LA I

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L A K

Lady’s Bower. See Clematis.

Lady’s Comb. SeeScANDix.

Lady’s Cushion. See Saxifraga.

Lady’s Finger. See Anthy’llis.

Lady 7 ’s Smock. See Cardamine.

Lady’s Tresses. See Ophrys.

LiENA, in antiquity, a gown worn by the Roman augurs, andpeculiar to their office. In this gown they covered their headswhen they made their observations on birds, &c. See Augur.

LAERTES, in fabulous history, king of lthica, the son of Ar-cesius and Chalcomedusa, and father of Ulysses.

LrESTRYGONES, in fabulous history, the most ancient inha-bitants of Sicily . Some suppose them to be the same as the peo-ple of Leontium, and to have been neighbours to the Cyclops,They fed on human flesh: and when Ulysses came on their coaststhey sunk his ships and devoured his companions.

LAETIA, in botany, a species of the monogynia order, and po-lyandria class of plants. Calyx live-leaved ; corolla iive-petaled,or none ; fruit one-celled, three-cornered ; seeds with a pulpy aril.It has four species, natives of America .

LAGAN, orLAGON, [from legan, Sax. to lie,] in sea-laws,shipwrecked goods left on the sand, or ashore; or goods cast over-board by seamen in danger of shipwreck.

LAGEMAN, [laganununnus, Lat] homo habens te gem, orhomo legalis seu kgitimus, such as we call now “ good men ofthe jury.” The word is often used in Domesday Book , and inthe laws of Edward the Confessor , cap. 38.

LAGEN, or LAGENA, in antiquity, a measure of wine, con-taining six sextarii; whence some derive the word flagon. Thelieutenant of the tower has the privilege to take imam lagenam viniante malum & retro, ol all wine-ships that come upon the Thames;and Sir Peter Leicester, in his Antiquities of Cheshire interpretslagena vini, “ a bottle of wine.”

LAGERSTROEMIA, in botany, a genus of the monogyniaorder, and polvandria class of plants. Calyx six-cleft, bell-shaped ; petals six, curled ; stamina very many, the six outerthicker than the rest, and longer than the petals. There are fourspecies, natives of the East Indies.

LAGNY, a town of France, in the department of Seine ,Marne, and late province of the isle of France, 15 miles E. of Paris .

LAGOECAI, Bastard or Wild Cumin ; in botany, a genusof the monogynia order, and pentandria class of plants. Involu-cruin universal and partial; petals bifid ; seeds solitary, inferior.It has but one species, found in the Levant .

LAGOON ISLAND, an island of the South Sea, of an ovalform, with a lake in the middle, which occupies the greatest part°f it. It abounds with trees. Lon. 138. 54. W. Lat. 18.47. S.Also, another island in theSouth Sea. Lat.21.38.S. Lon. 147.37. W.

LAGOS, a sea-port town of Portugal , in the province of Algara.Lon. 8. 5. W. Lat 34. 45. N.

LAGULLAS, Cape, the most southerly point of Africa , eastof the Cape of Good Hope .

. LAGUNA, or SAN CHRISTOVAL DE LAGUNA, a con-siderable town in the island of Tcnerill'e. Lon. lb. 27. W, Lat.28- 29. N.

LAGUNCEA, in botany, a genus of the monadelphis polyan-■ria class and order. Natural order, CoUiiYmifera:. Calyx sim-ple, five-cusped; style simple; stigma peltated; capsule five-oelled, five-valved. There are three species, of which L. acu-feata, prickly lagunoea, has a round tomentose stem, armed with®tnaU upright prickles, a little branched, and is about a foot and anaif in height.

LAGURUS, in botany 7 , a genns of the digynia order, and tri-ondria class of plants: natural order, Gramma. Calyx bivalved,hn a villous awn; exterior petal of the corolla terminated by

' v ° awns , with a third on its back retorted. It lias but one spe-cies. 1

LAROLM, a sea-port town of Sweden , in the province ofGothland ; near the Baltic. Lon. 13. 13. E. Lat 56. 35. N .LAHORE , a large town of Hindoostan, and capital of a pro-nee of the same name, one of the most considerable in the Mo-T Ai°'"i'i° ,1S ’ Eon. 75. 55. E. Lat. 32. 40. N.

the people* as distinguished from the clergy.; h . L Elergy. Mie Ey-part of his majesty’s subjects is divided

See r, fee <1 » t l" ct states ’ the clvil > tlie military, and the maritime.•»ks. U.I.VIL, .Military, and Maritime,

LAI/.E, a river of France, in the department of Calvados ’which falls into the Orne , 2 miles S.W. of St Martin.

LAKE , \Jacus, Eat.] a collection of waters contained in somecavity in an inland place, of a large extent, surrounded with land, andhaving no communication with the ocean. Lakes may be dividedinto tour kinds. 1. Such as neither receive nor send forth rivers.2. Such as emit rivers without receiving any. 3. Such as receiverivers without emitting any. And, 4. Such as both receive andsend forth rivers. Of the first kind, some are temporary andothers perennial. Most of those that are temporary owe their ori-gin to th° vain, and the cavity or depression of the place in whichthey are lodged : thus in India there arc several such lakes madeby the industry of the natives, of which some are a mile, and sometwo, in circuit; these are surrounded with a stone-wall, and being-filled in the rainy months, supply the inhabitants in dry seasors,who live at a great distance from springs or rivers. There are alsoseveral of this kind formed by the inundations of the Nile and Ni-ger; and in Moseovy, Finland, and Lapland , many lakes areformed, partly by the rains, and partly by the melting of the iceand snow: but the perennial lakes, which neither receive noremitrivers, are supposed to arise from subterraneous springs, by whichthey are constantly supplied. The second kind of lakes, whichemit without receiving rivers, is very numerous. Many riversHow from these as out of cisterns; where their springs being situatedlow within a hollow place, first fill the cavity and make it a lake,whichmot being capacious enough to hold all the water, it overflowsand forms a river. Of this kind are the lake Wolga , at the headof the river Wolga ; lake Odium, at the head of the Tanais; lakeAdac, whence a head-water of the Tigris flows; and lake Ozero,or white lake, in Muscovy, the source of the Shaksna; and thegreat lake Chaamay, whence flow four very large rivers, whichwater the countries of Siam , I’egu, &c. viz. the Menan, the Asa,the Ciapoumo, and the Laquia, &c. The third species of lakes,which receive rivers but emit none, apparently owe their origin tothose rivers, which, in their progress from their source, fallinginto some extensive cavity, are collected together, and form a lakeof such dimensions as may lose as much by exhalation as it con-tinually receives from these sources: of this kind is that greatlake improperly called the Caspian Sea ; the lake Asphaltites, alsocalled the Dead Sea ; the lake of Geneva, and several others. Ofthe fourth species, which both receive and emit rivers, are reck-oned three kinds, as the quantity they emit is greater, equal, orless, than they receive. If it be greater, they must be suppliedby springs, at the bottom ; if less, the surplus of the water is proba-bly spent in exhalations ; anil if equal, their springs just supply asmuch water as runs off, and is evaporated by the sun. Lakes arealso divided into fresh-water and salt-water lakes. Dr. Halley isof opinion that all great perennial lakes are saline, either in agreater or less degree ; and that this saltness increases with time.Large lakes answer the most valuable purposes in the northern re-gions, the warm vapours that arise front them moderating the ex-treme cold, and in warmer climates, at a great distance from thesea, the exhalations raised from them hv the sun cause the coun-tries that border upon them to be refreshed with frequent showers,and consequently prevent their becoming barren deserts.

Lake , or Laque, a preparation of different substances into akind of magistery for the use of painters; one of the finest andfirst invented of which was that of gum-lacca, or laque, from whichail the rest, as made by the same process, are called by the com-mon name Iacquet. See Lacca. The method of preparing theseis much the same with that of the curcuma-root, or turmericroot; the process is this: take a pound of turmeric-root in linepowder, three pints of water, and an ounce of salt of tartar ; putall into a glazed earthen vessel, and let them boil together overa elear gentle tire, till the water appears highly impregnated withthe root, and will stain a paper to a beautiful yellow. Filter thisliquor, and gradually add to it a strong solution of roch-alum in •water, till the yellow matter is curdled together and precipitated ;after this pour the whole into a filtre of paper,, and the. water willrun off and leave the yellow matter behind.. It is to be washedmany times with fresh water, till the water comes off insipid, andthen is obtained the beautiful yellow called lacque of turmericy.used in painting. In this manner may a lake be made of any-ofthe tinging substances that are of a strong texture, as madder, log-wood, &c. but it will not succeed in tender species, as the flowersof roses, violets, &c. as it destroys the nice arrangement of parts.

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