ROWLAND 133 ROYAL INSTITUTION participate in the English Henley, and specially arranged races have been held between American and English college crews. Rowing is a major sport in most of the larger American universities. There are also many rowing clubs of different types throughout the country. ROWLAND, HENRY COTTRELL, an American novelist, born in New York in 1874. He was educated privately and carried on special studies in surgery at the Polyclinic Hospital in New York. During the Spanish-American War he served as a naval seaman, and in 1899- 1900 was assistant surgeon in the Phil- ippines. In 1914-15 he served as physi- cian in France. During the World War he acted also as war correspondent for "Collier's Weekly" and was a special agent of the intelligence department of the United States Navy. He was the author of "Sea Scamps" (1903) ; "The Wanderers" (1905) ; "In the Service of the Princess" (1909); "The Closing Net" (1912); "Filling His Own Shoes" (1914). He was a frequent contributor of stories to magazines. ROXBURGH, a county of southeast Scotland, near the English border. Area, 665 square miles. It is mainly agricul- tural and is fertile, farming, sheep- raising and market gardening being the chief industries. It is watered by the River Tweed, and the Cheviot and Lau- riston hills rise up on the horizon, with lakes and streamlets to vary the scenery. Jedburgh is the capital, and a chief town is Hawick. Pop. about 50,000. ROYAL ACADEMY, THE. See Academy of Arts, the Royal. ROYAL ARCANUM, a fraternal, beneficiary and secret society in the United States. The head offices are in Boston, where the society was formed in 1877 and where accommodation is provided for the sessions of the Supreme Council. The organization is based on the subordinate councils which number about 2,000, spread over the United States, and are grouped under State or grand councils, the representatives of which make up the governing body. The membership is around 250,000 and con- sists only of male adults. The benefi- ciary work of the society is that which receives its chief attention and a reor- ganization of its insurance system en- tailing an increase in the amount of premiums payable has occasionally been found necessary. The benefits paid to members from the date of the establish- ment of the society to September, 1920, total nearly $215,000,000. ROYAL PLYING CORPS, British, the military branch of the British Air Forces. The Royal Flying Corps was organized in 1912 in England in re- sponse to a demand that the importance of aeronautics be recognized by forming a special branch devoted to aviation in the British military service. From the date of its origin, with Major Seely as its first commandant, the Royal Flying Corps showed a remarkable progress in expansion and personnel. Starting with a total enlisted force of less than one thousand officers and men, it became, even in the early years of the World War, one of the most efficient and highly organized branches of the service. At the close of the World War, its enlist- ment numbered well over three hundred thousand, including the ground service and mechanics. In 1916 the Royal Fly- ing Corps, while preserving its name and organization unchanged, became, by inclusion, a division of the Royal Air Service, which included the naval, diri- gible, kite balloon, and blimp branches of the aviation service. The Royal Flying Corps was recruited principally from Great Britain, the Dominion of Canada, Australia and the United States. The commander-in-chief of the Allied Forces complimented the service for the inval- uable aid that it offered at the Somme, Vimy, Messines and Ypres, where it dis- tinguished itself equally as a fighting unit and as an essential factor in the success of the ground operations. ROYAL GEOGRAPHICAL SOCIETY, a British association founded in 1830, having for its object the promotion and diffusion of geographical science. The members of the society had originally been a group of travelers and explorers who formed the Raleigh Dining Club. Lectures were delivered at the meetings and the latest results of scientific re- search in geography were committed to the "Royal Geographical Journal," which was the organ of the club. In 1859 the association was chartered, and in 1882 its journal began to bear the title of "Proceedings of the Royal Geographical Society," and "Monthly Record," changed again in 1893 to "Geographical Journal." The society has a large library and is- sues a year book and other geographical literature. It has also financed several expeditions having geographical research as their object. ROYAL INSTITUTION, an institu- tion founded in London, England, by Count Rumford, Sir Joseph Banks, etc., March 9, 1799, and incorporated Jan. 13, 1800. It was reconstituted in 1810. It is designed to diffuse knowledge, to facil- itate the general introduction of mechan-
