RASPBEBRY 434 RASTRITES soft substances, as wood, horn, and the softer metals. Also a raspberry. RASPBERRY, a shrubby plant with many suckers. Found in America and in the N. of Europe and Asia. The spe- eies in gardens is the wild plant, greatly improved by cultivation. The fruit re- sembles the strawberry in not becoming acid in the stomach. There are red and yellow varieties. RASPUTIN (NOVIKO), GREGORY, a Russian monk and political intriguer, born in Siberia, of illiterate parents, his father being a fisherman. He received no schooling, and was known throughout his youth as a worthless fellow, on which account he became known as "Rasputin," meaning a vagabond. In early manhood he became an itinerant monk, and de- veloped peculiarly strong psychic pow- ers, which enabled him to gain a liveli- hood as a mystic healer. He eventually attracted the attention of Madam Viru- bova, the favorite lady-in-waiting of the Empress, who introduced him into the court. Here his healing powers, exer- cised over the young Czarevitch, deeply impressed the Czarina, and Rasputin thereby gained an influence over her which could not be broken. After the outbreak of the war, in 1914, Rasputin, it was said, was bribed by the Germans, to exercise his influence at court in favor of bringing about a premature peace. That he was at the^ head of the intrigu- ing pro-German clique in the Russian Court is beyond dispute. So powerful became his influence over the Czarina and the Czar, that even the Grand-Dukes were turned against him, and sought to eliminate him. This proving impossible, he was finally inveigled into the resi- dence of Prince Felix Yusopov, a rela- tive of the Czar by marriage, and killed by a group of men, one of whom was Grand-Duke Dimitri Pavlovitch, ex-Min- ister of the Interior. Rasputin's work had been done, however, and the machin- ery he set in motion finally caused the revolution of March, 1917, the result of which was the overthrow of the auto- cratic government. Died 1917. RASSAM, HORMUZD, a Turkish As- syriologist; born in Mosul, Mesopotamia, in 1826. He gained the friendship of Layard, and assisted him in his excava- tions at Nineveh in 1845-1847 and 1849- 1851, and then succeeded him, till 1854 as British agent for conducting Assy- rian explorations. His grandest success was the finding of the palace of Assur- bani-Pal (Sardanapalus). After holding in the following years political offices at Aden and Muscat, he was sent (1864) by the British Government to Abyssinia, to demand the release of the Europeans kept in prison by King Theodore; but that potentate cast him also into prison and only released him with the rest of his captives after his army had been de- feated by Sir R. Napier in 1868. From 1876 to 1882 Rassam was employed by the trustees of the British Museum in making explorations in Mesopotamia, and discovered Sepharvaim (Sippara) and Kuthah. He published "The Brit- ish Mission to Theodore, King of Abys- sinia" (1869). He died in 1910. RASSE, a carnivorous quadruped, closely allied to the civet, spread over a great extent of Asia, including Java, various parts of India, Singapore, Nepal, and other localities. Its perfume, which is secreted in a double pouch like that of the civet, is much valued by the Javanese. RASTATT, or RASTADT, a town and first-class fortress in Baden; on the Murg, 3 miles from its junction with the Rhine, and 15 miles S. W. of Carlsruhe. Steel wares, beer, and tobacco are manu- factured. From 1725 to 1771 the town was the residence of the Margraves of Baden-Baden. The present fortifications were erected in 1840-1848 by Austrian engineers to protect the N. entrance to the Black Forest. Rastatt is memo- rable for two congresses — the first in 1714, when a treaty of peace, which brought the war of the Spanish Succes- sion to a close, was signed between Mar- shal Villars and Prince Eugene; and the second in 1797-1799. On the breaking up of this latter congress without any definite result the three French pleni- potentiaries set out for Strassburg; but they had scarcely got beyond the gates of Rastatt when they were attacked by Austrian hussars, and two of the three slain, while the third was left for dead in a ditch. Their papers were carried oft", but no further spoil was taken. It seems that the Archduke Charles gave orders to the hussars to drive the French representatives out of Rastatt and take away their papers; the killing was the work of the officers, misunderstanding their orders. The town played a prom- inent part in 1849 as the stronghold of the revolutionists in Baden. Pop. about 16,000. RASTRITES, in palaeontology, a genus of Graptolites or Rhabdophora. The poTjrpary consists of a slender axial tube, having on one side a row of cellules, or hydrothecze, sej^arate and not overlap- ping. The typical species is R. pere- grinus, which, with R. triangulatus, is found in the S. of Scotland. Etheridge makes a zone of R. peregrinus in the Up- per Birkhill or Gray Shale group of the Lower Llandovery. Found also in Bo-
