RIGHTS OF MAN-RIGOR MORTIS.

on coming to the throne, in full parliament or at the to all such problems, and removes the necessity coronation, to repeat and subscribe the declaration for specially investigating each particular case, against transubstantiation, and that a king or queen was an inestimable boon to mechanical science. who should marry a papist would be incapable of It is thus stated in his Traité de Dynamique : reigning in England, and his subjects would be 'In whatever manner a number of bodies change absolved from their allegiance.

RIGHTS OF MAN, a famous statement of rights, principally drawn up by Dumont, author of the Souvenirs de Mirabeau, and solemnly adopted by the French National Assembly on the 18th August 1789. It declares that all mankind are originally equal; that the ends of the social union are liberty, property, security, and resistance to oppression; that sovereignty resides in the nation, and that all power emanates from it; that freedom consists in doing everything which does not injure another; that law is the expression of the general will; that public burdens should be borne by all the members of the state in proportion to their fortunes; that the elective franchise should be extended to all; and that the exercise of natural rights has no other limit than their interference with the rights of others. Mirabeau endeavoured in vain to induce the Assembly to postpone publishing any declaration of rights until after the formation of the constitution; but the deputies, feeling that a contrary course might imperil their popularity, issued the declaration -a proceeding which Dumont himself afterwards compared to placing a powder-magazine under a building, which the first spark of fire would blow into the air. Louis XVI., under the pressure of the events of the 5th of October, after first refusing, was induced to yield his adhesion to it. The dogma of the equality of mankind on which the declaration rests, had before been set forth in the American Declara tion of Independence of 1776. Thinkers are now much less inclined than they were in the age of Rousseau to build social theories on such abstract, a priori assumptions; and the truth of this doctrine of original equality is directly impugned. Dumont himself asks: Are all men equal? Where is the equality? Is it in virtue, talents, fortune, industry, situation? Are they free by nature? So far from it, they are born in a state of complete dependence on others, from which they are long of being emancipated.'

The principles laid down in the Rights of Man were attacked by Edmund Burke in his Reflections on the French Revolution, who represented the declaration as a digest of anarchy. It was in reply to Burke's Reflections that Thomas Paine published in London his Rights of Man, an apology for, and commentary on, the principles of the French constitution, for which he was prosecuted for libel on an information by the attorney-general, and found guilty.

their motions, if we suppose that the motion which if it were perfectly free, is decomposed into two each body would have in the following moment, others, one of which is the motion which it really takes in consequence of their mutual actions, then the other component will be such, that if each b dy alone, the whole system would be in equilibrium were impressed by a force which would product. it In this way every dynamical problem can be compelled to furnish an equation of equilibrium, and so be changed into a problem of Statics (q. v.); and thus the solution of a difficult and complex problem is effected by means of the resolution of a much easier problems on the motions and actions of fluids, the D'Alembert applied his principle to various precession of the equinoxes, &c.; and subsequently, made the basis of a complete system of dynamics, in a modified form, the same general property was by La Grange, in his Mécanique Analytique.

one.

RIGOR MOʻRTIS is the term usually given to the peculiar temporary rigidity of the muscles that occurs shortly after death. It begins immediately after all indications of irritability (see MUSCLE) have ceased, but before the commencement of putrefaction. In the human subject it most commonly begins to shew itself about seven hours after death, although cases are occasionally met with in which 20, or even 30, hours may have elapsed before it begins to appear. This condition of rigidity usually lasts for about 30 hours; but it may pass off in ten hours or less, or may be prolonged to four or six days. The muscles of the neck and lower jaw are first affected, then those of the trunk, then those of the upper extremities, and lastly those of the lower extremities. In its departure, which is immediately followed by decomposition, the same order is followed.

Dr Brown-Séquard in the Croonian Lecture' This subject has been admirably discussed by for 1861, and contained in The Proceedings of the Royal Society for that year. In this lecture he examines successively the relations existing between muscular irritability, post-mortem rigidity, and putrefaction, in a variety of cases. The following are his chief conclusions: 1. Paralysed muscles are endowed with more irritability than healthy muscles; cadaveric rigidity sets in late, and lasts long; and putrefaction appears late, and progresses slowly. 2. Experiments made on numerous animals shew that when muscular irritability is increased by a diminution of temperature, the increase has the same effect upon rigidity and putrefaction as when it is caused by paralysis. As a general rule, when there was a RIGID DYNAMICS is that portion of theor- difference of 14° to 18° F. in the temperature of two etical Dynamics (q. v.) which, based on the theory animals of the same age and species, irritability and of the free and constrained motion of points, applies rigidity lasted twice or three times longer in the the principles thence deduced to a system of points cooler animal than in the other, and putrefaction in rigidly connected, so as to bear throughout the the former was much less rapid. 3. It was mainwhole continuance of their motion the same invari-tained by John Hunter that cadaveric rigidity does able position with relation to each other; in other not take place after death by lightning; but it is words, as no body in nature can be considered as now known that this view is not generally true. a point, but is truly a system of points, rigid When lightning destroys life by producing such a dynamics has for its aim to apply the abstract violent convulsion of every muscle in the body that theory of dynamics to the cases actually occurring muscular irritability at once ceases, the ensuing in nature. For a long time, problems of this sort rigidity may be of such short duration as to escape were not resolved by any general and adequate notice; but if it causes death by fright, hæmorrhage, or ethod, but each class was worked out according concussion of the brain, cadaveric rigidity will appear to a method specially applicable to its particular as usual. 4. In animals that have been over-driven, circumstances. The great general principle dis- hunted to death, &c., rigidity comes on very quickly, covered by the French geometer, commonly known lasts for a very short time, and is rapidly succeeded D'Alembert's principle, which applies equally | by putrefaction; and various facts quoted by Brown

as

RIGVEDA-RING.

The exact cause of this rigidity is not accurately known. The old view that it depended on the coagulation of the blood is no longer tenable. It most probably results from the spontaneous coagu-gold rings as a part of their official dress-a custom lation of a fibrinous material contained in the muscular juice.

RING (Sax. ring or hring, a circle or circular line), a circle of gold or other material. The practice of wearing rings has been widely prevalent in different countries, and at different periods. Rings have been used to decorate the legs, arms, feet, toes, neck, fingers, nose, and ears. The practice of wearing rings suspended from the nose, beautifully wrought in

which is bored for that purpose, has been found gold filigree, and richly enamelled, now in the pos among various savage tribes, more particularly the session of Lord Londesborough. It has been said South-Sea islanders. Bracelets, necklaces, and ear- that as the delivery of the signet-ring to any one

RINGBONES-RING MONEY.

was a sign of confidence, so the delivery of a ring both kinds being represented in the sculptures by the husband to the wife indicated that she was admitted into his confidence. Another explanation is, that the form of the ring symbolises eternity and constancy; and it has been alleged that the left hand was chosen to denote the wife's subjection to her husband, and the third finger, because it thereby pressed a vein which was supposed to communicate directly with the heart. The third finger has always been selected as the finger on which official rings are to be worn. Bishops on their consecration receive a ring to be worn on the third finger of the right hand, in order to indicate ecclesiastical authority, and doctors were formerly in use, for a similar reason, to wear a ring on the same finger. A ring has been much used at betrothal as well as marriage, and in many parts of the continent of Europe a wedding-ring is worn by the husband as well as the wife. In Britain, rings are occasionally worn on all the fingers except the first finger and thumb; the Germans usually wear a signet-ring on the first finger. During the 16th, 17th, and 18th centuries it was a very common practice to have mottoes inscribed on rings (fig. 2), including weddingrings, and the motto was called the posy or chanson. The ring was the symbol of the dominion of Venice over the Adriatic; and yearly, on Ascension Day, a ring was thrown by the doge from the ship Bucentaur into the sea, to denote that as the wife is subject to her husband, so is the Adriatic Sea to the republic of Venice.

Fig. 2.

In pagan times in Europe, the ring seems to have been connected with fidelity or with espousals. Fig. 3 shews a form of betrothal ring called a gimmal, or linked ring, which was used in later times; the upper fig. shews the three parts brought

Fig. 3.

together; the lower fig., the parts separately. By an ancient Norse custom, described in the Eyrbrygia Sagu, when an oath was imposed, he by whom it was pledged passed his hand through a silver ring, sacred to that ceremony; and in Iceland the ceremony of betr thal used to be accompanied by the bridegroom passing his four fingers and thumb through a large ring, and in this manner receiving the hand of the bride, as represented in a woodcut in an old edition of Olaus Magnus. As lately as 1780, the practice existed in Orkney of a man and woman plighting their faith at the Standing Stones of Stennis by joining their hands through the the perforated stone of Odin.

Rings were greatly used in ancient Egypt. They were called tebh, finger-rings, and khatem, signets,

and mentioned in the hieroglyphs. Besides these
two classes, solid rings of gold and silver were
used as money. Rings for the fingers are of the
most remote antiquity, and were the emblems of
rank and power. They were of two kinds; the
solid ring, made of gold, silver, copper, or iron,
having a square or oval bezel, on which the
subject to be impressed was sunk or cut in intaglio.
The oldest of these were of gold, iron not having
been in use till the Roman rule over Egypt, or
about the 1st c. A.D. A remarkably fine specimen
is one of a Hemphite priest or flamen of the
monarch Cheops, who lived in the time of the 26th
dynasty, about the 5th c. B.C. But rings of this
class are probably not so old as the other kind,
which have a square or oblong plinth of gold,
stone, or glass, on which the subjects are engraved
also in intaglio. These plinths are pierced through
their long axis to admit the metal ring on which
they revolve, and are secured to it by wire coiled
round the ring at the place of insertion. Scarabæi
of glazed steatite, set in frames of gold or silver,
were often used for bezels. The bezels have their
base engraved with hieroglyphs and other subjects,
the names of monarchs, figures of deities, mottoes,
and devices. Such rings were used by functionaries;
and in the account of the investiture of Joseph in
the Book of Genesis, a ring was put on his finger
as a symbol of his rank. The poorer classes had
rings of ivory or blue porcelain, with solid oval
bezels, having in intaglio similar subjects. Rings
appear to have been placed on all the fingers, and
even the thumb, and the hands of ladies were
loaded with these costly ornaments. A cat, emblem
of the goddess Bast or Pasht, the Egyptian Diana,
was a favourite subject of ladies' rings. The third
finger of the left hand was the ring finger. Some
remarkable instances of gold rings with revolving
bezels have been found, as that of Thothmes III. in
the collection of Lord Ashburnham, and another
with the name of the monarch Horus, which con-
tained gold to the value of £20. Such rings could
give two impressions, like the seal and counterseal
of modern times. The counterfeiting of signets
was a crime, and the deceased, at the great judg
ment of the dead, protested he had not done so.
Wilkinson, Mann. and Cust., vol. iii. pp. 370 and
foll.; Bonomi, Trans. R. Soc. Lit., New Series, vol.
i. p. 108; Prisse, Mon. Egypt., Pl. xlvii.

RINGBONES consist of a circle of bony matter round the horse's coronet, are most common in the fore limbs of draught horses with short upright pas terns, and much worked upon the hard roads; but they also occasionally appear on the hind limbs of lighter-bred horses. They seldom cause lameness, except when rapidly and recently formed; but as they are apt to stiffen the neighbouring joints, they constitute unsoundness. Rest should be enjoined, and cold bran poultices or swabs, kept cool and moist by any refrigerant mixture, applied continuously until heat and tenderness are removed, when the fetlock is to be fired or dressed with fly-blister, or the ointment of the red iodide of

mercury.

RING DOVE. See PIGEON.

RING MONEY. At an early stage of society, prior to the invention of coinage, but after the inconveniences of direct barter had been discovered, the precious metals, formed into rings, were used as a medium of exchange; these same rings being als serviceable in some serviceable in some cases as personal ornaments. The use of ring money among the Egyptians is proved by representations of gold and silver money in their paintings, an instance of which is to be

RING OUZEL-RINGWORM.

seen in one of the grottoes in the Hill of Shek Aba at Quorneh, which bears the cartouche of Amunoph II. inscribed on its walls. The gold or silver rings were formed of a wire or bar of metal bent into a circle, but not quite united at the extremities, so that it could be easily made into a chain, from which portions could be detached at pleasure. It seems probable that the individual loops were not adjusted to a particular weight, but that each bundle of loops amounted in the aggregate to a particular weight. A metallic currency of this kind seems to be alluded to in the incident in the Book of Genesis, of the Hebrew patriarchs finding their money ' in full weight' at the mouth of their sacks. Ring money, both of gold and silver, similar to what is represented in the Egyptian paintings, was brought by Mr Bonomi from Nubia. Some of the silver rings had been worn as bracelets, and were ornamented with engraved work. This kind of currency has probably never gone out of use in some parts of Africa since the remote period when it was employed in paying the exactions of the Pharaohs. Ring money for African traders is regularly manufactured at Birmingham of copper, or an alloy of copper and iron, and known under the name of ' Manillas.'

The ring money of the East found its way at an early period to Western Europe, including the British Islands. In Sweden and Norway its use seems to have continued down to the 12th c., or even later. A Norse law made about the year 1220, alludes to an established ring money, of which each ring was of a definite weight. The medieval ring money had so far advanced beyond the Egyptian as to have each ring adjusted to a special weight, for which it might pass without weighing. Cæsar mentions gold and iron rings as used in Gaul and Britain for money; and gold and silver, and occasionally brass, ring money has been dug up in many parts of Britain, consisting of bars of metal bent in a circular shape; the ends in what seem to be the older specimens are left plain; in those of later times, they are flattened and ornamented. One example, found in one of the Weems, or subterranean dwellings of the island of Shapinshay in Orkney, is composed of three bars of gold twisted together like a cord. A remarkable silver chain of 33 rings, weighing above 93 ounces, was dug up in 1805 near Inverness, in the course of the excavations for the Caledonian Canal, and is now in the museum of the Scottish Antiquaries. Some of the larger specimens of gold ring money are very highly decorated. The gold torque worn round the neck of the Gallic warriors, weighing sometimes as much as four pounds, besides being a personal ornament, was adjusted to a certain weight as money.

Among the various modifications of ring money in use in different countries, may be mentioned the silver fish-hook money of Ceylon, mentioned by Tavernier, of the form of a flat wire bent into a hook, and issued as late as 1659. Specimens of it have lately been dug up.

RING OUZEL (Turdus torquatus, or Merula torquata), a species of thrush, rather larger than the blackbird, which it much resembles. It is a native of Europe, and chiefly of the western parts of it; spends the winter in the south of Europe or in África, and visits more northern regions in summer. It is of frequent occurrence in many parts of the British Islands. It is seldom seen in the more cultivated and thickly-peopled districts, but prefers mountain slopes, heaths, and their vicinity. It makes its nest generally in heathy banks, often under a bush. The nest is of coarse grass, within which is a thin shell of clay, and an inner lining of fine dry grass. The R. O. is a constant visitor

of gardens in the neighbourhood of its haunts, committing great depredations, particularly when cherries are ripening. In Scotland it is known as the Moor Blackbird. It is of a dark-brown colour, almost black; the feathers edged with blackish

gray, the feathers of the wings more conspicuously edged with gray; a crescent-shaped white collar on the throat. The song consists of a few loud, clear, and plaintive notes.

RI'NGWORM is a popular term for several distinct forms of skin-disease which occur in patches of a circular or annular form on the body, and especially on the scalp. Thus, a species of Lichen (q. v.), known to dermatologists as Lichen circumscriptus, in which the papules assume a circular arrangement, is commonly regarded as ringworm ; and the two species of Herpes (q. v.), known as Herpes circinatus and H. Iris, in which the vesicles occur in circular patches and in concentric rings, are usually included in the same term. None of these are, however, cases of true ringworm (Tinea tondens), which is a disease dependent on the presence of a special vegetable (fungous) parasite, now known to botanists as the Trichophyton tonsurans, or hair-plant, and discovered in 1845 by Malmsten.

RINNS OF GALLOWAY-RIO DE JANEIRO.