Page:Collier's New Encyclopedia v. 07.djvu/492

RAGUSA 414 BAIL imitative of the effect produced by the elementary musical instruments in use among the nativee of Africa. RAGUSA, a city of Dalmatia ; on the E. shore of the Adriatic, 100 miles S. E. of Spalato and opposite the Gulf of Man- fredonia in Italy. It is surrounded with strong walls, and contains several strik- ing and interesting buildings, chief among them being the palace of the rec- tors in the Gothic and Classic Renais- sance styles between 1435 and 1464; the custom house and mint, dating from be- fore 1312; the Dominican church (1306) and monastery (1348), the former con- taining a picture by Titian, the Fran- ciscan church and monastery (1317) ; the Church of St. Biagio (Blaise), the patron saint of the town, built in 1348- 1352, rebuilt in 1715; and the churches of San Salvatore and AUe Dance. The city seems to have been colonized by refugees from Epidaurus, Salona, and other Grseco-Roman towns destroyed by the Slav invaders of the Balkan penin- sula. For some centuries Ragusa was a Roman outpost on the edge of the Slav states, and flourished greatly under the suzerain protection of Byzantium. To- ward the end of the 12th century Ragusa was made to acknowledge the supremacy of Vsnice. In 1358 Venice ceded her Dalmatian possessions to Hungary, and from that time down to the era of the Napoleonic wars Ragusa was generally accustomed to look to Hungary (i. e., the German empire) for help against her enemies, though from the beginning of the 15th century she was a free and in- dependent republic. Ragusa took a prominent place among the trading states of the Mediterranean, due to her position between the Christian powers and the empire of the Turks, and the privileges she enjoyed of trading freely with the subjects of the Sultan. Her "argosies" (i. e., "vessels of Ragusa": see Argosy) traded as far as the Baltic. Ragusa was the home from the middle of the 15th century of a remarkable lit- erary movement, stimulated by the Renaissance (see Serbia). During the course of the Napoleonic wars the French entered the city in 1805; this led the Russians to bombard the place. But in 1808 Napoleon declared the republic of Ragusa to be at an end, and in the fol- lowing year incoroorated it in the king- dom of Illyria. Since 1814, like the rest of the Dalmatian seaboard, it has be- longed to Austria. Ragusa had, how- ever, long before this declined from her former greatness. Pop. about 15,000. RAGWORT, the Senecio jacobsea, producing yellow flowers. Common by roadsides and in pastures. RAHU, in Indian mythology, the de- mon who is imagined to be the cause of the eclipses of sun and moon. RAHWAY, a city in Union CO., N. J.; on the Rahway river, and on the Penn- sylvania railroad, 19 miles S. W. of New York. The city has a public library, high school, about 20 churches, several banks, and a number of weekly news- papers. It has manufactures of railroad signals, carriages, printing presses, hubs and spokes, clothing, and shoes, a large printing and bookbinding establishment. Pop. (1910) 9,337; (1920) 11,042. RAIAN MCERIS, a lake basin, or an- cient storage reservoir, in the Fayum, Middle Egypt. It is long since dried up, but the statements of Herodotus, Strabo, and others show that the Nile has been regulated by utilizing a depression In the desert corresponding in shape and situa- tion to the Raian basin. A proposal to reconstruct this reservoir, by means of which an immense area might be brought under irrigation, engages attention. See McERis, Lake. RAIATEA, one of the Society Islands in southeastern Poljmesia; area, 75 square miles. Exports cotton and copra. Pop. about 23,000. RAI BARELI, or RAI BAREILLY, a town and district of India; 48 miles S. E. of Lucknow; has a large brick fort (15th century), a magnificent palace and tomb of a former ruler, and some fine mosques. Pop. tovm (1911), 18,798. The district is part of the province of Oudh and Agra. Area, 1,751 square miles. Pop. about 1,100,000. RAIIDAE, the family of fishes to which the rays (skate, etc.) belong. See Ray. RAIKES, ROBERT, an English phil- anthropist, the originator of Sunday- schools ; born in Glouceter, England, Sept. 14, 1735. His father was printer and proprietor of the "Gloucester Journal," and he succeeded to the business, keeping it till 1802. His pity for the misery and ignorance of many of the children in his native city led him, about 1780, to start a school where they might be taught to read and to repeat the Catechism. Raikes lived to see his schools widely spread over England. He died April 5, 1811. RAIL, the common name of the Ral- lidx, a family of grallatoriaJ birds com- prehending the rails proper (Rallus), the coots, water-hens, and crakes. Most of the members of the family are aqua- tic or frequent marshes; but some, as the crakes, frequent dry situations. The principal species of the genu," Rallus are