Page:Collier's New Encyclopedia v. 07.djvu/548

REDUCTIO AD ABSURDUM 462 States the name is given to Setophaga ruticilla,^ a fly-catching warbler. Male, black with patches of orange-red. Fe- male, olive with yellow patches. REDUCTIO AD ABSURDUM, a species of argument much used in geom- etry, which proves not the thing as- serted, but the absurdity of everything which contradicts it. In this way the proposition is not proved in a direct manner by principles before laid down, but it shows that the contrary is absurd or impossible. REDUCTION, a word with several ap- plications, as: (1) the act or process of reducing to any state or condition; the state of being reduced; as, the reduction of a substance to powder. (2) the act of reducing or bringing into subjection; conquest, subjugation; as, the reduction of a kingdom or fortress. (3) the act of reducing or diminishing in size, dimen- sionc, value, quantity, force, etc., diminu- tion, abatement; as, the reduction of expenses, the reduction of forces. (4) the amount, value, quantity, etc., by which anything is reduced or lessened; as, he made a reduction of 5 per cent. (5) the act or process of making a copy of a figure, map, plan, design, etc., on a smaller scale than the original, but pre- serving the form and proportion. RED WATER, the haematuria in cattle, occurring occasionally in sheep. It is of two kinds: (1) Acute, ushered in by a discharge of bloody urine, gen- erally preceded by dysentery, suddenly changing to obstinate costiveness im- mediately before the red water appears. There is laborious breathing, with every indication of fever. The disease rapidly runs its course, and the beast soon suc- cumbs. (2) Chronic, the more prevalent form. The urine is brown or yellowish- brown, the beast feeds fairly, but rumi- nates slowly, and after a few days a natural diarrhoea carries off the evil symptoms. Youatt considers these two forms essentially different maladies ; the first, inflammation of the kidney; the second, inflammation of, or altered se- cretion from the liver. REDWAY, JAQUES WARDLAW, an American geographer; born Murfrees- boro, Tenn., in May, 1849; studied at the University of California and at Munich, Bavaria; became instructor of chemistry at the former institution and professor of physical geography and chemistry at the State Normal School of Califor- nia. He engaged in mining in Cali- fornia and Arizona; traveled in South America, Europe, and Asia for the pur- pose of pursuing geographical investiga- tions, and was author of several treatises BEBD on physical geography, etc., among them "Modem Facts and Ancient Fancies in Geography"; "Climate and the Gulf Stream"; "A Traatise on the Projection of Maps"; and a Geography in 1902. REDWING, the Turdus iliacus, a European thrush, closely allied to the common thrush, but with red instead of gold color on the wings. It feeds on worms, slugs, and berries injurious to man. Called also red-sided thrush, wind thrush, and swine-pipe. The name is also given to a North American pas- serine bird, Agelaius phoeniceus, of the family Icteridas. Male, black with red spots, bordered with orange, on the wings. REDWING, a city and" county-seat of Goodhue cc, Minn.; on the Mississippi river, and on the Chicago, Milwaukee, and St. Paul, and the Chicago Great Western railroads; 41 miles S. E. of St. Paul. Here are electric lights, public library, city hospital, Hage Seminary, State Training School, and Redwing Seminary (Luth.). The city is a great market for wheat, its chief article of export. It has manufactures of flour, steam engines, agricultural machinery, lumber, doors, sash, and blinds. Pop. (1910) 9,048; (1920) 8,637. REDWOOD, the name of various sorts of wood of a red color, as an Indian dyewood, the produce of Pterocarpus santalinus; the wood of Gordonia Hsema- toxylon, the redwood of Jamaica ; that of Pterocarpus dalbergioides, or Andaman wood; that of Ceanothus columbrinus, the redwood of the Bahamas; that of Sequoia sempervirens, a coniferous tree of California, the redwood of the timber trade; that of Soymida fehHfuga, of which the bark is used in India for fevers, and has been employed success- fully in Europe for typhus. The Cali- fornia redwood is the best known. The tree reaches a very great size, and forms forests in the coast mountains of Cali- fornia. REE, LOUGH, a lake of Ireland, formed by the Shannon, between the counties of Longford, Westmeath, and Roscommon, 17 miles long and 1 mile to 6 miles broad, studded with islands. REEBOK, or RHEEBOK, the Anti- lope capreolus (Pelea capreola) , from South Africa. Length about 5 feet, height at shoulder 30 inches ; uniform ash color on neck, shoulders, sides, croup, and thighs, white or light gray on under surface and inside of limbs. They live in small groups of five or six individuals. REED, in music, the sounding part of several instruments, such as the clari-