570 



LOUSE LOUVEL. 



to 500 tons each, some of which nre daily arriving 

 from, or departing for all parts of the immense valley 

 of Uie Mississippi. 'Hie arrivals during 18:;-.' -\- 

 t-feilttl 1500, and the departures were about the 

 same number; this is exclusive of keel and flat 

 boats, which must have amounted to at least that 

 number. Louisville is the great commercial depot 

 for the country bordering on the Ohio and its tribu- 

 tary waters, and the Mississippi above Natchez, the 

 country lying near to the great lakes resorting to 

 this city for many articles of trade. Great bodies of 

 emigrants from the east and north pass through it ; 

 and it is not uncommon, in the autumn, to see the 

 streets filled for days together, with continued pro- 

 cessions of movers, as they are called, going to the 

 "great west." In former years, Louisville had the 

 character of being unhealthy ; but, since the introduc- 

 tion of steam-lwat navigation, and the improved 

 methods of living, no town of its size in the United 

 States has been more healthy: the year 1822, so 

 fatal to the health of the whole valley of the Missis- 

 sippi, is the last in which anything like general sick- 

 ness has been known in this city. 



LOUSE (pediculus). These disagreeable and un- 

 seemly insects belong to the order parasita (Latr.), 

 and are characterized by having six feet formed for 

 walking, a mouth furnished with a proboscis, antennas 

 as long as the thorax, and the abdomen depressed, 

 and formed of several segments. Almost every 

 species of animal is frequented by its peculiar louse, 

 sometimes by several kinds : even man is subjected 

 to their attacks. They breed with amazing rapidity, 

 several generations occurring in a short period. 

 Certain circumstances appear to be exceedingly fav- 

 ourable to their increase ; as infancy, and that state 

 of the system giving rise to phthiriasis, or the lousy 

 disease. The human race is infested by several 

 bpecies, among which are the P. Immanus carports, 

 or body louse, principally occurring in adults who 

 neglect cleanliness ; and the P. humanus capitis, or 

 Common louse, most frequent in children. Cleanliness 

 's the best antidote against these disgusting intruders. 

 The lousy disease, though now of very rare occur- 

 rence, appears to have been by no means unfrequent 

 among the ancients. Herod, Antiochus, Callisthenes, 

 Sylla, and many others, are said to have perished 

 from this disorder. Some nations consider them as a 

 gastronomic luxury, and, at one time, they were used 

 in medicine. Those of our readers who wish for full 

 information on these disagreeable parasites, will find 

 ample details respecting them in the works of Rhedi, 

 Swammerdam, and Buonanni, who seem to have 

 studied their habits and manners with great assiduity. 

 LOUTH, the smallest county of Ireland, is situ- 

 ated in the province of Leinster, and extends from 

 N. to S. 27 miles, from E. to W. 18. The soil is in 

 general fertile, and is almost wholly devoted to corn. 

 The principal towns are Dundalk (the capital), 

 Collon, Ardee, Dunlen, Carlingford, and Castle Bel- 

 lingham. The chief manufactures of Louth are 

 dowlas, sheetings, and cambric. See Ireland. 



LOUTHERBOURG, or LUTHERBURG, PHILIP 

 JAMES ; a landscape painter of eminence, born at 

 Strasburg, in 1740. He studied under Tischbein, 

 and afterwards under Casanova, and displayed great 

 talents in the delineation of battles, hunting-pieces, 

 &c. After having been admitted a member of the 

 academy of painting at Paris, where he was first 

 settled, he removed, in 1771, to London, where he 

 was employed in the decorations of the opera-house, 

 and also at Drury-lane theatre. He subsequently 

 contrived an exhibition, called the Eidophysikon, 

 somewhat on the plan of the Diorama, which, how- 

 ever, did not prove a very profitable speculation. In 

 1782, he was nominated a royal academician ; and, 



ns a landscape painter he possessed deserved wl*. 

 brity. He also painted some historical pictures, as 

 the Victory of Lord Howe, and the Siege of Valen- 

 ciennes. His character was eccentric, and he was so 

 tar infatuated with the reveries of animal magnetism, 

 as to have accompanied the impostor Cagliostro to 

 Switzerland. He returned to England, and died near 

 London, in 1812. 



LOUVAIN (Dutch, Loeven, Leuven) ; formerly 

 the capital of one of the four districts of the duchy of 

 Brabant ; more lately of a circle in the province of 

 South Brabant, kingdom of the Netherlands ; j.t 

 present belonging to Belgium. Louvain is situated 

 on the river Dyle, and a canal leading from this river 

 to the Rnpel, five leagues E. N. E. from Brussels ; 

 lat. 50 53' 26" N. ; Ion. 4 41' 54" E. There are 

 seven churches, five convents, a magnificent hospital, 

 4000 houses, and 25,400 inhabitants. John IV., 

 duke of Brabant, founded the university in 1426, tc 

 which belonged four colleges, a considerable library, 

 a botanical garden, and an anatomical theatre. 1 n 

 the sixteenth century, it contained 6000 students. 

 Having become extinct during the French revolu- 

 tion, it was restored as a lyceum, and, Oct. 6, 1817, 

 again formally re-established. The number of stu- 

 dents is 580. In 1825, a philosophical college for 

 Catholic clergymen was founded, with the intention 

 of raising the standard of learning among the candi- 

 dates for holy orders ; but the clergy were so much 

 against it, that in 1830, when a Catholic minister 

 was appointed for the afiairs of Belgium, the philo- 

 sophical college was abolished. Louvain has greatly 

 contributed to nourish that spirit of opposition which 

 the Catholic Belgians have manifested towards the 

 government of the Netherlands, and of which the 

 separation of Belgium has been the consequence. In 

 the beginning of the fourteenth century, when the 

 city had 200,000 inhabitants, the woollen manufac- 

 tures supported 100,000 workmen, many of whom, 

 after the insurrection of 1378, emigrated to England, 

 and founded the English woollen manufactures. The 

 most important article of industry is beer, of which 

 150,000 casks are exported annually. There are 

 from ten to twelve lace manufactories. The com- 

 merce in corn and hops is considerable. During 

 the late revolution, the inhabitants embraced with 

 ardour the cause of independence, and repelled with 

 courage (Oct. 23, 1830) the attacks of the Dutch. 



LOUVEL, PIERRE Louis, the assassin of the duke 

 of Berry, was born at Versailles in 1783, and served 

 as saddler in the royal stables. From his youth up- 

 wards, he was of a gloomy and reserved disposition, 

 and impatient of contradiction, but industrious ami 

 temperate. He often changed his master, and oftener 

 his residence. From all circumstances, it is evident 

 that he was fanatical and eccentric. He hated the 

 Bourbons, and wished to extirpate the family* the 

 duke of Berry in particular, because he was expected 

 to continue the line. Feb. 13, 1820, about eleven 

 o'clock in the evening, when the prince was conduct- 

 ing his wife from the opera to the carriage, Louvel 

 pressed towards him, seized him by the left shoulder, 

 and stabbed him with a knife in his right side. Upon 

 the first cry of the prince, the soldiers of the guards 

 pursued the murderer, who was apprehended and 

 conducted into the guard-room of the opera-house. 

 He was examined in the presence of the minister 

 Decazes, and immediately avowed, that, six years 

 previous, he had formed the resolution of delivering 

 France from the Bourbons, whom he considered the 

 worst enemies of the country ; that after the duke of 

 Berry, he had intended to murder the rest, and. 

 finally, the king. His trial was conducted by the 

 chamber of peers. The investigations continued 

 three months, and 1200 witnesses were examined, in 



