RANJIT SINGH, the maharajah of the Sikhs, after taking possession of Lahore, became undisputed master of the Punjab, and imposed on his subjects the monarchical form of government, which was shattered to fragments after his death; he was the possessor of the Koh-i-Nur diamond (1797-1839).

RANJITSINHJI, Indian prince, born at Sarodar; studied at Cambridge; devoted himself to cricket, and became famous for his brilliant play; b. 1872.

RANKE, LEOPOLD VON, distinguished German historian, born in Thueringia just 16 days after Thomas Carlyle; began life similarly as a teacher and devoted his leisure hours to the study of history and the publication of historical works; was in 1825 appointed professor of History at Berlin; was commissioned by the Prussian government to explore the historical archives of Vienna, Rome, and Venice, the fruit of which was seen in his subsequent historical labours, which bore not only upon the critical periods of German history, but those of Italy, France, and even England; of his numerous works, all founded on the impartial study of facts, it is enough to mention here his “History of the Popes in the Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries” and his “German History in the Times of the Reformation” (1795-1886).

RANKINE, W. J. MACQUORN, mathematician and physicist, born in Edinburgh; devoted himself to engineering, and held the chair of Engineering in Glasgow University; wrote extensively on mathematical and physical subjects, both theoretical and practical (1820-1872).

RANNOCH, an elevated, dreary moorland in NW. of Perthshire, crossed by the West Highland Railway; Lochs Rannoch and Tummel lie to the E. and Loch Lydoch in the W.

RANTERS, a name given to the Primitive Methodists who seceded from the Wesleyan body on account of a deficiency of zeal.

RANZ DES VACHES, a simple melody, played on the horn by the Swiss Alpine herdsmen as they drive their cattle to or from the pasture, and which, when played in foreign lands, produces on a Swiss an almost irrepressible yearning for home.

RAPE OF THE LOCK, a dainty production of Pope’s, pronounced by Stopford Brooke to be “the most brilliant occasional poem in the language.”

RAPHAEL, one of the seven archangels and the guardian of mankind, conducted Tobias to the country of the Medes and aided him in capturing the miraculous fish, an effigies of which, as also a pilgrim’s staff, is an attribute of the archangel.

RAPHAEL, SANTI, celebrated painter, sculptor, and architect, born at Urbino, son of a painter; studied under Perugino for several years, visited Florence in 1504, and chiefly lived there till 1508, when he was called to Rome by Pope Julius II., where he spent the rest of his short life and founded a school, several of the members of which became eminent in art; he was one of the greatest of artists, and his works were numerous and varied, which included frescoes, cartoons,