LEVER 



3393 



LEVITES 



class, the power travels a shorter space than 

 the weight, and must be greater. Examples 

 are sugar tongs (double lever) and the fore- 

 arm. In the latter case, the fulcrum is the 



A LEVER OF THE THIRD CLASS 

 Here P (power applied) must always be 

 greater than the weight (W), but speed is gained, 

 for when P moves one inch, W moves several 

 inches. 



elbow joint, and the power is the biceps muscle 

 attached to the radial bone of the forearm 

 close to the joint. 



Levers of the first and second classes sacri- 

 fice speed to gain power, that is, to do work 

 with less effort ; while those of the third class 

 gain speed at the sacrifice of power. 



Compound Levers are combinations of two 

 or more levers, whose purpose is greatly to 

 increase the power. By applying the principle 

 of the compound lever it is possible to balance 

 such heavy loads as a ton of hay by just the 

 weight of the hand (see WEIGHING SCALE). 



Law of Equilibrium. A lever is said to be 

 in equilibrium when the power and weight bal- 

 ance each other. According to the law of 

 equilibrium, the power multiplied by the length 

 of the power arm is equal to the weight multi- 

 plied by the length of the weight arm. For 

 example, in a lever of the first class which is 

 three feet long and has a fulcrum one foot from 

 the weight end, a power of one pound would 

 balance a weight of two pounds. C.R.M. 



LE'VER, CHARLES JAMES (1806-1872), an 

 Irish novelist who wrote many adventurous 

 romances. He was born in Dublin, was edu- 

 cated at Trinity College, afterwards studying 

 medicine at Gottingen, Germany. In 1832 he 

 gained considerable reputation for his skill in 

 the treatment of cholera, which was then 

 prevalent. The first chapters of The Confes- 

 sions of Harry Lorrequer were published in 

 1834, and were so favorably received that he 

 adopted Lorrequer as his nom de plume and 

 thereafter devoted himself to literature. His 

 work was remarkable for vivacity and for 

 happy pictures of Irish manners and life. Be- 

 tween 1840 and 1872 he wrote about thirty 

 213 



novels, among the later ones being Charles 

 O'Malley, the Irish Dragoon, Jack Hinton, 

 Arthur O'Leary and Saint Patrick's Eve. He 

 was appointed vice-consul at Spezia in 1858 and 

 in 1867 was transferred to Trieste, which con- 

 sular post he held until his death. 



LEVIATHAN, levi'athan, a sea monster 

 mentioned several times in the Old Testament. 

 From the description given of it in Job XLI, 

 it is believed to have been the crocodile, but 

 other Scriptural references to it have been in- 

 terpreted as meaning the whale. Modern 

 usage applies the term to anything of vast 

 proportions. On account of his superb men- 

 tality, Doctor Samuel Johnson was called the 

 leviathan of literature. A great ocean vessel 

 is commonly referred to in a boasting way by 

 the name. 



LEVIS, lee' vis, or in French, lay vee' , the 

 county seat of Levis County, on the Saint 

 Lawrence River, directly opposite the city of 

 Quebec. It is served by steamers on the river 

 and by the Grand Trunk, Quebec Central and 

 Intercolonial railways, and has ferry connec- 

 tion with Quebec. Levis is a picturesque town, 

 high above the Saint Lawrence, and has many 

 interesting old houses. It is also important 

 industrially, for it has a shipyard, tanneries, 

 boot and shoe, knitting and cigar factories. 

 One of its unusual industries is the making 

 of wax tapers. It has the Lome dock, a gov- 

 ernment graving dock 445 feet long and 100 

 feet wide. Levis is strongly fortified, and is 

 protected by batteries crowning the heights 

 from which Quebec was bombarded in 1759. 

 The town was named for Francois Gaston, 

 Duke of Levis (1720-1787), who was second 

 in command of the French troops under Mont- 

 calm, and after the latter's death kept up the 

 hopeless fight against the British. Population 

 in 1911, 7,452; in 1916, about 8,000. 



LE'VITES, in Old Testament history, were 

 the descendants of Levi, who were selected, 

 probably by Moses, to care for the Tabernacle 

 and its services. They guarded the sacred sym- 

 bols, administered the rites of worship and 

 transported the Tabernacle and its furniture 

 when the camp moved. When Canaan was 

 divided among the various tribes of Israel no 

 especial part of the land was given to them, 

 for they were scattered in forty-eight towns, 

 thirteen of which were set apart for the priests. 

 During the period of the Judges and the United 

 Kingdom among the Israelites, the Levites 

 reached their highest power as priests, but 

 later the priesthood was restricted to the house 



