tion which he held until 1873. He died at Paris, June 6, 1875. See translations of his mother's Mémoires.
Renan (re-nän′), J. Ernest, one of the
most eminent authors of the 19th century,
ERNEST RENAN
was born at
Tréguier, France, Feb.
27, 1823. In his
sixteenth year he
was taken by Abbé
Dupanloup to his
seminary at Paris
to be educated for
the priesthood.
After three years
at this seminary,
he entered St.
Sulpice, the great
seminary of the
diocese of Paris.
At St. Sulpice his
attention was
mainly turned to the study of Hebrew,
and to this study, of his own accord,
he added that of German. The result
of these studies was to destroy his faith
in the supernatural or miraculous
element in Christianity, and he therefore
abandoned all idea of the priesthood and
resolved to devote himself to literature.
In 1860 Renan was appointed by Louis
Napoleon a member of the commission
to study the remains of Phœnician civilization.
During this mission he visited Syria
and Palestine and obtained acquaintance
with the latter country, which enabled
him to give such a vivid local coloring to
his Life of Jesus, published two or three
years after his return. In 1861 he was
chosen professor of Hebrew at the College
de France in Paris, but on account of his
religious views was not fully established in
that position until after the fall of the
empire in 1870. Renan's published works
are quite numerous, but the one by which
he is most widely known is his Life of
Jesus, which has been translated into the
languages of all civilized nations. Renan
died at Paris, Oct. 2, 1892.
Reni, Guido (gwē′dō rä′nē), a celebrated painter, was born near Bologna, Italy, Nov. 4, 1575. He studied under Calvaert, and at 20 entered the school of the Caracci. His first works, among them being the Coronation of the Virgin, are harsh and high in coloring. About 1596 he removed to Rome, painting there the Aurora and the Hours, his best work, now at the Rospigliosi palace. On account of a quarrel with Cardinal Spinola he left Rome and returned to Bologna, where he died on Aug. 18, 1642. His works are to be found in all the chief European galleries.
Re′produc′tion (in plants). In addition to the work of nutrition the plant must organize for reproduction. Two general types of reproduction are recognized. The first is vegetative multiplication, in which no such specialized bodies as spores are formed, but the ordinary vegetative body is used for this purpose. Among the lowest plants vegetative multiplication takes place by means of ordinary cell-division, and is the only method of reproduction used. In the more complex plants various outgrowths or portions of the body, as gemmæ, bulbs, buds, tubers, various modifications of branches etc., furnish means of propagation. The second kind of reproduction is by means of spores. Spores are specially organized to reproduce, and are not at all concerned in the nutritive work of the plant. There are two general types of spores, which differ from one another, not in their power, but in the method of their origin. The asexual spore is ordinarily produced by cell-division; the sexual spore is produced by the union of two sexual cells known as gametes. The general name of the sexually formed spore among plants is oöspore or, frequently, fertilized egg. The process by which spores form new plants is known as germination. See Spores.
Reptiles (rĕp′tĭlz), a class of vertebrates, embracing four natural orders of living forms: I. Chelonia, the tortoises and turtles; II. Lacertilia, the lizards; III. Ophidia, the snakes and serpents; IV. Crocodilia, the crocodiles, alligators etc. The hatteria of New Zealand is related to the lizards, but stands in a group by itself. In the evolution of life the reptiles were the forms that first became independent of the water and began to live entirely on land. Reptiles and birds, although so different in form and habits, are united by many peculiarities of structure. Huxley proposed a common name (Sauropsida) uniting the two classes. In addition to the living forms there are many extinct forms which extend the classification and best show the resemblances between birds and reptiles. The plesiosaurs were enormous water-animals with extremely long necks. Fossils are found indicating their length to have been about 40 feet. The ichthyosaurs were long water-animals attaining 30 or 40 feet in length. The dinosaurs show many bird-like peculiarities. They lacked the power of flight and lived both on land and in the water. Some forms reached a length of 60 feet. The pterodactyls were flying reptiles with membranous, wings, which in some cases had an expanse of 25 feet.
Repub′lic, Grand Army of the, is an organization composed of those who were soldiers and sailors in the Federal army and navy during the Civil War — the men in blue who upheld the flag and saved the Union. Its object is to preserve the spirit of comradeship among those who stood side by side amid the hardships and perils of war; to care for sick and disabled soldiers; to provide for the widows and orphans of
