LEATHERBACK 



3360 



LEAVES 



The pumice dust serves to smooth the surface, 

 which is then coated with enamel paint. Arti- 

 ficial leather is also made of parings of leather, 

 reduced to a pulp, and then shaped in a mold. 

 The commodity known as vegetable leather 

 consists of rubber dissolved in naphtha and 

 spread over linen cloth. It is especially stout 

 and durable. A more modern substitute for 

 genuine leather is called by the trade name 

 pantasote, and few people are able to detect 

 the real article from this clever and durable 

 imitation. A great number of articles which are 

 claimed to be leather-covered are really in- 

 cased in imitation leather, and this substitution 

 even extends to seat cushions for carriages and 

 automobiles. G.B.D. 



Consult Proctor's The Making of Leather; Le- 

 land's Leather Work. 



LE ATH ' ERB ACK , or LEATHERBACK 

 TURTLE, also called trunk-back, is a sea tur- 

 tle which is found in limited numbers through- 

 out the tropics in the Atlantic, Pacific and 

 Indian oceans. It is the largest turtle known, 

 and is probably becoming extinct. The name 

 1 leatherback is given to this species on account 

 of the soft, leathery appearance of the brown 

 shell. The animal sometimes wanders into the 

 cooler regions, and is found occasionally on 

 the American coast as far north as Cape Ann. 

 The largest specimens grow to be six feet or 

 more in length, and weigh from 800 to 1,200 

 pounds. The leatherback feeas on lobsters, 

 crabs, shrimps, jellyfish and other marine prey. 

 Its own flesh is not eaten by man, as it has a 

 disagreeable flavor and is reputed to cause 

 sickness. 



Leatherbacks appear in large numbers on 

 the Tortugas Islands off the coast of Florida 

 during the breeding season. Sometimes more 

 than 1,000 turtle eggs are found in one spot, 

 where several females have deposited their 

 eggs together. After they are hatched by the 

 heat of the sun the little turtles seek the water. 



LEAVENWORTH, lev'enwurth, KAN., the 

 county seat of Leavenworth County, and an 

 important commercial center, situated on the 

 Missouri River on the northeastern border of 

 the state, twenty-six miles northwest of Kan- 

 sas City. Leavenworth is served by the Atchi- 

 son, Topeka & Santa Fe, the Chicago, Burling- 

 ton & Quincy, the Chicago Great Western, the 

 Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific, the Leaven- 

 worth & Topeka, the Missouri Pacific and the 

 Union Pacific railways ; an electric line connects 

 with Kansas City. The city was founded in 

 1854, and is the oldest permanent settlement in 



Kansas. Throughout the antislavery agitation 

 it was an influential proslavery center. In 1855 

 it became a city and in 1909 the commission 

 form of government was adopted. The popula- 

 tion in 1910 was 19,363; the state census of 1915 

 reported 22,090. 



Besides being a distributing point of conse- 

 quence, Leavenworth has large coal-mining 

 interests; the city is built over almost inex- 

 haustible coal deposits, and a large number of 

 people are employed in the mines. Manufac- 

 turing is carried on extensively, the chief 

 establishments being the woolen mills, flour 

 and grist mills, iron foundries, lumber mills, 

 machine shops, and furniture, broom and wagon 

 factories. The most notable buildings are the 

 Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception, Kan- 

 sas State Orphan Asylum, the Federal building 

 and county courthouse. Mount Saint Mary's 

 Academy and the Whittier Library supplement 

 the public schools. 



The city received its name from Fort Leav- 

 enworth, north of the city, erected in 1827, and 

 one of the most important military posts in 

 the West. It has a noted infantry and cavalry 

 school, a military prison and a national ceme- 

 tery. An object of especial interest in the city 

 is a mammoth bronze statue of General Ulysses 

 S. Grant. 



LEAVES, leevz, which clothe the trees in 

 summer with garments of green, and array 

 them in autumn with gorgeous reds and yel- 

 lows, are among the most useful and impor- 

 tant of plant organs. Not without a purpose 

 did Nature fashion them in their bewildering 

 variety and beauty; they were not created 

 merely to be "the green sunshades over our 

 heads," or the "thousand whispering tongues 

 of the forest." The leaf is the builder of the 

 plant; as John Ruskin has said in his Modern 

 Painters 



It leads a life of endurance and effort ; It con- 

 nects itself with the whole previous edifice by one 

 sustaining thread, continuing its appointed piece 

 of work all the way from top to root. 



How the Leaf Is Made. As will be shown, 

 the leaf performs its work for the plant by 

 using the sunlight, and it has been constructed 

 so as to absorb as much as possible of that 

 life-giving energy. The typical leaf, therefore, 

 is a thin, flat outgrowth of the stem, expanded, 

 in most cases, horizontally. Its upper and 

 lower surfaces are covered with a thin, color- 

 less membrane called the epidermis, or skin, 

 and between these coverings are several layers 

 of cells. The green color of the leaf is due to 



