Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 17.djvu/106

EEYNOLDS. 90 EHAPSODISTS. nolds, those of Malone (179S), Northcote (1813), Fiiniugton (1819), Bccclie (183")), and Cotton (185U), have been superseded by tlie comprehen- sive Life by Tom Taylor (London, lS(i5). which also includes the researches of Leslie. Other good biographies are those of Chcsnan (Paris, 1887), Phillips (London, 1893) , and Gower (ib., 1902). REZONVILLE, rczox vel'. A village of Ger- man Lorraine, 10 miles west-southwest of Metz and 2 miles southwest of Gravelotte. The battle of Gravelotte (q.v.) is sometimes called the bat- tle of Kezonville. RHACHITIS, r;i-ki'tls. See Rickets. BHAD'AMAN'THTJS (Lat., from Gk. 'PaJd- ftavHoi;). In Greek legend, a son of Zeus and Europa, and brother of Minos (q.v.). In Homer and the older epic, Rhadanianthus is a hero, who by special favor of the gods has been translated, with others, to Elysium or the Islands of the Blest. In later story these islands become the kingdom of Cronos and the released Titans, and Rhadanianthus, married to Alcniene, mother of Hercules, holds high rank and sits as judge. An- other conception of the other world prevailed later, in which Rhadanianthus, with Jlinos, -Eacus, and Triptoleuius, because of their justice in this life, sit in judgment on the souls of the dead, and assign them their due meed of bliss or punishment RHADAMES, rad'a-mez. An oasis and town in Xorth Africa. See Gadames. BECaiTIA, re'shi-a, or better, R^TIA. A Roman province lying in the Alps, north of Italy and east of Helvetia, and bounded north by Ger- many and east by Noricum, thus embracing the Grisons and part of Tyrol. It was watered by the Rhine, Athesis (Adige), and ^'Enus (Inn). The natives were chiefly engaged in herding sheep and cattle. They were a hardy and war- like race, but were eonrpiered about B.C. 15 by the Romans under Tiberius and Drusus. Later Viii- delicia. to the north, was united with Rhaitia. The chief town of Rha>tia proper was Tridentum (Trent) ; and of Vindelicia, Augusta Vindelico- rum (Augsburg). BBLffiTIC BEDS. A series of strata forming the uppermost portion of the Triassic system, which is extensively developed in the Rhsctian Alps. KHAMNACEJE (Neo-Lat. nom. pi., from Lat. rliiiiiiuos; from Gk. /^dfivnc, buckthorn, Christ's-thorn), Buckthorn Family. A natural order of about 40 genera and 500 species of di- cotyledonous, often spiny trees or shrubs, natives of and wildly distributed in temperate and tropical countries. They have simple leaves; small, generally green flowers; and either fleshy fruit, not opening when ripe, or dry and sepa- rating into three parts. Some species have been used in dyeing (buckthorn), some in medicine (red root), and the fruit of some for food. (See Jujube.) The sweet red pulp of the thickened flower stalks of Hovenia dulcis, a native of China and Japan, is edible: In flavor they resemble the pear. The chief genera are Rhamnus, Ceano- thus, Zizyphus, Hovenia, Phylica, and Gouania. BHAMNTJS. A genus of shrubs and trees. See Buckthorn. BHAMPHOBHYNCHUS, ram'fS-rin'kus (Neo-Lat., from Gk. pafioo;, rhamphos, curved beak -|- pvyxoc, rhynchos, snout). A fossil flying reptile of Upper Jurassic age. See Ptekouactyl. BHAMPHOSUCHUS, ram'ffi-su'kus (Neo- Lat., ficjin (ik. I'la/iour, rJiamjiltos, curved beak -~ (Tovx^'f^t ^oucliuSj crocodile). One of the largest fossil crocodiles, known by fragmentary bones found in the Pliocene deposits of the Siwalik hills of India. The animal must have attaineil a length over all of about 50 feet. BHAMPSIN1TUS (Lat.. from Gk. -Pn/ii/wi- Toc). A King of Egypt, tlie subject of a remark- able tale related by Herodotus. According to the Greek historian, Rhampsinitus possessed enormous wealth, and wishing to store it secure- ly, caused a treasure house of stone to be built. The architect who constructed the building left a secret entrance concealed by a movable stone, and on his death bed informed his two sons of the fact. The sons repeatedly entered the treasury, and each time carried away as much of the treas- ure as they were able. Finally, the elder brother falls into a trap set by the King, and the younger brother, at his request, cuts off and carries away his head that he may not be recognized. The headless body is exposed, guarded by soldiers, but the younger brother, by a clever stratagem, makes them drunk and obtains possession of it. The King then attempts to capture the thief by the aid of his daughter, who is ordered to receive all who desire to visit her, promising her love to him who can relate the most remarkable adven- ture experienced by himself. The thief visits the princess and tells her the story of the theft, but when she attempts to seize him he slips into her hands his dead brother's arm, which he has brought under his cloak, and makes his escape. Thereupon the King, admiring his cleverness, grants him immunity for liis theft, and gives him his daughter in marriage. Rhampsinitus is to be identified with Rameses III., whose treasury at Sledinet Habu is the building referred to in the story of the thief. The accounts of Herodotus are derived from the popular tales and legends which, in his time, were current in Egj'pt. Consult: Herodotus, ii., 121-124; Wilkinson, Manners and Customs of the Ancient Eyiiptians (London, 1878) ; Clouston, Popular Tales and Fictions (Edinburgh, 1887) ; Budge, A History of Egi/pt (New York, 1902). EHAPSODISTS (from Gk./)apvS6s,rhapsddos, bard, from pdwreLv, rhaptein, to stitch together' -I- wStJ, ode. song, from &d€iv^ adcin, to sing). A name applied in ancient Greece to professional reciters of poetry, and especially to a class of wandering minstrels who recited the Homeric poems. So long as the Homeric lays were handed down by oral transmission, the rhapsodists were a highly respected class, and there can be little doubt that they often exercised a considerable influence upon the text of the poems. But with the commission of the poems to writing and the circulation of manuscript copies, the char- acter of the rhapsodists gradually changed, so that in the fourth century they are represented as stupid persons, with nothing to coniinend them but a retentive memory. Their recitations, how- ever, continued to be popular until a compara- tively late period. The rhapsodist carried a staff, and when reciting wore a crown as a mark of his office. He did not confine himself to mere recitation, but commented upon the poet's mean- ing and discussed questions of interpretation.