Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume XIV.djvu/175

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RAFINESQUE RAGUET 167 which gradually enlarges, and at the end of several months the fully developed bud looks like a monstrous cabbage. The perianth is tubular below, with five entire thick lobes ; the throat of the flower is surrounded by a thick and fleshy ring; within the cup or tu- bular portion are the stamens or pistils. In S. Arnoldi the flower is flesh-colored, marked with yellowish white protuberances, and the interior of the cup is of an intense purple color. The flower measures fully 3 ft. across and weighs 15 Ibs. ; its cup is estimated to hold 12 pints. In this as in other species the flower gives off a most repulsive odor of tainted meat, which is however attractive to insects, large numbers of which hover about it, and as the plant is dioecious they no doubt aid in its fer- tilization. There are several plants of the order Rafflesiacem in South America and a solitary species in the United States, described by Gray as pilostyles Thurberi, found upon the Gila river in Arizona ; this is parasitic upon a legu- minous shrub (Dalea), and though of the same family and having the same habit of growth with the rafBesia just described, it is as re- markable for its minuteness as that is for its Titanic proportions, the whole plant being barely a quarter of an inch across. RAFINESQUE, Constantine Smaltz, an American botanist, born of French parents in Galata, a suburb of Constantinople, in 1784, died in Philadelphia, Sept. 18, 1842. He came to America in 1802, collected a large number of botanical specimens, and in 1805 went to Leg- horn, and thence to Sicily, where he remained ten years. While there he published three scientific works in French. Sailing for New York in 1815, he was wrecked on the coast of Long Island, and lost his collections and labors for 20 years. He became a teacher, made a tour to the west in 1818, and was for a time professor of botany in Transylvania univer- sity, Lexington, Ky. Finally he settled in Philadelphia, and established in 1832 "The Atlantic Journal and Friend of Knowledge," of which only eight numbers appeared. He published " Annals of Kentucky" (8vo, Frank- fort, 1824); "Medical Flora of the United States" (2 vols. 12mo, Philadelphia, 1828-'30); " The American Nations, or Outlines of a Na- tional History " (2 vols. 12mo, 1836) ; and "A Life of Travel and Researches" (1836). He also wrote many smaller botanical and zoologi- cal works, several of which were left unfin- ished ; and he needlessly introduced so many new genera and species as to produce great con- fusion. " The Writings of 0. S. Rafinesque on Recent and Fossil Conchology " has been edited by W. G. Binney and G. W. Tryon, jr. (8vo, Philadelphia, 1864). RAF, Carl Christian, a Danish archaeologist, born in Brahesborg, island of Funen, Jan. 16, 1795, died in Copenhagen, Oct. 20, 1864. He was educated at the university of Copenhagen, of which in 1821 he was made an assistant Jibrarian. He undertook a general revision of all the Icelandic and Norwegian manuscripts yet unpublished, belonging to the collection. Through his exertions in 1825 the " Society for Northern Antiquities" was founded, the principal object of which was to publish those manuscripts which could throw light on the obscure passages of Scandinavian history. It has published many volumes on the history and antiquity of the North. The work which excited the most attention was the Antiquita- tes Americana, seu Scriptores Septentrionalet Rerum Ante-Columbianarum in America (Co- penhagen, 1837), prefaced by a summary in English, in which he attempted to prove that the Scandinavians discovered America in the 10th century, and that from the llth to the 14th they made frequent voyages thither, and effected settlements in what is now Massa- chusetts and Rhode Island. An important se- quel to this work is Denkmaler Gronlands (3 vols., 1838-'45). He also published Antiqui- tes russes (3 vols., 1850-'54). RAGATZ, a watering place of Switzerland, in the canton of St. Gall, adjoining Pfafers, and situated at the junction of several railways and at the mouth of the gorge through which the Tamina flows into the Rhine. It is one of the so-called indifferent thermal springs used for rheumatism and nervous diseases, and the place is generally overcrowded in summer. It has a fine bathing establishment, with ter- race gardens to which water is conveyed from Pfafers in wooden pipes. It contains an Eng- lish chapel and a monument of Schelling, who is buried in the Catholic cemetery. RAGLAN, Fitzroy James Henry Somerset, baron, an English general, born Sept. 30, 1788, died in camp before Sebastopol, June 28, 1855. He was the eighth and youngest son of the fifth duke of Beaufort. He was educated at West- minster school, and at the age of 16, being then known as Lord Fitzroy Somerset, entered the 4th regiment of dragoons as ensign. In 1805 he became lieutenant, and in 1809 was attached to the staff of the duke of Welling- ton as aide-de-camp and military secretary. At Busaco he was wounded, and at the storm- ing of Badajoz he was one of the first to enter the town. At Waterloo he lost his right arm. For these services he was made colonel and knighted. In 1818 and 1826 he was elected to parliament, where he acted with the moderate tories. In 1852 he was made master general of the ordnance, and created Baron Raglan. In the Crimean war he was commander-in- chief with the rank of field marshal, and on Sept. 20, 1854, fought the battle of the Alma. The sufferings of the troops during the follow- ing winter and the disastrous repulse of June 18, 1855, weighed upon his mind, and aggra- vated an attack of cholera, of which he died. RAGOTZKY. See RiK6czY. RAGUET, Condy, an American political econo- mist, born in Philadelphia, Jan. 28, 1784, died there, March 22, 1842. He was of French de- scent, was educated at the university of Penn-