LUNAR CAUSTIC 



3536 



LUNGS 



this is explained in the article LUNA. The study 

 of lunacy is one of the most difficult subjects of 

 medical inquiry. In the United States, Canada 

 and in most other countries, the laws require 

 that protective authority be exercised over 

 lunatics and idiots, in order to prevent injus- 

 tice. Every person is presumed by law to be of 

 sound mind until proved to the contrary; if 

 lunacy is proved before a competent court, the 

 patient may be placed under guardianship. In- 

 sane persons are incapable of judging between 

 right and wrong, and they are not held respon- 

 sible personally for their criminal deeds, but 

 may be held liable civilly for damage resulting 

 from their wrongful acts, and may sue, or be 

 sued, in the name of their guardians. See IN- 

 SANITY. 



LUNAR CAUSTIC, lu'nar kaws'tik, or NI'- 

 TRATE OF SILVER, is a very important 

 chemical compound much used medicinally in 

 diseases of the stomach and intestines. When 

 melted at a high temperature and molded into 

 sticks, it is used to cauterize poisonous wounds 

 and to remove warts or "proud flesh." It has 

 even been applied in smallpox to prevent pit- 

 ting. Chemically, it is of value as the primary 

 compound from which other silver compounds 

 are made. It is blackened by exposure to light 

 and leaves a brownish-black stain on the fingers. 

 It is the basis of many black hair dyes and of 

 some indelible inks. 



LUN'DY'S LANE, BATTLE OF, in the War 

 of 1812, was an engagement fought on Canadian 

 soil about a mile from Niagara Falls, on July 

 25, 1814. With the exception of the Battle of 

 New Orleans, which was fought after the treaty 

 of peace was signed, this was the last important 

 battle of the war. The British forces, driven 

 back after the failure of their attack on Chip- 

 pewa, took up a new position on Lundy's Lane, 

 a roadway within sound of Niagara's roar, where 

 they received reinforcements under General 

 Drummond. At Chippewa was an American 

 army of 4,000 men under the command of 

 General Jacob Brown. On the afternoon of 

 July 25, Brown ordered General Winfield Scott 

 to advance on Queenstown with a force of 

 about 1,300 men. While on the march Scott's 

 forces came upon the British, about 2,800 

 strong. It was then five o'clock, but before 

 darkness fell General Brown arrived on the field 

 with reinforcements from Chippewa. The bat- 

 tle raged until midnight, the losses on both 

 sides being severe. 



Both sides claimed the victory, but neither 

 won a decided advantage. The Americans with- 



drew unmolested from the field, and retired 

 first to their original camp at Chippewa, and 

 then to Fort Erie. They made no further at- 

 tempt to invade Canada. In this battle the 

 Canadian militia upheld their reputation, and 

 won warm praise from General Drummond for 

 their zeal and gallantry. See WAR OF 1812. 



LUNENBURG, loo 'nen burg, the county 

 town of Lunenburg County, Nova Scotia. It 

 is situated seventy miles southwest of Halifax, 

 on a small bay on the Atlantic coast, and on 

 the Halifax & Southwestern Railway. It has a 

 fine harbor and considerable foreign trade in 

 fish and lumber, particularly with the United 

 States and the West Indies. The fishing fleets 

 which make Lunenburg their headquarters com- 

 prise about 150 vessels and employ over 2,000 

 men. The town has machine shops and found- 

 ries, shipyards and various establishments for 

 ship supplies. It was settled in 1753 by Ger- 

 mans, and still retains a distinctly German at- 

 mosphere. Population in 1911, 2,681. 



LUNGS, in the body of man and other 

 vertebrate (backboned) animals, a pair of 

 large, spongy organs, lying in the chest cavity. 

 They are intimately connected with one of the 

 processes upon which life itself depends, for 



THE LUNGS 

 With trachea and bronchial tubes exposed. 



they are the most important of those organs 

 through which breathing, or respiration, is car- 

 ried on. 



Description. The lungs form a pyramid- 

 shaped mass whose base rests on the diaphragm 

 muscle, and the top of which is up behind the 

 collar bone. Between the two lungs are the 

 oesophagus, the heart and the larger blood ves- 

 sels. At the top they are united by the wind- 

 pipe (see TRACHEA), which, after it enters 



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