LICORICE 



3407 



LIEBIG 



s an intricate device for recording earthquake 

 iisturbances. 



The site was selected on account of its clear 

 itmosphere, and here many notable eclipses 

 lave been observed. In 1892 at Lick the fifth 

 moon of Jupiter was discovered by Barnard, 

 md a search for new stars and comets is sys- 

 ;ematically prosecuted. Visitors are freely ad- 

 mitted, and methods of work are explained, 

 md in this way an impetus is given to popular 

 sducation. 



James Lick (1796-1876), an American capital- 

 ist who founded the observatory that bears 

 lis name, was born in Fredericksburg, Lebanon 

 County, Pa. He became a manufacturer of 

 pianos in Philadelphia, and from 1821 to 1847 

 ivas in the same business in Valparaiso and 

 Buenos Aires in South America. In 1847 he 

 settled in California, invested largely in real 

 estate, and accumulated a vast fortune. In 

 1874 he placed the sum of $3,000,000 from his 

 estate in the hands of seven trustees to be 

 devoted to charitable and specified uses, and a 

 year later he increased the amount to $5,000,000. 

 His principal bequest was to the University of 

 California for the erection of an observatory 

 which was to contain the world's most powerful 

 telescope at that time. A large sum was also 

 appropriated for three groups of statuary to 

 be placed before the city hall in San Francisco 

 to represent three important periods in the 

 history of California. 



LICORICE, or LIQUORICE, lik'oris, a 

 hardy herb of the pulse family, which grows 

 about four feet high and bears long, sweet 

 roots that give it great commercial value. It 

 is found in Southern Europe and Asia. Lico- 

 rice grows wild in damp places, and is usually 

 regarded by ignorant natives as a worthless 

 weed. By pressing the root, a thin, yellow 

 fluid is obtained which is used in medicine, 

 especially in the treatment of bronchial 

 troubles. The commercial article is made by 

 evaporation of the extract which is boiled from 

 the roots. The Syrians make a business of 

 pulling, drying and packing licorice. The roots 

 grow from two to three feet long and are pulled 

 in the damp season in October, left stacked to 

 dry for nearly a year, then pressed into bales 

 for export. Licorice is used to add flavor to 

 port wine and tobacco, also in the manufacture 

 of beer and in making cough drops, candy and 

 chewing gum. 



LICTORS, lik'torz, in ancient Rome, the 

 official attendants who were appointed to en- 

 force due respect for the chief magistrates and 



fulfil the commands of the latter. The num- 

 ber of lictors depended on the magistrate's 

 rank. A dictator, when appearing in public, 

 was preceded by twenty-four lictors; a consul 

 by twelve, a pro- 

 praetor by six, 

 and a praetor by 

 two. The lictors 

 carried axes tied 

 in bundles of 

 rods called fasces, 

 as an ensign of 

 office. The duty 

 also devolved on 

 the lictors of in- 

 flicting punish- 

 ment on Roman 

 citizens who had 

 been condemned. 

 In later times 

 fasces were car- 

 ried before the 

 emperor. See 

 FASCES. 



LIEBIG, le' 

 biK, JUSTUS, Ba- 

 ron von (1803- 

 1873), one of the 

 most celebrated 

 chemists of t h e 

 nineteenth c e n - 

 tury, regarded as 

 the founder of 



organic chemis- A LICTO R 



try. His Chemis- 

 try of Food brought about a more rational 

 method of preparing and using food, and his 

 application of chemical principles to soils and 

 manures greatly advanced the science of agri- 

 culture. 



He was born in Darmstadt, Germany. His 

 paper on Fulminic Acid, written while he was 

 studying in Paris, attracted the attention .of 

 Alexander von Humboldt and led to his ap- 

 pointment as professor of chemistry at Gies- 

 sen, where he labored for more than a quarter 

 of a century. He was raised to the rank of 

 baron by the Duke of Hesse, and other honors 

 were heaped upon him. He became professor 

 in the University of Munich in 1852, and in 

 1880 was appointed president of the Munich 

 Academy of Sciences. 



Liebig labored successfully in all branches of 

 chemistry, but particularly in organic chemis- 

 try, making many discoveries in that depart- 

 ment and doing much toward improving the 



