276 REPTON RESINA lived in parts of Europe nearer the frigid than the torrid zone. All the fossil forms, how- ever odd, were constructed on the same rep- tilian vertebrate type as at present, in some instances with ornithic (pterodactyl) or mam- malian affinities (ichthyosaurus). In the most ancient fauna of reptiles, chelonians and sau- rians, the highest in the class, are represented, and some forms then existing were in certain respects more perfect, or at any rate more complex, than some present members of the class; each fauna had its type of perfection, without regard to the superiority or inferior- ity of that which preceded or followed it ; we find no transition species leading to or from ichthyosaurus, plesiosaurus, pterodactyl, and the like, unless we ascend to cetacean mam- mals in the first and to bats in the last. Rep- tiles (including batrachians even) are very rare, and to some questiopable, in the Devonian; there are a few amphibians in the carbonifer- ous ; the class abounds in the divisions of the trias, and is most numerous in the Jurassic, becoming less abundant in the oolite and chalk. For details on fossil reptiles see the various articles on the genera above mentioned. Pro- fessors Cope and Marsh have described several new forms of reptiles from the western terri- tories, in the " American Naturalist," " Pro- ceedings of the Academy of Natural Sciences," Philadelphia, and the "American Journal of Science." REPTOX, Humphry, an English landscape gar- dener, born in Bury St. Edmund's, May 2, 1752, died in Essex, March 24, 1818. Having failed in mercantile business, he adopted the profes- sion of landscape gardening, and was hence- forth uninterruptedly prosperous. At the pe- riod of his death there was scarcely a county in England which did not have some "places" adorned by his skill. His works on landscape gardening, with an account of the author's life, were reprinted by J. 0. Loudon (8vo, 1840). REPUBLIC, a N. county of Kansas, bordering on Nebraska, and intersected by the Republican river; area, 720 sq. m. ; pop. in 1870, 1,281. It has an undulating prairie surface. The chief productions in 1870 were 8,626 bushels of wheat, 16,820 of Indian corn, 4,705 of pota- toes, 13,790 Ibs. of butter, and 1,079 tons of hay. There were 463 horses, 1,039 cattle, 325 sheep, and 181 swine. Capital, Belleville. REPUBLICAN RIVER. See KANSAS, vol. ix., p. 747. RESACA DE LA PALM A, a ravine, as its name imports, thickly grown with palm trees, that crosses the Matamoros road, in Texas, about 3 m. from the place where the road opens upon the Rio Grande opposite Matamoros. In a battle fought here, May 9, 1846, 2,000 United States troops under Gen. Zachary Taylor de- feated 6,000 Mexicans under Gen. Arista. RESHID PASHA, Mustapha Mrhemrd. a Turkish statesman, born in Constantinople in 1802, died there, Jan. 7, 1858. He was educated by Ali Pasha, who had married his sister, and was governor of a province in Asia Minor. "When Ali as grand vizier was sent to suppress the Greek insurrection in 1822, Reshid accompa- nied him ; and in the campaign against the Russians in 1828-'9 he was private secretary to Selim Pasha. He took part in the negotia- tion of the treaty of Adrianople, and was sent on a diplomatic mission to Mehemet Ali, pasha of Egypt. In 1833 he assisted in negotiating the treaty of Kutaieh. In 1837 he became minister of foreign affairs, but held the post only for a year, going as special envoy to Lon- don and Paris. In 1839, after the reopening of the Egyptian war, he was recalled by Sul- tan Abdul-Mediid, who had succeeded Mah- moud II., to take charge again of the foreign ministry. He caused the promulgation of the hatti-sherif of Gulhane, raising the Christians to a civil equality with the Mussulmans, and brought about the quadruple alliance by which Egypt was compelled to evacuate the Turk- ish provinces. In 1841 he was again envoy to England and France. He was made grand vizier in 1846, but lost his post six years later, and retired to private life, only to be recalled very soon to his high office, which he was com- pelled to resign in 1857 through an illness that shortly proved fatal. His influence was always exerted for the maintenance of peace. He dis- countenanced polygamy, and was distinguished for his literary and scientific attainments. RESHT, or Reshd, a city of Persia, capital of the province of Ghilan, about 5 m. inland from the bay of Murd-ab or Enzeli in the Caspian sea, and 142 m. N. W. of Teheran; pop. about 20,000. It is well paved, and the houses are uncommonly neat and of superior construction. There are extensive bazaars, and a large trade is carried on in raw silk, embroideries, fruits, and fish. It has of late greatly decreased in importance and population, partly from fre- quent visitations of cholera. The population embraces Persians, Russians, Turks, Armeni- ans, Jews, and Hindoos, and the streets and bazaars swarm with fakirs, dervishes, and oth- er mendicants. Enzeli, at the entrance of the gulf of Murd-ab, is its port, but the sea is there so boisterous and the surf so high that the steamers plying between Astrabad and Baku are nt times not able to land their pas- sengers. Treaties of peace between Persia and Russia were signed at Resht in 1729 and 1732. RESINA (anc. Retina), a town of Italy, in the province, on the gulf, and 6m. S. E. of the city of Naples, at the W. base of Vesuvius ; pop. about 12,000. It covers a large part of the ruins of Herculaneum, and the sinking of a well here in 1709 led to the excavation of relics and to the first discovery of the real site of the latter city. Resina is the place from which the ascent of Vesuvius is gene- rally made, and has many villas, which extend almost to the neighboring Portici. The most celebrated of these is the villa La Favorita, built on the lava of 1631, and formerly belong- ing to the prince of Salerno. Silk is woven
