Rhone River River, Switzerland and France. A historic southern gate¬ way, as well as the only major European river flowing directly to the Mediterranean Sea, the Rhone is 505 mi (813 km) long and navigable for about 300 mi (485 km). It is Alpine in character, and its course has been shaped by neighbouring mountain systems. Rising in the Swiss Alps, it flows into Lake Geneva, then crosses into France through the Jura Moun¬ tains. It continues south through Lyon, Avignon, and Tarascon to Arles and enters the Mediterranean west of Marseille.
rhubarb Any of several species of the genus Rheum (family Polygo- naceae), especially R. rhaponticum (or R. rhabarbarum ), a hardy peren¬ nial grown for its large, succulent, edible leafstalks. Rhubarb is best adapted to the cooler parts of the tem¬ perate zones. The fleshy, tart, and highly acid leafstalks are used in pies, compotes and preserves, and some¬ times as the base of a wine or an aperitif. The roots withstand cold well. The huge leaves that unfold in early spring are toxic to cattle and humans; later in the season a large central flower stalk may bear numerous small, greenish-white flowers and angular, winged fruits. Rhubarb root has long been considered to have cathartic and purgative properties.
rhyme Type of echoing produced by the close placement of two or more words with similarly sounding final syllables. Rhyme is used in poetry (and occasionally in prose) to produce sounds that appeal to the ear and to unify and establish a poem’s stanzaic form. End rhyme (i.e., rhyme used at the end of a line to echo the end of another line) is most com¬ mon, but internal rhyme (occurring before the end of a line) is frequently used as an embellishment. Types of “true rhyme” include masculine rhyme, in which the two words end with the same vowel-consonant com¬ bination (stand/land); feminine rhyme (or double rhyme), in which two syllables rhyme (profession/discretion); and trisyllabic rhyme, in which three syllables rhyme (patinate/latinate).
rhyolite Vrl-o-.lItV Igneous rock that is the volcanic equivalent of gran¬ ite, whose chemical composition is similar. Rhyolites are known from all parts of the Earth and from all geologic ages; they are found mostly on the continents or their immediate margins, but small quantities have been described from remote islands.
Rhys Vres\, Jean orig. Ella Gwendolen Rees William (b. Aug. 24, 1890, Roseau, Dominica, Windward Islands, West Indies—d. May 14, 1979, Exeter, Devon, Eng.) Dominican-born British novelist. Rhys left the West Indies for London to study acting at age 16. She later moved to Paris, where she was encouraged to write by Ford Madox Ford. She earned acclaim for short stories and novels set in the bohemian world of Europe in the 1920s and ’30s, including Good Morning, Midnight (1939). After settling in Cornwall, she published nothing for nearly three decades before producing Wide Sargasso Sea (1966), a memorable novel about Mr. Roch¬ ester’s mad first wife in Charlotte Bronte’s Jane Eyre (see Bronte sisters); and two story collections.
rhythm and blues (R&B) Any of several closely related musical styles developed by African American artists. The various styles were based on a mingling of European influences with jazz rhythms and tonal inflections, particularly syncopation and the flatted blues chords. They grew out of the blues of the rural South, which blended work chants with songs of deep emotion, and were greatly influenced by gospel music. Three major forms were distinguishable. The earliest, called race , was the style of the “jump” band, which emphasized strong rhythm, solo work (espe¬ cially by saxophones), and vocals in a shout-blues manner. A second form, often called Chicago blues, was exemplified by performers such as Muddy Waters and was typically played by a small group with amplified instru¬ ments. The third major form was primarily vocal, featuring close, gospel- influenced harmonies often backed by an orchestra. In the mid-1950s the term rhythm and blues was adopted by the music industry for music intended for the African American audience; with the gradual disappear¬ ance of racial barriers, the Chicago blues style began to seem less a vital form than a folk tradition, while the gospel style was transformed into the soul music of vast appeal. Rhythm and blues was the chief antecedent of ROCK MUSIC.
rhythm and metre Two aspects of the organization of time in music. Rhythm is the placement of musical sounds in time. Metre, like poetical metre, is usually a regular pattern of beats and provides the context in which rhythm is understood. In Western notated music, metre is indicated by means of a time signature—in which the lower number specifies the basic unit or subunit of the beat (e.g., 8 usually indicates that eighth-notes are the basic subunit) and the upper number specifies the number of beats in a measure—at the beginning of a piece or movement, and by the ver¬ tical bar lines that divide the piece into measures.
rhythmic sportive gymnastics Athletic competition related to gym¬ nastics and dance in which participants, individually or in groups, per¬ form exercise routines with the aid of hand apparatuses such as ropes, hoops, balls, clubs, and ribbons. In scoring points, artistry counts more than acrobatics. The sport dates from the 18th century. Though some gymnasts participated at the Olympic Games from 1948 to 1956, not until 1984 did it become an official Olympic competitive event.
Ribalta \re-'bal-ta\, Francisco (b. 1565, Castellon de la Plana, Spain—d. Jan. 12, 1628, Valencia) Spanish painter. His early works are Mannerist. After settling in Valencia in 1598, he developed a darker and more naturalistic style (e.g., his Santiago altarpiece, 1603) under the influ¬ ence of Caravaggio. After 1612 he achieved originality and grandeur in such paintings as Christ Embracing St. Bernard. His later paintings, marked by powerfully modeled forms, simplicity of composition, and naturalistic lighting, anticipate the work of Diego Velazquez, Francisco Zurbaran, and Jose de Ribera.
Ribat See Rabat
Ribaut \re-'b6\, Jean (b. c. 1520, Dieppe, France—d. Oct. 12, 1565, Florida) French naval officer and colonizer. He served in the French navy under Gaspard II de Coligny, who in 1562 sent him to found a French Huguenot colony in Florida. He landed at the mouth of the St. Johns River (Florida), then sailed north to establish Charlesfort (now in South Caro¬ lina). He returned to France, then was sent back to Florida (1565) to rein¬ force the French colony of Fort Caroline on the St. Johns River. Spanish claims to the region led to the attack and destruction of the colony by Pedro Menendez de Aviles, who massacred the French, including Ribaut.
Ribbentrop Vri-bsn-.trapV Joachim von (b. April 30, 1893, Wesel, Ger.—d. Oct. 16, 1946, Niirnberg) German diplomat and foreign minis¬ ter under the Nazi regime. After serving in World War I, he became a wine merchant. He met Adolf Hitler in 1932 and became his chief adviser on foreign affairs. He negotiated the Anglo-German Naval Agreement and served as ambassador to Britain (1936-38), advising Hitler that Britain could not aid Poland effectively. As foreign minister (1938—45), he nego¬ tiated the Pact of Steel with Italy, the German-Soviet Nonaggression Pact, and the Tripartite Pact with Japan and Italy. His influence waned in World War II, after which he was found guilty at the Niirnberg trials and hanged.
Ribble, River River, northwestern England. It is 75 mi (120 km) long. It rises in North Yorkshire and flows south and west through Lancashire into the Irish Sea through an estuary extending from Preston. The channel to the Irish Sea coast has been straightened to provide a shipping lane to Preston.