rhazya

[Named after Rhazes, an Arabic physician, who lived in the tenth century.] Bot.: A genus of Plumierese. The very bitter leaves of Rhazya strict a are steeped and then used as a food for goats. In Sind the natives use them in the preparation of cool drinks in hot weather, and as a bitter tonic in low fevers, sore throat, . Rhe-a (1), s . [Gr.] 1. Astron.: One of the satellites of Saturn. 2. Gr. Mythol.: The daughter of Uranus and Ge, wife of Saturn, and mother of Vesta, Ceres, Juno, Pluto, . 3. Ornith.: A genus of Strut hi on ide, or, if that family is divided, of Struthionine. Three toes are present, the neck is covered with feathers, and the tail is almost obsolete. They are sometimes called South American Ostriches, but are smaller than the true Ostrich, and the whole plumage is somber. There are two well-established species, Rhea ameri . can a, the Common, and R. darwin i , Darwin's Rhea, the former ranging from Bolivia, Paraguay, and the South of Brazil down to Magellan's Straits, the latter inhabiting Eastern Patagonia. R. macrorhyncha was given specific distinction by Dr. Sclater in 1860 ( Trans . Zool. Soc ., iv. 356, pl. xlix), but subsequent investigations led him to believe that the individuals belonged to "a locally isolated race of R. american a , probably existing somewhere in the campos of the interior of northeastern Brazil" (Proc. Zool . Soc ., 1877, 160; cf. 1885). 4. Palæont.: Remains species larger than either of those now living, from post-Tertiary deposits in the Brazilian bone-caves. rhe-a (2), subst. [A amese rhia = Boehmeria nivea.] Bot. Boehmeria nivea and B. utilis. IMG:content-0592.png:[blocks in formation] Chem.: An acid found, together with papaveric acid, in the flowers of Papaver rheas. It is precipitated by neutral acetate of lead, but has not yet been obtained in the pure state.