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into general ufe it might give the only advantage that is at prefent wanting to the Scotch holland manufactory, and make it excell that of all the world befide. The northern American colonies might alfo furnifh us with the fame fort of flax raifed at a fmaller expence than almoft any other vegetable commodity, and coming to a fure market and at a very confiderable price.
Agriculture in Scotland is too much neglected to the great impoverifhing of the country, and the diffrefs of a nume- rous poor, for whom it would find conftant employment. It is not yet known whether many of the moft valuable plants for medicinal and mechanic ufes will not profper as well there, as where there are immenfe fums made by the railing them ; and the owners of lands would do well in this fcfaeme to try the effect of liquorice, madder, woad and the like plants on their grounds. Wherever the ground is deep enough, it is pretty certain that madder and liquorice would flourifh, and the laft of thefe needs fo little culture, that if once planted it may almofi be left to it felf. The rocky bottoms of lands, not too bleak, may alfo fucceed very well with faffron, which is one of the moft profitable plants that can be cultivated. Phil. T.ranf. N° 109.
RocK-cry/lal, otherwife called /prig cryjlal, in natural hi- ftory, a name given to the third order of cry/lah from their being affixed to a rock, or other folid body. This kind of cry/ial is the moft common of all others, and is what the generality of authors defcribe under the name of cry/la! of the flops, being that kept for medicinal purpofes. Seethe article Crystal.
The cleareft, pureft, and moft tranfparent that can be had, ought to be chofen ; and to prove its genuinenefs, it may be tried with aqua fortis, true cry/ial making no effervef- cencc with that menftruum. Hill, Hift. Mat. "Med. p. 280.
RoCK-/y#, a common englifh name for the gobius mariuus or.fea gudgeon. IP'illnghbys Hift. Pile. p. 207. SeeGoGET.
Rock-«7, See the article Petroleum.
RocK-ja/t, See the article rod' Salt.
ROD (Cycl.) — Rod, in the manege, called in french gaule, is a fwitch held by the horfeman in his right hand, partly to reprefent a fword, and partly to- conduct the node, and fecond the effects of the hand and heels.
Go!dcn-Ror>, in botany. See Golden rod,
ROGATORES, among the Romans, thofe who in the comitia ccnturiata brought the cheft into which the people threw the ballots containing their votes. Pitifc in voc.
ROHEL, a word ufed by fome authors as the name for dra- gons blood.
ROLLER (Cycl.) — Roller, in zoology, the common name of a bird of the mag-pie kind, called garrultts argentoratenfis by authors, and fulpected to be the fame with the bird de- scribed by Gefner under the name of the blue crow, comix carulca, and by Aldrovand under the name of pica marina* Its beak is black and long, fomewhat crooked at the end, otherwife like that of the common mag-pie; its eyes are of a greyifh hazel colour, and near them are two tubercles bare of feathers. Its rump and part of its wing feathers are of a fine blue, like the ultramarine colours ufed in painting; the middle of its back is of a reddifh brown, and the head is of a bluifh green, and its breaft and belly are of a whitifh blue or dove colour. It is brought to market in Italy and fome other places. See Tab. of Birds, N°ic. RaysQxix. p. 89.
Roller, in gunnery, a round piece of wood of about nine inches diameter, and four foot long, which ferves in mov- ing mortars from one place to another when near. This is done by raifing the fore part of the bed fo high that a roller may be laid under it ; then pufhing the bed forwards, and laying another in its way, and another before that and fo on, the mortar is eafily moved.
ROLLUS aquaticus, in zoology, the name given by au- thors to the water rail, a bird of the gallinula kind, called by fome ortygomctra, and by others gallinula chloropus altera, or a different fpecies of the common green legged moorhen. It is very like the common moorhen but fmaller ; its head
. is fmall ; its body flatted, and its feet neither webbed nor en- larged by membranes, tho' it fwims on the water ; its beak is like that of the ruft or avis pugnax, about two fingers breadth long and flatted fuleways. It has a fmall bald fpot on its forehead, which is roundifh and black; its whole upper part is of a mixed colour of black and a brown ifh yellow ; the middle of all the feathers being black, and the fides of a dufky yellow. Its throat is of a greyifh red, its breaft is of a dead blue with a longitudinal white line in the middle ; its belly is reddifh, and the lower part of its tail white ; its legs are very robuft and ffrong, and it runs very nimbly ; it is common about the fides of waters, and tsavecy well taffed bird. Ray's Ornitholog. p. 234.
ROMAlN, in hufbandry, the name of a pLnt cultivated in the fields in many parts of the world, particularly in France, and called by our farmers french vetches or french tares; it is an annual plant but a very quick grower, and is ex- tremely good food for cattle, particularly for horfes : they let thefe creatures feed on it all the fore part of the fum- mer, and then cut it for hay in Auguft or September. Its fhort continuance in the ground makes it lefs valuable than
faint foin and clover, but it has this advantage over them that it will grow on poor ground.
ROMAN (Cycl)— Roman Citizen. See Citizen.
ROMPION, this kind of bell flower was formerly much efteemed in England for the fweet tafte of the roots, and univerfally cultivated in kitchen gardens ; but we at prefent disregard it, tho' the French continue to be very fond of it. The feeds are to be fawn in a bed of fight dry earth in March, and in May the young plants will be of a fize to remove, or they may be left when fowed, only hpughing them up to four inches diftance ; being kept clean from weeds for the remaining part of the fummer, they will be fit for eating in the fucceeding winter.
RONDINE, in zoology, a name by which fome authors have called the mttvus, or flying fifli. JVillughbf*, Hift. Pifc. p- 283. See the article Milvus.
Kondine-p^, in zoology, a name by which fome have called the kirundo pife'ts or [wallow fijh, called by others ?nugil alatus. Mllughby's Hift. Pifc. p. 233. See the article HlRUNDO pifds.
ROOD (Cycl.)— In Scotland, the reed contains forty fuuare falls. Tr. Pract. Geom. p. 82. See Fall.
ROOK, in zoology, a well known bird of the crow kind. See the article Cornix.
Rooks are very deftructive of corn, efpecially of wheats they fearch out the lands when it is fown, and watching them more carefully than the owners, they perceive when the feed firft begins to fhoot up its little blade; this is the time of their feeding on it, they will not be at the painsof fearching for it at random in the fown land, for that is more trouble than fo fmall a grain will requite them for ; but as foon as thefe blades appear they are directed without lofs of time or pains by them to the places where the grains lie, and in three or four days time they will root up fuch vaft quantities of them that a good crop is often thus deftroyed in embryo. After a few days the wheat con- tinuing to grow, its blades appear green above ground, and then the time of danger from thefe birds is over, for then the feeds are fo far robbed of their mealy matter that they are of no value to that bird, and it will no longer give it- felf the trouble to deftroy them.
Wheat that is fown fo early as to fhoot up its green blades before the harveft is all carried in, is in no danger from thefe birds, becaufe while it is in a ftate worth their fearching for, the fcattered corn in the harveft fields is eafier come at, and they feed wholly on this, neglecting the fown grain ; but as this cannot always be done, the farmers to drive away thefe ravenous and mifchievous birds dig holes in the ground and flick up the feathers of rooks in them, and hangup dead rooks on fticks in feveral parts of the fields; but all this is of very little ufe, for the living rooks will tear up the ground about the feathers, and under the dead ones, to fteal the feeds. A much better way than cither is to tear feveral rooks to pieces and fcatter the pieces over the fields, but this lafts but a little while, for the kites and other birds of prey foon carry off the pieces and feed upon them. A gun is a good remedy while the perfon who has it is prefent ; but as foon as he is gone they will return with redoubled vigour to the field and tear up every thin^ before them.
The beft remedy the farmer has is to watch well the time of the corn's being in the condition in which they feed upon it, and as this lafts only a few days, he fhould keep a boy in conftant pay to watch the field from day break till the dufk of the evening. Every time they fettle upon the ground or fly over it the boy is to hollow, and throw up a dead rook into the air ; this will always make them rife, and by degrees they will be fo tired of this con- ftant difturbance, that they will feek out other places ©f preying, and will leave the ground even before the time of the corn's being unfit for them. The reafon of their rifmg at the toffing up of their dead fellow creature is, that they are a bird extremely apprehenfive of danger, and they are always alarmed when one of their comerades rifes. They take this for the rifing of an out-bird, and all fly off at the fignal. Tuft's Horfehoing Hufbandry.
ROOM (Cycl.) — Rooms in houfes might be warmed by the fteam of boiling water conveyed in pipes aJong their walls. See Philof. Tranf. N°. 476. p. 370. feq. The contrivance is a copper with a ftill head, and a lead or copper pipe fixed to this head, which conveys the hot fleam of the bailing water thro* the different rooms intended to be warmed.
Room, in a fhip, a place diftinguifhed by partitions, or bulk-heads, as the gun- raw;, bread -room, cook-room, pow- dcx-room, &c.
ROOT (Cycl — The roots of plants, of all kinds, have great numbers of fibres, iffuing horizontally from them on all fides, and running a great way ; but thefe feldom go.deeper than about ten or twelve inches, the depth to which the earth is commonly ftirred in agriculture by the plough fpade. Some plants have all their roots, even the large ones, di- rected horizontally and fpreading in this manner; but of the others, even thofe which have top roots, or fuch as run per- pendicularly
