In January 1725, on the revival of the Bath, the red riband was offered to him, but was declined.
He aspired to the role of a politician, and has left a memorable example of genius degraded to servility for the sake of a riband and a title.
On this account the fibres of tussur or tussore silk tend to split up into fine fibrillae under the various preparatory processes in manufacturing, and its riband structure is the cause of the glassy lustre peculiar to the woven and finished fibres.
In optics, the term caustic is given to the envelope of luminous rays after reflection or refraction; in the first case the envelope is termed a catacaustic, in the second a diacaustic. Catacaustics are to be observed as bright curves when light is allowed to fall upon a polished riband of steel, such as a watch-spring, placed on a table, and by varying the form of the spring and moving the source of light, a variety of patterns may be obtained.
Even more thrilling is the battle for the blue riband Post 1989 title.
