wheat, corn, hemp, coal, &c. It has an extensive inland trade, and its foreign commerce is considerable. The shipping owned here, in 1816, amounted to 9943 tons. James River is navi

gable to Warwick for vessels drawing fifteen or sixteen feet water, and to Rockets, just below Richmond, for vessels drawing ten feet. The exports of the city consist of tobacco, flour, coal, and various articles of produce.

The Virginia armory is an extensive establishment, and there are annually manufactured in it upwards of 4000 stands of arms, 300 rifles, and 1000 cavalry swords and pistols. The penitentiary is under good regulations, and contained, in 1818, 170 prisoners. The new court house is a very spacious and elegant edifice. The capitol is built on a commanding situation on Schockoe Hill, and is a very conspicuous object to the surrounding country. The design was taken from La Maison Quarée at Nismes, and the model was obtained by Mr. Jefferson, while minister there. The edifice, however, falls greatly short of the model. Richmond is at present in a very flourishing and improving state. In 1811, on the 26th of December, the theatre at Richmond took fire during an exhibition, and, in the conflagration, seventy-two persons lost their lives, among whom were George William Smith, esq., governor of the state, and other persons of respectability. An elegant Episcopal church of brick, styled the Monumental Church, has since been erected on the spot, with a monument in front, commemorative of the melancholy event.

RICHTER (Otto Frederick Von), an oriental traveller of modern times, was born in Livonia, in 1792. He went to Moscow at the age of sixteen to study modern Greek, and afterwards to Heidelberg, where he applied himself to the Arabic and Persian. He then travelled in Switzerland and Italy, and continued his studies under the celebrated Hammer, at Vienna. He now went with Lindemann, the secretary to the Swedish embassy, to Egypt, where they were well received by Mohamed Ali; and, having travelled up the Nile as far as Ibrim, returned to Alexandria with a rich collection of drawings, &c. At Cairo, in August, 1815, they narrowly escaped destruction during a mutiny of Ali's troops. They then proceeded by sea to Jaffa, and thence to Acre, where they separated, and Richter alone travelled through Palestine, Syria, Asia Minor, and the Isles, and then went to Constantinople to deposit his collections. Having done so, he re-embarked, and, arriving at Smyrna, was there seized with a fever, which terminated his life, August 13th, 1816. M. Ewers, his tutor, published O. F. Von Richter's Wallfahrten im Morgenlande, Berlin, 1822, 8vo, with a folio atlas.

RICINUS, or palma Christi, in botany, a genus of the monodelphia order and monœcia class of plants; natural order thirty-eighth, triCoccæ: MALE CAL. quinquepartite: COR. none: the stamina numerous: FEMALE CAL. tripartite: COR. none: but three bifid styles: CAPS. trilocular, and a single SEED. There are six species. The most remarkable are these:

1. R. Americanus grows as tall as a small tree, and deserves a place in every curious garden. It expands into many branches; the leaves are sometimes two feet in diameter, and the stem as large as a middle-sized broom staff; towards the top of the branch it has a cluster of flowers,

something resembling a bunch of grapes; the flowers are small and staminous, but on the body of the plant grow bunches of rough triangular husks, each containing three speckled seeds, generally somewhat less than horse beans; the shell is brittle, and contains white kernels of a sweet, oily, and nauseous taste. Of the ricinus there are many varieties; all of them fine majestic plants, annual, or at most biennial, in this country; but in their native soil they are said to be perennial both in root and stem. They are propagated by seeds sown on a hot-bed, and require the same treatment as other tender exotics.

2. R. communis, or common palma Christi. This tree is of speedy growth, as in one year it arrives at its full height, which seldom exceeds twenty feet. The trunk is subligneous; the pith is large; the leaves broad and palmated; the flower spike is simple, and thickly set with yellow blossoms in the shape of a cone; the capsules are triangular and prickly, containing three smooth gray mottled seeds. When the bunches begin to turn black, they are gathered, dried in the sun, and the seeds picked out. They are afterwards put up for use as wanted, or for exportation. Castor oil is obtained either by expression or by decoction. A large iron pot or boiler is first prepared, and half filled with water. The nuts are then beaten in parcels in deep wooden mortars, and after a quantity is beaten it is thrown into the iron vessel. The fire is then lighted, and the liquor is gently boiled for two hours, and kept constantly stirred. About this time the oil begins to separate, and swims on the top, mixed with a white froth, and is skimmed off till no more rises. The skimmings are heated in a small iron pot, and strained through a cloth. When cold, it is put up in jars or bottles for use. Castor oil, thus made, is clear and well flavored, and if put into proper bottles will keep sweet for years. The expressed castor oil soon turns rancid, because the mucilaginous and acrid parts of the nut are squeezed out with the oil. On this account the preference is given to well prepared oil by decoction. An English gallon of the seeds yields about two pounds of oil. This oil is fit for all the purposes of the painter, or for the apothecary in ointments and plasters. As a medicine, it purges without stimulus, and is so mild as to be given to infants soon after birth, to purge off the meconium. All oils are noxious to insects, but the castor oil kills and expels them. See PHARMACY and MATERIA MEDICA.

RICIUS (Paul), a converted Jew, who flourished in the sixteenth century, and taught philosophy at Pavia with great reputation. The emperor Maximilian appointed him one of his physicians. He is famous for his dispute with Eckius upon the nature of celestial bodies.

RICK, n. s. See REEK. A pile of corn or hay regularly heaped up and sheltered. Mice and rats do great injuries in the field, houses, barns, and corn ricks. Mortimer's Husbandry. In the North they bind them up in small bundles, and make small ricks of them in the field. Id. An inundation O'erflowed a farmer's barn and stable:

Whole ricks of hay and stacks of corn Were down the sudden current born. Swift. Lat. rachitis, of Gr. paxis, RICKETS, n. s. the spine. A disorder of the spine.

In some years, liver-grown, spleen, and rickets are put together, by reason of their likeness.

Graunt's Bills of Mortality. O were my pupil fairly knocked o' th' head, I should possess the estate, if he were dead; He's so far gone with the rickets and the evil, That one small dose will send him to the devil.

So when at school we first declaim, Old Busby walks us in a theme,' Whose props support our infant vein, And help the rickets in the brain; But when our souls their force dilate, Our thoughts grow up to wit's estate.

Dryden.

Prior.

The rickets is a distemper in children, from an unequal distribution of nourishment, whereby the joints grow knotty, and the limbs uneven; its cure is performed by evacuation and friction. Quincy.

In a young animal, when the solids are too lax, the case of rickety children, the diet should be gently Arbuthnot. astringent.

RICKETS. See MEDICINE. RICKMANSWORTH, a market town and parish of Herts, situate on the river Colne, two miles and a half west from Watford, and seventeen north-west from London. The number of rivulets in and about the town are employed to turn several flour, silk, cotton, and paper mills, and many of the females of the town manufacture straw bonnets for London. The church is a spacious building, and there is also a charity school and two almshouses. The town is governed by two constables and two headboroughs. Market-day, Saturday.

RICOCHET, in gunnery, is when guns, howitzers, or mortars, are loaded with small charges, and elevated from five to twelve degrees, so that, when fired over the parapet, the shot or shell rolls along the opposite rampart. This is called ricochet firing, and the batteries ricochet batteries. At the battle of Rosbach, in 1757, Frederick king of Prussia had several six-inch mortars made with trunnions, and mounted on travelling carriages, which fired obliquely on the enemy's lines, and amongst their horse, loaded with eight ounces of powder, and at an elevation of one degree fifteen minutes, which did great execution; for the shells rolling along the lines, with burning fuzes, the soldiers did not dare preserve their ranks for fear of their bursting.

The first gun in a ricochet battery should be so placed as to sweep the whole length of the rampart of the enemy's work, at three or four feet from the parapet, and the rest should form as small an angle with the parapet as possible. For this purpose the guns should be pointed. about four fathoms from the face of the work toward the interior. In the ricochet of ordnance

in the field, the objects to be fired at being principally infantry and cavalry, the guns should seldom be elevated above three degrees, as other wise the ball would be apt to bound too high, and defeat the object intended. See FORTIFI

CATION.

RICOTIA, in botany, a genus of the siliquosa order and tetradynamia class of plants; natural order thirty-ninth, silaquosæ. The siliqua is

men.

I must rid all the seas of pirates. We'll thither straight; for willingness rids away. Having the best at Barnet field,

Id.

Id.

Thy terrors, as I put thy mildness on,
Image of thee in all things; and shall soon,
Armed with thy might, rid heaven of these rebelled.
Milton.

Those blossoms, and those dropping gums,
Ask riddance, if we mean to tread with ease.
That lie bestrown, unsightly and unsmooth,

Id.

Did saints for this bring in their plate? For when they thought the cause had need on't, Hudibras. Happy was he that could be rid on't.

The god, uneasy till he slept again, Resolved at once to rid himself of pain. Dryden. By this the cock had a good riddance of his rival. L'Estrange.

The greater visible good does not always raise men's desire, in proportion to the greatness it appears to have; though every little trouble moves us, and sets us on work to get rid of it.

Locke.

The ladies asked, whether we believed that the have loaden themselves with their wives; or rather, men of any town would, at the same conjuncture, whether they would not have been glad of such an opportunity to get rid of them? Addison. Danish ride;

RID'DLE, n. s., v. a., & Į

RIDDLINGLY, adv. [v. n. 3 Swed. rida; Goth. reida; Sax. pædels, from ɲædan, to divine. An enigma; puzzle; puzzling question: to solve a riddle; speak enigmatically: in the manner of

a riddle.