I. A G 



416 



LAM 



face of the intestines, and uniting succes- 

 sively into larger vessels, till they form 

 trunks of considerable magnitude. Their 

 omce is to take up the chyle, and transmit 

 it to the heart; and this substance, in the 

 higher order of animals, often containing 

 a multitude of globules, which give it a 

 milky appearance, nives name to the ves- 

 sels which contain it. 



LAC'TEA VIA. The milky-way. 



LAC'TIC ACID, acid of milk. Itexistsin 

 large quantity in butter-milk, and also in 

 fresh milk in small quantity. Scheele 

 first obtained the acid from the sour whey 

 of clotted milk. 



LACTOM'KTER, from lac, milk, and ,0.6- 

 r^ov, measure. An instrument for esti- 

 mating the quality of milk ; called also a 

 galactometer. The most convenient form 

 is a graduated glass tube, into which the 

 milk is poured, and the cream allowed to 

 separate. 



LACTI/CA, the lettuce. A genus of her- 

 baceous plants. SynyenesiaPoly. cequalis. 

 Name from lac, milk, in allusion to the 

 milky juice which exudes from it when it 

 is wounded. The garden lettuce, X. saliva, 

 is a native of India. There are, however, 

 three indigenous species. 



LACC'NJE (Lat.), defects. 1. In anatomy, 

 small cavities in some of the mucous 

 membranes, in which a secretion of mucus 



is carried on. 2. In botany, the opening 



of a glandiform body. 



LACUNARS. In architecture, panels or 

 coffers on the ceilings of apartments, and 

 sometimes in the soffits of the corona of 

 the Ionic, Corinthian, and Composite 

 orders. 



LACUSO'SE, Lat. lacunosut, dotted or 

 pitted. Applied to leaves having the 

 surface marked with furrows, pits, or de- 

 pressions. 



LADT. Applied to the daughters of all 

 peers above the rank of a viscount, and 

 extended by courtesy to the wives of 

 knights. 



LADT CHAPEL, the name given toasmall 

 chapel, generally found in ancient cathe- 

 drals, behind the screen of the high altar. 

 It is usually dedicated to the Virgin 

 Mary, by Catholics called Our Lady. 



LADY-DAY, the 25th of March, so called 

 because it is the day of the Annunciation 

 of the Virgin Mary. 



L.S:MODIP'ODA., from Xoiif&os, the throat, 

 and vcv; , a foot ; an order of throat- footed 

 malacostracians with sessile eyes. They 

 are the only crustaceans in which the 

 anterior feet, that correspond to the 

 second foot-jaws, form part of the head 

 The laemodipods are all comprehended in 

 the genus Cyatmu, Latreille, and are all 

 marine. 



JU.GOON', 1 Ital. laguna. A salt- water 



XAOCKE, J lake, fen, or marsh. 



LAG'OPHTHALMY, from Xaj'os, a hare, 

 and o$Qot,\fjLw;, an eye ; the kare's-eye. A 

 li>en>c in which the eye cannot be shut, 

 but remains open like that of the hare, 

 even when the individual is asleep. 



LAo'oTHRix,the name given by Geoffrey 

 toasubgenusof QMadn<nian,fromXys?, 

 a hare, and 0g,|, hair. The Caparo, the 

 Grison, the Sajou, the Capuchin, the 

 Horned -sajou, &c., from South America 

 are species. They are named weeping- 

 monkeys, from their soft plaintive voice. 

 They are said to be remarkable gluttons. 



LAIRD, from Sax. hlaford, lord. In Scot* 

 land, the proprietor of a manor. 



LAKE, 1. Lat. locus. An extensive col- 

 lection of inland water, having no direct 



communication with the ocean. 2. Fr. 



lac. A name which comprehends all those 

 colours which consist of vegetable dye 

 combined by precipitation with a white 

 earthy basis, usually alumina. Thus if a 

 solution of alum be added to a solution of 

 madder, a precipitate falls, consisting of 

 alumina and the colouring matter of the 

 madder. The precipitation is assisted by 

 alkali. In this way the yellow lakes 

 are obtained from Persian or French ber- 

 ries, the red lakes (of which the finest is 

 ine), from cochineal, kermes, &c., the 

 blue lakes from indigo. Prussian blue, 

 cobalt blue, and ultramarine, serve all the 

 purposes of the blue lakes, and green lake* 

 are made by mixing the yellow lakes with 

 the blue pigments. Lakes are much used 

 in painting in water colours. 



LALLA'TION, that species of vicious pro- 

 nunciation in which the letter I is substi- 

 tuted for r. 



LA'MA. There are two species of this 

 animal, the Camelus llacma, Lin., and the 

 Camelus vicunna, Lin. The first is the 

 Lama, or Llama, properly so called, and 

 was the only beast of burden in Peru at 

 the time of the conquest ; the second is 

 called the Paco, and affords a fine wool, 

 extremely soft, and highly valued for 



manufacturing in fine fabrics. 2. A 



title bestowed upon Mongolian priests of 

 every degree ; and among the Calmucks 

 restricted to the higher classes of priests 

 only. 



LAMBDOI'DAL, from \.fjt%a, and CiSo?, 

 an epithet for one of the sutures of the 

 cranium, from its supposed resemblance 

 in form to the Greek letter A. 



LAM'ELLA (Lat.), a thin plate or scale: 

 used generally in the plural lamella. 

 Hence lamellated, composed of thin plates, 

 layers, or scales ; and lamellar, foliated. 



LAMELLICOH'NES, the sixth family of 

 PentamerousColeoptera, distinguished by 

 their foliated or lamellar horns (cornu, a 

 horn). Cuvier divides these insects into 

 two tribes; the Scarabeeidet and the 

 Lucanidet. 



