Rangeley

3931

Rape

vening natural objects which are impassable,
such as a river, or because of the proximity
of the enemy. Of these the Barr and Stroud,
and the Bausch and Lomb are used in the
navy; the Lewis, in the army.

Rangeley Lakes, a series of connected
lakes in Franklin and Oxford cos., Maine.
The area of the lakes is about 80 sq. m., and
their altitudes vary between 1,200 and 1,500
ft. They are a favorite resort for fishing
and hunting.

Ranger, Henry Ward (1858-1916), Am-
erican landscape painter, born in New York
city, educated at Syracuse University. His
works, in which New England hillsides and
autumn woods are conspicuous, rank high
with the best contemporary American land-
scape painting. Among the most noted are:
Morning at Highbridge, The Top of the Hill
(in the Corcoran Gallery, Washington), An
East River Idyll (in the Carnegie Museum,
Pittsburgh), and Bradley's Mill Pond.

Rangers, United States. Seventeen com-
panies of infantry were organized during the
War of 1812 under the name of Rangers and
were made a part of the regular army of the
United States, until mustered out of service
in the reorganization of 1815. A large num-
ber of Rangers were mustered into the service
in the Mexican War, where they proved
themselves of the highest efficiency. Com-
panies of Rangers are maintained at present
in some of the Southwestern states.

Rangoon, tn., cap. of Lower Burma, on
Rangoon R., is the chief seaport of Burma.
The original town is surrounded by terraced
and fortified pagodas, conspicuous among
them being the Shway-Dagon (6th century).
Rangoon came into British possession in
1852, and since then it has been transformed
into a properous modern mercantile city.
Its principal exports are timber, petroleum,
rice, and spices; p.400,000.

Ran jit Singh (1780-1839), Sikh prince,
who became monarch of the Punjab, the in-
dependence of which he maintained against
Afghanistan. He obtained from Shah Shuja,
Afghan refugee, the Koh-i-nur diamond.

Rankin, Jeannette (1880- ), Ameri-
can public official, was born in Montana,
She studied at the School of Philanthropy in
New York City, did social service work in
Seattle, was active in the National Ameri-
can Woman Suffrage Association, and was
elected in 1917 to Congress, being the first
woman ever to sit in the House of Repre-

sentatives. She became a member of the 77th.
congress (1941-1943).

Ransom, a sum paid as an equivalent for
the release of a captive. In early times ran-
soms were looked upon as prize money, and
formed a substitute for pay, and even for
war indemnities in the case of captured kings
and great nobles. Ransoms were sometimes
crushing, as in the case of Richard i. of
England and of John of France. In the i6th
century an officer's ransom amounted to one
quarter of his annual pay. At the Revolution
the custom of ransom was abolished in favor
of exchange by equality of ranks.

Rantoul, Robert, Jr. (1805-52), American
lawyer and politician, born in Beverly, Mass.
In 1843 he became collector of the port, and
during 1845-49 was United States district
attorney for Massachusetts. He was a de-
cided opponent of slavery, and in 1851 de-
fended Thomas Sims, the first slave recov-
ered under the Fugitive Slave Law of 1850
in Massachusetts.

Rammculacese, a natural order of plants
(the crowfoot family), mostly natives of
temperate regions. The flowers generally
have five sepals, five petals, numerous sta-
mens inserted on the receptacle, and numer-
ous ovaries. Among the genera are Ranuncu-
lus, Adonis, Anemone, Clematis, Thalictrum,
Trollius, Helleborus, Caltha, Paeonia, Del-
phinium, Aquilegia, and Aconitum.

Ranunculus, a genus of herbaceous plants
belonging to the order Ranunculacese. Among
the species are the aquatic crowfoot (R. del-
phmifolius) and the field-buttercups of the
naturalized species JR.. acris and R. bulbosus.

Rapallo, seapt., winter resort and place of
pilgrimage, Genoa prov., Italy, has manufac-
tures of lace and olive oil. Scene of a con-
ference of Allied statesmen and generals,
Nov., 1917, during the World War. The
treaty of Rapallo, signed Nov. 12, 1920, was
an agreement between Italy and Yugoslavia
providing for the surrender of Dalmatia by
Italy and creating Fiume as a free state con-
nected with Italy by a territorial 'corridor*
along the sea coast; p. 12,000.

Rape, an important cruciferous fodder
plant which includes varieties of Brassica
Napus. The cultivation of rape for forage
is similar to that of other root crops, and it
is used for fattening sheep, and as a cover-
crop in orchards.

Rape, carnal knowledge of a female against
her will by force, threats, or fraud.