Cooley's Cyclopaedia of Practical Receipts Volume Ii Part 193

=ROSY-DROP.= See ACNE.

=ROT.= _Syn._ GREATROT, HYDROPHIC R.,

SHEEP R., WET R. A disease peculiar to sheep, produced by the presence in the liver of the _Distoma hepatica_, a parasite commonly known under the name of "a fluke." Rot prevails during very wet or rainy seasons. The leading symptoms are loss of flesh and vivacity; the lips and tongue look vivid, and the eyes sad and gla.s.sy; the pelt comes off on the slightest pull; the breath is fetid, and the urine highly coloured and scanty; and there is either black purging or obstinate costiveness. The treatment consists in a change to a dry warm elevated situation, and a dry diet, consisting of oats, barley meal, tail-wheat, &c., to which some turnips, carrots, or mangel wurzel may be added, with a liberal supply of common salt, and a few grains of sulphur, daily. These last two substances form the active ingredients in Flesh's 'Patent Restorative.' See MEAT, DISEASE OF.

=ROT (in Timber).= See DRY ROT.

=ROTA'TION (of Crops).= The rotation or succession of crops is absolutely necessary for the successful and economical cultivation of the soils.

Crops have been divided by agriculturists into exhausting crops, restoring crops, and cleaning crops. The most exhausting crops are usually considered to be those of corn, but all those that are allowed to ripen their seed and which are carried off the ground are also exhausting, but in different degrees. Even clover, tares, and gra.s.s cut green are considered as exhausting, but in a less degree than those that are allowed to ripen. Restoring crops are such as are allowed to decay upon the ground, or are consumed upon it by domestic animals. Cleaning crops are such as are grown in drills, and undergo the usual operations of weeding, hoeing, &c.; the majority of these may also be regarded as exhausting crops. An exhausting crop should always be followed by a restoring or a cleaning crop; or, where possible, by both combined. Crops should also succeed each other in such a way that the soil may not be exhausted of any one particular kind of nutriment. This is best effected by so rotating the crops that plants which are nearly allied should not succeed each other on the same soil, or, at all events, not more than once. See AGRICULTURE, SOILS, &c.

=ROT'TEN STONE.= See TRIPOLI.

=ROUGE.= _Syn._ TOILET ROUGE; ROUGE VEGETAL, ROUGE D'ESPAGNE, Fr. _Prep._ Wash safflower (any quant.i.ty) until the water comes off colourless; dry and pulverise it, and digest the powder in a weak solution of crystallised carbonate of soda; then place some fine cotton-wool at the bottom of a porcelain or gla.s.s vessel, pour the filtered tinctorial solution on this, and throw down the colouring matter, by gradually adding lemon juice or white-wine vinegar, until it ceases to produce a precipitate; next wash the prepared cotton in pure cold water, and dissolve out the colour with a fresh solution of soda; to the new solution add a quant.i.ty of finely powdered talc or French chalk, proportionate to the intended quality of rouge; mix well, and precipitate with lemon juice, as before; lastly, collect the powder, dry it with great care, with as little heat as possible, and triturate it with a very small quant.i.ty of oil of olives, to render it smooth and adhesive.

_Obs._ According to the best authorities, this is the only article which will brighten a lady's complexion without injuring the skin. The relative fineness and proportion of talc employed determines the quality of the rouge. It is applied by means of a camel-hair pencil, a small 'powder puff,' or a hare's foot. It is also employed under the form of 'pommade'

and 'crepons.' The last of these consist of pieces of white woollen c.r.a.pe, upon which the colouring matter of the carthamus has been precipitated, instead of upon the talc, noticed above.

The following articles also pa.s.s under the name of rouge, and are used for the purposes named after each:--

=Rouge, Brown-red.= Jeweller's rouge.

=Rouge, Chinese Card.= This is said to be a 'carthamate of soda,' it is colourless when applied, but, being decomposed by the acid secretions of the skin, acquires a most beautiful rose-like tint. (O'Shaughnessy.)

=Rouge, Jeweller's.= Sesquioxide of iron prepared by calcination. Used to polish gold, &c.

=Rouge, Liquid.= The red liquid left from the preparation of carmine; or a solution of carmine in weak carbonate of potash water, or of pure rouge in alcohol acidulated with acetic acid.

=Rouge, Indienne.= The terra persica, or Indian red; imported from Ormuz.

=Rouge de Prusse.= Light red or burnt yellow ochre. See RED PIGMENTS.

=Rouge, Spanish Lady's.= This is cotton wool which has been repeatedly wetted with an ammoniacal solution of carmine, and dried. It is applied like 'rouge crepons.'

=Rouge d'Athenes, Vert.= _Syn._ PURE ROUGE. See CARTHAMINE.

=ROUGH'ENING.= See WINES.

=RUBEFA"CIENTS.= _Syn._ RUBEFACIENTIA, L. Substances or agents which, when applied for a certain time to the skin, occasion a redness and increase of heat, without blistering. They act as counter-irritants.

Mustard, powdered ginger (both made into a paste with water), hartshorn and oil, and ether and spirit of wine (when their evaporation is prevented), are familiar examples of this cla.s.s of remedies.

=RUBE'OLA.= See MEASLES.

=RUBIA'CIN.= An orange-coloured substance, obtained from madder.

=RUBID'IUM.= [Eng., L.] A metal belonging to the alkaline group discovered by Bunsen and Kirchhoff by means of spectrum a.n.a.lysis. It is found in many mineral waters a.s.sociated with caesium.

=RU'BY.= See GEMS and PASTES.

=RUE.= _Syn._ RUTae FOLIA, RUTA (Ph. L. & E.), L. "The leaf _Ruta graveolens_." (Ph. L.) A powerful antispasmodic, diuretic, and stimulant.

It is also reputed nervine and emmenagogue. The fresh leaves are powerfully acrid, and even vesicant; but they become milder in drying.--_Dose._ Of the powder, 15 to 30 gr., twice or thrice daily; in hysteria, flatulent colic, &c. See INFUSION and OILS (Volatile).

=RUM.= _Syn._ SPIRITUS JAMACIENSIS, SPIRITUS SACCHARI, L. An ardent spirit obtained by distillation from the fermented skimmings of the sugar-boilers (syrup sc.u.m), the drainings of the sugar-pots and hogsheads (mola.s.ses), the was.h.i.+ngs of the boilers and other vessels, together with sufficient recent cane juice or wort, prepared by mas.h.i.+ng the crushed cane, to impart the necessary flavour. The sweet liquor before fermentation commonly contains from 12 to 16% of saccharine, and every ten gallons yield from one to two gallons of rum.

The average strength of rum, as imported into this country, is about 20 O.P. Like all other spirits, it is colourless when it issues from the still, but owing to the taste of the consumer the distiller is compelled to colour it before it leaves his premises.

_Obs._ Rum is imported from the West Indies. The best comes from Jamaica, and is hence distinguished by that name. Leeward Island rum is less esteemed. The duty on rum is 10_s._ 2_d._ per proof-gallon if imported direct from any of the British Colonies (Colonial rum), but 10_s._ 5_d._ if from any other part of the world (foreign rum). The consumption of rum has long been declining in England; its place being chiefly supplied by gin. Rum owes its flavour to a volatile oil and butyric acid, a fact which the wary chemist has availed himself of in the manufacture of a butyric compound (essence of rum) for the especial purpose of enabling the spirit dealer to manufacture a fact.i.tious rum from malt or mola.s.ses spirit. In Jamaica it is usual to put sliced pine apples into the puncheons containing the finer qualities of rum, which is then termed pine-apple rum. See ALCOHOL, SPIRIT, &c.

=RUM, BAY, R. Rother's Formula for.= According to an American authority, true bay rum is made from _Pimenta acris_ (_Myrica acris_, Schwartz; _Myrtus acris_, Willd.), and not from _Laurus n.o.bilis_, as commonly supposed; the method of its distillation not being known outside the West Indies, it has been customary to make it extemporaneously with the oil of bay distilled from the leaves of the former plant. This preparation is inferior in fragrance, however, to the genuine article. The following formula of R. Rother is said to give very good results. Take of oil of bayberry, 1 fl. oz.; Jamaica rum, 1 pint; strong alcohol, 4 pints; water, 3 pints. Mix the rum, alcohol, and water, then add the oil; mix and filter.

=RUPERT'S DROPS.= These are made by letting drops of melted gla.s.s fall into cold water. By this means they a.s.sume an oval form, with a tail or neck resembling a retort. They possess this singular property that, if a small portion of the tail is broken off, the whole bursts into powder with an explosion, and a considerable shock is communicated to the hand.

=RUPIA.= This is an affection of the skin attended by the formation on it of vesicles, that develop into ulcers which copiously discharge a foul, unhealthy, and reddish matter. After a time this matter hardens and forms a thick incrustation over the sores.

The best treatment is to put the patient upon a generous diet, including wine, and to administer iodide of pota.s.sium with sarsaparilla or quinine.

The scabs should be poulticed.

=RUP'TURE.= See SURGERY.

=RUSKS.= _Prep._ From 4 eggs; new milk and warm water, of each 1/2 pint; melted b.u.t.ter and sugar, of each 1/4 lb.; yeast, 3 table-spoonfuls; beat well together with as much flour, added gradually, as will make a very light paste; let it rise before the fire for half an hour, then add a little more flour, form into small loaves or cakes 5 or 6 inches wide, and flatten them; bake these moderately, and, when cold, cut them into slices of the size of rusks, and put them into the oven to brown a little. A nice tea-cake when hot, or with caraways, to eat cold. PLAIN RUSKS are made by simply cutting loaves of bread into slices, and baking them in a slow oven to the proper colour.

=RUS'MA.= An a.r.s.enical iron pyrites, found in Galatia, which, when reduced to powder, and mixed with half its weight of quicklime, is used by the Turkish ladies to make their 'PSILOTHRONS,' or compounds to remove superfluous hair. See DEPILATORY.

=RUST.= _Syn._ RUBIGO, L. The coating or film of oxide or carbonate which forms on the surface of several of the metals when exposed to a moist atmosphere; more particularly, that which forms on iron or steel (FERRI HYDRATE; HYDRATED SESQUIOXIDE OF IRON; FERRUGO, FERRI RUBIGO).

To prevent iron or steel goods rusting, it is merely necessary to preserve them from damp or moisture. In the shops, small articles in steel are, commonly, either varnished or enclosed in quick-lime finely pulverised; large articles are generally protected with a coating of plumbago, or of boiled oil, or some cheap varnish, applied to them, previously gently heated. Surgical instruments are frequently slightly smeared with a little strong mercurial ointment, with the same intention.

Spots of rust may be removed from the surface of polished iron or steel by rubbing them with a little tripoli or very fine emery made into a paste with sweet oil; or, chemically, by a mixture of polisher's putty-powder with a little oxalic acid, applied with water. When the last is employed, the articles should be afterwards well rinsed in pure water, then wiped dry, and finished off with a warm and dry rubber, in order to remove every trace of acid.

=RUTHENIC ACID.= _Syn._ RUTHENIC ANHYDRIDE (RuO_{3}). This may be procured by heating any of the preceding oxides with pota.s.sic nitrate. Ruthenic acid is insoluble in water.

=Ruthenic Sesquioxide= (Ru_{2}O_{3}); occurs in the anhydrous form when the metal is ignited in a current of air. It is the most stable of the basic oxides of the metal. Alkalies fail to dissolve it. With acids it forms soluble salts of a yellow colour; when, to a solution of these, an alkali is added, a bulky blackish-brown precipitate of the hydrated oxide, having the composition Ru_{2}O_{3},8H_{2}O, is thrown down.

There are three chlorides of ruthenium:--RuCl_{2}; RuCl_{3}; and RuCl_{4}.

=RUTHEN'IUM.= (Ru. = 1042.) A metal discovered by Claus, a.s.sociated with iridium, in the residue from crude platinum, which is insoluble in aqua regia. It forms small angular ma.s.ses, with a metallic l.u.s.tre; is very brittle and infusible; resists the action of acids, but readily oxidises when heated in the air. Sp. gr. 11 to 114.

In Fremy's process for separating osmium from the residues of platinum ore, ruthenium occurs in a dioxide. By heating this dioxide in a current of oxygen, the metal may be obtained in the form of a powder of dark grey colour.

With oxygen, ruthenium forms four compounds:--RuO; Ru_{2}O_{3}; RuO_{2}; and RuO_{3}.

=Ruthenium Trichloride= (RuCl_{3}), which is the most important of the chlorides, may be procured by dissolving the sesquioxide in hydrochloric acid. The solution being evaporated, the trichloride occurs as a greenish-blue deliquescent ma.s.s, which is soluble in alcohol.

_Tests._ In solutions of the trichloride, hydrogen sulphide gives a brown precipitate of ruthenic sesquisulphide, the supernatant liquid being of a bright blue colour. This reaction is a very delicate as well as a very characteristic one.

Metallic zinc reduces the yellow trichloride to the blue dichloride, the metal being afterwards precipitated as a black powder. Plumbic acetate gives a purplish-red precipitate, mercuric cyanide a blue one, the supernatant liquid being also blue. The caustic and carbonated alkalies throw down a black precipitate of sesquioxide of ruthenium, which is insoluble in excess of the precipitant. If the salts of ruthenium are boiled with sodic formiate or oxalate the solution becomes colourless, but no precipitate of reduced metal takes place.

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 1.--Transverse section of testa, &c. 108.