Barbadoes aloes 4 to 5 dr.
Ginger 1 dr.
Hard soap 3 dr.
Syrup enough to form the ball.
The affected parts may be fomented and rubbed with some stimulating
liniment or embrocation.—_White._
RHUBARB, _s._ A medical root, slightly purgative, referred by
botanists to the dock.
RIB, _s._ A bone in the body, any piece of timber or other matter
which strengthens the sides; a slip of iron attached to gun
barrels for strength or ornament.
RIBBED, _a._ Furnished with ribs; enclosed as the body by ribs.
RICK, _s._ A pile of corn or hay regularly heaped up and sheltered
from wet.
RICKETS, _s._ The rickets is a distemper in children, from an
unequal distribution of nourishment, whereby the joints grow
knotty, and the limbs uneven; a disease in horses.
Rickets is very like to tabies, in all its causes, and also in some of
its appearances and effects; it is common to the same breeds, and is
both occasional and hereditary. It is occasional when it meets with the
circumstances of confinement, bad air, filth, and unwholesome food, or
the milk of an unhealthy mother. Many whelps are born with the
predisposition, among the fancy breeds in the confined parts of great
cities and large towns, particularly pugs and the smaller sorts of bull
dogs: there is also a breed of wry-legged terriers which without doubt
originated in ricketty specimens, which were afterwards cultivated for
particular purposes, principally rabbit-hunting. The affection often
appears soon after birth; and shows itself by the slow development of
the body, except in the head, belly, and joints, all of which enlarge at
the expense of the rest of the parts: particularly it attacks all the
joints of the extremities; these swell into protuberances, probably from
a sympathy in the constitution to make up by bulk what the bones want in
ponderosity, but which is not effected; for, deprived of their earthy
solidifying principles, they yield to the superincumbent weight, and the
cylindrical ones particularly become crooked. Cleanliness, good air,
free exercise, and wholesome food, will commonly prevent it in the
future breeds of such dogs as have shown a disposition to it. As a cure,
an invigorating diet added to these, with the occasional use of tonic
bitters if the appetite fails, or the digestion should appear defective,
will answer the intention.—_Blaine._
RIDE, _v._ To travel on horseback; to travel in a vehicle; to be
borne, not to walk; to manage a horse; to be supported, as ships
on the water.
RIDER, _s._ One who is carried on a horse or in a vehicle; one who
manages or breaks horses.
_In Riding._—Jockeys may be divided into several classes: namely, the
southern jockeys, the northern jockeys, and the dirty jockeys. The first
class are those which are seen at Newmarket, Ascot, Epsom, and indeed in
most of the races in the southern counties, and also at Doncaster. The
second class attend the Yorkshire meetings, and what, for the sake of
distinction, I will call the northern circuit. The third or dirty class,
are met with still farther to the north, in Westmoreland, Cumberland,
&c. and are remarkable for their slovenly, dirty, and unworkmanlike
appearance:—it is no uncommon occurrence to see these wretched apologies
for jockeys (at Kendal for instance) ride in dirty jackets, dark greasy
corduroys, and gaiters of a similar complexion. Mr. Thomas Simpson’s
jockey frequently appears thus, though Mr. Simpson is wealthy and highly
respectable; but evidently not very scrupulous on the score of
cleanliness. The southern jockeys, much to their credit, appear on
horseback with a neatness and cleanliness bordering upon elegance; and
their performance is, for the most part, of a superior order—superior,
in fact, to their rivals of the north; they are illiterate ignorant men,
with little exception: though, in private, they affect a mysterious, but
plebeian importance, and would willingly be thought a sort of
semi-gentlemen, which, however, their very attempt to assume such a
character renders impossible. There is much less of this ridiculous and
ignorant affectation in the northern jockeys, who yet seem, it must be
confessed, not nearly so anxious about their appearance on horseback (as
far as relates to the advantage of dress,) as their brethren of the
south.
The question next arises as to which are the best workmen. The
southerns, beyond a doubt; that is, speaking generally: but, it must be
admitted, that there are some excellent northern jockeys, who would lose
little by the comparison with either Chifney, Robinson, Dockeray, or any
of the most favourite riders of the present day. Buckle is now grown
old, and does not often appear; otherwise, I should place him at the
head of the list. H. Edwards must be classed, I imagine, amongst the
northern jockeys; he has a good seat, good hands, and a good head; and
is altogether an excellent rider: I am doubtful if his superior is to be
found. T. Shepherd, a northern jockey, has a good head, and I have
always admired his riding; I think his abilities have generally been
much underrated. Lear is a promising young northern jockey; but he must
be careful not to let his self-opinion and overbearing temper supersede
the plain uncultivated sense he possesses. Templeman is what may be
called an improving jockey: he has a good seat, and I have frequently
been much pleased with his performances. He rode Dr. Faustus (Sir T.
Stanley’s) remarkably well at the Liverpool summer meeting, and I
thought won the cup—I was not singular in this opinion: the judge,
however, decided in favour of Velocipede. I never recollect observing a
horse better managed than Forth managed his own horse Frederick, when
running this year (1829) at Epsom, for the Derby. He had betted to a
considerable amount upon Exquisite (also his own horse, and came in
second) particularly with Mr. Crockford; but shifted his money the
evening before running on Frederick, and thus became a winner to a very
considerable amount. There are many very awkward jockeys, possessing but
very slender requisites for the profession which they have embraced; to
point them out, however, by name, would appear ill-natured and
invidious.
It is some dozen years or more since “old Billy Pierse” quitted the
avocation of a jockey. This man I always considered as a very superior
rider—as one of the best I ever saw. In stature he was one of the
shortest of his fraternity: but he was a sort of dwarf Hercules: he was
able to give his horse a pull without any perceptible movement of his
body; and of all the jockeys I ever saw, not one sat so steadily upon
his horse. He never acquired the fame of Chifney; though there are those
who think his merits were equal, if not superior to that celebrated
jockey:—such is the opinion of one gentleman, in particular, whose
superior judgment I have frequently experienced and very much admired.
What I have denominated the “dirty jockeys,” are little worthy of
consideration. They are very indifferent riders, but made up of trick
and cunning; and ready at any time to put in practice their sinister
arts for the purposes of deception, swindling and fraud.
* * * * *
I have not the least doubt, were this description of jockeyship entirely
superseded, it would give very general satisfaction to the true friends
of the turf. In the first place, with the exception of Lord Wilton, Mr.
White, and some others, there are few gentlemen but what make a poor, or
perhaps ridiculous, figure in riding a race. When gentlemen are to ride,
it seldom happens that the patience of the multitude is not put to the
test: if the preparations for gentlemen riders are not more complex than
those of the professed jockeys, they cannot be either so well defined,
or so direct, since they occupy a period of time of at least six times
the duration. But this is by no means the worst of the business:—the
system is liable to very gross abuse; and a class of men contrive to
insinuate themselves into it, who have very meagre pretensions indeed to
the character of gentlemen, and whose operations are, for the most part,
merely a cloak for the basest purposes. I have often been surprised,
that those genuine or sterling gentlemen who choose to contend in the
race, are not more scrupulous as to the persons in whose company they
thus appear: accustomed as they are to the turf, they cannot be
unconscious, surely, that men frequently are seen as gentlemen riders,
who are not only destitute of every honourable feeling, but whose
exertions are in furtherance of a system of swindling, base and
degrading, and utterly incompatible with the best interests of the turf.
Also, a number of these men cannot come fairly under the description of
amateur riders, since they go from race to race throughout the season,
and are in the constant habit of riding, which they understand as well
as the regular jockeys. What chance has a mere amateur against such
competitors?
* * * * *
As to jockeys riding to order, nothing can be more correct or judicious,
when such orders are intended to bring out the horse, so as to make the
most of his powers, and to win if possible; but many cases have no doubt
occurred of an opposite description, where the horse possessing the
qualities to win, has been ridden purposely to lose. Yet, I am inclined
to think, that suspicion has not unfrequently been expressed without
just grounds. It should be recollected that horses vary considerably in
their running, unaccountably so at times, either from latent disease, or
other inexplicable cause; and therefore before a jockey is accused of
wilfully riding to lose, the matter should be very dispassionately
considered. Generally speaking, a jockey is very anxious to win, and I
should be more inclined to suspect him of foul riding in order to win,
than premeditatedly riding to lose, unless he had betted largely against
the horse, and this is much more likely to occur where the jockey
happens to be the owner of the horse, than under ordinary
circumstances.—_Turf Expositor._
RIDGE, _s._ The top of the back; the rough top of anything; a steep
protuberance; the ground thrown up by the plough; the top of the
roof rising to an acute angle; _ridges of a horse’s mouth_ are
wrinkles or risings of the flesh in the roof of the mouth,
running across from one side of the jaw to the other.
RIDGLING, _s._ A ram half castrated.
RIDINGCOAT, _s._ A coat made to keep out the weather.
RIFLE, _s._ A gun whose barrel is only constructed to shoot bullets.
I have made many experiments, and thought a good deal, by way of
ascertaining the best calibre for answering the particular or general
purposes to which the rifle may be applied. We all know that the
resistance of the air is the chief obstacle which projected bodies have
to encounter. It is so very great, that the range of projected spheres
is more regulated by the degree of this resistance than by the velocity
they receive from the powder,—the increased velocity of the ball being
met by a geometrically increased ratio of atmospheric resistance. The
larger bullets, therefore, having less surface in proportion to their
mass, are, proportionately, much less resisted; so that the flights of
the larger exceed those of the lesser, in more than the proportion of
their respective diameters. For instance, a thirty-two pound shot, whose
diameter is about six inches, will, with even a less proportionate
charge of powder, and at an equal elevation, range half as far again as
a nine pound, whose diameter is four inches. The proportion which the
surface of a sphere bears to its mass, increasing in a geometrical ratio
to the decrease of its diameter—the smaller the sphere, the greater is
the proportionate resistance it meets with in its flight. At length, we
find that small particles of the heaviest metals, becoming, as it were,
nearly all surface, will actually float in the atmosphere, or remain
suspended for a considerable time in the lightest fluids. Hence it is,
that from the same piece, and with a similar charge of powder, we shall
find that the range of an ounce of bird shot will regularly extend with
the increased size of the shot employed, until, in progression, we get
to the ounce bullet itself, which fits the piece; and which, by the by,
at an elevation, would not be impelled further if projected from a
twenty-four pound cannon.
The theory of the air’s regular resistance to the onward progress of the
bullet, must also be applied to the irregular action of the wind across
the line of its flight; which action also increases in the ratio of the
decrease of the weight of the bullet. At the distance of 315 yards I
have found a strong cross wind to cause a rifle bullet of nineteen to
the pound to diverge from three to four feet. On the other hand, I have
used a rifle carrying a bullet of ten to the pound, which, with the same
wind, did not, at the same distance, diverge more than about one foot.
In constructing a butt for rifle practice, regard should, therefore, be
had to the more usual direction of the wind; and, as far as the locality
will allow, the butt should be placed so as to have the wind more
frequently in the line of the range, either way, than across it.
For general, and especially for military purposes, such large rifles as
the last mentioned would, coupled with the ammunition, be found too
heavy. The rifles commonly used in the United States carry, I am told, a
bullet of thirty-two to the pound. The adoption of so small a calibre, I
take to have been occasioned by the use of the rifle being, in that
country, originally and generally confined to the interior of thick
forests, wherein it seldom happens that an object is to be fired at
beyond the distance of one hundred yards; and where, moreover, the wind
is much less felt than in an open country.
Under the above circumstances, the half-ounce rifles are quite adequate
to their purpose; but in a more open, and especially in a mountainous
country, the calibre of rifles should be considerably larger. In a hilly
country, you are often in the actual presence of the enemy, and capable
of greatly annoying him, at distances at which, on a plain, the view is
interrupted and confined by the least considerable of surrounding
objects. In a hilly country, occasions are perpetually offering, wherein
long rifle ranges would cause considerable mischief to your opponents.
Such long ranges can never be obtained, nor depended on, with the
half-ounce rifles of the Americans and Tyrolese.
If the foregoing observations are founded on fact, it is easy to decide
what sort of rifle should be applied to a particular purpose. With
respect to general purposes, I am inclined to fix on the calibre of one
ounce, or sixteen bullets to the pound. The English government rifles
are of nineteen or twenty to the pound; to which calibre there is little
objection, especially as it is the same as that of the cavalry carbines
and pistols. However, I could advance several reasons,—I do not call
them very important ones,—for preferring the French regulation;
according to which all the fire-arms of all the different corps, both of
cavalry and infantry, are of one and the same calibre, of sixteen
bullets to the pound.
With respect to the rifle, at least, I would most strenuously recommend
the substitution of percussion for flint locks; over which the
advantages of the former are as great as the latter are superior to the
huge wheel and pyrites locks of two centuries ago. In comparison to the
percussion gun, the very best flint one absolutely hangs fire, and one
out of twenty is usually a miss-fire. A cap is put on much quicker than
a flint lock is primed; there is no time lost in changing flints; and if
Mr. Joyce’s percussion powder be used, there is no foulness or corrosion
whatever; lastly, the rifles at present in use might be converted into
copper caps at a trifling expense, and new copper cap locks will cost
less than flint ones. The only objection to the change (and I own it is
a very great one indeed), is the blind prejudice of custom.
To render the use of the copper cap piece still more eligible,
especially for military purposes, there should be no lateral vent-hole
in the breech, but in lieu of it, a broad convex-headed screw; which,
upon being withdrawn, opens a passage into the chamber under the nipple,
of an eighth of an inch in diameter.
By this simply contrivance,—which I have applied to all my own guns,
rifles, and pistols,—should any obstruction occur, either from wet or
dirt, which cannot be removed by merely probing the nipple, it will
infallibly he cleared out by removing the screw, scooping out the
passage into the chamber, putting a little powder therein, and firing it
off, after having probed the nipple and replaced the screw. The aperture
formed by the removal of the screw, greatly adds to the facility of
washing the barrel.
Instead of the brush and brass wire pricker, required for the present
flint-lock service, the use of percussion pieces would make it necessary
to substitute a little instrument of steel, resembling the letter T; one
half of the horizontal part being a four, or, what is perhaps better, a
three-sided pricker, or probe, of about one-twentieth of an inch
diameter. The other half of the horizontal piece forms a kind of little
scoop, corresponding to the diameter of the lateral screw above
mentioned; upon the removal of which it is to be employed. The centre
piece, or foot of the T, is a turnscrew, surmounted by a little ring to
attach it to the jacket. As, however, the instrument will not be often
wanted, perhaps it had better be kept in the trap of the rifle stock, in
the inside of which I attach it, by a thong, to a little screw staple.
Some persons recommend that, instead of the lateral screw above
described, the nipple itself should be taken out, in case of
obstruction, or for the purpose of washing the barrel. This is not only
ineffective, but highly improper, as it requires the use of a particular
shaped key or pincer to screw the nipple; whereas, such things as will
turn a screw, or serve the purpose of a pricker, are to be found
everywhere.
The percussion powder for the caps, should by all means be composed of
the nitrate of mercury, first brought into use by Mr. F. Joyce, of Old
Compton Street. This, instead of having the slightest tendency to
corrode the piece, would rather appear to possess an anti-oxidating
property; for I have repeatedly found that, having fired upwards of
twenty rounds with this percussion powder, and laid the piece by for a
month without the least cleansing, it has been, at the expiration of
that time, as perfectly free from the least speck of rust as the day it
came new from the maker’s shop. This would certainly not be the case
even with a common flint lock; but as for the common percussion powder,
composed of superoxygenated muriate of potash, it actually corrodes the
parts of a gun as much as a drop of nitric acid itself; in fact, upon
combustion it evolves, and leaves a residuum of that active fluid upon
the iron. The consequent rapid destruction of the parts is such as
would, especially in military service, occasion great inconvenience.
I have often compared notes, and reflected upon the respective
advantages belonging to the magazine and copper cap locks, either for
military or sporting purposes. Of magazine locks hitherto invented, the
best and simplest is that by Forsyth, with the magazine sliding upon a
plane, in which is the touch-hole, being connected with the cock by a
bridle, which causes it to follow or precede its motions. For military
use, this lock has the advantage over the copper cap, inasmuch as it
saves the time and attention required for priming; nothing else being
required than to cock and pull the trigger. In rifle practice, the use
of this lock will more than retrieve the small additional portion of
time which it requires to push down even my rifle cartridge, above what
it takes to drop a cartridge into a common musket, with all its windage.
On horseback, the advantages of such magazine locks are still more
evident and important; as every one knows what an awkward loss of time
and powder the operation of priming a flint lock occasions to a horseman
in motion; whereas, with the magazine, containing thirty or forty
primings, and a swivel ramrod, a carbine or pistol may be loaded with
the same speed and precision on horseback, at a trot or a gallop, as
when sitting in a chair. It is certainly easier to put on a copper cap
than to prime a flint lock; but, with the magazine, there is no priming
operation at all. With the common corrosive percussion powder above
spoken of, the magazine lock certainly becomes very unfit for military
purposes; for after having fired a shot or two, without subsequent
cleaning, the lock will be nearly immovable the day after. However, in
the late Spanish campaign of 1823, I had several magazine rifles and
pistols, and no other than the corrosive percussion powder; but the
officers and men to whom I entrusted them were so proud and so careful
of them, as to keep them always in the most perfect order. Anyhow, it is
evident that, for cavalry officers at least, the percussion magazine
locks are undoubtedly, to be preferred; and, for both officers and men,
I will observe, _en passant_, that it is far better to have one double
pistol, than two, or half a dozen, single ones; and that whether one or
two pistols be used, they should, upon going into action, he secured by
a thong to the sword-belt; so as, in case of need, to be instantly
disposed of by being dropped over the left shoulder. By having only one
pistol, one holster may be converted into a convenient pouch. It is
essential that, in double pistols, carbines, or rifles, the axis of the
barrels should be perfectly parallel from breech to muzzle. If this be
strictly attended to, it is not of much consequence whether they be
disposed as in a fowling-piece, or, as it is called, “under and over.”
One “under and over” pistol, eight inch barrels (the upper one rifled),
nineteen bore, swivel ramrod, with a movable spring butt, to be kept in
the other holster when not in use, is an excellent weapon for an
officer. The movable butt must also serve the purpose of a mallet in
loading the rifled barrel. Three or four slight taps will send the ball
home: for, particularly on horseback, a rifle-barrelled pistol cannot
well be loaded by pushing with so small a ramrod. With the smooth
barrel, the party may fire away, either with ball or buck-shot
cartridges, as fast as he pleases.
The copper cap offers the advantage of somewhat greater simplicity, and
consequently less liability to derangement; and above all, it is, with
the application of wax as hereafter described, perfectly water-proof.
For the rifle service, therefore, it might perhaps, in one point of
view, be preferable to the magazine; and certainly it is so in every
respect for fowling pieces; in the use of which protection from the rain
is of much more importance than the gain of a few seconds in loading,
and where none of the inconveniences of priming on horseback are
experienced. Duelling pistols should decidedly be copper caps. With such
pistols there is no occasion whatever for a magazine; and I have found
that a delicate trigger cannot be subjected to the slightest casual pull
or strain of the magazine stirrup, without great liability to accident.
A remarkable defect in all the rifle-shooting that I have ever seen, is
the improper construction of the ramrod, which is much too light. From
this it results, that either the bullet is inserted with too little
constriction to ensure its revolving on its axis to the end of an
extensive flight; or, upon a tighter fit being attempted, much time and
awkward exertion are expended in driving it properly “home.”
The friction to be overcome in forcing a bullet into a rifle is, in some
respects, analogous to that of a wedge or a nail in entering a piece of
wood. Nobody would think of driving a nail or a wedge by mere pressure
or pushing, which would not effect the object with a thousand times the
force that would suffice in the shape of percussion or impingement. To
load a rifle with a mallet is out of the question, especially for
military purposes; but I find that the very best effect is produced by
having the ramrod of solid brass, considerably heavier than the iron
ones of the government rifles. I have also a bit of hard wood, turned
into the shape of a pestle, acutely convex at the thick end; and to
qualify it for hasty use, I fasten it by a string to the button of my
jacket. With this I give the ball a smart tap, which drives it below the
centre of its circumference into the grooves of the barrel. If the
latter be perfectly clean, the bullet will go down all the way by mere
pushing; but this will not be the case after a few shots have been
fired, unless the bullet be smaller than it should be. Any how, the
ramrod ought always to be flung down once or twice, in conclusion—as the
particular ring or jar, so produced, furnishes the only true criterion
of the bullet being really “home.”
The ramrod being of the proper weight, and the end applied to the bullet
being nearly equal to its calibre and well countersunk, the bullet will
be moved by it with a few easy percussions; and should the barrel be
ever so foul towards the breech, one or two flings with such a ramrod
will send the bullet “home” with the assured ring. Neither a wooden nor
a light metal ramrod will produce this effect after a few shots.
The ramrods I have had constructed for my own use are of solid brass, of
about half an inch diameter except the end applied to the bullet, which,
for a couple of inches, is so large as just to fit easily into the
barrel. This large end is bored conically out, so as to contain between
two and three drachms of powder, which, in leisure shooting, serves to
introduce the charge with the rifle reversed. The ball-drawer, when
required, screws into the other end of the rod.
The government rifle ramrods, might, for economy’s sake, be made of
iron; but they should be much heavier than they are. It is absolutely
necessary to good and quick rifle shooting, that the bullet should be
driven into the mouth of the piece by a stroke of some sort or other,
previously to the use of the ramrod. Should the little wooden pestle
mentioned above be deemed inconvenient in military practice,—which I
opine it is not,—a similar effect might be produced by a tap with the
round button-like end of the present rifle ramrods; though, for the sake
of the barrel, I would recommend that this button should be of soft
copper. Were it made more convex, it would drive the bullet further in.
It is evident, that for actual service, the practice cannot be rendered
too simple. So I only just mention, _en passant_, that in my own
cartridge pouch, twelve cartridges, to be used first, are made with
thicker cotton, which, for distinction’s sake, is red or blue. So, as
the barrel becomes foul, I get to the other cartridges, of somewhat
easier introduction. I have found it very pleasant even to divide my
cartridges into three different fits—red, blue, and white. A rifle,
however, deteriorates in accuracy of shooting, in proportion to the
number of shots fired without cleaning the barrel. For the foulness
accumulating mostly towards the breech, forms there a certain degree of
constriction and obliteration of the grooves, into which part the bullet
being forced, no longer fits the other and greater portion of the
barrel, so to ensure its spinning upon its axis to the end of a long
range. After twenty-five shots, without cleaning, at 315 yards, in very
dry weather, I have found the bullets begin to deviate a little; as they
no longer struck the target on the side which had come foremost from the
barrel.
With respect to the rifleman’s cartridge-pouch, it should certainly be
placed in front, buckling round the waist with a broad strap. The great
thickness or projection which is given to the English rifle-pouches has
many inconveniences; one of which is, that the weight, being
concentrated into one almost cubic mass, causes great fatigue and
annoyance, and perhaps injury, to the bearer. So far from having any
such shape, I have found that the pouch ought to be so flat, as only to
contain one row of tin tubes for cartridges, twenty-four of which occupy
a space of about fourteen inches from hip to hip. The tubes being about
five inches long, open at each end, but divided in the middle by a
diaphragm, contain two cartridges each. When the uppermost row is
consumed, to get at the others, it is only required to draw out the
tubes, and reverse them in the pouch. If the cartridges are closed up,
according to the method recommended in another part of this Treatise,
they may, from the increased diameter of the folded end, be made to
stick more or less firmly in the reversed half of the tubes, when these
are drawn out to be turned. The pouch covers up with a flap of flexible
leather, saturated with linseed oil, and secured at pleasure with a
round button and loop. At one or both ends of the pouch is a little
leathern bag, which may contain one or more packets of spare cartridges.
I prefer, however, the method I have observed amongst the Calabrians and
Corsicans, who, had they rifles, would be the most formidable
skirmishers in the world. Their pouches go all round the body; though
sometimes it is, as it were, a double pouch, with only small intervals
at each hip, occupied by a bayonet on one side, and a middling-sized
pistol on the other. From having only one row of tubes, these pouches
are so little protuberant, as to be scarcely more perceptible, under or
over the jacket, than a simple belt would be. When the cartridges are
exhausted in front, the pouch is easily slipped round as much as
required. Moreover, the weight being so distributed all round the body,
gives scarcely any incumbrance; and I have found it a further
improvement to partially support it by braces, worn under the jacket or
waistcoat. Slips from the usual trouser suspenders will answer the
purpose.
I must yet add a few words, by way of recommending some essential
alterations in the method of exercising the troops to the use of that
weapon, which will in most respects apply to the musket, carbine, and
pistol.
In all the rifle or musket practice that I have ever seen or heard of,
the men are made to fire at a target of about three feet diameter,
placed before a bank or mound of earth, which receives all the missing
bullets. Nothing can be more ineffectual in the way of instruction than
this method! Every shot which misses the target, might as well have been
fired vertically in the air, for any instruction it can have afforded to
the firer! Even those bullets which do strike the target, will furnish
no precise criteria of experience, unless the actual mark of each be
immediately pointed out to the man who fired it.
The butt, or rather wall, for teaching rifle or musket shooting, should
be at least twelve feet square, or rather twelve feet broad and twenty
high. It should be covered entirely with cast-iron plates, of about
three quarters of an inch thick. A convenient movable butt may be
composed of a rectangular frame of wood, traversed like a window-frame,
by pieces of wood at right angles or diagonally, having holes at the
intersections for the admission of flat-headed bolts, by which the four
corners of the cast-iron plates, corresponding to the size of the square
divisions, will be secured to the frame, in close connexion with each
other. Such a butt being set up endways, need only be connected, by a
pulley at the top, to a couple of poles fixed in the earth, or to the
top of a movable triangle. Any inclination, either forwards or
backwards, may be given to it by means of the pulley. If it be inclined
backwards at an angle of eighty to eighty-five degrees, the bullets, at
medium and short ranges, will be reflected upwards nearly
perpendicularly in the air.
The ground in front of the butt should be well levelled to the distance
of about thirty yards, and covered with sifted road-scrapings, in
preference to turf, gravel, or sand.
As unnecessary waste should in all cases be avoided, there is no reason
why the recovery of the bullets should not be attended to. The best way
to insure this, is to give the surface of the butt an inclination
forward, of about ten degrees upon the horizontal line, which will cause
the bullets to be reflected downwards upon the smooth ground in front.
The recovered lead might be given as the perquisite of the marker, or to
the best shot at the drill.
A little on one side, and about five yards in advance of the butt, there
should be a little screen, or epaulement, behind which a man might
safely stand to perform the office of marker. This marker must be
provided with a pot of lamp-black and water, with a brush affixed to a
long stick, and a pot of whitewash. He must also have a bit of chalk, or
a box of various coloured wafers, to mark the shots. To prepare the butt
for shooting, it must be blackened all over. An object is then to be
designated in the middle, either with whitewash, or with one or more
sheets of white paper, according to the distance, and to the proficiency
of the men who are to practise.
Instead of a circular object or target, I recommend, for military
practice, a perpendicular parallelogram of two, four, six, twelve, or
more inches broad, and one, two, three, or five feet high. If such a
figure be made with whiting on the black butt, the bullets will make
very distinct marks upon it, while those which miss it will leave white
ones on the butt. If paper be used, care must be taken that it be not
moved about by the wind. Pieces of thick wrought iron, of the shape and
dimensions last described, to suit the different distances, &c.,
whitened and hung up against the butt, form excellent targets,
especially for distant shooting. A loud gong-like clang announces the
stroke of a bullet, while the marker may pretty well indicate, with a
stick blackened at the end, its precise situation. He will also point
out the site of those unresponsive shots which do not hit the mark. The
presiding officer should use a telescope. This method will obviate the
necessity of perpetually walking up to the target, which occasions much
loss of time, confusion, and danger.
As I have always observed that it gives most satisfaction to the firer,
when he sees the object fired at actually knocked down from its
situation, this result might easily be obtained either with plates of
plaster of Paris, or with metal ones. It may be also well to observe,
that a bright red is undoubtedly the colour which can be seen at the
greatest distance, and consequently the properest for a _bull’s-eye_.
Every shot being marked, and pointed out to the man who fired it, he
will always be able to form a criterion by which to regulate his next
attempt. Men might as well be made to shoot at a bottle in the dark, as
to practise without knowing where the bullet strikes—except when they
may chance to hit the bull’s-eye! I will venture to assert, that five
shots fired with care, comparison, and reflection, will produce more
improvement than fifty expended in the usual irrational manner.
It is particularly requisite to attend to the _perpendicular_ line; and
that no shot be allowed to count, which strikes the butt at more than
five feet from the ground. In service, it is far better that the bullet
should fall rather short, than that it should go over the adversary’s
head; as, in the former case, if it be on tolerably level ground, and in
the right perpendicular direction, there is a great probability of its
hitting him by the ricochet.
Both in rifle and pistol-shooting, an absurd custom prevails, of
pointing the piece upwards, and bringing it down to a level with the
object to be fired at. Instead of this practice, to which there are many
objections, the piece should, previously to being cocked, be pointed
downwards, at less than a yard from the foot of the firer. It is then to
be steadily raised up in the line of the object, and when within a
certain distance from the proposed level, the trigger (if not a detent)
should be gradually pressed, according to the knowledge which the firer
has of it, so that it may just go off without any pull at the desired
moment. While the piece is in motion upwards, the perpendicular line
described will be true and steady; and the quicker the motion the truer
the line. When the perpendicular motion ceases, the horizontal
vacillation begins. The aim, therefore, should not be prolonged beyond
the arrival of the sight at the intended level; but whenever it is so,
the piece must be lowered below it, and brought up again.
* * * * *
I have invented, says the Colonel, a simple method of rendering copper
caps perfectly water proof. It consists in dipping the open rim, or base
of the cap, into green taper wax, melted in a plate over a lamp. The
melted wax must not be so deep as to spread into the cap up to the
percussion powder at its extremity, but only so high as to form a slight
lining of the wax around its inner base. This will suffice to cause the
cap to close hermetically over the nipple; so that, provided it be not
cracked, and the gun have no lateral vent-hole (which it ought not to
have), the loaded piece may be put, over the lock, into a pail of water,
without affecting either the cap or the charge. For sporting purposes,
it is sufficient to have a few such caps in store, for wet weather. For
military use, the whole of the caps might be so prepared at the
laboratories.
* * * * *
Two rifle guns of the manufactory, the one valued at a hundred, the
other at twenty-five guineas, were next loaded, and fired by General
Beaumont and another person against my rifle, called Caroline, the
distance agreed on being one hundred yards. General Beaumont’s first
shot hit the bull’s eye, upon which he was highly complimented; mine in
return was an inch from it, and high odds were consequently in favour of
the General. The succeeding shots were as follows:—
General Beaumont’s second shot missed, and went over the iron plate
three feet square.
Colonel Thornton’s ditto near the bull’s eye.
General B’s third shot below the iron, and struck the ground.
Colonel T’s ditto hit the bull’s eye.
General B’s fourth shot struck to the left of the plate thirteen inches
from the mark.
Colonel T’s ditto near the mark.
General B’s fifth shot went over the mark.
Colonel T’s ditto within one inch of the bull’s eye.
The other rifle, shot by a person belonging to the manufactory, did not
succeed better than General Beaumont, and the decision was consequently
given in my favour. The rifle I shot with on this occasion, was the
workmanship of Mr. Sluden, of Cockspur Street.
* * * * *
During the late war in 1775, a company of riflemen, formed from the
backwoodsmen of Virginia, was quartered here (Lancaster in New England),
for some time. Two of them alternately held a board, only nine inches
square, between his knees, while his comrade fired a ball through it
from a distance of one hundred paces. The board is still preserved, and
I am assured, by several who were present, that it was performed without
any manner of deception.—_Maccerone_—_Thornton, &c._
RIGID, _a._ Stiff, not to be bent, unpliant, inflexible.
RING, _s._ A circle; a circle of gold or some other matter worn as
an ornament; a circular course; a circle made by persons
standing round; a number of bells harmonically tuned; the sound
of bells or any other sonorous body; a sound of any kind; a
hunting term.
RINGBONE, _s._ A hard callous substance growing in the hollow circle
of the little pastern of a horse; it sometimes grows quite round
like a ring.
RINGDOVE, CUSHAT, or QUEST, (_Columba palumbus_, LINN.; _Le Pigeon
ramier_, BUFF.) _s._ A kind of pigeon.
[Illustration]
This is the largest of all the pigeon tribe, and measures above
seventeen inches in length. The bill is of a pale red colour; the
nostrils are covered with a mealy red fleshy membrane; the eyes are pale
yellow; the upper parts of the body are of a bluish ash-colour, deepest
on the upper part of the back, the lower part of which, the rump, and
forepart of the neck and the head, are of a pale ash-colour; the lower
part of the neck and are of a vinous ash-colour; the belly, thighs, and
vent are of a dull white; on the hinder part of the neck there is a
semicircular line of white (whence its name) above and beneath which the
feathers are glossy, and of a changeable hue in different lights; the
greater quills are dusky, and all of them, excepting the outermost,
edged with white; from the point of the wing a white line extends
downwards, passing above the bastard wing; the tail is ash-colour,
tipped with black; the legs are red, and partly covered with feathers;
the claws black.
The ring dove is very generally diffused throughout Europe; it is said
to be migratory; but that it does not leave us entirely we are well
convinced, as we have frequently seen them during the winter on the
banks of the Tyne, where they constantly breed in the spring. The nest
is composed of small twigs, so loosely put together, that the eggs may
be seen through it from below.
The female lays two white eggs, and is generally supposed to have two
broods in the year. They feed on wild fruits, herbs, and grain of all
kinds; they likewise are very fond of the roots of the pernicious weeds
so well known to farmers under the name of _whickens_; the _Triticum
repens_, or couch-grass, is the principal one; their flesh is very
delicious when they have fed upon these, but it soon acquires an
unpleasant flavour when they have lived upon turnips, which, from
necessity, they are driven to eat in severe winters. The ring dove has a
louder and more plaintive sort of cooing than the common pigeon, but is
not heard except in pairing time, or during fine weather.
The ring dove or wood pigeon is the largest species in England, weighing
about twenty ounces, and is too well known to need particular
description as to its plumage.
The major part of them, in respect to this kingdom, are emigrants,
departing elsewhere at the latter end of the year, and returning early
in the spring. In the beginning of winter they assemble in large flocks,
and leave off their plaintive cooing, which they commence in March, when
they pair; they chiefly inhabit the woods, and build in the tops of
trees, making a large, loose, and flat nest, with dry sticks and bents;
they breed twice in the year, first in April; the second brood appears
most numerously in August; they seldom lay more than two eggs, larger
but alike in colour to other pigeons, and sit fourteen days before the
young are hatched. Wood pigeons are excellent eating, except when they
feed on turnips and rape. They are useful in coverts that are made
preserves for pheasants, by immediately taking alarm if any person
enters them after they have roosted, and quitting the trees upon which
they had settled for the night, they fly about in great commotion. The
gamekeepers know how to profit by this sort of intelligence in their
search after intruders.—_Daniel._
RING OUSEL, (_Turdus Torquatus_, LINN.; _Le Merle à Plastron Blanc_,
BUFF.) _s._
[Illustration]
This bird very much resembles the blackbird; its general colour is of a
dull black or dusky hue; each feather is margined with a greyish ash
colour; the bill is dusky; corners of the mouth and inside yellow; eyes
hazel; its breast is distinguished by a crescent of pure white, which
almost surrounds the neck, and from which it derives its name; its legs
are of a dusky brown. The female differs in having the crescent on the
breast much less conspicuous, and in some birds wholly wanting, which
has occasioned some authors to consider it as a different species under
the name of the rock ouzel.
Ring ousels are found in various parts of this kingdom, chiefly in the
wilder and more mountainous districts of the country. Their habits are
similar to those of the blackbird; the female builds her nest in the
same manner, and in similar situations, and lays four or five eggs of
the same colour; they feed on insects and berries of various kinds, are
fond of grapes, and Buffon observes during the season of vintage are
generally fat, and at that time are esteemed delicious eating. The same
author says that in France they are migratory. In some parts of this
kingdom they have been observed to change places, particularly in
Hampshire, where they are known generally to stay not more than a
fortnight at one time.
* * * * *
On the 13th of April, I went to the sheep-down, where the ring-ousels
have been observed to make their appearance at spring and fall, in their
way perhaps to the north or south; and was much pleased to see three
birds about the usual spot. We shot a cock and a hen; they were plump
and in high condition. The hen had but very small rudiments of eggs
within her, which proves they are late breeders; whereas those species
of the thrush kind that remain with us the whole year, have fledged
young before that time. In their crops was nothing very distinguishable,
but somewhat that seemed like blades of vegetables nearly digested. In
autumn they feed on haws and yew-berries, and in the spring on
ivy-berries. I dressed one of these birds, and found it juicy and
well-flavoured. It is remarkable that they make but a few days’ stay in
their spring visit, but rest near a fortnight at Michaelmas. These
birds, from the observations of three springs and two autumns, are most
punctual in their return; and exhibit a new migration unnoticed by the
writers, who supposed they never were to be seen in any of the southern
counties.—_Bewick_—_White’s Selborne._
RINGSTREAKED, _a._ Circularly streaked.
RINGTAIL, _s._ A kind of kite.
RINSE, _v._ To wash, to cleanse by washing. In case of canine bite,
to instantly wash the wound in water, is the very simplest and
most effective preventative.
RIPPLING, _s._ A moving roughness on the surface of a running water.
RIVER, _s._ A land-current of water larger than a brook.
The rivers in England amount to three hundred and twenty-five, though
others enlarge their number to four hundred and fifty.
_Shooting Wildfowl on a River, &c._—For killing common wild ducks that
frequent a river, you have only to go a little before sunset; place
yourself against any dark bush or bank, and there wait patiently, and
out of sight, till they come down and fly round you, which they will
generally do several times before they drop into the stream or marshes.
As wild ducks most frequently betake themselves to the springs and
rivers about dusk, you have no occasion to wait for them longer than
just the last hour, or half, before dark; but if they have been much
disturbed or shot at, they will not always fly sufficiently early to be
seen, though you may plainly hear the shrill and somewhat melancholy
sound of their wings. If, however, the twilight is followed by a full
moon, these birds will often withhold coming to the river till the moon
has completely risen, in which case you might have to wait till an hour
or two after dusk; but then the sport is considerably better, and will
last much longer, with the additional advantage of your having continued
good light for shooting.
Wild ducks generally come to the same place, unless they have been shot
at, or there should be a change of wind and weather.
It often happens that wild ducks, dunbirds, and other fowl, come down at
night to large rivers, ponds, or lakes, which are so deeply surrounded
by floating reeds, that no one can approach the water; and the birds,
aware of this, do not lower their flight till they come near them. So
far from this defying the shooter, it is one of the finest opportunities
that can be afforded for death and destruction. Let him sit in a small
punt or canoe, fore and aft among the rushes, where towards dusk he will
be so completely hid, that he may either shoot at birds flying within
pistol shot, or wait for a good chance on the water; from whence (his
boat being hid on each side, and foreshortened to the only point of
view) he will be pretty sure to escape the observation of the
birds.—_Hawker._
RIVET, _s._ A fastening pin clinched at both ends.
RIVULET, _s._ A small river, a brook, a streamlet.
ROACH, _s._ A fish peculiar to fresh water.
[Illustration]
Roach is a handsome fish either in, or fresh out of the water; it
inhabits many of our deep, still rivers; affecting, like the others of
this genus, quiet waters; it is gregarious, keeping in large shoals; it
has a small head, a leather mouth, which is round, and also small, with
the teeth in the throat; large eyes, the circle of which resembles gold
colour, and the iris red; the roach is deep, but thin, and the back
elevated; the scales are large, and easily fall off; the fins are in
general red, particularly whilst in perfection; as they may also be
known to be by the smoothness of the scales, which, when out of season,
feel like the rough side of an oyster-shell: the side-line bends much on
the middle, towards the belly, and the tail is a little forked. It is so
silly a fish, that it has acquired the name of the water sheep.
Many ways are recommended to catch this fish by angling, when in deep
waters, near piles of bridges, flood-gates, &c.: in hot weather, a May
or ant-fly is to be sunk by a little lead, within a few inches of the
hook, near the sides of these posts or piles; this is to be pulled up
very leisurely; a roach will generally attend the fly to the surface,
there gaze on it for a moment, and then take it.
Stern fishing, is by fixing a boat (for without, roach of any size are
hardly to be caught,) to the stern of a vessel returned from a voyage,
whose bottom is foul, and furnished with insects, which the fish
greedily devour. The line should not exceed four feet, the float be
within a foot of its top, and the rod very short; the bait to be three
or four gentles, and dropt close to the ship’s sides, not allowing the
bait to swim more than eight or nine feet; begin at the first of the
ebb-tide, and for two hours the roach will bite freely.—_Daniel._
ROAD, _s._ Large way, public path; ground where ships may anchor.
ROADSTER, _s._ A hackney, a horse kept for the road.
The hackney, more than any other variety of horse, adds to our health
and comfort; we ride him for amusement, and he transports us long
distances on our personal avocations. On some only of these occasions
speed is desirable; but on all safety is indispensable; and next to
that, is the ease with which his motions are performed. These requisites
remove the hackney still further than the hunter from that form which
best suits the purposes of the racer. In the hackney, therefore, we
scrutinise his fore quarters with the same attention that we pay to the
hinder parts of the racer; for, as to the purposes of the latter, the
fore parts are subordinate to the hinder, so in the hackney, speed being
infinitely less important than either ease or safety, and particularly
the latter, it is essential that his fore parts be so formed as to
ensure these properties. And here it may not be irrelevant to inquire,
on what does the safety of action mainly depend? Is it on any particular
care of the animal himself in his progression? or does it necessarily
arise out of certain peculiarities in his formation, dependent on such
an elevation of his feet as will ensure his not stumbling by any
erroneous placing of them? The close observer, I think, will answer,
that both are concerned: many horses go safely, and yet by no means
elevate their legs high; but such are attentive to their steps; and when
they see stones or other risings in their path, carefully avoid them. In
my early practice I was called on to examine a horse intended for the
French court, at the stables of that veteran dealer Choppin. I objected
to the horse that he went close to the ground, which even his owner
could not deny: but he still argued, that, although he appeared to go
near the ground, yet that he was particularly safe in all his paces;
and, as a lure to the purchase, would have offered a bet, that on the
roughest ground he would not make one trip. As the animal in all other
respects was desirable, ground purposely stony in the extreme was
chosen, over which he was tried; and it was singular to remark, that in
every pace he accommodated the elevation of his feet exactly to the
elevations of surface they were to pass over; but it was with a kind of
frightful nicety to the observer. On the same ground, many high actioned
horses, from inattention to the matters on it, might have tripped by
meeting any unusual rising; or, by placing one of the feet on a rolling
stone, might have fallen altogether. But it is not hence meant to argue,
that the most careful hackney, which does not naturally elevate his
feet, is a desirable one. Horses, it is true, are in a great degree
crepuscular, and see in a very moderate light. But would such a horse be
safe to ride at a brisk trot along an uneven road in a dark night? Or
even in a long day, might not fatigue bring his feet down without his
usual caution?
The fore-hand of the hackney, therefore, should be elevated, and his
shoulder by all means must be oblique; so that he may not only lift up
his feet, but also ride pleasantly and lightly in hand, as it is termed
by horsemen. To which latter valuable quality it is also essential that
he have a neck of just proportions, and that his head be particularly
well placed on it, so as to afford him room for flexing himself to the
action of the bridle, which, in the hands of a good rider, will
sometimes constrain him to throw himself on his haunches, and at others
to carry himself forward for more speedy progression. The remainder of
the fore limbs ought to present a perfectly vertical line to the
pastern, which should have such length and obliquity, and such only, as
shall bring the toe directly under the point of the shoulder. The body
should be circular, neither long nor very short; his saddle-placing
good, his flank on a plane nearly with the rest of his carcass, his
loins wide, and his croup gently curved only, to allow of a graceful
setting on of the tail. From hence downwards, the principles already
laid down when treating on the exterior formation generally, will apply;
particularising only, that for this variety of horse a good foot ought
never to be dispensed with. Height is not so essential in the hackney as
in the hunter; it need never to exceed fifteen hands two inches: in most
cases it may, with more propriety, range between fourteen hands three
inches, and fifteen hands one inch. Altogether, his frame should be
compact, without being in the least clumsy; and with this form, the more
breeding he shows, short of full blood, the better.—_Blaine._
ROAN, _a._ Bay or sorrel, with grey or white spots interspersed.
The roans, of every variety of colour and form, are composed of white
mixed with bay, or red, or black. In some it seems to be a natural
mixture of the colours; in others it appears as if one colour was
powdered or sprinkled over another. They are pretty horses for ladies or
light carriages, and many of them easy in their paces, but they do not
usually display much blood, nor are they celebrated for endurance. If
they should have white fore legs, with white hoofs, they are too often
tender-footed, or become so with even a little hard work.—_The Horse._
ROAR, _v._ To cry as a lion or other wild beast; to cry in distress;
to sound as the wind or sea; to make a loud noise.
ROARING, _s._ A disease in horses.
The causes of roaring, which I shall here use as a type of the whole,
are remote and proximate. The remote causes are mostly inflammation,
acute or chronic, in the tracheal tube itself. Occasionally it is
brought on by the effects of inflammation on other parts, as of the
salivary glands in strangles, or of those abscesses which not
unfrequently occur in violent catarrh in the vicinage of the pharynx.
Structural alteration in the lungs, as hepatisation, has occasioned it
(_Percivall’s Lectures_, vol. ii. p. 256). Obstructions accidentally
formed by exostoses, cicatrisations, &c., or extraneous substances
lodged in the cavities leading to the trachea, may any of them occasion
it. Barriere notices a case of roaring dependent on the lodgment of a
piece of riband within one of the nasal fossæ; and Godine another,
brought on by a displaced molar tooth. The proximate cause might, with
propriety, include these accidental obstructions, but they are mainly to
be looked for in an extravasation, partial or extensive, of coagulable
lymph; which, becoming organised, forms a permanent obstruction. When it
is extensively spread over the larynx, it produces wheezing; when it
constringes the rimaglottis, a whistling sound is the consequence, and
is often heard in our own respirations under catarrh, or in the ordinary
respirations of some asthmatic persons. Whoever has handled the throats
of many old horses, must have observed the hardened state of the larynx,
which almost resisted all attempts to what is termed ‘cough them.’ This
ossification of the laryngeal cartilages is not an uncommon cause; and a
similar state in the cartilages of the trachea is productive of it also.
A very common case also of roaring is a band of lymph stretched across
the tracheal tube; at others, an internal ring of the same matter simply
diminishes its diameter. The obstruction is sometimes so considerable as
to excite piping or roaring on the slightest exertion; in general cases,
however, roaring is only exerted when forcible inspirations and
expirations are made; for it is, I believe, equally produced by the one
as by the other. Mechanical obstructions to free respiration may
eventually be productive of roaring: the custom of tightly reining in
our carriage-horses, there is reason to think, produces it often; and
Mr. Sewell is of opinion, that the practice of using tight
throat-lashes, or neck-straps, may lead to it. In furtherance of which
opinion, it may be recollected, that horsemen have a very general
supposition that crib-biting ends in roaring, in thick wind, or in
broken wind: may not the tight collar-strap also here tend to the former
of these affections? The custom of ‘coughing’ horses, and so frequently
as it is practised in fairs, may be readily supposed as a cause. A horse
passes from fair to fair, having his unfortunate throat brutally pinched
thirty or forty times each day. Is it to be wondered at if inflammation
take place, and adhesive deposit follow?
The treatment must be regulated by circumstances, but the principal
indication is to remove the remote causes in the early stages, and to
obviate the effects in the latter. If active inflammation be going on,
bleed and blister; and if tumefaction of the neighbouring parts have
occasioned it, attempt their reduction. Elevate the head as much as may
be. Mr. Sewell recommends a seton in the neighbourhood of the
obstruction when known; and in desperate cases he observes, that
tracheotomy has been performed with considerable advantage; but the
extreme difficulty of detecting the exact situation of the obstruction,
will prevent its being generally adverted to.—_Blaine._
ROCK-DOE, _s._ A species of deer.