LUPERCALIA 



3538 



LUTHER 



The name is also applied to an olive-green 

 lichen found on trunks of trees in mountainous 

 regions in North America and Europe, and to 

 an European plant with small, purple flowers, 

 whose white-spotted leaves were supposed to 

 resemble a diseased lung. Both of these plants 

 were once used as remedies for lung trouble. 



LUPERCALIA, luperka'lia\ one of the 

 most ancient of Roman festivals, celebrated 

 annually in honor of Lupercus, a rural Italian 

 deity, afterwards identified with Pan, the god 

 of herds and fruitfulness. The rites took place 

 at the Lupercal, a cave in the Palatine Hill, 

 Rome. Goats and dogs were sacrificed, and 

 their skins were cut into lashes. Armed with 

 these the priests ran through the byways, strik- 

 ing all the people they met. The ceremony 

 typified purification. It took place on the fif- 

 teenth of February, which was originally the 

 last month of the Roman year. 



The Lupercalia is frequently mentioned in 

 literature, which fact possibly emphasizes its 

 ancient importance. Mark Antony, in his 

 oration over the body of Caesar, as given in 

 Shakespeare's Julius Caesar, exclaimed: 

 You all did see that on the Lupercal 

 I thrice presented him a kingly crown, 

 Which he did thrice refuse: was this ambition? 



LUPINE, lu'pin, a group of herbs and 

 shrubs of the pea family, whose generous con- 

 tent of nitrogenous matter makes them valu- 

 able to the farmer by enriching the soil (see 

 NITROGEN). The name comes from the Latin 

 lupinus, meaning wolfish; it is not known why 

 it was so applied. Lupines grow in the temper- 

 ate regions of North and South America, about 

 ninety species being native to the United States 

 and Southern Canada. They bear beautiful 

 white, yellow or blue flowers, resembling small 

 sweet peas, and are cultivated for decorative 

 purposes, both in gardens and in greenhouses. 



LU'PUS. When the germ of consumption 

 attacks the skin, usually producing various- 

 sized pimples on the face, the trouble is named 

 lupus. It is to be regarded, like all consumptive 

 troubles, as a terrible enemy, running a slow, 

 gradual course and possibly breaking down to 

 form ulcers, which spread slowly over the face. 

 The location which seems to be commonly se- 

 lected is the cheek, in the region of the nose. 

 In the beginning of the trouble, several hard 

 pimples appear; they are in size from a pin- 

 head to a pea and are of a brownish-red color. 

 These break down and form ulcers, which, if 

 they heal, leave bad scars. Lupus is very slow 

 in its progress, but in the end often results in 



death. Great care should be used in treatment, 

 and the utmost patience must be exercised. 

 Only a competent physician should be permit- 

 ted to care for the patient; home remedies are 

 usually of little value. S.C.B. 



LURAY, lum', CAVERNS, a group of un- 

 derground chambers near the town of Luray, 

 Va., discovered by Andrew J. Campbell and his 

 companions in August, 1878. These under- 

 ground galleries are in the limestone belt of the 

 Shenandoah Valley, on the west side of the 

 Blue Ridge Mountains. The area explored ex- 

 tends over about 100 acres, under some of the 

 low spurs of the Blue Ridge. Electric lights 

 have been installed, so one may see the many 

 stalactites, snow-white, pink, blue and amber- 

 colored, the hundreds of chambers and the tiers 

 of galleries, some of which are 260 feet high. 

 Many of the columns are over fifty feet in 

 height and give out a hollow, bell-like sound 

 when struck. About 20,000 visitors register each 

 year. See STALACTITE AND STALAGMITE. 



LUTE, an ancient, stringed, musical instru- 

 ment, formerly a great favorite, but' in modern 

 times almost entirely supplanted by the harp 

 and the guitar. It originally contained six 

 strings, but the number was gradually increased 



Idylls ) 

 A +u ' 



THE LUTE 



Probably the most-frequently quoted lines with 

 reference to the lute are from Tennyson's Idylls 

 of the King: 



It is the little rift within the lute 



That by and by will make the music mut 



And ever widening slowly silence all. 



to twenty-four, between the fourteenth and the 

 seventeenth centuries. The instrument con- 

 sisted of four parts the table, which contained 

 a round opening in the middle ; the body, which 

 was shaped like the back of a present-day man- 

 dolin and contained nine convex ribs; the neck, 

 which had the same number of divisions; and| 

 the head, or cross, which contained the screwsi 

 for tuning. The lute is played by striking the 

 strings with the fingers of the right hand, while 

 the sound is regulated by those of the lefi 



LUTHER, MARTIN (1483-1546), the fo 

 leader in the reform movement of the sixte 

 century through which the Protestant Church 

 had its birth, and one of the greatest religious' 

 figures of any age. The founder of Protestant 

 ism was born on November 10, 1483, at Eisle 

 ben, Saxony, in the heart of Germany. H<; 



