Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 17.djvu/341

ROSWITHA. 30'.» BOTH. the aristocratic Boncdicliiu' cloister at (iamlers- hcini, near (iiittingeii, ami died there after 1001. Slie was well schooled in literature and tUeolof^'. In imitation of Terence she wrote six plays, which show some familiarity with the classics. She also wrote historical works on the deeds of Otho I. and on the early history of Gandershcim. Her works were found and edited bj' Conrad C'eltes, and printed at Nuremberg in 1501. The best and fullest edition is by Barack (Nurem- berg, 1858) ; there is a school edition by P. von Winterfeld (Berlin. 1902). For other editions and works about Koswitha, consult: Potthast, Bibliothcca Eistoiica iledii ^ih'i, vol. i. (Berlin, ISO(i) : Kopke, Hrotsuit von (landersheim (Ber- lin, 18G9). ROT. A common name for various plant dis- eases. See Diseases of Plants : Fungi, Eco- nomic. ROTA (Lat., wheel). A tribunal through which the Pope, in the days of his temporal sovereignty, administered justice in disputed cases relating to the temporalities of the Church throughout Christendom, and the more impor- tant civil cases of a similar nature from the Papal States. The name ])ossibly came from the circular arrangement of the seats of the judges, or auditors as they were called. The existence of this tribunal cannot be traced back with cer- tainty beyond the thirteenth century. Sixtus IV. in 1472 fi.xed the number of the auditors at twelve, and succeeding popes gave them many privileges. ROTARY CONVERTER. See Dynamo- Electric Maciiineki'. ROTATION. See Mechanics. ROTATION (Lat. rotatio, from rotnre. to rotate, from iota, wheel : connected with Ir., Gael. roth. Welsh rhod, Lith. ralas, wheel, Skt. rafha, chariot. OHG. rad. Ger. Rad. wheel). In plants, the (lowing of the protoplasm within the cell wall of certain plants and plant tissues. This may occur when there is a single large central sap-cavitj- (vacuole), around which the proto- plasm lies, or when there are several vacuoles, in which case several currents mav be observed in ^W= A CELL FHOM A HAIE OF A POPPY (CfiWWoDIUm maJnS). Showing currents in the protoplasm in the direction of the arrows. different directions at the same time. (See Fig.) Tiiese movements seem to be related to the amoe- boid movements. (See Movement.) If these are due to changes in surface tension, perhaps brought about by oxidation, rotation may be similarly explained. Nothing, however, is definitely known in this regard. Rotation may be studied readily in the young cells at the tip of Nitella or in the rhizoids of Chara. and in the hairs on the stamens of Tradescantia ('wandering Jew'). ROTATION OF CROPS. The practice of growing various crops from one year to another upon a given field. This practice is fol- lowed for the sake of convenience in farm work, and for the purpose of maintain- ing and increasing llie fertility of the soil. Tho theory of rotation is bused on such considera- tions as the following: Plants diller much in habit of growth and in the pro|Hirti<in of tha different elements which lliey draw from the soil. Deep-rooted plants have a bi-nrlii-ial effiit on (he l)hysical condition of the soil and ari> capable of obtaining food and moisture from the subsoil ut comparatively great depths, while shallow riHited plants do not enter the sub.-.oil to such un extenl and are, therefore, more depenileiit upon the Hur- face soil. The quantity and proportion of the crop remaining upon the soil ready to lie turned mider by the plow dilfiM-s with the'varioux crops. The cultivation of hoed erops, such as Indian corn, tends to free the land from weeds; leguminous plants enrich the soil in nitrogenous plant food by assimilating the free nitrogen of the air (s«'0 Clovek) ; ami fall-growing crops take up the available nitrogen from the soil and thus prevent its leaching away by the rains of winter and sjuing. Furthermore, plants having a long sea- son of growth are better adapted to soils with a small supjily of availal>le plant food than rap- idly growing ]dants. which need an abundamc of availal>le material during their short |)eriod of vegetation. The crops consumed upon the farm tend more to maintain fertility than those which are sold: and, finally, crops differing in sea.son, cultivation, and growth allow a convi'uient ar- rangement of the farm work throi'ghont the year. ROTATION OF PLANE OF POLARIZA- TION. Sec LloilT. ROTCH, Abbott Lawrence (1861—). Ah American meteorologist, born in Boston. He graduated at the .Massaclinsetts Institute of Technology in 1884. and in the next year estab- lished near Boston the Bhu" Hill Meteorological Observatory. There he made resean-lies on the clouds and introduced the use of kites for weather observations. Koteh edited, in part. Tlir .Imrri- can Meteorolixjicai ./oiiniiil ( IS8(>-'.)2) . and in 1891 was ai)]iointed to the international commil- tee on the nomenclature of clouds. His publi- cations include the annual reports of the Blue Hill Gbservatory (1887 et sci|.) and a popular work. Soundin;/ the Ocean of Air (litOO). ROTH, r6t. CIIRISTOIMI (1840 — ). A German sculptor, born at Nuremberg. Although for six years a pupil of Sickinger and then of KnabI "in ilunich, he was largely self-taught. In I8li(i he attracted notice tliroiigh the public-ation of Per analoiiiische Aktsanl. an instructive work for artists, and soon obtained numerous com- missiims for portrait busts and statues, among which were those of Bismarck ((he first modeled from life by any sculptor I, of the philosopher Feuerbach. the monument to the naturalist Sie- bold. at Wiirzliurg, and some in the niilitary museum of the Royal .rsenal in .Munich. His impressive life-size" group "Dying" (1S99) waa acipiired by the Zurich MuseunL He was award- ed several nieda Is and maile royal professor. ROTH, .TfsTfS LfDWiG .i>olk (181S-i»-2|. A Cerman geologist and mineralogist, born in Hamburg. In 1848 he went to Berlin as privat- doc-eiit of geology, and he was ma<le professor there in 1SI>7. Roth published Itir (Irslriiiiiii- nhiscn (18()I), Bi-ilrniir :ur f'rln><irni<l'ir drr Ijliilonischen Oesteine ( 18(19-84). ami .Uiirmrine xmd ehemische Geologir (1879-03).