LAIR. 



LAND-DITCHING. 



little tufted animals preying upon the plant-lice, 

 catching and devouring, with the greatest ease, 

 lice nearly as large as its own body, one after 

 another, in rapid succession, without appa- 

 rently satiating its hunger or diminishing its 

 activity. (Harris.) See APHIS. 



LAIR. Provincially, land in a state of grass 

 or sward. (See LAY.) Also employed in some 

 countries, to signify soil and dung. Lair is 

 used sometimes to express the couch or rest- 

 ing-place of a boar or wild beast, or of cows 

 in dairies. 



LAMA, or LLAMA. See ALPACA. 



LAMB'S LETTUCE. See CORX SALAD. 



LAMB'S QUARTERS. A name given to 

 wild or mountain spinach. (Chenopodium al- 

 bum.} See GOOSEFOOT. 



LAMB SKINS (Germ. Lammsfelle). The 

 value of lamb skins varies according to the 

 fineness, brilliancy, and colour of the wool. 

 Black lamb skins are more generally esteemed 

 than those of any other colour. English lamb 

 skins are seldom to be met with perfectly 

 black ; but since the introduction of merino 

 sheep into England, many of the white fleeces 

 have, in point of quality, arrived at a pitch of 

 perfection which justly entitles them to be 

 ranked with some of the best fleeces in Spain. 

 The importation of lamb skins is immense, 

 having amounted on an average in 1831, and 

 1832, to 2,365,635. Eight-tenths of the whole 

 quantity are supplied by Italy. They are 

 mostly used in the glove manufacture. (M'Cul- 

 loch's Com. Did.) See WOOL. 



LAMENESS. In farriery, an affection in 

 the feet or limbs in horses and other animals, by 

 which motion is rendered less perfect. In the 

 horse, it is brought on from various causes 

 sprains, over-exertion, diseases of the foot, &c. 

 The muscles of the shoulder are occasionally 

 sprained, and in this case the animal cannot 

 lift his foot without great difficulty, indeed he 

 will be observed to drag his toe along the 

 ground. In this case few local measures can 

 be adopted. The horse should be bled from 

 the vein on the inside of the arm, fomentations 

 applied, and a dose of physic given. In this, 

 as in most other cases of lameness, quiet and 

 rest are essential to the restoration of the ani- 

 mal. (The Horse, p. 229.) 



LAMMAS DAY. In the English calendar, 

 the 1st of August. Dr. Johnson supposes this 

 term to be a corruption of lattermath, which 

 signifies a second mowing of grass. Others 

 derive it from a custom which once prevailed 

 in some parts of England, of bringing a lamb 

 alive on this day into the church at high mass. 

 Others again derive it from a Saxon term sig- 

 nifying loaf mass, so named as a feast of thanks- 

 giving for the first-fruits of the corn. (Erande's 

 Diet, of Lit. &c.) 



LAMP BLACK. A colouring substance 

 which is in very general use for several pur- 

 poses. The finest lamp black is produced by 

 collecting the smoke from a lamp with a long 

 \eick, which supplies more oil than can be 

 perfectly consumed, or by suffering the flame 

 to play against a metalline cover, which im- 

 pedes the combustion, not only by carrying off 

 part of the heat, but by obstructing the current 

 of air. Lamp black is prepared, however, in 

 88 



a much cheaper way for the demands of trade. 

 The dregs which remain after the purification 

 of pitch, or else small pieces of fir wood, are 

 burned in furnaces of a peculiar construction, 

 the smoke of which is made to pass through a 

 long, horizontal flue, terminating in a close- 

 boarded chamber. The roof of this chamber 

 is made of coarse cloth, through which the 

 current of air escapes, while the soot remains. 

 (Ure's Diet.) 



LANCEOLATE. In botany a term used to 

 describe leaves which are oblong and gradu- 

 ally tapering towards each extremity, or shaped 

 like a spear or lance. 



LANCE WOOD (Guatteria, in honour of J. 

 B. Guatteri, an Italian botanist, and once pro- 

 fessor at Parma). This is a splendid genus of 

 evergreen shrubs, succeeding in a mixture of 

 loam, peat, and sand. They are natives of 

 warm climates and require stove culture. 

 Young plants are readily obtained by cuttings 

 raised in sand under a glass in heat. (Par- 

 ton'* Sot. Dirt.) 



LAND (Germ.), in the widest acceptation 

 of the word, is used to denote the solid matter 

 of which the globe is composed ; in contradis- 

 tinction to the liquid matter or water (see GEO- 

 LOGY) : but in its most restricted signification 

 it is confined to arable ground. The latter is the 

 legal meaning of the term ; and in this sense it 

 is used in all original writs, and in all court 

 and formal pleadings. 



LAND-DITCHING, or hollow draining as it 

 is sometimes termed, is chiefly practised in 

 England in the counties of Essex and Hertford. 

 It consists in digging both main and side drains, 

 similar to those generally adopted in draining 

 land: the former are usually made from 22 to 

 24 inches, the latter from 20 to 22 inches in 

 depth. The soil is previously ploughed, and 

 the length to which the main drains may be 

 protracted without a vent, depends upon the 

 situation of the land. When the land has a 

 regular declivity, the most proper method will 

 be to carry off as much water as possible, by 

 means of side drains; but if the ground be 

 irregular, it will be requisite to form additional 

 main drains, so that every advantage may be 

 derived from the valleys, into which the latter 

 must often be conducted to a considerable extent. 



The length of the side drains varies accord- 

 ing to the elevation of the soil ; in general 

 they need not be more than one rod apart from 

 each other; though in very loose or porous 

 grounds, they may be dug at a distance of one 

 rod and a half. When the trenches are cut to 

 a sufficient depth, they are filled up and cover- 

 ed in the usual manner with straw and bushes. 

 The expense of this method of draining is com- 

 puted in England to be nearly 31. per acre. 



Land-ditching not only carries off the water 

 from wet or marshy soils, but also meliorates 

 stiff loamy clays, which being thus better en- 

 abled to resist the long continuance of moisture 

 on their surface during the winter, promote ve- 

 getation very early in the spring, and the grass 

 is rendered of a superior quality. The weeds, 

 &c. change their colour, and are totally divest- 

 ! ed of their rankness ; the corn also increases 

 both in quantity and weight. Another import- 

 ant advantage arising from this practice is, that 

 3N 697 



