first novel is the circumstance of its having been the means of impelling his celebrated contemporary Fielding into the same line of writing; Fielding's first novel, properly so called, his Joseph Andrews,' which appeared in 1742, was an avowed burlesque of 'Pamela,' for which Richardson never forgave him.

of Richardsonia are natives of South America. They possess
emetic properties, and under the name White Ipecacuanha,
&c. are used extensively as a substitute for the true Ipeca-
cuanha (Cephalis Ipecacuanha).
RICHBOROUGH. [KENT.]

RICHELIEU, ARMAND JEAN DU PLESSIS, It was not till after an interval of several years that CARDINAL DE, a younger son of François du Plessis, 'Pamela' was followed by 'The History of Clarissa Har- Lord of Richelieu, was born at Paris, in 1585. He studied lowe. The first four volumes of this greatest beyond all at the college of Navarre, and was at first intended for the dispute of Richardson's novels appeared in 1748, and im- military profession, but his elder brother Alphonse, bishop mediately raised his reputation as a master of fictitious nar- of Luçon, having resolved to withdraw from active life and rative to the highest point. The admiration it excited was retire into a Carthusian convent, young Armand was looked not confined to his own country; the work, translated into upon as his successor in his see. Accordingly he applied the French and German languages, soon acquired for him a himself to the study of divinity, in which he took a doctor's European name. So strong was the hold which the story degree at the age of twenty. The pope objected to his took of the imaginations of its readers, that, as if the events being consecrated bishop of Luçon on account of his and characters had all been real, and the author's pen had youth; but Armand repaired to Rome, and succeeded in had a power of actual creation and embodiment, many per- convincing the pope of his aptitude for the episcopal office, sons, during the progress of the work, wrote to him in the and he was consecrated in 1607. Having taken possession most urgent terms to gratify them by such a winding up of of his see, he applied himself sedulously to the discharge of the plot as they had set their hearts upon, declaring that his pastoral duties, and in preaching and converting the their own happiness depended upon the extrication of the Calvinists. In 1614 he sat as deputy of the clergy of Poitou heroine from the miseries in which he had involved her. in the assembly of the States-General, on which occasion he But Richardson obeyed his own high genius, and was not harangued the young king Louis XIII., and so pleased the to be persuaded to turn the deep and noble tragedy of un-queen-mother Marie de' Medici, that she made him her conquerable and triumphant endurance which he had so almoner, which was the beginning of his fortune. He was finely conceived, into a mere common-place stimulant for soon made secretary of state, but in consequence of a quarre. sentimentalism. between the king and his mother, Richelieu was banished to his diocese. He afterwards acted as mediator between those two personages, and acquired a permanent influence over both. In 1622 he was made a cardinal, soon after which the queen-mother obtained for him a seat in the council in 1624, when he became the chief minister of the crown, and continued such for the remaining eighteen years of his life. The history of his political career forms an important period in the history of the French monarchy. Richelieu had three great objects in view: 1, to render the power of the crown absolute, and to humble the feudal nobility; 2, to annihilate the Calvinists as a political party; 3, to reduce the power of the house of Austria, both in its German and Spanish branches, and to extend that of France. Unscrupulous about the means, he succeeded in breaking down the political influence of the nobles, many of whom he sent to the scaffold on various pretences. He put to death Marshal de Marillac, the duke of Montmorency, Cinq Mars, and De Thou, and many more in a cruel manner. Others were shut up in dungeons during the cardinal's life. His great political opponent was Gaston d'Orléans, the king's brother, who conspired against the cardinal. The conspiracy failed, and was the cause of the death of Gaston's friends. Gaston then openly revolted against the king, being assisted by the duke of Lorraine, whose sister he had married. He was not more successful in this attempt, was obliged to seek an asylum in the Spanish Netherlands, and the duke of Lorraine lost his dominions, which were seized by the French. The queen-mother, who had quarrelled with the cardinal and supported his enemies, was obliged to quit France. She retired to Cologne, where she died, in 1642, in great distress.

Richardson's next and last great work, his ' History of Sir Charles Grandison,' appeared in 1753. This is of all his works that in which he has most frequently deserted the true field of his genius, and ventured farthest upon ground on which he was not qualified to appear with advantage; and accordingly it contains much more that is tedious and uninteresting than either of his other novels; the plot too has little that excites curiosity or sympathy; and the conception of the principal personage sins against all the principles both of poetical art and of probability and the philosophy of human nature. Yet with all its faults this novel too is full of its author's most graphic and dramatic genius; the whole picture of Clementina, in particular, is perhaps surpassed by nothing in either Pamela' or 'Clarissa.'

The only publications of Richardson's that have not been mentioned are, a paper in the Rambler' (No. 97); an edition of Æsop's Fables, with Reflections; a single printed sheet, entitled 'The Duties of Wives to Husbands (a subject on which, with all his amenity of nature, he entertained somewhat strong notions); and his Case,' a statement of the piracy of his 'Sir Charles Grandison' by the Dublin booksellers. His works brought him a considerable harvest of profit as well as of fame; and his pen and a flourishing business together soon placed him not only in easy, but even, it may be said, in affluent circumstances. He early obtained, through the interest of Mr. Speaker Onslow, the lucrative employment of printing the Journals of the House of Commons; and in 1760 he purchased the moiety of the patent of king's printer. In 1754 he was elected to the post of master of the Stationer's Company. He continued to reside and carry on his business to the last in Salisburycourt; but he had also his country villa, first at North End, afterwards at Parson's Green. He died on the 4th July, 1761, and was buried beside his first wife, in the middle aisle of St. Bride's church.

No character could be freer from vice of every sort, or more perfectly irreproachable, than that of Richardson. In all the duties of morality and piety he was the most regular and exemplary of men. His principal weakness was a rather greater than usual share of literary vanity, not untinctured with some disposition to underrate other writers of the day, more especially those who were fortunate enough to share the public favour with him in his own walk. These were failings naturally springing from the circumstances of his life, and the somewhat effeminate constitution of his nature both intellectual and moral; and they were further nou rished by the habit of seclusion in a coterie of female idolaters-a sort of platonic harem-in which he indulged in his latter days.

RICHARDSO'NIA, the name of a genus of plants in the natural order Cinchonacea, given by Houston in honour of Richardson, an English botanist of the sixteenth century. This genus was called Richardia by Linnæus, but that name has been given to another plant. Most of the species

Richelieu accomplished the second object which he had in view, namely, the extirpation of the Calvinist party, by besieging in person and taking La Rochelle, the stronghold of the Calvinists, in 1628. But the motives of Richelieu appear to have been more political than religious: at all events he did not show himself after his victory a fanatic or a persecutor. He secured religious tolerance to the Calvinists by a royal edict in 1629; and when the faculty of theology of Montauban, which was then, as it is now, the Calvinist university of France, went to visit the cardinal, he told them courteously that he could not receive them as a body of divines, but that he should always be willing to see them as men of learning.

The third great object of Richelieu was that of humbling the House of Austria, which, since the time of Charles V., had been the preponderating power in Europe. For this purpose, setting aside all clerical scruples, he supported, first secretly and afterwards openly, the Protestants of Germany against the emperor. His almoner, a Capuchin friar named Père Joseph, was his confident and trusty agent in all his diplomatic intrigues. The history of this singular character has been published, Histoire du véritable Père Joseph,' and is a most curious biography. The friar repaired to Germany, to the camp of the Protestant princes and of Gustavus,

and also to that of Wallenstein. After the death of the two | the Russian service during the French revolution, was made great leaders, Gustavus and Wallenstein, the French troops governor of Odessa, a town which he greatly improved, and carried on the war on the Rhine in concert with the Swedes became, after the Restoration, minister of Louis XVIII. He against the emperor. At the same time Richelieu was assist- was known by the title of duc de Richelieu. He died in ing the Protestant Grisons against the Roman Catholic in- 1821, with the reputation of an honourable and loyal surgents of Valtelina, who were supported by the Spaniards. statesman. He also allied himself with the States-General of the Nether- RICHMOND, an antient borough, a market-town, and lands to attack the Spanish dominions in Belgium, which he parish, and the capital of the extensive baronial liberty of had in view to annex to France as far as Antwerp, a scheme Richmondshire, in West Gilling wapentake, the most northin which however he failed. On the side of Spain the French western division of the North Riding of Yorkshire. The took Roussillon, and supported the Catalonians in their whole wapentake is in the liberty of Richmondshire, in the revolt against Philip IV. Richelieu is also said to have archdeaconry and deanery of Richmond, and in the diocese meddled, by means of Père Joseph and the French ambas- of Ripon. Richmond is 239 miles north-north-west of sador in London, in the first stirring of the Covenanters and London, 44 miles north-west of York, and 52 miles north by Puritans which led to the great Revolution. Charles I., ever west of Leeds. The municipal borough comprises only wavering in his foreign policy, had disappointed Richelieu the parish of Richmond, and the corporate body consists of in his proposal of a defensive league between France and a mayor, four aldermen, and twelve councillors, with a comEngland, and seemed to lean towards a Spanish alliance. mission of the peace of six magistrates besides the mayor The king and queen of England,' said Richelieu, will and recorder. Richmond was deprived of its quarter-sesrepent the rejection of the treaty before the year is over.' sions by the Municipal Act, but they have since been re(Père Orléans; D'Estrade; President Hénault; Biographie stored. The parliamentary borough comprises the parishes Universelle, art. 'Richelieu.') In 1639 arms and ammuni- of Richmond and Easby, and extends over 10,000 acres of tion were sent from France to Leith for the use of the dis- land, and has a population of 4722. The population of Richaffected. mond alone, in 1831, was 3900. This borough returns two members to parliament, and is one of the polling-places for the North Riding.

In Italy the French invaded Piedmont, which however they evacuated by a treaty with the princes of Savoy. The principal result of all these wars was to circumscribe the Imperial power in Germany, and to weaken the influence of Spain in the general politics of Europe.

In 1642 Richelieu fell ill, and died in December, at his house at Paris, at the age of fifty-eight. The king repaired to his bed side shortly before his death, when the cardinal recommended to him Mazarin and others, and told his majesty that he left the kingdom at the highest pitch of glory, and protested to him that all his doings as a minister had been for the good of religion and of the state,' an assertion rather startling from such a man, but which he may very possibly have believed. His funeral was magnificent, but the people of Paris made bonfires in token of rejoicing. He had become unpopular of late years on account of the fresh burthens which he had laid on the people. A splendid mausoleum, by Girardon, was raised to his memory in the church of La Sorbonne. He left a considerable property, which however had not been altogether accumulated at the expense of the state, but was in great part the proceeds of his vast church preferment.

Mary de' Medici had died at Cologne a few months before Richelieu, and Louis XIII. died five months after his minister.

·

Richelieu established the royal printing-presses; he was the founder of the French Academy; he built the Palais Royal, which was then called Palais Cardinal, and he rebuilt La Sorbonne. He was well informed for his age, and has left several works, some on religious and controversial subjects, and others on politics. His Testament Politique' has been considered by some as apocryphal, but Foncemagne has defended its authenticity in the edition of 1764, by his Letters to Voltaire, and apparently upon sufficient grounds. The Mémoires du Cardinal de Richelieu,' written by himself, have been published in several volumes, in 1822-3, by Petitot, from a MS. corrected in the Cardinal's own hand, which existed in the archives of the department of Foreign Affairs at Paris. A Life of Richelieu, by Le Clerc, was published in two volumes, Cologne, 1696, without the author's name: it seems fairly written. Aubéry and others have also written biographies of Richelieu. His domain of Richelieu in Poitou was created a dukedom by Louis XIII., in 1631.

Alan Rufus, son of Hoel, count of Bretagne, a kinsman of William the Conqueror, who accompanied him in his expedition to England, is generally stated to have been the founder of both the castle and town of Richmond. By some authorities the town is said to have been in existence prior to the Conquest. William conferred on Alan the title of earl of Richmond, and the estates of the Saxon earl Edwin, embracing nearly 200 manors and townships, and a jurisdiction over all Richmondshire, about a third of the North Riding. In the situation of his castle Earl Alan selected Lot only an eligible residence, but also a place of defence; its foundation was laid on an almost perpendicular rock on the left bank of the Swale, about a hundred feet above the bed of the river. The site contains about six acres, and commands an extensive view of the surrounding country. To the original buildings of the castle, additional walls, towers, and outworks were erected by the successors of the founder. The earls of Richmond enjoyed these possessions till they fell to the crown on Henry, earl of Richmond, becoming king of England by the title of Henry VII. Charles II. bestowed the title of duke of Richmond on his son Charles Lenox, in whose descendants the dignity continues. The walks round the castle present a succession of varied and romantic scenery. Swaledale is in many parts skirted with with bold rocks almost covered with trees and shrubs. From the hills on the north-west side of the town, the castle and town seem to be situated in a valley. The ruins of the castle are still majestic. The bold Norman keep is almost entire; the walls are nearly one hundred feet high and eleven feet thick. It is the property of the duke of Richmond. The dilapidations seem to be solely owing to the neglect of repairs.

A small monastery, called the Grey Friary, was founded at Richmond in 1258, the sole remains of which are a steeple, which Rickman describes as a remarkably elegant specimen of good perpendicular work.' The extensive remains of St. Agatha's Abbey are about a mile below Richmond: many of the arches and columns of the finely pointed windows and doors are in good preservation. These ruins are in the parish of Easby, and are surrounded by wellwooded grounds and fine scenery.

Richmond is said to have been a place of good trade for Cardinal Richelieu ranks among the greatest ministers of three centuries after the Conquest, but many causes contrithe old French monarchy; he had extended views, great per-buted to its decay; among these may be mentioned the severance and acuteness, and a lofty mind, but he was also revengeful, cruel, and unprincipled. He laboured strenuously to make the authority of the crown absolute, and by so doing he paved the way for the subsequent despotism of Louis XIV. Montesquieu says that Richelieu made his master the second man in the monarchy, but the first in Europe; that he depressed the king, but ennobled his reign.' His grand-nephew, Louis François du Plessis de Richelieu, marshal of France, figured under Louis XV., and acquired a name for his bravery in war and some ability in negociation, and also for his libertinism, court intrigue, and overbearing disposition. He died in 1788, at a very advanced age. A grandson of marshal Richelieu entered

charters granted for holding markets in neighbouring towns, and the want of water-communication, which is precluded by the rocky bed of the Swale and the sudden swells to which the river is subject. The market of Richmond is held on the Saturday, and it is well supplied with corn and other provisions. Many wealthy people reside in the town, and the country for several miles round is studded with the parks and mansions of numerous landed proprietors. The races are well attended, and are held in the first week of September, on the high moor about a mile from the town, where there is a commodious grand stand. Several of the resident gentry have training-stables near the race-ground. Three fairs are held at Richmond in the course of the year.

The chief mapufactory is an extensive paper-mill. Gasworks were established in 1821, and waterworks in 1837. The town-hall is a convenient building, in which the public business of the town is transacked and the quarter-sessions held both for the town and Riding. It contains a spacious, assembly room. ❘

A court of record is held once a fortnight before the mayor, recorder, and aldermen; it takes cognizance of all pleas, actions, and suits in which the debts or da.nages do not amount to more than 1007.; the recorder is the sole judge in this court. A court baron for the liberty of Richmondshire, of which the duke of Leeds is the chief bailiff, is held once in three weeks for the recovery of debts under forty shillings. The parish church is a Gothic building, and consists of a nave, chancel, and aisles, with a tower at the west end. It has been enlarged several times, and exhibits several varieties of architecture. The rectory is in the patronage of the, crown. Holy Trinity chapel stands in the market-place. The consistory court for the archdeaconry of Richmond is held in two rooms adjoining the north aisle. Some portions of this building are occupied as shops and dwellings. The upper part of the north aisle is fitted up for divine service. The other places of worship are a Catholic chapel, erected by Sir John Lawson, Bart., in 1811; an Independent chapel; and a Wesleyan chapel.

henceforth to try to support himself by writing. A second book, 'Auswahl aus des Teufels Papieren, was soon written, but no publisher could be found, as his first work had not met with a favourable reception. After many disappointments, he quitted Leipzig in 1785, and went to Hot to reside with his mother, who with her family inhabited a house containing one apartment. All that he possessed was a number of MSS. containing extracts from the various works which he had read. At Hof his poverty rather increased than diminished, but the unconquerable vigour of his mind and the benevolence of a few friends kept him up. He engaged himself as a tutor in a family, and in 1758 he succeeded in finding a publisher for his Auswahl aus des Teufels Pap eren. The little income which he thus gained was however not sufficient to support him and his family. In 1793 several families of Schwarzenbach united to invite him to come and undertake the education of their children, an offer which he gladly accepted. Here he tried and developed the principles of education which he afterwards (1807) published in his Levana.' His circumstances now began to improve, especially after 1793, when, through the mediation of a friend, he found a publisher for a new work called Die Unsichtbare Loge,' 2 vols., Berlin. This work attracted the attention of the public and brought the author into notice. A fair prospect of success as a writer being thus opened to Richmond free grammar school was founded and en- him, he left Schwarzenbach (1794) and returned to Hof, dowed by the burgesses, and incorporated by Queen Eliza- where in the course of a few years he wrote some of his beth, by which Act it was called 'The free grammar school most admired works: Hesperus, 4 vols., Berlin, 1794; of the burgesses of the borough or town of Richmond, in the Quintus Fixlein,' Baireuth, 1796 (this work was the first county of York, for the education and instruction of boys which appeared under his full name, for in the preceding and youths in grammar.' The four bailiffs were to be the ones he had only called himself Jean Paul); Biographische governors of the possessions of the school. The property Belustigungen unter der Gehirnschale einer Riesin,' Bernow produces a yearly income of 3377. 78. 4d. All natives and lin, 1796; Siebenksäs, oder Blumen-Frucht-und Dornenthe sons of burgesses and other persons residing within the stücken,' &c., 4 vols., Berlin, 1796-97, and Der Jubelsenoir,' borough are entitled to admission as free scholars by the pay- ibid., 1797. In this year his mother died, after having for ment of seven shillings a year for fire, candles, and cleaning. a short time enjoyed the happiness of seeing her son appre The instruction in writing and arithmetic is also paid for. ciated, and Jean Paul now returned to Leipzig. His name was The Corporation School is endowed with an annuity of 50%. now favourably known, and the most distinguished among from the borough funds and charities, for which fifty scholars his countrymen, such as Gleim, Herder, Schiller, Wieland, are taught. The National School contains about one hundred and others, esteemed the man no less than his works. In boys and eighty girls. There are also an infant-school, a 1798, in which year his work called Das Campanerthal, mechanics' library, a subscription library, and a news-room. oder die Unsterblichkeit der Seele,' was published at There are charities at Richmond for poor tradesmen and Erfurt, he was induced by Herder, whom he revered more widows, for the distribution of coals, bread, and medicines, than any other of his friends, to take up his abode at Weiand various small bequests for education and apprentice mar. It was about this time that he become acquainted with fees. (Clarkson's Richmond; and Allen's Yorkshire.) the Duke of Saxe-Hildburghausen, who afterwards hoRICHMOND. [SURREY.] noured him with the title of councillor of Legation (LegationsRICHMOND. [VIRGINIA.] rath). In 1801 he married Charlotte Maier, the daughter RICHTER, JEAN PAUL FRIEDRICH, commonly of a distinguished physician of Berlin. He first settled at called Jean Paul, was born on the 21st of March, 1763, Meiningen, which in 1803 he exchanged for Coburg; but at Wunsiedel, in the neighbourhood of Baireuth, where after a short stay in this town he took up his permanent his father held the office of tertius or under-schoolmaster residence at Baireuth. During this period of wandering he and organist. Shortly after the birth of his son, he was wrote Briefe und Bevorstehender Lebenslauf,' Gera, 1799; made pastor of the village of Jodiz, whence he was trans-Titan,' 4 vols., Berlin, 1800-3; Die Flegeljahre,' 4 vols., ferred to Schwarzenbach on the Saale. Owing to the very Tübingen, 1804-5. limited circumstances of his parents, as well as to the want of a good schoolmaster, the boy had hitherto been educated and taught at home by his father. At Schwarzenbach how ever he was sent to school, and continued the study of Latin and Greek, to which Hebrew and some other branches of learning were added. His stay at this school was short, and he was sent to the gymnasium at Hof, where he continued his studies for two years, notwithstanding the death of his father, which happened shortly after his arrival there, and left his family almost in a state of destitution. The young scholar however was in some degree supported by his grand

father on his mother's side. In 1781 he went to the uni vers ty of Leipzig, for his family wished that he should fol low the example of his father and study theology. He hoped to obtain some support from the university, but he found the difficulties greater than he had anticipated; and he was thrown entirely on his own resources. He had to contend with extretne want, and was sometimes even unable to obtain necessary food and clothing. The circumstances of his mother likewise grew worse, and she was unable to pply him with any money. Notwithstanding this painful situation, he per evered in his studies, and he remained cheerful. Soon after his arrival at Leipzig he had given up the study of theology, which he found ill-suited to his taste, and now seeing no other possibility of satisfying his most urgent wants, he wrote a book called Grönländische Prosesse, 2 vols., Berlin, 1753. The pittance which he received for his work, small as it was, determined him

At Baireuth he enjoyed the well deserved fruits of his indefatigable zeal-the esteem and admiration of the most illustrious and best among his countrymen. In 1809 the Prince Primate, Carl von Dalberg, granted him a pension of 1000 florins per annum. In 1815 the prince was obliged to resign his secular sovereignty of Regensburg, Aschaffenburg, Frankfurt, Witzlar, &c., which he had before possessed, together with his archbishopric and primacy of Regensburg, but the pension was continued by Maximilian, king of Bavaria. In 1817 the university of Heidelberg honoured Jean Paul with the diploma of doctor of philosophy, and three years afterwards he was elected an ordinary member of the Academy of Sciences of Munich. From the time of his settlement at Baireuth, Jean Paul pursued his literary occupations as zealously as ever, and only now and then made either little excursions into the neighbouring country, or short journeys to Heidelberg, Munich, Berlin, and Dresden. Among the works which belong to this last and happiest period of his life, we shall only mention Vorschule der Aesthetik,' 3 vols., Hamburg, 1804; Katzenbergers Badereise,' 2 vols., Heidelberg, 1809; Des Feldprediger Schmelzle Reise nach Flätz,' Tübingen, 1809; Der Komet, oder Nicolaus Markgraf,' 3 vols., Berlin, 1820-22.

During the last years of his life he was attacked by a complaint in the eyes, which at the beginning of the year 1825 terminated in complete blindness. His physical powers also began to decline, and he died on the 14th of November, 1825. Some time before his death he had made prepara

errors.

RIC

or as an

5

and flowers in long green and glaucous spikes springing
from the divisions of the branches, the males from the lower
part of the spike, the females from the upper. The capsules
are prickly. It varies in size; in Britain it is seen seldom
tree; and Clusius mentions it as measuring from two to
more than three or four feet in height, but in India it is a
four feet round its stem in Spain. Lindley refers several
species distinguished by Willdenow to this form, viz. R.
viridis, R. africanus, R. lividus, and R. inermis. (Flora
Medica, p. 183.)

tions for a complete edition of his works. This plan was executed by his friend Dr. Otto, who edited the works of Jean Paul in 60 small 8vo. volumes, Berlin, 1826-28. Another edition in 4 vols., imp. 8vo, appeared at Paris, 1836-38, which is disfigured by numerous typographical Whether we consider Jean Paul as a man author, he is one of the most wonderful phenomena that Germany has ever produced. He was simple-hearted as a R. communis will grow freely in this country, and when child, and his kindness, benevolence, and purity of conduct sown in pots or hotbeds early in the season, and transwere unparalleled; yet with all this he had courage enough to struggle fearlessly with a world of adversity, without RICINUS COMMU'NIS, the castor oil plant, known losing one particle of his cheerful and humorous temper. planted in spring, it forms a very handsome border annual. His works, which are all written in prose, and most of which may be called humorous novels, evince the deepest and most from very antient times both to the Egyptians and also to intense feeling, a most profound knowledge of human the Greeks. According to Herodotus (ii. 94), the Egyptians nature, and an intimate acquaintance with almost every called the oil of the sillicyprion (Kúpov) by the name name bestowed by modern botanists on a closely allied department of science. His earliest writings are sometimes Kiki (kiki). The Greeks also called it Croton (Kρórwv), a of a satirical nature, and show that he had not yet reached the height of pure humour which appears in his later works. genus of euphorbiaceous plants, one species of which yields Some of his works, such as the Levana' and Vorschule the purgative oil designated Croton oil, or Oleum Tiglii. unknown, though it is conjectured to be originally from Barder Aesthetik,' are not novels, but philosophical discussions [CROTON.] The native country of the Ricinus communis is bary. Like all plants which have been long in cultivation, full of profound thought; but even here his humour sometimes gushes forth and enlivens the abstruseness of philosophical inquiry. Notwithstanding these great qualities of numerous varieties of it are met with, differing not only in Jean Paul, there are some circumstances which prevent his colour and the peculiar pruinose condition of the stem, but writings from being as popular as they deserve to be. His in stature and duration. In warm countries it is ligneous ideas and conceptions are too profound to be understood and perennial; in cold, annual and herbaceous. The entire and appreciated by the many, and his thoughts are ex- plant is possessed of active properties, but the oil extracted pressed in a language which presents considerable difficulties from the seeds is only employed in Europe: the antients even to a German. His sudden transitions, his associations administered the seeds entire, but their variable action, of ideas, the frequent distortions of his sentences, in which occasionally even producing fatal effects, led to their disuse, parenthesis is put into parenthesis, cause such difficulties to and the oil is of comparatively recent introduction. The the ordinary reader, as will at first deter him from under- seeds, of which three are found in each capsule, are about taking the task of searching for the sterling matter which the size of a small bean, obtuse at both ends, surface smooth, is concealed under such a disguise. Jean Paul moreover shining, and beautifully marbled. They were formerly possessed an inexhaustible stock of knowledge on all sub- known in the shops as semina Ricini, or Cataputiae majoris. jects, and his works abound in allusions which can only be The skin consists of three tunics-1st, an outer brittle pelunderstood by those who have made such subjects their licle; 2nd, a hard testa consisting of two dissimilar layers, study. The number of those who fully appreciate the merits the external thick, dark brown, formed of transverse radiof Jean Paul is, even in Germany, comparatively few; ating cells; the internal thinner, paler, and formed of verThe nucleus consists of oily albumen, and an embryo, the but these few are the best and most enlightened of thetical cells; 3rd, a membrane investing the nucleus or kernel. The time cotyledons of which are membranous or foliaceous.' The nation, and the power which his works exercise over them outer shell is devoid of taste; in the inner coat the acrimony is greater than that of any other writer. or active principle resides, according to Dierbach; while when Jean Paul shall be fully appreciated is yet to come. The best key to his writings is a work called 'Wahrheit aus Jean Paul's Leben,' in 8 vols, Breslau, 1826-33, which others assert the embryo to be the seat of the purgative prinwas commenced by Jean Paul bimself, and after his death ciple; and even Humboldt and Bancroft state that if this continued and completed by Dr. Otto. Another very use-part be excised, the seeds may be eaten with impunity, or ful work in this respect is, R. O. Spazier, Jean Paul Friedrich Richter, ein biographischer Commentar zu seinen Werken,' 5 vols., Leipzig, 1833; H. Döring's Leben und Characteristik Richters, in 2 vols., Gotha, 1826, is a very indifferent work.

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the oil thereafter expressed is as mild as olive-oil. The same or purging-nut of the Philippine Islands. (See Bennet, in statement has been made respecting the Jatropha Curcas, case, as has been proved by Merat and De Lens (DictionMedical Gazette, vol. ix., p. 7.) But this is by no means the English translations of some of the smaller and extracts naire des Sciences Medicales, t. xlix.) and Bennet (l. c.); Various procedures from the larger works of Jean Paul have appeared in various who have shown that the active principle is diffused through But the choicest specimens, which are also the entire substance of the kernel, though it probably exists magazines. most faithfully translated—are those given in German Roin greater intensity in the embryo. mance, by T. Carlyle, who has also written some excellent essays on the life and writings of Jean Paul. (See Carlyle's Miscellanies, vol. i., p. 1-31; vol. ii., p. 295-377; comp. p. 403, &c.)

have been adopted to extract the oil, and these have much influence on its qualities in respect of colour, acridity, and from the greater or less maturity of the seeds, the pecufreedom from rancidity: there are also effects which result liar variety of the plant from which they have been obtained, and the occasionally accidental, but more frequently intentional admixture of other seeds, before the different was employed, and during the application of this agent a America, whence the first supplies were brought, much heat volatile principle was either liberated, or more probably formed, which was so irritating as to require the workmen to protect their faces by masks. Even in the present day some heat is used to obtain what is termed the cold drawn castor-oil, but it is quite unnecessary, and should always be avoided.

RICI'NULA. [ENTOMOSTOMATA, vol. ix., p. 457.] RICINUS, the name of an apetalous genus of plants belonging to the natural order Euphorbiacea. This word is derived from ricinus, the Latin name for a species of in-processes of extraction have been begun. Both in India and sect which the fruit of this plant was supposed to resemble. (Plin., Nat. Hist., xv. 7.) The common name of Ricinus is Palma Christi, a name applied to these plants by Brunfels, Matthiolus, and other older botanists, on account of the form of its elegant lobate leaves. It was originally a native of Asia, but is now naturalized in Africa, America, and the south of Europe. The characters of this genus are:-Flowers monocious; calyx 3-5-parted, valvate; no petals; filaments numerous, polyadelphous; style short; stigmas three, bipartite, feathery; ovary globose, three-celled, with an ovule in each cell; fruit capsular, tricoccous; leaves alternate, stipulate, palmate, glands at apex of petiole; flowers in terminal panicles; trees, shrubs, or herbs, becoming arborescent. Of this genus the Ricinus communis, common Palma Christi, is best known as producing the castor-oil. It has peltate palmate leaves, with lanceolated serrated lobes; an herbaceous glaucous stem, of a purplish-red colour upwards,

According to Sir Whitelaw Ainslie (Materia Indica, vol i., p. 256), the following is the plan pursued in the East Indies:- Take five seers of the small castor-oil nuts, and soak them for one night in cold water; next morning strain this water off and throw it away, and put the nuts into a second quantity of fresh water, and boil them in it for two hours; after which strain the water off and throw it away, as in the first instance: the nuts then are to be dried in the sun on a mat for three days; at the end of which time they