Page:Collier's New Encyclopedia v. 08.djvu/43

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RHODESIA 25 RHODODENDRON sports; three-tenths for distinguishing qualities of manhood; two-tenths for qualities of leadership; and provided further with discriminating wisdom that the candidate's qualifications in literary and kindred lines and his qualities of leadership should be judged by his mas- ters, but that the other characteristics of excellence in sport, with all that was thereby implied, and manliness, should be determined by the vote of his fellow- students. This system of selection has been followed. RHODESIA, the name given to a region in South Africa extending from the Transvaal province north to the bor- ders of the Congo State and former Ger- man East Africa; bounded on the E. by Portuguese East Africa, Nyasaland and German East Africa, and on the W. by Congo State, Portuguese West Africa and Bechuanaland. The territory was chartered by the British South African Company in 1889, founded by Cecil John Rhodes. The region S. of the Zambesi river is known as southern Rhodesia and N. of the river northern Rhodesia. Total area, 440,000 square miles. Pop- ulation in 1919 estimated from 877,000 to 884,000. The company's administra- tion of southern Rhodesia consists of 3 members appointed by the company and approved by the Secretary of State, and a Legislative Council of 6 members ap- pointed by the company and 12 elected by the voters. A Resident Commission is appointed by the Secretary of State. In 1919, 500,000 acres of land were re- served for ex-service men who had fought in the World War. Southern Rhodesia has an area of 149,000 square miles. Pop. (1919) : Na- tives 770,000, Europeans 38,000. Capi- tal, Bulowayo. Imports (1918) £355,- 712; exports, £343,338. Gold output in 1919, £2,500,000; silver (1917) , £211,989; copper, £414,448; chrome ore, £327,347. There are about 2,500 miles of railroads. In 1911 the two provinces of Northeast Rhodesia and Northwest Rhodesia were amalgamated under the name of North- ern Rhodesia. Area, 291,000 square miles. Pop., Europeans 2,945, natives 928,000. Capital, Livingston. Principal crops, maize, cotton, and wheat. Coal has been discovered. Rubber is pro- duced. The chief minerals are gold, copper and lead ; The administration consists of a Resident Commissioner ap- pointed by the government and an Ad- ministrator appointed by the British South African Company, assisted by an Advisory Council of 5 members. The exports consist chiefly of live-stock, cop- per, pig-lead, grain, flour, hides, horns, etc. Throughout the country the condi- tions of soil and climate are suitable foi all kinds of European cereals and vege- tables; and, in addition, many trees, shrubs, and plants peculiar to subtropi- cal regions, can be successfully culti- vated. Good results have already been obtained from the introduction of fruit and other trees. Tobacco occurs in a wild state, is grown universally by the natives, and has been produced of ex- cellent quality by white farmers in sev- eral districts. India-rubber, indigo, and cotton are similarly indigenous. The Rhodesian forests produce abundance of hard timber of fine quality. The vast territory adjacent to the headwaters of the Zambesi and its tributaries forms the Mississippi valley of Africa. It has a great future. RHODINOL, Cio H 20 O, the odorous constituent of oil of roses. It is also said to occur in oil of ginger grass, lemon oil and some others. It is a color- less, oily liquid, boiling at 110° C, speci- fic gravity 0.88. Its chief use is in the manufacture of perfumes. RHODIUM, one of the rare metals found in platinum ores. It is very hard, white, and brittle, and, with the excep- tion of iridium, one of the most infusible of _ metals. When pure, it is insoluble in acids, but when alloyed with platinum, bismuth, or copper, it is dissolved with them in aqua regia. Heated in contact with chloride of sodium in a current of chlorine, the double chloride of rhodium and sodium is formed. The only use to which rhodium has been applied, is to form the nibs of metallic pens. Rhodium was discovered by Wollaston in 1803, associated in small quantity with native platinum. RHODODENDRON, a genus of trees and shrubs of the natural order Eri- caceae, having 10 stamens, a very small calyx, and a bell-shaped or somewhat funnel-shaped corolla. The buds in this and nearly allied genera, as azalea, are scaly and conical. The species are nu- merous; they have evergreen leaves, and many of them are of great beauty, both in foliage and in flowers. A few small species are natives of continental Eu- rope and of Siberia; but the greater number belong to the temperate parts of North America, and to the mountains of India. R. maximum, so designated when the far larger Indian specieswere unknown, is common in North America as an ornamental shrub. It is a large shrub or small tree, which forms im- penetrable thickets on many parts of the Allegheny mountains. The leaves are large, leathery, dark green and shining above, rusty brown beneath. The flow-