his school, in the age of Polycrates (540 B. C.), supposed to be a work of nature embellished by art, having 150 columns erected by a clever mechanical contrivance. Other inferior labyrinths existed at Nauplia, at Sipontum in Italy, at Val d'Ispica in Sicily, and elsewhere; and the name of labyrinth was applied to the subterraneous chambers of the tomb of Porsena, supposed to be that now existing as the Poggio Gazella, near Chiusi. Labyrinths called mazes were at one time fashionable in gardening, being imitations, by hedges or borders, of the Cretan; the best known in modern times being the Maze at Hampton Court.

Herodotus, ii. 148; Diodorus, i. 61, 97, iv. 60, 77; Pausanias, i. 27; Strabo, x. 477, xviii. 111; Plutarch, Theseus, 15; Pliny, N. H., xxvi. 19, 3, 83; Isidorus, Orig., xv. 2, 6; Höck, Creta, i. 447; Prokesch, Denkw., i. 606; Duc de Luynes, Annali, 1829, 364; Lepsius, Einleit., p. 268.

LABYRINTHODON, a genus of gigantic sauroid batrachians, found in the New Red Sandstone measures of Great Britain and the continent. The remains of several species have been described, but all so fragmentary, that no certain restoration of the genus can yet be made. The head was triangular,

Labyrinthodon Pachygnatus.

having a crocodilian appearance both in the shape and in the external sculpturing of the cranial bones, but with well marked structural modifications in the vomer, and in the mode of attachment of the head to the atlas, that stamp it with a batrachian character, conspicuous above the more apparent

Footprint and Rain-drops.

saurian resemblances. The mouth was furnished with a series of remarkable teeth, numerous and small in the lateral rows, and with six great laniary

teeth in front. The bases of the teeth were anchylosed to distinct shallow sockets. Externally, they were marked by a series of longitudinal grooves, which correspond to the inflected folds of the cement. The peculiar and characteristic internal structure of the teeth is very remarkable, and to it these fossils owe their generally accepted generic name of Labyrinthodon (labyrinth-tooth). The few and fragmentary bones of the body of the animal exhibit a combination of batrachian and crocodilian characters, leaning, however, on the whole, more to the first type. The restoration exhibited in the wood-cut is that suggested by Owen; it must be considered as to a large extent imaginary, owing to the imperfect materials for such a work. In the same deposits there have been long noticed the prints of feet, which so much resembled the form of the human hand, that Kaup, their original describer, gave the generic name of Cheirotherium to the great unknown animals which produced them. From the fore being much smaller than the hind foot, he considered that they were the impressions of a marsupial; but this relative difference in the feet exists also in the modern batrachians; and the discovery of the remains of so many huge animals

belonging to this order, in these very strata, the different sizes of which answer to the different footprints, leave little doubt that the cheirotherian footprints were produced by labyrinthodont reptiles.

LAC, in the East Indies, signifies a sum of 100,000 rupees. A lac of Company's Rupees is equal to £9270 sterling; a lac of Sicca Rupees, which in some places are also in very general use, is equal to £9898 sterling. One hundred lacs, or ten millions of rupees, make a Crore.

LAC, the general name under which the various products of the lac insect (Coccus lacca) are known. The curious hemipterous insect which yields these valuable contributions to commerce is in many respects like its congener the Cochineal Insect (Coccus cacti), but it also differs essentially from it: the males alone, and those only in their last stage of development, have wings, therefore the whole life of the creature is spent almost on the same spot. They live upon the twigs of trees, chiefly species of Butea, Ficus, and Croton, and soon entomb themselves in a mass of matter, which oozes from small punctures made in the twigs of the tree, and which thus furnishes them with both food and shelter. It is said that to each male there are at least 5000 females, and the winged males are at least twice as large as the females. When a colony, consisting of a few adult females and one or two males, find their way to a new branch, they attach themselves to the bark, and having pierced it with holes, through which they draw up the resinous juices upon which they feed, they become fixed or glued by the superfluous excretion, and after a time die, forming by their dead bodies little domes or tents over the myriads of minute eggs which they have laid. In a short time, the eggs burst into life, and the young, which are very minute, eat their way through the dead bodies of their parents, and swarm all over the twig or small young branch of the tree in such countless numbers as to give it the appearance of being covered with a blood-red dust. They soon spread to all parts of the tree where the bark is tender enough to afford them food, and generation after generation dwells upon the same twig until it is enveloped in a coating, often half an inch in thickness, of the resinous exudation, which is very cellular throughout, the cells being the casts of the bodies of the dead females. During their lifetime, they secrete a beautiful purple colouring matter, which does not perish with them, but

remains shut up in the cells with the other results of decomposition.

The small twigs, when well covered, are gathered by the natives, and are placed in hot water, which melts the resinous matter, liberates the pieces of wood and the remains of the insects, and also dissolves the colouring matter. This is facilitated by kneading the melted resin whilst in the hot water; it is then taken out and dried, and is afterwards put into strong and very coarse cotton bags, which are held near enough to charcoal fires to melt the resin without burning the bags. By twisting the bags, the melted resin is then forced through the fabric, and received in thin curtain-like films upon strips of wood. This hardens as its surface becomes acted upon by the air, and being broken off in fragments, constitutes the shell-lac of commerce. The best shell-lac is that which is most completely freed from impurities, and approaches most to a light orange brown colour. If the colouring matter has not been well washed out, the resin is often very dark, consequently, we find the following varieties in commerce-orange, garnet, and liver. Much that is squeezed through the bags falls to the ground without touching the sticks placed to catch it; small quantities falling form button-like drops, which constitute the button-lac; whilst larger ones, from an inch to two or three inches in diameter, constitute the plate-lac of commerce. That known as stick-lac is the twigs as they are gathered, but broken short for the convenience of packing.

Below the lac-bearing trees there is always a very considerable quantity of the resin in small particles, which have been detached by the wind shaking and chafing the branches; this also is collected, and

constitutes the seed-lac of our merchants.

The water in which the stick-lac is first softened contains, as before mentioned, the colouring matter of the dead insect. This is strained and evaporated until the residue is a purple sediment, which, when sufficiently dried, is cut in small cakes, about two inches square, and stamped with certain trademarks, indicating its quality. These are then fully dried, and packed for sale as lac-dye, of which large quantities are used in the production of scarlet cloth, such as that worn by our soldiers; for this purpose, lac-dye is found very suitable.

The lac insect is a native of Siam, Assam, Burmah, Bengal, and Malabar; the lacs and lac-dye come chiefly from Bombay, Pegu, and Siam. During the last two or three years, the average imports into Britain have amounted to about 610 tons of the lac-dye, and 1120 tons of lac, including the varieties of shell, stick, and seed lac.

As we have no strictly analogous resin from the vegetable kingdom, not even from the lac-bearing trees, it may be assumed that the juices of the trees are somewhat altered by the insects. The best analyses shew that shell-lac contains several peculiar resins. The great value of the lacs is found in their adaptability for the manufacture of varnishes, both in consequence of their easy solubility, and also because of the fine hard coating, susceptible of high polish, which they give when dry. The well-known 'French polish' is little more than shell-lac dissolved in alcohol; and a fine thin varnish made of this material constitutes the lacquer with which brass and other metals are coated, to preserve their polish from atmospheric action.

All the varieties of lac are translucent, and some of the finer kinds, which are in flakes not much thicker than writing-paper, are quite transparent, and all, as before stated, are coloured various shades of brown, from orange to liver. Nevertheless, if a quantity of shell-lac be softened by heat, it may,

by continually drawing it out into lengths, and twisting it, be made not only quite white, but also opaque; in this state it has a beautiful silky lustre; and if melted and mixed with vermilion, or any other colouring matter, it forms some of the fancy kinds of sealing-wax: the more usual kinds are, however, made by merely melting shell-lac with a little turpentine and camphor, and mixing the colouring matter. Shell-lac has the property of being less brittle after the first melting than after subsequent meltings; hence the sealing-wax manufactured in India has always had a high repu tation, and hence also the extreme beauty and durability of those Chinese works of art in lac, some of which are very ancient. These are usually chow-chow boxes, tea-basins, or other small objects made in wood or metal, and covered over with a crust of lac, coloured with vermilion, which, whilst soft, is moulded into beautiful patterns. So rare and beautiful are some of these works, that even in China they cost almost fabulous prices.

They

Divh, i. e., the Lakara Islands), a group of islands LA'CCADIVES (called by the natives Lakarain the Arabian Sea, discovered by Vasco de Gama in 1499, lie about 150 miles to the west of the Malabar coast of the peninsula of Hindustan. extend in N. lat. between 10° and 12°, and in E long. between 72° and 74°, and are 17 in number. with deep water immediately round them, and are Being of coral formation, they are generally low, therefore all the more dangerous to navigators. sweet potatoes, and cattle of a small breed. The Pop. 7000; chief productions cocoa, rice, betel-nuts, inhabitants, who are called Moplays, are of Arabian origin, and in religion follow a sort of MohamThey pay tribute, said to be about £1000 a year, to the district of Cananore, in the presidency of Madras.

medanism.

LACE, an ornamental fabric of linen, cotton, or silk thread, made either by the hands, somewhat after the manner of embroidery, or with machinery. The manufacture of lace by hand is an operation of exceeding nicety, and requires both skill and patience of no ordinary kind, and the best productions of this fabric surpass all other applications of textile materials in costliness and beauty.

Whether the ancients really had any knowledge of lace-making, excepting gold-lace, which will be mentioned at the end of this article, is not known, nor is it known with any certainty when this art came into practice in Europe; but there is good reason to suppose that point-lace, the oldest variety known, was the work of nuns during the latter half of the 14th and the beginning of the 15th centuries. This point-lace is very characteristic, and is truly an art production. The artistic character of the patterns, and the wonderful patience and labour shewn in carrying them out, places them, as female productions, on a parallel with the decorative works in stone, wood, and metal of the monks. They indicate no tiresome efforts to copy natural objects, but masterly conceptions of graceful forms and tasteful combinations. The actual figures of the pattern were cut out of linen, and over these foundationpieces, as they may be called, the actual lace-work was wrought by the needle, with thread of marvellous fineness, and with such consummate art, that the material of the foundation is quite undiscoverable under the fairy-like web which has been woven over it. These portions of the fabric were then joined together by connecting threads, each of which, like the broader parts, consists of a foundation, and lace-work covering; the former being a mere thread, often of exceedingly fine yarn; the latter being a sort of loop-work like the modern

Π

Fig. 1.

crochet (fig. 1.). The wonderful durability of pointlace is attested by the fact, that it is not uncommon in our most choice collections, although the art is supposed to have been lost about the beginning of the 16th c., when a more easily made, and consequently cheaper style of point-lace, displaced the older and more artistic kind. The point-lace of the second period, though always very beautiful, was deficient in solidity and in purity of design; moreover, it bears indications of having been copied from patterns, whilst the older kind was evidently the carrying out of artistic thoughts, as they were conceived, in the original material, the worker and the designer being the same person. It was during this period that the pillow was first used, and it is most probable that the use of patterns led to the application of the pillow. First, the lace would be worked on the pattern, to insure correctness, where the worker was merely a copyist; then it would soon become evident that if the pattern were so arranged as to avoid shifting, the facilities of working would be greatly increased; and it has been suggested that the pattern pinned to the pillow, and the threads twisted round the pins, to prevent ravelling when not in use, suggested the net-work which afterwards became a leading feature in the fabric.

The invention of pillow-lace has been claimed by Beckmann, in his quaint way, for one of his countrywomen. He says: 'I will venture to assert that the knitting of lace is a German invention, first known about the middle of the 16th c.; and I shall consider as true, until it be fully contradicted, the account given us that this art was found out before 1561, at St Annaberg, by Barbara, wife of Christopher Uttmann. This woman died in the 61st year of her age, after she had seen sixty-four children and grandchildren; and that she was the inventress of this art is unanimously affirmed by all the annalists of Saxony.' Whether she invented, or merely introduced the art, cannot now be proved, but certain it is, that it soon became settled in Saxony, and spread thence to the Netherlands and France. Even to the present day, we occasionally hear of 'Saxon bone-lace,' a name which was given to indicate the use of bone-pins, before the introduction of the common brass ones.

It will readily be supposed that an art depending so much on individual skill and taste, would be likely to vary exceedingly; nevertheless, all the varieties resolve themselves into few well-marked groups, under three distinct classes. The first class is the Guipure, which comprises all the true needleworked lace, whether ancient or modern; its varieties are-Rose-point, in which the figures are in high relief, having a rich embossed appearance; Venetianpoint, Portuguese-point, Maltese-point: in all of these the pattern is flatter than in the Rose-point, Point d'Alençon, and Brussels-point. The last two are still made, the modern Point d'Alençon quite equalling in beauty and value that made in the middle of the 17th c., when its manufacture was introduced by the celebrated Colbert, chief minister of Louis XIV. The Point d'Alençon has very distinctive characteristics. When the pattern is once designed, each portion may be worked by a separate person, and the various figures are then connected by a groundwork of threads, which are so passed from one figure to another as to represent a web of wonderful delicacy and regularity: small spots or other figures are here and there skilfully worked

in where the threads cross each other; these are called modes, and not only add much to the strength of the fabric, but greatly increase its richness of effect. In all these varieties, but two kinds of stitches are employed, and these differ chiefly in the greater or less closeness of the threads employed. First, a series of threads are laid down all in one direction, so as to cover the pattern, and then a certain number of these are taken up and covered by loops of the cross-stitches, as in fig. 1, or are more lightly held together, as in fig. 2.

Fig. 2.

The second class is Pillow-lace, sometimes called Cushion or Bobbin lace, from the pillow or cushion being used to work the pattern upon, and the varions threads of which the figures are made up, each being wound upon a bobbin, usually of an ornamental character, to distinguish one from the other. The pattern on parchment or paper, being attached to the pillow or cushion, pins are stuck in at regular intervals in the lines of the pattern, and the threads of the bobbins are twisted or plaited round them so

as to form the net-work arrangement which is characteristic of this class of lace (figs. 3 and 4), the patterns, or figured portions, being worked out by a crossing of threads, which, although actually plaiting, gives the effect of weaving, as in fig. 5. The varieties of this lace are -Spanish, Grounded Spanish, Saxony Brussels, Flemish Brussels, Mechlin, Valenciennes, Dutch, Lisle, Chantilly, Silk and Cotton Blonde, Limerick, Buckinghamshire, and Honiton. The last has of late years become the most beautiful of all the varieties made in Great Britain. The Irish or Limerick lace has also taken a high position.

Fig. 5.

The third class is machine-made lace, which, by its wonderful improvement and rapid development, has worked a complete revolution in the lace-trade, so that the prices formerly obtained for hand-made lace can no longer be commanded, whilst machine lace, of great beauty, has become so cheap and plentiful as to be worn by all classes. It has been mentioned before that the use of the pillow led to the introduction of net as the ground-work for lace figures, and it was to the manufacture of this so-called bobbin-net that the machinery was first applied (see BOBBIN-NET). The figure in the article referred to indicates very satisfactorily the structure of net. The lace-machine, or frame, as it is technically called, is so complicated, that it would be hopeless to convey any really intelligible description of it without a voluminous description of all its parts. One or two points of chief importance may, however, remove any difficulty in understanding its general principles. First, then, as in the loom (see Looм), there is a series of warp-threads, placed, however, perpendicularly instead of horizontally, and not so close as in ordinary weaving, the space

between each being sufficiently wide to admit of a shilling passing edgeways between them. Behind these threads, and corresponding to the interspaces, is a row of ingeniously constructed flat bobbins or reels resting in an arrangement called a comb-bar or bolt-bar. These are so placed, that with the first movement of the machine, each bobbin, which carries its thread with it, passes through two of the parallel and perpendicular threads of the warp, and is lodged in another and similar bolt-bar in front of the warp. But this front bolt bar, besides an advancing and receding motion, has another movement, called shogging-from right to left. When it receives a bobbin by its forward motion, it draws back, bringing the bobbin and thread through two of the upright threads; it then shogs or moves to one side, and goes forward again, taking the thread through the next two warp-threads, and lodging the bobbin on the back bolt-bar again, one distance beyond its last space; this it recovers by the next movement, and it again passes through the first space, to be again received by the front bolt-bar. By these movements, the bobbin-thread is twisted quite round one upright thread of the warp; another movement then shifts the bobbin, so that it will pass through the next pair of upright threads, and so carry on its work, the warp-threads moving at the same time, unwinding from the lower beam, and being rolled on the upper one. There being twice as many bobbins as there are threads in the warp, each bolt-bar having a set which it exchanges with the other, and all being regulated with great nicety, a width of lace is made in far less time than has been required to write this short description. The various additions to, and variations upon, these operations, which only apply to bobbin-net, for the production of patterns, are so numerous and complicated-each pattern requiring new complications—that it will be useless attempting to describe them; suffice it to say, they all depend upon the variations which can be given to the movements of the flat, disc-like bobbins.

The history of the lace-machine is not very clear; it is said to have been originally invented by a frame-work knitter of Nottingham, from studying the lace on his wife's cap; but it has been continually receiving improvements, amongst which those of Heathcote in 1809-the first to work successfullyMorley, in 1811 and 1824, and those of Leaver and Turton, and of Clark and Marl, both in 1811. The manufacture of lace by machinery is chiefly located in Nottingham, whence it is sent to all parts of the world; but we have no means of knowing to what extent, for, with that strange perversity which distinguishes our statistical administration, only threadlace is mentioned in the lists of exports, whilst our vast production of cotton-lace is mixed up with the returns of calico and other fabrics of that material.

Gold-lace and Silver-lace, properly speaking, are laces woven, either by the hand or by machinery, from exceedingly fine threads of the metals, or from linen, silk, or cotton threads which are coated with still finer threads of gold or silver; but in this country it is too common to designate as gold or silver lace, not only that which is rightly so-called, but also fringe made of these materials, and also gold and silver embroidery, such as is seen on state robes and trappings, and upon some ecclesiastical dresses, &c. Gold-lace is made in London, but considerable quantities of that used for decorating uniforms and other dresses, &c., in this country, is obtained from Belgium, where it is an important branch of manufacture. France supplies much of the gold and silver thread used, and excels all other countries in its production, in some of the more artistic varieties of gold and silver lace and embroidery. Italy has lately shewn great taste and skill. The works

of Luigi Martini of Milan have in this respect attained great celebrity, and are said to produce about £16,000 worth per annum.

LACE-BARK TREE (Lagetta lintearia), a tree of the natural order Thymeleaceae, a native of the West Indies. It is a lofty tree, with ovate, entire, smooth leaves, and white flowers. It is remarkable for the tenacity of the fibres of its inner bark, and the readiness with which the inner bark may be separated, after maceration in water, into layers resembling lace. A governor of Jamaica is said to have presented to Charles II. a cravat, frill, and ruffles made of it.

LACE-LEAF. See LATTICE LEAF.

LACÉPÈDE, BERNARD GERMAIN ÉTIENNE DE LAVILLE, COUNT DE, an eminent naturalist and elegant writer, was born of a noble family, 26th December 1756, at Agen. Having early devoted himself to the study of natural history, in which he was greatly encouraged by the friendship of Buffon, he was appointed curator of the Cabinet of Natural History in the Royal Gardens at Paris. This office he held till the Revolution, when he became Professor of Natural History, and also entered upon a political career, in which he rose to be a senator in 1799, a minister of state in 1809, and, after the return of the Bourbons, a peer of France, although he had previously been one of the most zealous adherents of Bonaparte. He died of small-pox at his mansion of Epinay, near St Denis, 6th October 1825. A collective edition of his works was published in 1826. Among them are works on the Natural History of Reptiles, of Fishes, and of the Cetacea, a Work on the Natural History of Man, and one entitled Les Ages de la Nature. His work on Fishes (5 vols. 1798-1803) is the greatest of his works, and was long unrivalled in that department of zoology, although it has now been in a great measure superseded. L. was a highly accomplished musician, was the author of a work entitled La Poétique de la Musique (2 vols. 1785), and of two romances intended to illustrate social and moral principles. He was an amiable man, extremely kind, delighting in domestic life, and very simple, and almost abstemious, in his habits.

LACE'RTA and LACE'RTIDA. See LIZARD. LACHAISE, FRANCIS D'AIX DE, a Jesuit, born of a noble family, 25th August 1624, in the castle of Aix, now in the department of Loire, was a provincial of his order, when Louis XIV. selected him for his confessor on the death of Father Ferrier in 1675. His position was one of great difficulty, owing to the different parties of the court, and the strife between Jansenists and Jesuits. In the most important questions of his time, Father L. avoided extreme courses. A zealous Jesuit, and of moderate abilities, he yet sustained among his contemporaries the reputation of a man of mild, simple, honourable character. Madame Maintenon could never forgive him the little zeal with which he opposed the reasons urged against the publication of her marriage with the king; but during the thirty-four years that he filled his office of confessor, he never lost the favour of the king. He was a man of some learning, and fond of antiquarian pursuits. He died 20th January 1709.-Louis XIV. built him a country-house to the west of Paris, the large garden of which was in 1804 converted into a burial-place, and is known as the

Père-la-Chaise.

LA'CHES, in English Law, is a word used (from Fr. lâcher, to loosen) to denote negligence or undue delay, such as to disentitle a party to a particular remedy, or to relief. In Scotland, the word mora is often used to denote undue delay.

LA'CHESIS, a genus of serpents of the Rattlesnake family (Crotalida), but differing from rattlesnakes in having the tail terminated with a spine instead of a rattle, and in having the head covered with scales, and not with plates. The species are all natives of the warm parts of America, where some of them are among the most dreaded of venomous serpents. They are usually seen coiled up, with keen glaring eyes, watching for prey, on which they dart with the swiftness of an arrow, and then coiling themselves up again, wait quietly till the death-struggle of the victim is over. Some of them attain the length of seven feet. They are said to be apt to attack men, even when not attacked or threatened.

LA'CHLAN, a river of East Australia, rises in New South Wales, to the westward of the Blue Mountains, and, after a course of 400 miles, with the characteristics of the Darling (q. v.) on a smaller scale, joins the Murrumbidgee, which itself, a little further down, enters the Murray. The former of these two points of confluence is in lat. 34° 30′ S., and long. 144° 10′ E.

LACHMANN, KARL, a celebrated German critic and philologist, was born 4th March 1793, at Brunswick, studied at Leipsic and Göttingen, became a professor in the university of Königsberg in 1816, and at Berlin in 1827. He died 13th March 1851. L's literary activity was extraordinary. He was equally devoted to classical subjects and to those of old German literature, and illustrated both by a profound and sagacious criticism. Among his most important productions are his editions of the Nibelungenlied, the works of Walter von der Vogelweide, Propertius, Catullus, Tibullus, and the New Testament (Berl. 1831; 3d edit. 1846), of which a larger edition, with the Vulgate translation, appeared in 2 vols. (Berl. 1846 and 1850). The design of the last of these works was to restore the Greek text as it

existed in the Eastern Church in the 3d and 4th centuries. It is considered, on the whole, the best edition of the Greek Testament that has yet been published.

LA'CHRYME CHRISTI, a muscatel wine of a sweet but piquant taste, and a most agreeable bouquet, which is produced from the grapes of Mount Somma, near Vesuvius. There are two kinds, the white and the red, the first being generally preferred. The demand for this wine being greater than the supply, large quantities of the produce of Pozzuoli, Istria, and Nola are sold under this name. A similar wine is produced in many islands of the Archipelago, as Candia, Cyprus, &c.

LA'CHRYMAL ORGANS, THE, are sufficiently described in the article EYE. There are, however, certain diseases to which they are liable, which require a brief notice.

There may be a deficient secretion of tears, an affection for which the term Xerophthalmia has been invented. It may be palliated by keeping the cornea constantly moist with glycerine by means of an eyecup. Ör there may be an oversecretion of tears, so that they run down the cheeks. This affection is termed Epiphora, and must not be confounded with the Stillicidium lachrymarum, or overflow of tears that arises from an obstruction of Figure of Style. the channels through which they pass into the nose. It is common in scrofulous children, and should be treated with gentle aperients, such as rhubarb combined with

bicarbonate of soda, and tonics, such as the citrate of iron and quinine.

mal sac,

Obstruction of the nasal duct is generally caused by a thickening of the mucous membrane that lines it, and is a not uncommon affection, especially in scrofulous young persons. There is a feeling of weakness of the eye on the affected side, and tears run down the cheek, while the nostril on that side is unnaturally dry. The lachrymal sac (see fig. 6 in the article EYE) is distended with tears, and forms a small tumour by the side of the root of the nose. On pressing this tumour, tears and mucus can be squeezed backwards through the puncta, or downwards into the nose, if the closure is only partial. This affection often leads to inflammation of the sac, or to the formation of a fistulous aperture at the inner corner of the eye, communicating with the lachryand known as Fistula Lachrymalis. This fistulous aperture is caused by the bursting of an abscess, arising from inflammation of the sac. generally surrounded by fungous granulations (popured and thickened from the irritation caused by the larly known as proud flesh), and the adjacent skin is flow of tears. In these cases, the sac must be opened by a puncture, and a style (a silver probe about an inch long, with a head like a nail) should be pushed through the duct into the nose. The retention of this instrument causes the duct to dilate, so that the tears flow by its side. The flat head of the style lies on the cheek, and both keeps the instrument in its place and facilitates its occasional removal for the purpose of cleansing. Sometimes it is necessary that the instrument should be worn for life, but in less severe cases the duct remains permanently dilated, and a cure is effected in a few months.

It is

LACO'NIC. The Spartans, or Lacedæmonians (whose country was called Laconia), systematically endeavoured to confine themselves to a sententious brevity in speaking and writing; hence the term laconic has been applied to this style.

LACORDAIRE, JEAN-BAPTISTE-HENRI, the most distinguished of the modern pulpit-orators of France, was born at Recey-sur-Ource, in the department Côte-d'or, March 12, 1802. He was educated at Dijon, where he also entered upon his legal studies; and having taken his degree, he transferred himself in 1822 to Paris, where he began to practise tion. As his principles at this period were deeply as an advocate in 1824, and rose rapidly to distinctinged with unbelief, it was a matter of universal surprise in the circle of his acquaintance that he suddenly gave up his profession, entered the College of St Sulpice, and in 1827 received holy orders. He soon became distinguished as a preacher, and in the College of Juilly, to which he was attached, he formed the acquaintance of the Abbé Lamennais, with whom he speedily formed a close and intimate alliance, and in conjunction with whom, after the revolution of July, he published the well-known journal, the Avenir, an organ at once of the highest church principles and of the most extreme radicalism. The articles published in this journal, and the proceedings which were adopted in asserting the liberty of education, led to a prosecution in the Chamber of Peers in 1831; and when the Avenir itself was condemned by Gregory XVI., L. formally submitted, and for a time withdrawing from public affairs, devoted himself to the duties of the pulpit. The brilliancy of his eloquence, and the novel and striking character of his views, excited an interest altogether unprecedented, and attracted unbounded admiration. His courses of sermons at Notre-Dame drew to that immense pile crowds such as had never been seen within the memory of the living generation, and had produced