RAINBOW-RAIN-GAUGE. back is turned to the sun. Similarly, at C, there a source of finite angular diameter, as the sun, the is internal reflection along CD, and refraction out of only effect is, as in the primary bow, to widen the the drop. The refracted part has already been bright circular band. When we consider the various considered, as the cause of the primary rainbow.components of white light, calculation shews us The reflected part will again at D be separated into that DTS' is least for red, and greatest for violet. two; one, reflected internally, which proceeds to Hence we have a series of concentric coloured form the tertiary and higher orders of bow; and bands superposed, their diameters increasing from the other, escaping from the drop in the line DT, the red to the violet. Hence the secondary rainwhich goes to form the secondary bow. This we bow has its inner edge red, and its outer violet; the will consider with some care, because the secondary intermediate space being an exceedingly mixed, or bow, though necessarily fainter than the primary, impure Spectrum (q. v.). The results of geometrical is usually seen; the tertiary and higher bows, each optics shew us that the angular diameter of the much fainter than the preceding one, since the red is 100° 48', and of the violet 106° 44′; so that beam inside the drop is weakened at each succeeding | the breadth of the bow is 3° 30′ nearly. reflection, require no notice, as even the tertiary has never been observed in nature. 1 In nature, these rough results are pretty closely verified; but a more profound investigation into the As before, we have traced the courses of two circumstances of the problem shews us some modiother beams, SB, and SB2, in their passage to form fications. In the first place, we find that for each part of the secondary bow. They are respectively kind of homogeneous light the actual maximum ŠB1A,C,D1T1 and SB,A,C,D,T,; and the figure of brightness is in a circle of rather less angular shews us that the final rays DT and DT, are each diameter than that given by the more elementary more inclined to SO than DT is. There is, there-investigation for the primary bow; and rather fore, a particular ray, SB, whose final direction, DT, greater for the secondary. Secondly, and still is less inclined to SO than that of any other ray with homogeneous light, there is a succession of which has suffered two refractions and two internal feebler and feebler concentric circles of maximum reflections; and, as before, the emergent light is brightness-inside the principal maximum in the condensed towards this minimum. If, then, the primary bow, and outside it in the secondary. figure be made to revolve about SO, we see that These give rise to what is always seen in a fine DT will describe a cone, that inside this cone there rainbow, the so-called spurious or supernumerary is no refracted light, that towards the surface of bows, lying close inside the violet of the primary the cone, part of the light is condensed, and that bow, and outside that of the secondary. These are the rest of it is diffused through exterior space. fainter and more impure as they proceed from the principal bow, and finally merge into the diffused white light inside the primary bow, and outside the secondary. So much for one drop; let us now, as before, consider what will be seen by an eye in any position with regard to this particular drop. In fig. 4, the letters denote the same things as in fig. 3. Hence if the eye be placed at T, it will receive the maximum of light, in a direction making an angle DTS' with the point in the heavens opposite to the sun. If at E1, it will receive some of the diffused light from a drop whose angular distance from the point opposite the sun is greater than DTS'; and if at E, it will receive no light at all, the drop's angular distance from the point opposite the sun being less than DTS'. Hence the appearance presented by a shower of drops is, for homogeneous light coming in parallel lines, a bright circle, whose angular radius is DTS'; diffused light outside that circle, | and no light within it. When the light comes from The angular dimensions of these bows, principal and spurious, were calculated from theory by Airy, and carefully measured by Miller in the artificial bow formed by passing light through a very fine column of water descending through a small aperture, and the accordance was perfect. The lunar rainbow, which is a comparatively rare, but very beautiful phenomenon, differs from the solar simply in the source and intensity of the light by which it is produced; and, as in all cases of feeble light, the distinction of the colours is very difficult. In fact, except under the most favourable circumstances, the lunar rainbow rarely shews colours at all, giving a pale ghostly gleam of apparently white or yellow light. to RAIN-GAUGE. The use of rain-gauges ascertain the amount of rain which falls at any given place. They are of various constructions. The simplest is that which consists of a metallic cylinder, from the bottom of which, a glass tube (bc), divided into inches and parts of an inch, projects downwards. It is provided with a funnel, inserted within at the top, to prevent evaporation, and the rain-water is emptied out by means of a stop-cock (d) at the bottom, or, still simpler, by a hole (a) pierced in the funnel at the top. (See accompanying wood-cut.) As this form of gauge is objectionable on account of the frequent breakage of the glass-tube by frost, a float is used instead, which is raised by the water, and a scale is attached to it, to shew the quantity of rain received. As this gauge does not admit of very nice readings, another sort is frequently employed, viz., a receiving-vessel and a glass measure of much smaller diameter, which thus admits of as nice graduation as may be desired. As, practically, there is often great difficulty or trouble experienced in replacing the glass measure when it chances to get broken, the late G. V. Jagga Ráo, a wealthy zemindar of Vizagapatam, proposed a gauge in the form of a funnel having a diameter of 4.697 inches, or an area of 17:33 square inches. Now, as a fluid RAIN-PRINTS-RAJAMAHENDRI. Woods, in a west-north-west direction, by the Rainy River, which is about 100 miles in length, and the banks of which are covered with pine-forests. RAISED SEA BEACHES. See BEACHES, RAISED. RAISINEE, a roo, or sweetmeat, much esteemed in France, made by boiling new wine, and skimming until only half the quantity of wine remains; after which it is strained; apples, pared and cut into quarters, are added to it, and it is allowed to simmer gently, till the apples are thoroughly mixed with the wine, when it has a very pleasant sweetish acid taste. Cider may be used instead of wine. RAISINS are dried grapes, prepared by two different methods. The one method consists in partially cutting through the stalk of the ripened bunches, and allowing them to shrink and dry upon the vine by the heat of the sun. These are by far the better sort, and are called Raisins of the Sun, or Muscatels. Malaga is much celebrated for its sun-raisins, which are the finest in the world. The raisins prepared by the other method are called Lexias, and are gathered and hung on lines, or laid on prepared floors to dry in the sun. When dried, they are dipped in a hot lye, made by dissolving the alkali out of wood-ashes or barilla with water, until the filtered fluid has a specific gravity of about 1100; to this is added, for every four gallons, a pint of olive oil and a quarter of a pound of salt. After dipping, the fruit is laid on hurdles of wicker-work to drain, and is continually exposed to the sun for about a fortnight. about a fortnight. The raisins are then pulled from the stalks, and packed into boxes for transport to other countries. The qualities best known in the markets are Valencias and Denias from Spain, Malagas from Malaga, and black Smyrnas and Sultanas from Asiatic Turkey. The Currant (q. v.), or Corinth, as it was originally called, is only a small variety of grape peculiar to the Greek Islands, cured in the same way, and in itself forming a large staple of those islands. The United States imported, in 1870, more than 11,000 tons of raisins proper, and 3800 tons of currants in addition. RAJAH, or more correctly RAJA (from the Sanscrit rajan, king, cognate with the Latin reg of rex), is originally a title which belonged to those princes of Hindu race who, either as independent sovereigns or as feudatories, governed a territory; it then, however, became a title given by the native A most important point with regard to the raingauge is its height above the ground. Mr Phillips found the fall of rain at York for 12 months in 1833-1834, to be 14.96 inches at a height of 213 feet from the ground; 19.85 inches at 44 feet; and 25.71 inches on the ground. This remarkable fact-viz., that different quantities are collected at different heights, the amount being always greater at the lower level, has been confirmed wherever the experiment has been made. No perfectly satisfactory account has yet been given of this singular phenomenon. The condensing of the vapour of the atmosphere on the surface of raindrops as they fall -the rebound of the finer particles into which many of the drops break themselves as they strike with violence on the ground-and the eddies and currents which prevail most and strongest around isolated objects raised above the surface of the ground, to a large extent account for the phenomenon. Of these three, the greatest weight is to be given to the last two; and this is confirmed by governments, and, in later times, by the British the fact, that a gauge placed on the roof of a build-government to Hindus of rank, and it is now not ing that happens to be flat, of considerable area, and with few or no chimney-stalks to disturb the air-currents, collects an amount equal to that collected at the same place by a gauge on the ground. The proper size and shape of the rain-gauge, and its height above the ground, so as to measure with the greatest exactness possible the real quantity of rain that falls, about all of which much diversity of opinion exists, have recently undergone investiRA'JAMAHE'NDRI, or' RAJAMUNDRY, a gation in a series of extensive experiments con- town of Hindustan, capital of a collectorate of ducted by Major Ward and Mr Symons, in Wilts; the same name in the presidency of Madras, and by the Rev. J. Chadwick Bates, near Manchester. RAIN-PRINTS, small pits observed on the surfaces of some argillaceous rocks, and believed to be the impressions of rain-drops. See ICHNOLOGY. holders; the title Mahârâjah, or 'great Râjah,' being, uncommonly assumed by the zemindars or landin these days, generally reserved to the more or less ancient social system of India, the râjah belonged to independent native princes. According to the the kshattriya or military caste (see CASTE); now, however, the title is given to, and assumed by, members also of an inferior caste. stands on the left bank of the Godavari, about 60 miles from the mouth of that river, and in long. 81° 53′ E. To the north of the town is the Fort, a square edifice, comprising the barracks, hospital, jail, and magazine. The nobler kind of game, as well as wild-fowl of all sort, abounds in the RAI'NY LAKE forms a portion of the boundary- vicinity, and the situation and scenery are in the line between British North America and the United highest degree beautiful. The Godavari is here States. It is situated 160 miles west of Lake Su- about two miles wide, and is crossed by a steamperior, is 1160 feet above sea-level, and is about ferry. Napkins, table-cloths, and drills are manu35 miles long, and 5 miles in average breadth. Its factured. Pop. 15,000, about a fourth of whom are surplus waters are carried off to the Lake of the Brahmans. Of the collectorate of R., the area is RÂJATARANGIN'Ì—RAKING MOULDING. 6050 square miles, and the population upwards of Bengal and Bahar provinces. Since the removal of 1,000,000. RAJATARANGIN' (or 'the river of kings,' from the Sanserit rajan, king, and tarangin't, a river or stream) is the name of four chronicles of the history of Cashmir written in Sanscrit verse; the first by Kalhan'a, bringing the history of Cashmir till about 1148 after Christ; the second, a continuation of the former, by Jonaraja, to 1412; the third, a continuation of the second, by Srivara, a pupil of Jonarâja, to 1477; and the fourth, by Prajyabhat't'a, from that date to the conquest of the valley by the Emperor Akber. Amongst these chronicles, however, it is especially the first which has earned a great reputation, inasmuch as it is the most important and the completest of all known Hindu chronicles, and, for this reason, may be considered as the only surviving work of Sanscrit literature which betrays an attempt at historiography. The author of the work, the Pandit Kalhan'a-of whom we merely know that he was the son of Champaka, and lived about 1150, under the reign of Sinhadeva of Cashmir-reports that before entering on his task, he had studied eleven historical works written previously to his time, and also a history of Cashmir by the sage Nila, which seems to be the oldest of all; but that, not yet contented with these sources of information alone, he had also examined old documents, such as grants and proclamations made by kings, texts of laws, and sacred books. It may be presumed, therefore, that Kalhan'a had not merely the desire, but set honestly to work to elucidate the history of Cashmir up to his date. And so far as the last few centuries preceding him are concerned, it is possible that the facts narrated by him are reliable; but owing to the uncritical disposition of the Hindu mind in all matters that regard historical facts, those especially of a more or less religious or legendary character, and also to his bias to produce a consistent system of chronology, great doubts must attach to all that relates in his work to the ancient history of India. In spite of these shortcomings, however, which are more those of the nation to which the author belonged, than those of the individual himself, much that is reported by Kalhan'a is the only source of information we have of the history of Cashmir, and much very valuable as coming from an indigenous source. Kalhan'a begins his work, as may be expected, with the mythological history of the country; the first king named by him is Gonarda, who, according to his chronology, would have reigned in the year 2448 before Christ; and the last mentioned by him is Sinhadeva, about 1150 after Christ. The Sanscrit text of the complete work, together with that of the three other Râjatarangin'îs, which is of little extent, has been edited at Calcutta, 1835, under the auspices of the General Committee of Public Instruction and the Asiatic Society of Bengal. Six sections of it have been edited, with notes, and learned appendixes, in French, by A. Troyer, who likewise translated into French these sections, as well as the remaining two (Radjatarangini, Histoire des Rois du Kachmir, &c., vols. 1-3, Paris, 1840-1852).-See also H. H. Wilson, An Essay on the Hindu History of Cashmir, in the Asiatic Researches, vol. xv., and Lassen's Indische Alterthumskunde, vols. i. and ii. RAJMAHA'L, a town of India, in the British district of Bhaugulpore, presidency of Bengal, and a station on the line of railway from Calcutta to the north-west frontier, stands on a steep eminence on the right bank of the Ganges, 200 miles by land north-north-west of Calcutta. Its position is advantageous, and it was long the chief town of the the British courts of justice, however, its prosperity ruinous appearance, but is still noteworthy for the has declined. It now presents a deserted and remains of its once splendid palace, and for its important transit-trade. It contains twelve marketplaces, and has about 30,000 inhabitants, most of whom are employed in providing for the wants of the vast number of travellers who pass through the town by land and water. RAJPOOTS, or RAJPUTS (from the Sanscrit râjan, king, and putra, son; hence literally, 'sons of kings'), is the name of various tribes in India which are of Aryan origin, and either descended from the old royal races of the Hindus, or from their Kshattriya or warrior caste (see CASTE). At all periods, they seem to have played a conspicuous part in the history of India; and all over Hindustan there are many families who, rightly or wrongly, claim the title of Rajputs. At present, they occupy chiefly the country known as Râjasthân or Rajputana, including, amongst other states, those of Mewar, Marwar, Jeypur, Bikanir, Jessulmir, Kotah, and Bundi. Before the invasion of Mahmud the Ghiznevide, four great kingdoms were under the dominion of Rajput families-viz., Delhi, Kanoj, Mewar, and Anhulvarra; and all the kings mentioned in the Rajatarangin'i (q.v.) of Kalhan'a were of Rajput origin.-For the history, &c., of the R., and the geography of Râjputana, see Colonel James Tod's Annals and Antiquities of Rajasthân, or the Central and Western Rajpoot States in India (2 vols., Lond. 1829); Ritter's Erdkunde, vol. vi. pp. 724, ff.; Lassen's Indische Alterthumskunde, vols. i. and ii. (passim); A. Troyer's Radjatarangin'î, vol. iii. (Eclaircissements historiques, &c.). RAKE, in Naval Language, has more than one meaning. The rake of a ship's stern or bow is the length to which the keel would have to be prolonged to bring it under the most projecting point of the stern or bow. Raking masts are masts set aslope, so that the angle they make with the keel towards the stern is less than a right angle, as in a brigantine. To rake a ship is to bring guns to bear so as to fire them along her deck from end to end; this is the most disastrous thing that can happen to a vessel in action, and it is the object of all good seamanship to avoid it. When a ship is raked at short range, grape can be used with great and fatal effect. RAKING MOULDING a moulding not horizontal or vertical, but sloping at an angle. When joined to a horizontal moulding, the raking moulding is run SO as to mitre with the true vertical profile of the former, and is therefore different from it in section. Raking Moulding. RAKOCZYMARSCH-RALEIGH. RAKO CZYMARSCH, a simple but grand mili- volunteer in an expedition in aid of the Huguenots; tary air by an unknown composer, said to have and some years subsequently we find him serving in been the favourite march of Francis Rako'czy II. of the Low Countries in a force sent by Queen ElizaTransylvania, and at all events much played in his beth to assist the Dutch in their patriotic struggle army. The Magyar Hungarians adopted it as their against the Spaniards. Of this earlier part of his national march, and in 1848 and 1849, it has been career, nothing specially remarkable is recorded. In alleged to have had the same inspiriting effect on 1579, he made his first venture in the field of the revolutionary troops of Hungary as the Mar- activity which through life continued at intervals seillaise on the French. Like the Marseillaise in to attract him, sailing, in conjunction with his halfFrance, it has been placed under the ban of the brother, Sir Humphrey Gilbert, with the purpose of Austrian government at various periods of political founding a colony in North America. The expeexcitement. In 1848, several attempts were made dition proved unsuccessful, being roughly handled by Hungarian poets to set it to appropriate verses, by a Spanish force, and obliged to return iu somebut without much success. The air most gener- what evil case. During the year following, R. ally known in Germany and elsewhere out of held a captain's commission in Ireland, where, in Hungary as the Rako'czymarsch, which is intro- operations against the rebels, he distinguished himduced by Hector Berlioz in his Damnation de Faust, self by his courage and conduct. Shortly after his is a weak paraphrase of the original by Ruziska. return, he seems first to have attracted the notice RAKSHAS, or RAKSHASA, is, in Hindu of Queen Elizabeth, with whom he speedily rose high in favour. The story which attributes the Mythology, the name of a class of evil spirits or commencement of his relations with her to his demons, who are sometimes imagined as attendants graceful gallantry in spreading before her his costly on Kuvera, the god of riches, and guardians of his mantle as a carpet, is so well known, that it need treasures, but more frequently as mischievous, only be glanced at in passing. For some years cruel, and hideous monsters, haunting cemeteries, forward, he was constant in his attendance upon the devouring human beings, and ever ready to oppose queen, who distinguished him by employing him the gods and to disturb pious people. They have from time to time in various delicate offices of the power of assuming any shape at will, and their trust, and by substantial marks of her favour. The strength increases towards the evening twilight. spirit of enterprise was, however, restless in the Several of them are described as having many heads man; and in 1584, a patent having been granted and arms (see, for instance, RAVANA), large teeth, him to take possession of lands to be discovered by red hair, and, in general, as being of repulsive ap-him on the continent of North America, he fitted pearance; others, however, especially the females of this class, could also take beautiful forms in order to allure their victims. In the legends of the Mahâbhârata, Râmâyana, and the Purân'as, they play an important part, embodying, as it were, at the period of these compositions, the evil principle on earth, as opposed to all that is physically or morally good. In the Puran'as, they are sometimes mentioned as the offspring of the patriarch Pulastya, at other times as the sons of the patriarch Kas'yapa. Another account of their origin, given in the Vishn'uPurân'a, where, treating of the creation of the world (book i. chap. v.), is the following: 'Next, from Brahmâ, in a form composed of the quality of foul-menaced by a Spanish invasion, R. was actively ness, was produced hunger, of whom anger was born; and the god put forth in darkness beings emaciate with hunger, of hideous aspects, and with long beards. Those beings hastened to the deity. Such of them as exclaimed: "Not so, oh! let him be saved," were named Rakshasa (from raksh, save); others who cried out: "Let us eat," were denomi out two ships at his own expense, and shortly achieved the discovery and occupation of the territory known as Virginia, a name chosen as containing also conferred on R. the honour of knighthood. If an allusion to the Virgin-queen' herself. Elizabeth we except the questionable benefit-with which R.'s name remains connected-of the introduction of tobacco into Europe, no immediate good came of the colony; and after some years of struggle, during which he sent out several auxiliary expeditions, ho was forced to relinquish his connection with it. During the years 1587-1588, the country being and responsibly occupied in organising a resistance, and held command of the queen's forces in Cornwall. In the latter year, he shared with new access of honour in the series of actions which In his banishment ended in the defeat and dispersion of the great Armada, and was thanked and rewarded for his services. Shortly after (1593), in consequence of nated, from that expression, Yaksha' (from yaksh, Elizabeth Throckmorton, one of the queen's maids an intrigue, resulting in his private marriage with for jaksh, eat). This popular etymology of the name, however, would be at variance with the of honour, he incurred her majesty's severe, but cruel nature of these beings, and it seems, there- from court, be recurred to those schemes of cononly temporary, displeasure. fore, to have been improved upon in the Bhagavata-Puran'a, where it is related that Brahmâ trans- formed one main dream of his life; and, in 1595, vata-Purân'a, where it is related that Brahmâ trans- quest and adventure in the New World which formed himself into night, invested with a body; headed an expedition to Guiana, having for its this the Yakshas (q. v.) and Rakshasas seized upon, object the discovery of the fabled El Dorado, exclaiming: 'Do not spare it-devour it!' when Brahmâ cried out: Don't devour me (ma mám a city of gold and gems, the existence of which in these regions was then generally believed jakshata)—spare me! (rakshata).' (See F. E. Hall's in. Of this brilliant but fruitless adventure, on note to Wilson's Vishn'u-Puran'a, vol. i. page 82.) returning, he published an account. Having been The more probable origin of the word Rakshas-reinstated in the royal favour, he held in 1596 the kindred with the German Recke or Riese is that reinstated in the royal favour, he held in 1596 the from a radical r'ish or rish, hurt or destroy, with an post of admiral in the expedition against Cadiz commanded by Howard and the Earl of Essex, and affix sas; hence, literally, the destructive being. was admittedly the main instrument of its success. RALEIGH, SIR WALTER, the son of Walter Also, in the year following, he took part in the Raleigh of Fardel in Devonshire, was born in 1552 attack on the Azores made by the same at Hayes, on the coast of that county. In 1568, he manders. In the court intrigues which ended in was sent to Oxford as a commoner of Oriel College, the downfall of the Earl of Essex, he after this and though his residence there was brief, gave token became deeply involved; and certain points of his of remarkable ability. Only the year after, relin- conduct, as notably the sale of his good offices quishing study for adventure, he went to France as with the queen in behalf of such of the earl's 101 com RALEIGH-RÂMÂYANA. adherents as would buy them, though easily regarded With the death of Elizabeth in 1603 ends the brilliant and successful portion of R.'s career. Her successor, James, from the first regarded him with a suspicion and dislike which he was at no pains to conceal. He had besides made powerful enemies the principal of whom were Cecil and Howard. His ruin was resolved on, and means were soon found to compass it. He was accused of complicity in a plot against the king; and though no jot of evidence of his being any way concerned in it was produced at his trial, a verdict was readily procured, finding him guilty of high treason. The language of the prosecutor, Attorney-general Coke, was outrageously abusive. He called R. a damnable atheist, a spider of hell,' a 'viperous traitor,' &c. Sentence of death was passed, but James did not venture to execute him; and he was sent to the Tower, where, for thirteen years, he remained a prisoner, his estates being confiscated, and made over to the king's favourite, Carr, subsequently Earl of Somerset. During his imprisonment, he devoted himself to literary and scientific pursuits, his chief monument in this kind being his History of the World, a noble fragment, still notable to the student as one of the finest models of our quaint and stately old English style. Certain of his poetical pieces, giving hint of a genius at once elegant and sententious, also continue to be remembered, and are more or less familiar to every one. In 1615, he procured his release, and once more sailed for Guiana. The expedition, from which great results were expected, failed miserably. R. himself, in consequence of severe illness, was unable to accompany it inland; and nothing but disaster ensued. To add to his grief and disappointment, his eldest and favourite son was killed in the storming of the Spanish town of St Thomas, and he returned to England, broken in spirit and in fortunes. He returned only to die. On the morning of the 29th October 1618, in the sixty-sixth year of his age, he was infamously executed, nominally on the sentence passed on him sixteen years before, but really, there is reason to suppose, in base compliance on James's part with the urgencies of the king of Spain, who resented his persistent hostility. R. was a man of noble presence, of versatile and commanding genius, unquestionably one of the most splendid figures in a time unusually prolific of all splendid developments of humanity. In the art and finesse of the courtier, the politic wisdom of the statesman, and the skilful daring of the warrior, he was almost alike pre-eminent. The moral elevation of the man shone out eminently in the darkness which beset his later fortunes; and the calm and manly dignity with which he fronted adverse fate conciliated even those whom his haughtiness in prosperity had offended. R.'s 'Life' has been written by Oldys, Cayley (2 vols., Lond. 1806), and P. F. Tytler (Edin. 1833); his poems were collected and published by Sir E. Brydges (Lond. 1814); his Miscellaneous Writings, by Dr Birch (2 vols. 1751), and his Complete Works, at Oxford (8 vols. 1829). RA'LEIGH, the capital of North Carolina, is six miles west of the Neuse River, near the centre of the state; lat. 35° 47′ N., long. 78° 48′ W. The town is regularly built on an elevated site, with a central park, containing a large domed state-house, and broad streets. It contains a court-house, jail, 2 banks, 9 newspapers, 5 churches, deaf and dumb and lunatic asylums, and extensive railway connections. Pop. (1860), 4780. RALLENTA'NDO (Ital., becoming slower), a musical term, abbreviated rallent., or rall., indicating a gradual relaxing or diminution of time. characterised by a long bill, which is more or less RAʼLLIDÆ, a family of birds of the order Grallæ, the nostrils in a membranous groove, the wings of curved at the tip and compressed at the sides, moderate length, the tail short, the legs and toes long and slender, the hind-toe placed on a level with the others. To this family belong rails, crakes, gallinules, coots, &c. The toes of some, as coots, are margined with a lobed membrane; but these are by CooT). Even those R. of which the toes have no some ornithologists separated from this family (see their toes, for walking on mud or ooze. Many of marginal membrane, are fitted, by the length of them swim and dive well. Most of them are aquatic, or frequent either fresh-water or salt marshes; but some, as the crakes, are found in dry situations. RAMA is, in Hindu Mythology, the name common to three incarnations of Vishn'u, of Paras'urâma, Râmachandra, and Balarama. See VISHN'U. RA'MADAN, the ninth month in the Moham medan year. In it Mohammed received his first revelation, and every believer is therefore enjoined to keep a strict fast throughout its entire course, from the dawn-when a white thread can be distinguished from a black thread-to sunset. Eating, and other bodily enjoyments, even swallowing one's drinking, smoking, bathing, smelling perfumes, spittle, are strictly prohibited during that period. Even when obliged to take medicine, the Moslem must make some kind of amends for it, such as spending a certain sum of money upon the poor. During the night, however, the most necessary wants may be satisfied-2 permission which, practically, is interpreted by a profuse indulgence in all sorts of enjoyments. The fast of 'R., now much less observed than in former times, is sometimes a very severe affliction upon the orthodox, particularly when the month-the year being lunar-happens to fall in the long and hot days of midsummer. The sick, travellers, and soldiers in time of war, are temporarily released from this duty, but they have to fast an equal number of days at a subsequent period, when this impediment is removed. Nurses, pregnant women, and those to whom it might prove really injurious, are expressly exempt from fasting. We may add, that according to some traditions (Al-Beidâwi), not only Mohammed, but also Abraham, Moses, and Jesus received their respective revelations during this month. The principal passages treating of the fast of R. are found in the second Surah of the Koran, called 'The Cow.' RAMAYAN'A is the name of one of the two great epic poems of ancient India (for the other, see the article MAHABHARATA). Its subject-matter is the history of Râma, one of the incarnations of Vishn'u (q. v., and see RAMA), and its reputed author is Valmiki, who is said to have taught his poem to the two sons of Râma, the hero of the history; and, according to this legend, would have been a contemporary of Râma himself. But though this latter account is open to much doubt, it seems certain that Valmiki-unlike Vyasa (q. v.), the supposed compiler of the Mahabharata-was a real personage; and, moreover, that the R. was the work of one single poet-not like the Mahâbhârata, the creation of various epochs and different minds. As a poetical composition, the R. is therefore far superior to the Mahabharata; and it may be called the best great poem of ancient India, fairly claiming a rank in the literature of the world equal to |