LAD

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LAD

Phosphate of lime, sugar of milk, and mucilage. All these mustfie separated before the acid can be examined. Scheele accom-plished this by the following process: Evaporate sour whey toone-eighth of its bulk, ar.d then niter it to separate the coagulated•cheesy matter; then add lime-water to precipitate the phosphateef lime, and dilute the liquid with pure water. Next precipitatethe excess of lime by means of the oxalic add, and evaporate thesolution to the consistence of honey, and pour on a quantityof alcohol which separates the portion of sugar, of milk, and otherextraneous matter, and dissolves the lactic acid ; then distil theclear filtered liquor till the whole of the alcohol employed bedriven off; what remains is the lactic acid.

LACTOMETER, a kind of hydrometer. See Milk- gauge,and Plate Cl I. fig. 10.

LACTUCA, in botany, a genus of the poUgamia xqualis or-der and svngenesia class of plants; natural order Coinpositancalyx imbricate, cylindrical, with a membranaceous margin; re-ceptacle naked ; seeds even, with a simple stipitate down. It haseleven species, of which L. sativa, the common lettuce, has manyvarieties which are well known.

LACUNA, [Latin, ] in old records, a ditch; a furrow for adrain ; a blank in writing.

LACUNA!?, in architecture, an arched roof or ceiling, moreespecially the planking or flooring above porticos or piazzas.

LACYDAS, or LACYDES, a Greek philosopher, born atCyrene, who was the disciple of Arcesilaus , and his successor inthe academy. He taught in a garden given him by Attalus, kingof Pergamus ; but that prince sending for him to court, he replied,“That the pictures of kings should be viewed at a distance.’’He imitated his-master in doing good without caring to have itknown. He had a goose which followed him every' where by-night as well as by day ; and when she died he made a magnifi-cent funeral for her 1 lie taught the same doctrine as Arcesilaus ;and, like some moderns, said, that we ought to determine nothing,but alwavs to suspend our opinion. He died B. C. 212.

LADDERS, S caling, in the military art, are mod in scaling;when a place is to be taken by surprise. They are made severalways : here we make them of flat staves, so that they may moveabout their pins, and shut like a parallel ruler, for conveniently-carrying them : the French make them of several pieces, so as tobe joined together, and to be made of any necessary' length:sometimes they' are made with single ropes, knotted at proper dis-tances, with iron-hooks at each end; one to fasten them upon thewall above, and the other in the ground ; and sometimes they aremade with two ropes, and staves between them, to keep the ropesat a proper distance to tread upon. When they are used in scal-ing walls, they ought to be rather loo long than too short, and tobe given in charge only to the stoutest in the detachment. The sol-diers should carry them with the left arm passed through tire se-cond step, taking care to hold them upright close to their sides,and very short below, to prevent any accident in leaping into theditch. The first rank of each division, provided with ladders,should set out with the rest at the signal, marching resolutely withtheir firelocks slung, to jump into the ditch ; when they arrive theyshould apply their ladders against the parapet, observing to placethem towards the saliant angles rather than the middle of the cur-tain, because the enemy ha'-e less force there. The ladders mustbe placed within a foot of each other, without too much or lootittle slope, that they may not be overturned or broke by theweight ot the soldiers mounting upon them. The ladders beingapplied, those who have carried them, and those who follow,should mount up, and rush upon the enemy sword in hand : if hewho goes first happens to be overturned, the next should take carenot to he thrown down by his comrade ; but immediately mounthimself, so as not to give the enemy time to load his piece. Asthe soldiers who mount first may be easily tumbled over, andtheir fall may cause the attack to fail, their breasts should be pro-tected by the fore-parts of cuirasses; for if they can penetrate,the rest may easily iollow. The success of an escalade is infalli-ble, if they mount the four sides at once, and shower a number ofgrenades amongst the enemy, especially when supported by somegrenadiers and picquets, who share the enemy’s fire.

LADEN, in the sea-language, the state of a ship when she ischarged with a weight or quantity of any sort of merchandises, orether materials, equal to her tonnage or burden, If the cargo

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with which she is laden be extremely heavy, her burden is deter-mined by. the weight of the goods; and if light, she carries asmuch as she can stow', to be tit for the purposes of navigation.As a ton in measure is generally estimated at 2000 pounds inweight,a vessel of 200 tons ought accordingly to carry a weight equalto 400,000 pounds, when the matter of which the cargo is composedis specifically heavier than the water in which she floats; or, inother words, when the cargo is so heavy that she cannot floathigh enough with so great a quantity of it as the hold will con-tain.

Laden in Bulk, the state of being freighted with a cargo whichis neither in casks, boxes, bales, or cases, but lies loose in thehold ; being defended from the moisture or wet of the hold by anumber of mats and a quantity of dunage. Such are usually thecargoes of corn, salt, or such materials.

LADENBURG, a town in the late Palatinate of the Rhine , 40miles S. E. of Mentz.

LADOGA, a great lake of the Russian empire, in Finland ,which has a communication with the gulf of Finland , by theNieva, and abounds in fish, particularly salmon. It is a "hun-dred and twenty miles long, and from fifty to sixty broad.

Ladoga, a town of Russia , seateil on the above lake.

LA DON, in ancient geography, a river of Arcadia falling intothe Alpheus.

Ladon, in modern geography, a town of France , iu the depart-ment of Loiret, 9 miles E. N. L. of Orleans .

LADRONE, or MARIAN ISLANDS, a cluster of twelveislands in the Pacific Ocean , in about 145° Lon. E. and between11° and 21° Lat. N. They were first discovered by Magellan ,who sailed round the world through the straits which bear hisname. lie gave them the name of Ladrone Islands, or the Islandsof Thieves, from the thievish disposition of the inhabitants. Whenthese islands were discovered, the natives were totally unacquaint-ed with any other country besides their own ; and having no ac-counts of their own origin, supposed that the author of their race wasformed of a piece of the rock of Funa, one of their smallest islands.Many things, looked upon by us as absolutely necessary to our ex-istence, were utterly unknown to them. They had no animals,but one species of birds, resembling turtle-doves, which they ne-ver killed, but only tamed them, and taught them to speak. Theywere much astonished on seeing a horse which a Spanish captainleft among them in 1673. But what is most incredible is, thatthey were utterly unacquainted with fire till Magellan , provokedby their repeated thefts, burned one of their villages. When theysaw their wooden houses blazing, they thought that the fire was abeast which fed upon the wood ; and some of them who came toonear, being burnt, the rest stood at a distance, lest they should bedevoured or poisoned by the breathings of that terrible animal..The inhabitants are olive-coloured, but not of such a deep dye asthose of the Philippines : their stature is good, and their limbs wellproportioned. Though their food chiefly consists entirely of fish,fruits, and roots, yet they are so fat, that to strangers they appearswelled, but this does not render them less nimble and active.They often live to a hundred years or more, yet retain the healthand vigour of men of fifty. The men go stark naked, but the wo-men are covered. They are not ill-looking, and take great care oftheir beauty, though their ideas on that subject are very differentfrom ours. They admire black teeth and white hair. Ilence oneof their principal occupations is to keep their teeth black by thehelp of certain herbs, and to whiten their hair by sprinkling uponit a certain water. Their language much resembles that of theTagalcs in the Philippine islands. It is agreeable to the ear, hav-ing a soft and easy pronunciation. One of its chief graces con-,sists in the facility of transposing words, and even all the syllablesof one word ; and thus furnishing a variety of double meanings,with which these people are greatly delighted.

LADY, [ hla'filij ; loaf-day, Sax.] The original application ofthis expression was to the mistress of the manor, who once a-week,or oftener, distributed to her poor neighbours, with her own hands,a certain quantity of bread; aDd perhaps it is from that hospitable,custom, that to this day the ladies of this kingdom alone serve themeat at their own tables.

Lady-day, in law, the 23th of March, being the annunciation,of the holy virgin. See Annunciation,

Lady-mantle. Sec Alchehilla.

Ladv’s