BHAPSODIST 14 RHEA genera 42, species 250 (Lindley) ; gen- era 37, species 430 (Sir Joseph Hooker). Berries belonging to various plants of the order have been used for dyeing yel- low, green, or intermediate tints, others are eatable. One plant is used by the poorer classes in China for tea. Others have been employed as astringents, pur- gatives, tonics, sedatives, etc. BHAPSODIST, strictly, one who strings songs together, but usually ap- plied to a class of persons in ancient Greece, who earned their living by re- citing the poems of Homer. It is be- lieved that to these persons we are chiefly indebted for the preservation of the Homeric poems. In the present day, a rhapsodist is one who composes rhapso- dies or collections of poetical effusions, descriptions, etc., strung together with- out any natural connection or necessary dependence. RHATANY, or RATTANY, a half shrubby plant, of the natural order Poly- galeae, a native of the cold sterile table- lands of the Andes in Peru and Bolivia. It is called ratanhia in Peru. It is valued for the medicinal properties of the root, which are shared more or less by other species of the same genus, also natives of South America. In the Brit- ish Pharmacopaeia the dried roots of two species (Krameria triandra, Peruvian rhatany, and K. ixina, Savanilla rhat- any) are officinal under the name Kra- merias Radix. The roots vary a good deal in size and thickness, but are always rough-looking, and reddish in color. The bark has a strongly astringent taste, and when chewed tinges the saliva red; the wood is nearly tasteless. The dried root is a powerful astringent, and is employed in diarrhaea, mucous discharges, passive haemorrhages, and cases where an astringent or styptic action is in- dicated. The finely-powdered root is also a frequent constituent of tooth- powders. Rhatany root is imported from various parts of South America, but chiefly from Lima. It is extensively im- ported into Portugal in order to com- municate a rich red color to wines. Its peculiar properties are due to rhatany- tannic acid, found in the root-bark to the extent of 20 per cent.; it also con- tains a red coloring matter. RHEA, in ornithology, a genus of Struthionidae, or, if that family is di- vided, of Strxithioninse. Three toes are present, the neck_ is covered with feathers, and the tail is almost obsolete. They are sometimes called South Ameri- can ostriches, but are smaller than the true ostrich, and the whole plumage is somber. There are two well-established species, R. americana, the common, and R. darwini, Darwin's rhea, the former ranging from Bolivia, Paraguay, and the S. of Brazil down to Magellan's Straits, the latter inhabiting eastern Patagonia. R. macrorhyncha was given specific dis- tinction by Dr. Sclater in 1860, but sub- sequent investigations led him to believe that the individuals belonged to a lo- cally isolated race of R. americana, prob- ably existing somewhere in the campos of the interior of northeastern Brazil. RHEA, a variety of the nettle family, which grows luxuriantly in India. From the delicate fibers in its bark the finest and strongest textile fabrics can be pro- duced, and in the manufacture of such fabrics it is unrivalled. The hindrance to its use has hitherto lain in the dif- ficulty and cost of separating the fibers RHEA from the gums and cortex of the bark in which they are embedded. However, an Anglo-Indian chemist, Mr. Gomess, has succeeded in elaborating a chemical process which frees the fiber from the resins in which it is imbedded, by the use of zincate of soda; and this process, after numerous trials, the Indian Govern- ment pronounced a complete success. A large demand consequently developed for the "ribbons" or strips of dried bark. Rhea fibers can be worked into every variety of fabric, from velvets to laces. It is specially suitable, from its lightness and toughness, for tents and ship can- vas, and it is found to be far more dura- ble than linen. RHEA, MADEMOISELLE (MLLE. Hortense Barbe-Loret), a Belgian ac- tress; born in Brussels, Belgium, Sept. 4, 1844. Educated at the Ursuline Con-
