I K HKXSTKAIUr A<'ll>. 





HI 



On* equivalent at hydrogen in uanio acid may be repUcwl 



bv MM of ft nftel >ltH MMMUM fovUMQi 



I ***nc J and iu derivatives. 4, 5, .and 7, will be found 

 dasorftwd in fc-jamt* article. I KHTTHKIC Acia] It exist* in Urge 

 Qaantitr in many lichen* , and U therefore of more importance than 

 MM o&er of the lichen adds. 



8. /< ^nW; /xwiMrii*. This add may be extracted from the 

 jr,i,i* h.rturM and Lrtaocra forlorn, in the me way as described 

 far w- u acid, or by direct treatment of the lichen with ether and 

 vraporaUun of the ethereal liquid. It crystallises in star-like groups of 

 BMdlas By loot; bailing with alkalie^ or with lime, leeanoric acid in 

 converted into carbonic acid and orcin ; but if ebullition be continued 

 for a abort time only, the acid assimilates two equivalent* of water, and 

 a new add U formed, to which the name onrllit or urtrllrric acid (9) 

 ha* been given. I*ra*onta and aneUatt* have a constitution similar 

 to the lunatm. The onellate of ethyl U formed when leeanoric acid 

 U boiled for some time in alcohol ; it crystallise* in plates or needles, 

 and when nrat discovered was called nsniaVryfAn'* (10). Amary/hrln 

 (II) is a non-crystalline substance resulting from the action of air upon 

 onellate of ethyl When exposed for many months to the air, it is 

 ohangrd into a granular body, (12) Iritrythrin. 



Jfrfrn irm/f-'r aeid. and Ula-ortrllic afi<l, were obtained by Stenhouse 

 from the Rottttla limctaria ; but their composition and properties ore 

 so similar, that Oerhardt thinks them identical, and notices them as 

 ecanoric acid. 



13. PartUir add, Partllin, is described by Schunk as being met with 

 in the preparation of leeanoric acid. It is slightly soluble in water, and 

 very soluble in alcohol or ether. By slow evaporation it is obtained in 

 colourless, brilliant, and heavy needles. Boiling alcohol docs not act 

 upon it, as upon leeanoric or erythric acids, and on this fact depends 

 iu isolation and purification. It forms part/lain with bases. 



1*. Komlli*ix is also contained in the RocceUa tindoria. It very 

 much resembles parellic acid, but appears to be insoluble in water. 



15. Errmic acid is obtained in the usual manner from Em-inn 

 pmtaUri, or Sadut lidten. It may be crystallised from alcohol, and 

 forms rrmalrt with bases. Gyropkoric acid (16), from the Gyrapkora 

 piutiiiata.was first described by Stenhouse, but, according to Gerhardt, 

 is either erernic or leeanoric acid. 



17. Ercrnimif arid. Eterneac aeid, is a product of the action of 

 alkalies on ereraic acid, orcin being at the same time formed, possibly 

 according to the following equation : 



c,,n 14 o, 



' v 



:- . . .. 



Water. Carbonic Erenitnic acid. 



+ C,,H,0. 



v 



Onto, 



When deposited from alcohol it forms silky crystals. It is isomeric 

 with reratric acid. It forms rrmunato. 



18. Orciii and its derivatives, rhlorvrein and liromordn, will be found 

 described in a separate article. [ORCI.N.] 



IV. Oreeim is the colouring matter that results from the action of air 

 and ammonia upon the principles contained in lichens. Its immediate 

 source is orcin, under which name it will be found more fully described 

 [OBCIX], together with iu derivatives leueorcein (20) and cltlt/rortxin 



... 



22. AtnfryfJtrix and rritthrrJric acid (23) are substances associated 

 with and very analogous to, if not identical with, orcin. 



24. Liim- noi/. The matter known in commerce as litmut differs 

 only from orchil and cudbear in being formed with the additional aid 

 of carbonate of potash. According to Kane, litmus contains litinii- 

 and, at first called aKjIitmi*, soluble in water, uli^litly soluble in 

 alcohol, insoluble in ether; lilmylie acid (25), (erythrolitmin ,) very 

 soluble in water, and but slightly soluble in alcohol or ether; and 

 sjmi'o/ifsii'ii (26), an indefinite, non-ozotised Ixxly. 



27. Bda-arnn. Umic acid diners from all the acids of other lichens 

 in not furnishing ordinary orcin when treated with alkalies, but a 

 homologue of that substance called btta-orcin. Beta-orcin is, however, 

 best prepared by submitting usnic acid to dry distillation, treating the 

 distillate with water, and evaporating to crystallisation. It may be 

 purified by treatment with yiiml charcoal and recrystallisation from 



Beta-orcin occurs in large lustrous crystals of slightly sweet taste. 

 It is lea* soluble in cold water than orcin is, but is very soluble in 

 boiling water, in alcohol, or in ether. When heated it sublime*. 

 With mm.<u tt gives a dark red colour, and with chloride of lime a 

 blood* red. 



I.ICHKXSTEAKIC ACID (f;,,H, 4 0,), a peculiar oily acid contained 

 in Iceland moss. It forms small colourless crystals, inodorous, and 

 nnssissing a bitter rancid taste, insoluble in water, but freely soluble 

 m alcohol and ether. It is a very feeble acid, forming with the alkalies 

 salu which resemble soap in their character. 



LICKS, as they are called in North America, are small tracts of 

 land with a sandy soil, on which salt crystalline* in the form of an 

 Manes, and which are resorted to by all animals that feed on 

 , for the purpose of licking up the salt They are of great im- 

 oes in Brazil, where they are called Carrnrot, The herds of 

 cattle are there wry large, and sometimes amount to nearly 60,000 

 head. Tbm cattle grow lean and arc reduced to bad condition ii 



they cannot from time to time get salt, which they lick with great 

 eagerness. When a cattle estate has no natural licks, the proprietor is 

 nut to considerable expense to provide the necessary quantity of salt 

 for his cattle. Hence the value of a large estate is greatly enhanced 

 by the possession of one or more licks, though in general they hardly 

 occupy a space twenty paces long ami wiile. WiM animals, as deer, 

 buffaloes, wild hogs. &c., also resort to them. 



1. 1 1 'TOR, a public officer who attended on the principal Roman 

 magistrates. Thi office is said to have been derived tiy Romulus from 

 the Etruscans. (' lav.,' i. 8.) The kings, and afterwards the consuls, 

 were attended by twelve lictors, the dictator by twenty-four, and the 

 master of the horse by six. The lictors went before the magistrate* 

 one by one in a line ; he who went first was called primtu 

 and the one who immediately preceded the magistrate ;>ro.riwu 



The lictors were originally choaen from the^rii (' Liv.,' ii. 55) ; but 

 in the time of Tacitus they appear generally to have been freedmen 

 (' Ann.,' xiii. 27 1, probably of the magistrate on whom they attended. 



The duty of the lictor was to see that proper respect was paid to the 

 magistrates, and to inflict punishment on those who were condei 

 and probably to assist in some cases in the execution of a decree or 

 judgment in a civil suit. 



The lictors carried on their shoulders rods bound in the form of a 

 bundle, with an axe in the middle. 



The etymology of the name is doubtful. ' Gellius ' (xii. 8) derives 

 it from tin 1 verb liijart, because the lictor had to bind the hands and 

 feet of criminals before they were punished. 



LIEN, at common law, in respect of personal chattels, is the right 

 in one man legally possessed of the chattels of another, to retain t In- 

 some until certain present claims of the holder against the owner are 

 satisfied. Liens are general or specific ; they ore implied by law, or 

 authorised by custom or usage ; or they are created by express contract 

 between the parties. Their existence is conditional on possession, not 

 wrongfully obtained, and uninterruptedly continued. And their pur- 

 pose is, in the way of a natural remedy, to enforce simple rights, such 

 as accrue chiefly in commerce, and such as iu point of principle are too 

 plain and obvious to admit of dispute. 



For instance, upon a sale, for ready money, of a specific chattel, the 

 right of property in the article and the right of possession immediately 

 pass by the law of this country to the purchaser; but until the vendor 

 actually or constructively parts with possession of the thing sold, ho 

 has a right to retain it foi the price agreed to be paid, and that right is 

 called his lien. This is one instance of a lien implied by law. Tin 

 ties of this kind of lien are numerous. As a general rule, every mechanic 

 may retain a chattel for the price of his labour in improving it at the 

 request of the owner. A dyer, a fuller, a packer, a tailor, who en 

 his labour on goods sent to him for the purpose, are familiar instances 

 of a very extensive class. A common carrier may retain the merchan- 

 dise till the carriage is paid ; and an innkeeper the goods of his guest 

 for the amount of his bill ; and in both instances this is deemed a fair 

 privilege of those persons at common law who are obliged by the same 

 law to receive the goods or guests respectively, win-never it is not 

 unreasonable that they should do so. But in respect of ships ch 

 for a particular voyage, if it should be said they do not come within 

 the definition of carriers at common law, there is still a lien, far the 

 freight, on the goods carried, iu virtue of the improved value assumed 

 to have been conferred thereon by their conveyance to a different market. 

 As between attorney and client, the former has a lien on all p.i : 

 his possession for the amount of his bill; as between principal and 

 factor, there is a lien in the latter upon all goods in his possession 

 belonging to the former, for his commission and any advances which he 

 is under to the principal. 



Lien, where not implied by law, may exist by custom. But custom 

 in this, as in all other coses, to be legal must be reasonable, an- 1 not 

 repugnant to the main purpose of the forties in the transaction which 

 it is to affect. There is no lien, by law, for the ogistment of cattle ; 

 but to set up a lien by custom in the case of milch cows would 

 i>b\ -iiinxly defeat the purpose of both parties, as the owner must have 

 possession of them in order to milk them from time to time. Tin- 

 training of a race-horse offers a similar illustration, since it is o.- 

 that the owner means to enter him for different races, and must obtain 

 possession in order to put him on the course. 



As, however, it U quite competent for the p.u-ties to create a lii-n 1-y 

 their own agreement, if they are foolish enough to enter into a contract 

 which itU either difficult or inconvenient, or even impossible top- 



'tract is good, notwithstanding, and the sufferer must tako the 



i -li - .:, Ik - 



A general lien is a right to retain the particular goods until all the 

 holder's claims accrued against the owner in the same course of busi- 

 ness an satisfied. Such a lien in implied by law in favour of a 

 factor for his general balance of commission and advances duo from 

 the same principal. Usually, however, a Hun of this nature is not 

 f.i-. --i;u-d by the law ; and even where it exisU by custom, as in the 

 case of a carrier for his general account against the some consignee, 

 the consignor may stop the particular goods in tramilu, and obtain 

 possession on payment of the carrier's charge in respect of them only. 

 A specific lien, an the latter illustration may suggest, is a right to 

 retain particular goods for claims, in respect of such goods only ; it is 



