ne; became a Franciscan
monk; read and studied a great deal, but, sick of convent life, ran away
at forty years of age; went to Montpellier, and studied medicine, and for
a time practised it, particularly at Lyons; here he commenced the series
of writings that have immortalised his name, his "Gargantua" and
"Pantagruel," which he finished as cure of Meudon, forming a succession
of satires in a vein of riotous mirth on monks, priests, pedants, and all
the incarnate solecisms of the time, yet with all their licentiousness
revealing a heart in love with mankind, and a passionate desire for the
establishment of truth and justice among men (1495-1553).

RACES OF MANKIND. These have been divided into five, the
CAUCASIAN (q. v.) or Indo-European, the Mongolian or Yellow, the
Negro or Black, the Malayan or Tawny, and the India or Copper-coloured.

RACHEL, ELIZA, a great French tragedienne, born in Switzerland, of
Jewish parents; made her _debut_ in Paris in 1838, and soon became famous
as the interpreter of the principal characters in the masterpieces of
Racine and Corneille, her crowning triumph being the representation, in
1843, of Phedre in the tragedy of Racine; she made a great impression
wherever she appeared, realised a large fortune, and died of decline
(1821-1858).

RACINE (21), a flourishing city of Wisconsin, U.S.A., capital of
Racine County, at the entrance of Root River into Lake Michigan, 62 m. N.
of Chicago; has an Episcopal university: trades in lumber, flax, and the
products of various factories.

RACINE, JEAN, great French tragic poet, born at La Ferte Milon, in
the dep. of Aisne; was educated at Beauvais and the Port Royal; in 1663
settled in Paris, gained the favour of Louis XIV. and the friendship of
Boileau, La Fontaine, and Moliere, though he quarrelled with the latter,
and finally lost favour with the king, which he never recovered, and
which hastened his death; he raised the French language to the highest
pitch of perfection in his tragedies, of which the chief are "Andromaque"
(1667), "Britannicus" (1669), "Mithridate" (1673), "Iphigenie" (1774),
"Phedre" (1677), "Esther" (1688), and "Athalie" (1691), as well as an
exquisite comedy entitled "Les Plaideurs" (1669); when Voltaire was asked
to write a commentary on Racine, his answer was, "One had only to write
at the foot of each page, _beau, pathetique, harmonieux, admirable,
sublime_" (1639-1699).

RACK, an instrument of torture; consist