R

Raccoon

R. The sound r includes a number of varie-
ties which are formed in several different
ways. It is got by trilling the top of the
tongue, the soft palate, and other parts, In
ordinary present day English usage f is not
given a pronounced trill, but the older Eng-
lish lingual trill is widely used—e.g., by
Welshmen and Scotsmen. Parisian r is uvu-
lar, and may be regarded as the standard
French r\ the same sound is gaining ground
in Germany also. Generally in the United
States and English-speaking Canada, r is
fully sounded regardless of the position of its
occurrence in a word. The custom of r silent
when following a vowel once so noticeable
in New England and parts of the South, is
gradually falling from use.

Voiceless r occurs in French at the end of
words like quatre, and in Welsh in the com-
bination rh (e.g. 'rhos'). Greek p is the early
Semitic form, but with the loop transferred
from the left to the right. The additional
stroke of Latin R is found in some of the
Greek alphabets also, r is one of many rever-
sions towards Greek p.

Rabat, fort, seapt, Morocco, on w. coast,
opposite Salee. Carpets and pottery are
manufactured; wool, skins, beans, olive oil,
and wax are the principal exports; p. 38,000.

Rabbet, or Rebate, a rectangular groove
along the edge of a board. See CARPENTRY.

Rabbi ('my master'), a Jewish title for
teachers, which came into use in the first
Christian century. The qualification for the
office varied at different periods. It is now
the popular designation for a Jewish min-
ister.

Rabbit. In the United States and Canada
the name rabbit is given to any hare, and
especially in the East to the common little
gray wood hare (see HARE) . Properly, how-
ever, it should be restricted to the European
Lepus cunkuhts, which differs from its rela-
tives, the hares, in being a burrower, and in
having its young born blind, naked and
helpless. They are enormously prolific, and
are excessively destructive when they obtain
access to gardens. The rabbit is about 16

in. in length. The color is naturally reddish
brown, the under surface and the lower part
of the tail being white, but domesticated
rabbits exhibit wide color variation. Not
only the flesh but the fur has a market value,
as material for making felts and under the
French word for rabbit, lapin, is very popu-
lar for coats. The fur reaches its greatest
length and fineness in the Angoras. Other
important breeds are the Belgian rabbits, the
chinchillas, and the white Himalayan breed.

Rabbit-fish, a voracious, dark-brown sea
fish (Promethichthys promethus) of the trop-
ical part of the Atlantic ocean, allied to the
mackerels, and excellent as food.

Rabelais, Francois (?i483-i$53), French
humorist, was born at Chinon in Touraine,
the year being variously given as 1483, 1490,
and 1495. He took on the habit of a monk,
and in 1519 held some position in the Fran-
ciscan convent, but he later abjured the mon-
astic life, and entered the faculty of medi-
cine at Montpellier. In 1532 appeared The
Great and Inestimable Chronicles of the
Grand and Enormous Giant Gargantuna,
concerning whose attribution to JRabelais
critics are not agreed. The earliest dated edi-
tion of Pantagruel which we possess is of the
year 1533, and of Gargantua 1535. In 1546
he published the third book of Pantagruel.
The fourth book of his great work appeared
in 1552, but it was censured by the Sor-
bonne, and for a time its sale was stopped.
Next year Rabelais removed to Paris, where
he is supposed to have died shortly after his
arrival. In 1564 the fifth book was published,
the authenticity of which is pretty generally
acknowledged. A genius who interprets con-
temporary life in the form of satire, beneath
his exterior of burlesque and buffoonery Ra-
belais possesses the profoundest learning and
the boldest philosophy. Of the numerous
French editions of his works the best in mod-
ern times is that by C. Marty Laveaux (6
vols., 1868-1903).

Raccoon, a genus (Procyon) of small Am-
erican carnivores which resemble the bears
in structure and descent. The common rac-

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