BAMSBOTTOM 426 KAND neon, xenon, and krypton, all constitu- ents of the atmosphere. He has written several important works, among them "The Gases of the Atmosphere: the His- tory of Their Discovery" (1905) ; "In- troduction to the Study of Physical Chemistry"; "Elements of Electrons." He died in 1916. RAMSBOTTOM, a town in Lanca- shire, England, on the river Irwell, near Bury. It is a modern factory town, an outgrowrth of the Lancashire cotton in- dustry. Its industries include cotton mills, calico-printing works, bleaching grounds, coal mining, steel foundries, and granite quarries. Pop. about 16,000. RAMSDEN, JESSE, an English mathe- matical instrument-maker; born in Sal- terhebble, near Halifax, Yorkshire, Eng- land, in 1735. He began life as a cloth worker. About 1755 he moved to Lon- don, and shortly afterward began to work as an engraver. He spent his best efforts in effecting improvements in the sextant, theodolite, equatorial, barom- eter, micrometer, mural quadrant, etc. He so improved the sextant that its range of error was diminished from 5 minutes to 30 seconds. He made the theodolite for the ordnance survey of England. He devised the mural circle, and made the first for Palermo and Dublin. He spent several years over an instru- ment for graduating mathematical in- struments and published an account of it as "Description of an Engine for Dividing Mathematical Instruments" (1777). He was elected a Fellov/ of the Royal Society in 1786, and was voted the Copley medal in 1795. He died in Brighton, England, Nov. 5, 1800. BAMSGATE, a watering place and seaport of Kent, England, on the Isle of Thanet; 72 miles E. by S. of London. From a small fishing village it began to increase in importance during the 18th century through successful trade with Russia and the East country, and through the formation here (1750-1795) of a harbor of refuge for the Downs. That harbor, 51 acres in extent, has a sea entrance 250 feet wide, is inclosed on the E. and W. by two piers 670 and 520 yards long. _ Among its special features are an obelisk marking the spot where George IV. in 1821 embarked for Han- over, a beautiful Roman Catholic church by the Pugins, a Benedictine monastery, college, and convent, and a Jewish syna- gogue and college erected by Sir Moses Montefiore, who, like the elder Pugin, was a resident. To the N. is Broad- stairs, and to the W. Pegwell Bay, with Ebbsfleet, the landing place of St. Augus- tine, and also, traditionally, of Hengist and Horsa. Here, too, is Osengall Hill, with an early Saxon cemetery. It was bombarded several times during the World War by German naval vessels. Pop. about 30,000. RANGE, ARMAND JEAN LE BOUTHILLIEB DE, the founder of the reformed order of La Trappe; born in Paris, France, Jan. 9, 1626. He em- braced the ecclesiastical profession, and held no fewer than six benefices. Re- siding at Paris, he gave himself up to a life of dissipation. In 1657, however, a marked change took place in his charac- ter. He demitted all his benefices ex- cept the priory of Boulogne and the abbey of La Trappe. Retiring to the latter place in 1664, he began those re- forms which have rendered his name famous (see La Trappe). He died in Soligny-la-Trappe, Ome, France, Oct. 12, 1700. RANCHING, the business of cattle- breeding as pursued on a large scale in the unsettled districts of the United States from the Mississippi to the Pacific coasts, and from the Bad Lands of the Upper Missouri to the Gulf of Mexico. The name is derived from the Spanish rancho, properly "mess" or "mess room," but used in Mexico also for a herdsman's hut, and finally for a grazing farm, as distinguished from a hacienda, a planta- tion or cultivated farm. The specialty of ranching is that the cattle are raised and kept in a half-wild condition, with little or no house shelter provided and no artificial feeding. Large fortunes were made in the wild old days, but the gradual settlement of the ranching country has seriously embarrassed the business of the ranch- man. The great events of the ranchman's year are the "round-up," when stock is taken, the cattle are branded, and such full grown cattle gathered into a herd as are suitable for market; and the depar- ture of the herds for market or port — times of hard work and severe strain for all concerned. RANCHO, a rude hut where herdsmen and farm-laborers live or only lodge; a farming establishment for rearing cattle and horses. It is thus distin- guished from a hacienda, which is a cul- tivated farm or plantation. RAND, THE, or WHITE WATERS RANGE, a small tract of land, extend- ing 25 miles either side of Johannesburg, South Africa, and famous for its mineral wealth. Discovered in 1885. The reefa are accessible and rather easily worked. The deposits are unique in their unpar- alleled persistence of ore, which is inter- spersed in the quartz and sandstone. It
