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pose of approaching the fluid, which rises and falls ac- cording to tlie dryness or moisture of the weather. The natives lave it out with ladles into bags made of skins, which are carried on the backs of asses to Kirkiik, or to any otiier mart for its sale. . . . The Kirkuk naphtha is principally consumed by the markets in the south- west of Kurdistan, while the pits not far from Kufri supply Bagdad and its environs. The Bagdad naphtha is black" (Trav. ii, 440), It is described by Dioscorides (i, 101) as the dregs of the Babylonian asphalt, and white in color. According to Plutarch ( .4 /ea-. p. 35 ), Alexander tirst saw it in the city of Ecbatana, where the inhabitants exhibited its marvellous effects by strewing it along the street which led to his headquar- ters and setting it on tire. He then tried an experi- ment on a page who attended him, putting him into a hath of naphtha and setting light to it (Strabo, xvii 743), which nearlv resulted in the boy's death. Plu- tarch suggests that it was naphtha in which Medea steeped the crown and robe which she gave to the daughter of Creon; and Suidas says that the Greeks called it " Medea's oil," but the Medes " naphtha." The Persian name is naft. Posidonius (in Strabo) relates that in Babylonia there were springs of black and white naphtha. The former, says Strabo (xvii, 743), were of liquid bitumen, which they burned in lamps instead of oil. The latter were of liquid sulphur. — Smith. See BiTL'JiEX ; Naphtha.
Rosini, Caklo Maria, an Italian archteologist, was born at Naples, April 1, 1748. He studied among the Jesuits, embraced the ecclesiastical life, and in 1784 be- came the successor of Nicolo Ignarra as professor of Holy Scripture in a college at Naples. lie was canon of the Cathedral of Naples till 1792, when he was elected bish- op of Pozzuoli. He was in favor with the king, and received the position of councillor of state and grand almoner, and later, under Ferdinand I, was minister of public instruction. Ilosini was a member of the Acad- emy of Herculaneum after its reorganization, and was one of the most active in deciphering ancient MSS., of which he published a great number. They are in- cluded in the Ilerculanensia Volumina (Naples, 1793). Kosini died at Naples, Feb. 18, 1836. His works are all on archffiological subjects, the principal one being Dis- sertatio Isarjoiiica wl llerculanensiuin Voluminum Ex- planationtni (ibid. 1797), a history of the destruction of Herculaneum and Pompeii. See Tipaldo, Biogr. der/li Itid. Illustri ; Rosa [Prospero della]. Vita di CM. Rosini. — Hoefer, Xouv, Biog. Generale, s. v.
Rosier, Christian Friedkicii, a German doctor of theology and professor of history, was born .June 19, 173G, at Canstadt, in Wiirtemberg. For some time he labored as deacon at Vailiingen, and in 1777 he was called to Tubingen, where he died, March 20, 1821. He wrote, Lehrhegriff der christl. Kirche in den 3 ersten Juhrhnmlerten (Frankft.-on-the-Main, 1775) : — De Phi- losaphia Vet. Ecclesice de Spiritu et de Mundo (Tubingen, 1783) : — Bibliothek der Kirchenrdter in Ueheisetzungen u. Ausziigen. etc. (Leips. 177G-8G). See Winer, Hand- buck der theol. Litenitin; i, 594, 598, 87(5 ; ii, 738. (B. P.)
Ross, Alexander, a Scottish divine and writer, was born at Aberdeen in 1590. He became chaplain to Charles I, and was his zealous partisan during the civil war, U)42-49. He was also master of the Southampton Free School, to which, at his death, in 1654, he left a handsome bequest. Among Ross's works was a Cnntin- ualicn of the History of Sir Walter R(deigk, A.'Sl. 3604 to A.l). 1640 (Loud. 1652): — Rerum Judaicaruni (ibid. H!17-32, 4 vols.): — Exposition of the First Fourteen Chapters of Genesis, by " Abrahame Rosse" (ibid. 1626) : — .4 View of the .lewish Religion (ibid. 1656, small 8vo). See Allibone, Did. <f lirit. aiiil . 1 iner. A uthors, s. v.
Ross, Edward Frederick, a Presbyterian di- vine, was born in New York city, Feb. 12, 1826. He graduated from Union College in 1848, and entered the Andover Theological Seminary, where he pursued his
theological studies for two years, when he entered the Union Tlieological Seminary, and graduated in 1851. He was ordained Sept. 26 of the same year, and was installed pastor of the Congregational Church of M(irris- ania, N. Y., in which position he remained until 1854, when he resignetl and removed to Poughkeepsie. Here he remained without charge, and died at Pleasant Val- ley, N. Y., Feb. 22, 1855. (W. P. S.)
Ross, Hugh, a Presbyterian minister, was born in Rothiemurchus, Inverness-shire, Scotland, in 1797. He pursued his academic studies at the parish school of Abernethy, until, in 1813, the family emigrating to Nova Scotia and settling in Pictoii, he became a student in the Pictou Academy. When he had finished his academic course, he studied theology with Rev. Dr. M'Cullough, was licensed by Pictou Presbytery in 1823, and, being able to ]5reach in Gaelic, was soon after ordained as an evangelist, and spent some time in the island of Cape Breton. In 1827 he became pastor of the churches of Tatamagouchee and New Annan, and subseiiuently of Georgetown and Murray Harbor. He was moderator of the synod at the time of the disruption, and gave in his adherence to the Free Church. Mr. Ross died sud- denly, Dec. 1, 1858. He was a man of fine gifts and an excellent preacher. See AVilson, Fresh, llist. A Imunac, 1860, p. 234. (J. L. S.)