La Rochelle
La Rochelle, A Seaport Of France, Capital Of The Depart Ment Of Charente-inferieure, 90 M. S. By E. Of Nantes On The Railway To Bordeaux. Pop. (1931) 41,478. La Rochelle Stands On The Atlantic Coast On An Inlet Opening Off The Great Bay In Which Lie The Islands Of Re ...
La Tene
La Tene ("the Shallows"), The Site Which Gave Its Name To The Culture Of The Second Iron Age Of Central And Western Europe, Lies In Switzerland, At The East End Of The Lake Of Neuchatel. It Was Not The Starting-point Of That Culture, As It Seems Only To Have Been ...
La Voisin Catherine Monvoisin
La Voisin. Catherine Monvoisin, Known As "la Voisin" (d. 168o), French Sorceress, Whose Maiden Name Was Catherine Deshayes, Was One Of The Chief Personages In The Famous Affaire Des Poisons, Which Disgraced The Reign Of Louis Xiv. Her Husband, Monvoisin Was A Jeweller, And She Practised Chiromancy And Face Reading. ...
Labiatae
Labiatae, In Botany, A Family Of Seed-plants Belonging To The Series Of Tubiflorae Of The Dicotyledons, And Containing About 200 Genera With 3,00o Species. The Majority Are Annual Or Peren Nial Herbs Inhabiting The Temperate Zone, Becoming Shrubby In Warmer Climates. The Stem Is Generally Square In Section And The ...
Labour
Labour. In Economics, As In Ordinary Discourse, The Word Labour Is Used As A Name For The General Body Of Wage-earners. It Is In This Sense, For Example, That One Speaks Of "organized Labour." In A More Special And Technical Sense, However, Labour Means, In Economics, Any Valuable Service Rendered ...
Labour Day I
Labour Day. (i) May I, The Date Generally Selected By Trade Unions, Socialist Parties And Labour Organizations In General For A Public Celebration. It Is Observed By A Portion Of The Popu Lation In Nearly Every Industrial Country Except The United States And Canada (see Below) And Except Italy, Where ...
Labour Law
Labour Law. This Is A Convenient Term To Include All Those Rules Of Law Which Govern The Conditions Under Which Per Sons May Work Under The Control Of Other Persons, Their Employ Ers. The Expression "industrial Law" Is Often Used To Cover The Same Ground. But This Is Apt To ...
Labour Turnover
Labour Turnover. Students Of Labour Turnover Differ As To Its Definition. A Committee On Management Terminology Of The American Management Association Has Defined It As "(i) The Extent Of Shift And Replacement Of Labour Occurring In The Mainte Nance Of The Working Force. (2) The Condition Involved In The Hiring, ...
Labrador
Labrador. Labrador Is The Large Peninsula Of High Land That Forms The North-east Corner Of North America. It Lies Between 50° N. In The Gulf Of St. Lawrence, And 63° N. In The Hudson Strait, And Between 55° And 80° W. For Centuries After The Norsemen Visited It In A.d. ...
Labuan
Labuan, An Island Off The Coast Of Brunei, In 5° 16' N., '15° 15' E. Area 3o Sq.m.; Pop. (1934) 7,497, Est., A Fourth Were Chinese, The Remainder Chiefly Kadayans From The Mainland, A Few Malays And A Few Europeans. It Is A Crown Colony, Incor Porated For Administrative Purposes ...
Laburnum
Laburnum, Known Botan Ically As Laburnum Vulgare (or Cytisus Laburnum), A Familiar Tree Of The Pea Family (legu Minosae) ; It Is Also Known As "golden Rain." It Is A Native Of The Mountains Of France, Switzer Land, Southern Germany, Northern Italy, Etc., Has Long Been Culti Vated As An ...
Labyrinth
Labyrinth, The Name Given By The Greeks And Romans To Buildings, Entirely Or Partly Subterranean, Containing A Number Of Chambers And Intricate Passages, Which Rendered Egress Difficult. The Word Is Considered By Some To Be Of Egyptian Origin, Others Connect It With The Gr. Xctiva, The Passage Of A Mine ...
Labyrinth Organ
Labyrinth Organ: See Equilibrium, Animal. Merce. To Obtain The Largest Amount Of Both Resin And Dye The Twigs With Their Living Inhabitants Must Be Gathered In June And November. Lac As Gathered Is Known As "stick Lac"; The Resin, Crushed To Small Fragments, Washed In Hot Water To Free It ...
Laccadive
Laccadive (lak'a-dev) Islands, A Group Of Coral Reefs And Islands In The Indian Ocean, Between 1 O° And 12° 20' N. And 7 4o' And 74° E. The Name Laccadives (laksha Dwipa, "hundred Thousand Isles") Is That Given By The People Of The Malabar Coast, And Was Probably Meant To ...
Laccolith
Laccolith, In Geology, The Name Given By G. K. Gilbert To Intrusive Masses Of Igneous Rock Possessing A Cake-like Form (from Gr. Xlmos, Cistern, Mos, Stone), First Described From The Henry Mts. Of Southern Utah. Their Characteristic Is That They Have Spread Out Along The Bedding Planes Of The Strata, ...
Lace
Lace. The Word Lace Is Applied To An Ornamental Openwork Fabric Formed By Looping, Interlacing, Braiding Or Twisting Threads Of Flax, Cotton, Silk, Gold Or Silver, Mohair Or Aloe Fibre. Like The Early English Lacez And The Old French Lassis Or Lacis, It Is Derived From The Latin Laqueus. The ...
Lace Making Machines
Lace-making Machines It Is Uncertain Who Invented The First Machine Capable Of Making An Openwork Mesh, But It Is Generally Conceded That An English Nottingham Worker Named Hammond Was One Of The Earliest In The Field And That In 1768 Improvements Made In The Stocking Knitting Machine Resulted In The ...
Laconia
Laconia, The Ancient Name Of The South-eastern District Of The Peloponnese (gr. Acuccovuci) Of Which Sparta Was The Capital. It Has An Area Of Some 1,048,000 Acres, Slightly Greater Than That Of Somersetshire, And Consists Of Three Well-marked Zones Run Ning North And South; (i) The Valley Of The Eurotas, ...
Lacquer Or Lacker
Lacquer Or Lacker, A General Term For Coloured And Frequently Opaque Varnishes Applied To Certain Metallic Objects And To Wood. The Term Is Derived From The Resin Lac, Which Sub Stance Is The Basis Of Lacquers Properly So-called. Technically, Among Western Nations, Lacquering Is Restricted To The Coating Of Polished ...
Lacrosse
Lacrosse, The Name Given By The French Settlers Of Can Ada To The Old Indian Game Of "baggataway" (because The Imple Ment Used, The Curved Netted Stick, Resembled A Bishop's Crozier), Is The Oldest Organized Sport In America. It Was Played By The Six Nations Tribes Of The Iroquois Throughout ...
Lactic Acid
Lactic Acid, Four Acids Of The Same Chemical Structure, The Commonest Being An Acid Produced In Sour Milk (lat. Lac, Lactis, Whence The Name) During The Bacterial Fermentation Of Milk Sugar Or Lactose; They Have The Formula Ho(c2h4)co2h And Are Hydroxypropionic Acids. Other Sugars, Such As Glucose And Sucrose, And ...
Ladakh And Baltistan
Ladakh And Baltistan, A Province Of Kashmir, India. The Name Ladak, Commonly But Less Correctly Spelt Ladakh, And Sometimes Ladag, Belongs Primarily To The Broad Valley Of The Upper Indus In West Tibet, But Includes Several Surrounding Districts In Political Connection With It; The Present Limits Are Between 4o' And ...
Ladislaus Iv
Ladislaus Iv., The Cumanian (1262-129o), King Of Hun Gary, Succeeded His Father, Stephen V., In 1272. His Minority, 1272-77, Was An Alternation Of Palace Revolutions And Civil Wars, In The Course Of Which His Cuman Mother Elizabeth Was En Gaged In A Continuous Struggle With Rebellious Vassals Supported By Ottokar ...
Ladislaus V
Ladislaus V. ( , King Of Hungary And Bohemia, The Only Son Of Albert, King Of Hungary, And Elizabeth, Daughter Of The Emperor Sigismund, Was Born At Komarom On Feb. 22, 1440, Four Months After His Father's Death, And Was Hence Called Ladislaus Posthumus. The Estates Of Hungary Had Already ...
Lado Enclave
Lado Enclave, A Region West Of The Upper Nile Reaching Southwards To Lake Albert That Was At One Time Leased To The Bel Gian Congo. It Had An Area Of 15,000 Sq.m., And A Population Esti Mated At 250,00o And Consisting Of Bari, Madi, Kuku And Other Nilotic Negroes. The ...
Ladoga
Ladoga, A Lake Of Northern Russia And Finland (formerly Nevo), The Boundary Between The Two Countries Running In A North Easterly Direction Across The Lake, Which Lies Between 59° 56' And 61° 46' N., And 29° 53' And 32° 50' E. It Has The Form Of A Quadrilateral, Elongated From ...
Ladybrand
Ladybrand, A Town In The Orange Free State, 8o M. E. Of Bloemfontein, And About 4 M. W. Of The Caledon River, Which Separates The Orange Free State From Basutoland, 29° 9' S., 27° 29' E.; Altitude 5,241 Feet. Many Of The Buildings Are Of Light Cream-coloured Sandstone From The ...
Ladysmith
Ladysmith, A Town In Natal, South Africa, In 28° 32' S., 29° 4o' E.: Altitude 3,284 Feet. Population: White (1931) 3,659, (1921) 3,221, Natives (1921) 1,93o, Asiatics (1921) 1,551, Coloured 81; Total (1921) 6,783. The Town Is Built Near The Klip River, 201 M. By Rail From Durban, And About ...
Laevulose
Laevulose : See Fructose; Carbohydrates ; Sugar. Sions Include Windows For St. Thomas's Church (1877), St. Peter's Church, The Paulist Church, The Brick Church (1882), The Churches Of The Incarnation (1885) And Ascension (1887), All New York; Trinity Church, Buffalo, And The "battle Window" In Memorial Hall At Harvard. He ...
Lafayette
Lafayette, A City Of Indiana, U.s.a., On The Wabash River, 64m. N.w. Of Indianapolis; The County Seat Of Tippecanoe County. It Is On Federal Highway 52, And Is Served By The Chicago, Indianapolis And Louisville, The Big Four, The Nickel Plate And The Wabash Railways And By Electric Inter--urban Lines. ...
Lagash
Lagash, One Of The Oldest And Most Important Of The Ancient Sumerian Cities Of Mesopotamia. It Is Now Known As Telloh And Consists Of A Long Line Of Mounds Along A Dry Canal, Three Miles East Of The Shatt Al Hai In 31° 3o' N. 46° E. About Ten Miles ...
Lagos
Lagos, At One Time A Separate British Colony And Protectorate On The West Coast Of Africa, Since 1914 Part Of Nigeria (q.v.). The Former Colony Of Lagos Is Now The Colony Of Nigeria ; The Protectorate, Which Included The Yoruba Country, Is Divided Among The Provinces Of Southern Nigeria. The ...
Lagos_2
Lagos, The Principal Port And Capital Of The British Colony And Protectorate Of Nigeria, West Africa, In 6° 26' N., 3° 23' E. Pop. Lagos Island (1931) 90,193; Lagos Municipal Area (24.24 Sq.m.) 126,018. In 1897 The Population Was 33,000. The Town Is Built On An Island In A Large ...
Lagrange Chancel Chancel
Lagrange-chancel (chancel) , Francois Joseph French Dramatist And Satirist, Was Born At Perigueux. He Was An Extremely Precocious Boy, And At Bor Deaux, Where He Was Educated, He Produced A Play When Be Was Nine Years Old. Five Years Later His Mother Took Him To Paris, Where He Found A ...
Lahore
Lahore, An Ancient City Of British India, The Capital Of The Punjab, Which Gives Its Name To A District And Division. It Lies In 31° 35' N. And 74° 20' E. Near The Left Bank Of The River Ravi, Under Moo Ft. Above Sea, And 1,252 M. By Rail From ...
Laing
Laing (lang), Alexander Gordon Scottish Explorer, The First European To Reach Timbuktu, Born At Edinburgh On Dec. 27, 1793. He Was Educated At Edinburgh Uni Versity. In 1811 He Went To Barbados As Clerk To His Uncle, Colonel (afterwards General) Gabriel Gordon. He Obtained An Ensigncy In The York Light ...
Laissez Faire
Laissez-faire. Laissez-faire May Be Defined As The Doctrine Which Demands The Minimum Interference By Govern Ment In Economic And Political Affairs. The Maxim Itself Was Long Attributed To Vincent De Gournay, A French Economist Of The I8th Century ; But Oncken Has Shown That This Was An Error. The Most ...
Lake
Lake, A Mass Of Still Water Situated In A Depression Of The Ground, Without Direct Communication With The Sea. The Term Is Also Applied To Widened Parts Of Rivers, And To Bodies Of Water Which Lie Along Sea-coasts, And In Direct Communication With The Sea. The Terms, Pond, Tarn, Loch ...
Lake District
Lake District, In England, In The Counties Of Cumber Land, Westmorland And Lancashire (furness District), And Con Taining The Principal English Lakes. It Is Celebrated As A District Of Remarkable And Strongly Individual Physical Beauty. Its Area Is 700 Sq.m.; In A Circle, 3o M. In Diameter, Within Which Is ...
Lake Dwellings
Lake Dwellings. Habitations Were Constructed Within The Margins Of Lakes, Creeks Or The Sea, At Some Distance From The Shore. They Exist In Such Parts As The Estuaries Of The Orinoco And The Amazon, New Guinea, Borneo And The West Coast And Centre Of Africa. Their Existence In Lake Prasias ...
Lakes
Lakes, Older Form Lases, Roman Tutelary Deities (etymology Unknown, Possibly Connected With Lascivus). They Were Orig Inally Gods Of The Cultivated Fields, Worshipped By Each Household At The Compitum Or Cross-roads Where Its Allotment Joined Those Of Others (see Below). Later, They Were Worshipped In The Houses And The Household ...
Lala 1865 1928 Lajpat Rai
Lajpat Rai, Lala (1865-1928), A Nationalist Politi Cian, Who Played An Influential Part In The Development Of Indian Political Extremism. He Was Born In 1865 At Jagron, A Small Town In The Ludhiana District, Punjab, The Son Of Munshi Radha Krishen Lala, The Author Of Numerous Urdu Books And Pamphlets, ...
Lamaism
Lamaism, The Modified Form Which Buddhism (q.v.) Has Assumed Among The Peoples Of Tibet And Mongolia. The Name Is Derived From The Tibetan Lama (bla-ma), Properly A Title Of The Monks In The Higher Ranks Of The Hierarchy. It Owes Its Peculiar Character Not To Any Fundamental Change Of Doctrine, ...
Lamarckism
Lamarckism. The Doctrine Often Spoken Of As Lamarck Ism Is Only A Part Of Lamarck's Teaching Concerning The Transfor Mation Of Lower Into Higher Forms Of Life, And Probably Not The Most Important Part. Lamarck Incorporated Into His Theory Of Transformation (organic Evolution) A Belief That Had Been Current In ...
Lambessa
Lambessa, The Ancient Lambaesis, A Village Of Algeria, In The Arrondissement Of Batna And Department Of Constantine, 7 M. S.e. Of Batna And 17 W. Of Timgad. The Modern Village, The Centre Of An Agricultural Colony Founded In 1848, Is Noteworthy For Its Great Convict Establishment (built About 1850). The ...
Lambeth
Lambeth, A Southern Metropolitan Borough Of London, England. Pop. (1931) 296,162. Brixton And Kennington Are Mentioned In Domesday; And In Vauxhall Is Concealed The Name Of Falkes De Breaute, An Unscrupulous Adventurer Of The Time Of John And Henry Iii. The Manor Of North Lambeth Was Given To The Bishopric ...
Lambeth Conferences
Lambeth Conferences, The Name Given To The Periodical Assemblies Of Bishops Of The Anglican Communion (pan Anglican Synods), Which Since 1867 Have Met At Lambeth Palace, The London Residence Of The Archbishop Of Canterbury. The Idea Of These Meetings Was First Suggested In A Letter To The Archbishop Of Canterbury ...
Lambs Quarters
Lamb's Quarters, One Of The Names Most Commonly Given To The Widely Diffused Cosmopolitan Weed, Chenopodiurn Album, Of The Goosefoot Family (chenopodiaceae), Growing In Moist Soil Throughout All Agricultural Regions, Except In The Ex Treme North. It Is An Erect, Usu Ally Slender, Much Branched, Pale Green Annual, I Ft. ...
Lamellibranchia
Lamellibranchia, A Group Of Aquatic Invertebrate Animals Forming A Class Of The Phylum Mollusca (q.v.). The Most Familiar Examples Of These Animals Are The Oyster, The Mussel And The Cockle, And These Popular Names Are Sometimes Given To Various Families And Genera Of The Class. The Name "bivalves" Is Also ...
Lamentations Lamentations Of Jeremiah
Lamentations (lamentations Of Jeremiah). A Book Of The Old Testament, Placed In The Hebrew Bible Amongst The Five "megilloth" Or "rolls" In The Third Canon (hagiographa), And In The Lxx, Vulgate And Most Modern Bibles, After The Book Of Jeremiah. In That It Has Two Lines To The "stanza" Instead ...