RI T'BRIC, in the language of the old copies of manuscripts, and of modern printers, any writing or printing in red ink. The date and place on a title-page being frequently in red ink, the word rubric has come to signify the false namo ' of a place in a title•page. Many books printed at Paris boar the rubric of Ge noa, London, dc. But the most common use of the word is in ecclesiastical mat ters. In MS. Missals, the directions pre fixed to the several prayers and offices were written or printed in red ink ; and hence, the rubric familiarly signifies the order of the liturgy, in Roman Catholic countries as well as in England.
RrIlY, a precious stone, next to tho diamond in hardness and value. Its con stituent parts are alumina, silica, carbo nate of lime, and oxyde of iron. The most esteemed, rind, at the same time, rarest color, of the oriental ruby, is pure car mine, or blood red of considerable intensi ty, farming, when well polished, a blaze of the most exquisite and unrivalled tint.
It is, however, more or less pale, and mixed with blue in various proportions; hence it occurs rose-red and reddish white, crimson, peach-blossom red, and lilac blue—the latter variety being named oriental amethyst. A ruby, perfect both in 'color and transparency, is much less common than a good diamond, and when of the weight of three or four carats, is even more valuable than that gem. The king of Pegu. and the monarchs of Siam and Ara, monopolize the rarest rubies ; the finest in the world is in the possession of the first of these kings : its purity has passed into a proverb, and its worth, when compared with gold, is inestimable.