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placed side by side, and apparently 

 parallel, to each other; but, on 

 careful examination, they are found 

 to be tied together by oblique 

 fibres curiously interlaced in a way 

 that no art can imitate. It is only 

 after long maceration in water, 

 that this complicated and beautiful 

 structure can be unravelled." 



In conchology, the membrana- 

 ceous substance which connects the 

 valves together; the true ligament 

 is always external. 

 LI'GNIN. } Lignin is deposited, du- 

 LI'GNINE. ) ring the growth of the 

 plant, with the intention of forming 

 a permanent part of the vegetable 

 structure, constituting the basis of 

 the woody fibre, and giving me- 

 chanical support and strength to 

 the whole fabric of the plant. 

 LI'GNITE. (from lignum, Lat.) Wood- 

 coal. Lignite is brown or black. 

 Some lignite has the appearance of 

 jet, is of a velvet-black, does not 

 soil the fingers, is very brittle, and 

 burns with a bright flame. Lignite 

 is a much more recent formation 

 than that of common coal. By 

 some, lignite is considered to be 

 an imperfect coal, as wood not yet 

 mineralized, or passed into a state 

 of coal ; while o thers doubt whether 

 lignite ever becomes true coal. Lig- 

 nite, like coal, is of vegetable origin, 

 but it differs in many respects from 

 common coal. There are several 

 varieties of lignite; these mostly 

 burn with flame, but they neither 

 swell nor cake like coal. 



"Lignites," says Dr. Tire, "which 

 are manifestly bituminized wood, 

 hold an intermediate place in the 

 gradation between vegetable matter 

 and pit coal. They have the fibre 

 of the former, with the jetty lustre 

 and fracture of the latter. Some 

 lignites closely resemble peats in 

 their chemical characters; others 

 seem to graduate into perfect coal. 

 Lignite has generally a woody as- 

 pect; coal always that of a rock." 



"I may remark," says Hugh 

 Miller, " that independently of 

 their well-marked organisms, there 

 is a simple test by which the lig- 

 nites of the newer formations may 

 be distinguished from the true coal 

 of the carboniferous system. Coal, 

 though ground into an impalpable 

 powder, retains its deep black color, 

 and may be used as a black pigment; 

 lignite, on the contrary, when fully 

 levigated, assumes a reddish, or 

 rather umbrey hue." 



Lignite consists of carbon 69*3; 

 hydrogen 6-6; and oxygen and 

 nitrogen 25 '3. 



LI'GIJLATE. | (from ligula, a strap, 

 LI'GULATED. j Lat.) Strap-shaped. 

 A term applied to the radical florets 

 of compound flowers, when shaped 

 like a strap or ribbon. The pro- 

 jecting parts of the limb of an 

 irregular corolla are called lips; 

 when one lip is very long and 

 narrow, compared to the length 

 of the tube, the corolla is called 

 ligulate, or strap-shaped. 

 LI'GTJBITE. (from liguria, Lat.) A 

 mineral of an apple-green colour, 

 occasionally speckled. It ranks as 

 a gem. 

 LI'LALITE. Another name for the 



mineral lepidolite. 



LILIA'CEOTJS. (liliacem, Lat.) Ee- 

 sembling a lily ; lily-like. A co- 

 rolla having six regular petals is 

 termed a liliaceous corolla. 

 LI'LY E'NCBZNITE. (The encrinites 

 moniliformis.) So called, because 

 the arms, when folded, resemble 

 the head of the lily. This is one 

 of the most beautiful of the fossil 

 crinno'idea, hitherto found only in 

 the muschelkalk of the new red 

 sandstone group. Mr. Parkinson 

 states that, independently of the 

 number of pieces which may be 

 contained in the vertebral column, 

 and which, from its probable length, 

 may be very numerous, the fossil 

 skeleton of the superior part of the 

 lily encrinite consists of at least 



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