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LAVENDER LAW, LEGISLATION, CODES. 



biographer says of him, Hail he lived in early times, 

 he would now be adored as a saint, because every 

 thing which the church requires from a saint lie had 

 in perfection charily, love of mankind, and unre- 

 kixiug zeal in Ihe cause of Christ." He did much lor 

 practical theology. Lavater owed little to learning, 

 but drew chiefly from himself. His work on Phy- 

 siognomy has been several times translated into Eng- 

 lish. Of the English translations, we may mention 

 Hunter's (Lond., 1789, 5 volumes 4to.) A valuable 

 French edition appeared in 1809 (Paris, lOvols.) 



LAVENDER ; a delightfully fragrant plant, is 

 a native of the south of Europe. All the labiate 

 plants are aromatic and stimulating, but these pro- 

 perties are more exalted in this plant than in any other 

 of the tribe, especially when it grows in a warm 

 and sunny exposure. Indeed, in such situations, it 

 sometimes contains one fourth of its weight of cam- 

 phor. To the abundance of this plant is attributed 

 the superiority of the honey in certain parts of Europe. 

 Tlie volatile oil, distilled water, and tincture of lav- 

 ender, are much employed in officinal preparations, 

 and as perfumes. The flowers yield by far the 

 greatest proportion of oil. 



L AVINI A ; a daughter of king Latinus and Amata. 

 She was betrothed to her relation, king Turnus, but, 

 because the oracle ordered her father to marry her to 

 a foreign prince, she was given to ./Eneas, after the 

 death of Turnus. (See Latinus.} At her husband's 

 death, she was left pregnant, and, being fearful of 

 the tyranny of Ascanius, her son-in-law, she fled into 

 the woods, where she brought forth a son, called 

 jEneas Sylvius. 



LAVINIUM, or LAVINUM ; a town of Italy, 

 said to have been built by ^Eneas, and called in 

 honour of Lavinia, the founder's wife. It was the 

 capital of Latium, during the reign of ^Eneas. 



LAVOISIER, ANTHONY LAWRENCE, a celebrated 

 French chemist, whose name is connected with the 

 antiphlogistic theory of chemistry, to the reception of 

 which he contributed by his writings and discoveries. 

 He was born at Paris, Aug. 16, 1743, and was the 

 son of opulent parents, who gave him a good educa- 

 tion. He acquired an intimate knowledge of the 

 physical sciences, and first distinguished himself by 

 a prize memoir on the best method of lighting the 

 streets. Two years after, in 1768, he was chosen a 

 member of the academy. About this time, he pub- 

 lished several tracts, in periodical works, on the 

 analysis of gypsum, the crystallization of salt, the 

 congelation of water, on thunder, the aurora borealis, 

 &c. Journeys to different parts of France furnished 

 him materials for a mineralogical chart of the king- 

 dom, intended as the basis of a work on the revolu- 

 tions of the globe, and the formation of the strata of 

 the earth, outlines of which appeared in the memoirs 

 of the academy for 1772, and 1787. The discoveries 

 of Black, Cavendish, Macbride, and Priestley, rela- 

 tive to the nature of elastic fluids or gases, attracted 

 the notice of Lavoisier, who entered on the same 

 field of inquiry, with all his characteristic ardour in 

 the cause of science ; and, possessing the advantage 

 of a considerable fortune, lie conducted his experi- 

 ments on a large scale, and obtained highly interest- 

 ing results. In 1774 appeared his Opuscules chy- 

 miques, comprising a general view of what was then 

 known relative to gaseous bodies, with several new 

 experiments, remarkable for their ingenuity and 

 accuracy. Doctor Priestley's discovery of what he 

 called dephlogisticated air, afterwards generally 

 termed oxygen gas, furnished Lavoisier with a fresh 

 subject of research; and, in 1778, he published an 

 essay on this substance, and its influence in the pro- 

 duction of acids, developing the principle of a new 

 chemical theory. This was further illustrated by his 



experiments on the composition of water, by burning 

 together the oxygen and hydrogen gases, and by its 

 analysis i.fibrding the same principles; and the system 

 was completed by his theories of combustion and 

 oxidation (see Oxygen), the decomposition of atmo- 

 spheric air, his doctrine of caloric and its influence in 

 causing the solid, liquid, and gaseous states of bodies; 

 and the whole theory was laid before the public in 

 his Elements of Chemistry, which appeared in 1789, 

 and was speedily translated into English and other 

 languages. (See Chemistry, and Chemical Nomen- 

 clature.) M. Lavoisier rendered many services to 

 the arts and sciences, both in a public and private 

 capacity. When the new system of weights and 

 measures were brought forward, he contributed to its 

 improvement by some novel experiments on the 

 expansion of metals. He was consulted by the 

 national convention as to the best method of manu- 

 facturing assignats, and securing them from being 

 forged. In 1791, the committee of the constituent 

 assembly applied to him for information preparatory 

 to the adoption of an improved system of taxation, in 

 consequence of which he drew up a work, which was 

 published under the title of Richesses territoriales de 

 la France, relating to the production and consump- 

 tion of the country. About this time, he was 

 appointed one of the commissioners of the national 

 treasury an office which afforded him an opportunity 

 of exercising his spirit of systematic arrangement. 

 His house became a vast laboratory; the most skilful 

 artists were employed to construct the necessary 

 instruments and apparatus for his philosophical 

 researches. He had conversazioni at his house twice 

 a week, at which were discussed the theories, opinions, 

 and discoveries of learned contemporaries. With 

 other farmers -general, he was condemned to death 

 by the revolutionary tribunal of Paris, on the charge 

 of being a conspirator, and of having adulterated the 

 tobacco with ingredients obnoxious to the health of 

 the citizens, and, on this frivolous pretext, was 

 beheaded by the guillotine, May 8, 1794. When he 

 found his fate inevitable, he petitioned for a few days' 

 respite, in order to make some interesting and import- 

 ant experiments which he had in view ; but this 

 favour was denied him. M. Lavoisier married, in 

 1771, the daughter of a farmer- general, a lady of 

 agreeable manners and considerable talents, who not 

 only participated in her husband's philosophical 

 researches, but also cultivated the arts with great 

 success, and engraved with h^r own hand the plates 

 for one of his publications. She subsequently became 

 the wife of count Rumford. 



LAVORA, or TERRA DI LAVORO ; a princi- 

 pality of Naples, bounded north by Abruzzo Ultra, 

 and Abruzzo Citra, east by Molise, and Principato 

 Ultra, south by Principato Ultra, and the gulf of 

 Naples, and west by the Mediterranean and the Cam- 

 pagna di Roma; about 140 miles in length, and 

 thirty-three wide where broadest. It is populous and 

 fertile, yielding abundance of corn, wine, oil, and 

 other productions of Italy. Anciently it was called 

 Campania ; in the middle ages, the Castellany of 

 Capua. Caserta is the capital ; Gaeta the principal 

 port. Population, 625,500 ; square miles, 1696. 



LAW, LEGISLATION, CODES. 1. Laws are 

 the very soul of a people ; not merely those which 

 are contained in the letter of their ordinances and 

 statute books, but still more those which have grown 

 up of themselves from their manners, and religion, 

 and history. Several modern continental jurists, as 

 John G. Schlosser, and Hugo, have shown how little, 

 in legislation, caprice can prevail over the silent but 

 irresistible influence of public opinion. And even the 

 authors of the Code Napoleon have said, with no less 

 elegance than truth, that no legislator can escape 



