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RURIK 147 RUSH spread all over agricultural Europe, but has made little or no headway in this country. In the United States the farm- er usually obtains his credit through the regular commercial banks, through credit at the general store, or by means of crop liens, all of which have been ex- tremely unsatisfactory. Within recent years credit unions have been established, especially in Massachusetts, where they have been encouraged by special legisla- tion. The progress of co-operative credit unions has been so slow in this country, however, that the need of some system of state aid has long been felt, and finally took concrete shape in the Federal Farm Loan Act, passed in July, 1916, with the specific purpose of aiding the farmers to produce for the war needs of the nation during a critical period. See "Co-opera- tion in Agriculture," by G. Harold Powell, and "Co-operation Among Farmers," by John Lee Coulter. RURIK, the founder of the Russian monarchy; flourished in the 9th century; he is generally considered to have been a Varangian of Scandinavian origin, and to have led a successful invasion against the Slavs of Novgorod about 862. He was assisted by his brothers, to whose territories he afterward succeeded. He died in 879, and his family reigned in Russia till the death, in 1598, of Feodor, son of Ivan the Terrible, when it was succeeded by the house of Romanoff. Many Russian families still claim a direct descent from Rurik. RUSA, a genus of Cervidae, or a sub- genus of Cervus, with several species, from the East Indies. They are generally of large size, and have round antlers, with a snag projecting in front just above the base of each. There are several species, of which the best known is R. aristotelis, the sambur. RUSH (Juncas) , a genus of plants of the natural order Juncese, having a glume- like (not colored) perianth, smooth fila- ments, and a many-seeded, generally three-celled capsule. The species are nu- merous, mostly natives of wet or marshy places in the colder parts of the world; some are found in tropical regions. The name rush perhaps properly belongs to those species which have no proper leaves ; the round stems of which, bearing or not bearing small lateral heads of flowers, are popularly known as rushes. The soft rush (J. effusus) is a native of Japan as well as of Great Britain, and is cultivated in Japan for making mats. The common rush (J. conglomerates) and the soft rush are largely used for the bottoms of chairs and for mats, and in ruder times, when carpets were little known, they were much used for floor covering. The stems of the true rushes contain a large pith or soft central substance, which is some- times used for wicks to small candles called rushlights. There are 20 or 22 British species of rush. They are often very troublesome weeds to the farmer. Thorough drainage is the best means of getting rid of them. Many marshy and boggy places abound in some of the spe- cies having leafy stems and the leaves jointed internally, popularly called sprots or sprits, as J. acutiflorus, J. lamprocar- pus, and J. obtusiflorus. They afford very little nourishment to cattle; but are use- ful for making coarse ropes for ricks. The stage was also strewed with rushes in Shakespeare's time, as well as the churches with rushes or straw according to the season of the year, and anciently rushes were scattered in the way where processions were to pass. To order fresh, rushes was a sincere mark of honor to a guest. The strewing of the churches grew into a religious festival conducted with much pomp and circumstance. This ceremonious rush-bearing lingered long in the northern counties of England, and has been occasionally revived in modern times, as at Grasmere in 1884, etc. RUSH, BENJAMIN, an American physician; born in Philadelphia, Dec. 24, 1745; he was graduated at Princeton in 1760; studied medicine in Philadelphia, Edinburgh, London, and Paris; and in 1769 was made Professor of Chemistry in the Philadelphia Medical College. Elected a member of the Continental Con- gress, he signed the Declaration of Inde- pendence (1776). In April, 1777, he was appointed surgeon-general, and in July physician-general, of the Continental army. His duties did not prevent him from writing a series of letters against the articles of confederation of 1776. In 1778 he resigned his post in the army because he could not prevent frauds on soldiers in the hospital stores, and re- turned to his professorship. He was a founder of the Philadelphia dispensary, the first in the United States, and of the College of Physicians, was active in the establishment of public schools, was a member of the state conventions which ratified the Federal Constitution and formed the State constitution. He next became Professor of the Theory and Practice of Medicine at Philadelphia, to which chair he added those of the Insti- tutes and Practice of Medicine and Clini- cal Practice (1791) ; and of the Practice of Physic (1797) ; and during the epi- demic of 1793 he was as successful as devoted in the treatment of yellow fever. In 1799 Rush was appointed treasurer of the United States Mint, which post he