LOOMIS, SILAS LAWRENCE ( 1822— ). An American scientist and educator. Ile was born in Coventry, Conn.; graduated from Wesleyan in 1844, and, in medicine, from Georgetown University in 1856. Previous to his study at Wesleyan, he had taught at Holliston Academy. Mass.; after graduation lie was principal of Western Academy, Washington, D. C., and sub sequently became professor of physiology (1859 60) at Georgetown. He was astronomer to the United States Coast Survey in 11'457. and in structor in mathematics to naval cadets in 1860. From 1861 to 1S67 he was professor of chemistry and toxicology at Georgetown, and was after wards a professor in Howard University. To Dr. Loomis are ascribed the invention of a process for producing a textile fabric from palmetto, a method for utilizing ores of chromium, and va rious improvements in instruments of precision. Besides contributions to periodicals, his works include Normal Arithmetic (1859), Analytical Arithmetic (1860), and Key to the Normal • Course (1SG7).
LO6N, 16-on'. The largest town of the isl and of Bohol, Philippines (Map: Philippine Islands, H 10). It is picturesquely situated on the extreme western coast, about 16 miles north west of Tagbilaran. Between the town and San digan Island, three miles to the north, is a •ell sheltered anchoring ground. Population, in ISM, 15,365.
LOON (archaic Zoom, from Icel. loner. loom; confused with loon, ODutch loco, stupid fellow). In North America. a water-bird of the family Gaviadie, especially the 'great northern diver' (Dacia imbcr). In Great Britain the word is often pronounced Zoom and is locally applied to the grebes. Arctic seamen, moreover, give this name to the guillemot (Thin lontria). whose crowded nesting colonies on the cliffs they term `loomeries.' The loon is a bird as large as a goose. with a checkered black and white plumage of hard close feathers, rather short wings and tail, and a straight, strong, black beak, preserving the type perfected in the ancient fish-catching diver Hesperornis (q.v.. for comparative illustra tions) ; the head and neck are iridescent violet and green, with a collar of white streaks: the breast and abdomen pure white. It is a denizen
of the subarctic belt of the Northern Hemi sphere, where it breeds numerously about all the fresh-watcr lakes. ponds, and rivers, making a very slight nest on the ground and laying two greenish eggs, unspotted. In America. loons breed as far south as the Great Lakes, hut are most numerous about Hudson Bay and in Alaska.
In winter they move southward and are to be seen all over the more northerly States. Other species are the red-throated loon (Garia lumme), with a darker back• bluish bray head and neck, and throat marked with a chestnut patch, which is northerly in its breeding haunts, but in winter migrates as far south as :Mexico: the yellow billed loon (Garia Adanisi), an Arctic resident; the black-th•oated (Garia urctica), also Arctic: and the Pacific loon (Garin. Pacifica) of the North Pacific coasts. All have similar habits. They rarely come upon land, but swim well out in the open. shy and watchful, and are able to dive with such astonishing quickness and force that they can often dodge the missiles from a gun. Their food consists altogether of fish, which they chase under water with marvelous swift ness by using their wings just as iu flight. Hav ing overtaken the fish, they transfix it with their spear-like beaks, then bring it to the surface, toss it into the air and catch and swallow it head first. Their voices are raucous cries, sometimes described as a weird sort of laughter; and these cries, usually associated with lonely waters and hardship, have led to many tales and superstitions among northern peoples. An account of some of them will be found in \Vat ters, Birds of Ireland (Dublin, 1853). The loons are of great service to the Eskimos of Alaska, who use their skins extensively for the making of clothing, tool-bags. etc. Consult, in addition to standard works and the books of writers on the zoology of Alaska (q.v.) : Cones, Birds of the Northwest (Washington, 1874) ; Mellwraith, Birds of Ontario (Toronto, 1894) ; Slacoun, Catalogue of Canadian, Birds (Ottawa, 1900).