LAN 



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LAN 



AMZLLIF'BROUS, from lamella, a scale, 



.id fero, to bear ; bearing scales. 2. 



Having a foliated structure. 



LAHELLIROS'TRES, the fourth family of 

 Palmipedes in the arrangement of Cuvier, 

 so named because the edges of the bill 

 (rostrum) which is usually thick, are fur- 

 nished with lamella, arranged like teeth 

 placed transversely. The goose, swan, 

 merganser, &c., are examples. 



LAMIA'RIJS, a tribe of Tetramerous Co- 

 leoptera, belonging to the family of Lon- 

 gicornes, and distinguished by their ver- 

 tical head and filiform palpi. The Cayenne 

 Harlequin is an example. 



LAM'INA (Lat.), a thin plate, scale, layer 

 or stratum : used commonly in the plural 

 lamina. Hence also laminated, disposed 

 in layers, scales or plates ; and lamination, 

 arrangement in layers. 



LA'MIUM, the Nettle, a genus of herba- 

 ceous plants ; DidynamiaGymnospermia, 

 named from a mountain in Ionia. There 

 are four indigenous species. 



LAM'MAS-DAT, the first day of August. 

 A festival in memory of St. Peter's im- 

 prisonment. 



LAMMAS'MEN. When the Salmon-trout 

 (Salmo trittta, Yarr.) is returning to the 

 sea in the months of January and Febru- 

 ary, numbers of it are taken in the Forth 

 and Tay , and sent to the Edinburgh mar- 

 ket under this name 



LAMPADOPHO'HIA, Gr. carrying torches. 

 A torch race, exhibited at certain Athe- 

 nian festivals. 



LAMP'-BLACK, a fine soot formed by the 

 condensation of the smoke of burning 

 pitch, or other resinous substance. 



LAM'PIC ACID. When the cotton wick 

 of a spirit of wine lamp is surmounted by 

 a spiral coil of platinum wire ; and when, 

 having been some time lighted, the 

 flame is blown out, the coil still continues 

 ignited, and a current of hot vapour con- 

 tinues to rise as long as the spirit lasts. 

 This vapour is lampic acid, and may be 

 condensed into a liquid by cold. It is 

 probably a mixture of the formic and the 

 acetic acid, in which the carbon and hy- 

 drogen are not fully oxidated. 



LAMPT'RIDES, a tribe of Pentamerous 

 Coleoptera, of which the genus Lampyris 

 is the type. The insects of this tribe are 

 distinguished by being phosphorescent, 

 whence they are termed glow-worms, fire- 

 flies, &c. The species are very numerous. 



LAM'PYRIS, the Fire-fly, a genus of 

 Pentamerous Coleoptera, placed among 

 the Serricornes by Cuvier. See LAMPY- 

 BIDES. 



LANA. PHH.OSOPH'ORUM, Philosophers' 

 Wool : LANA PHILOSOPH'ICA, Philosophical 

 Wool, old names for flowers of zinc : the 

 snowy flakes of oxide which result from 

 the combustion of zinc. 



LUNATE, Lat. lanatut, woolly Applied 



to the stems, leaves, &c. of plants when 

 covered with woolly matter. 



LAN'CEOLAT, Lat. lanceolatns, lance ot 

 spear-shaped. Applied to leaves, petals, 

 seeds, &c., of a narrow oblong form, taper- 

 ing towards each end. Applied also simi- 

 larly in entomology and conchology. 



L\N'ciroRM, lanceolate or spear- 

 shaped. 



LAND. In nautical language this word 

 makes part of several compound terms, 

 viz. 1. To lay the land, is to lose sight of 



land by sailing away from it. 2. To 



make the land, is to discover land from sea 



as the ship approaches it. 3. To set the 



land, is to see by the compass how it 



bears from the ship. 4. A land-fall, is 



the first land discovered after a sea- 

 voyage, and is good or bad according as 

 it is near to or distant from the place to 

 which the course was directed. 



LAN'D AMMAN, the president of the Hel- 

 vetic republic. 



LANDAU', a sort of coach or carriage, 

 the top of which parts and may be thrown 

 back, so as to form an open carriage; sc 

 called from a town in Germany, where i, 

 was first used. 



LAND'-BREEZE, a current of air which, 

 in many parts within the tropics, particu- 

 larly in the West Indies, regularly seta 

 from the land towards the sea during the 

 night, and this even on opposite points ot 

 the coast. It depends on the relative 

 temperatures of the land and water. 



LAN D'O RAVE (Ger. landgraf from graf, 

 an earl) , a title in Germany correspond- 

 ing to earl in England, and count in 

 France. It is now a title of certain 

 princes who possess estates or territories 

 called landgraviates. 



LANDREEVE, an assistant to the steward 

 of an estate. 



LAND'LOCKED, is said of a harbour 

 which is environed by land on all sides, 

 so as to exclude the prospect of the sea, 

 unless over some intervening land. 



LAND' REMAINS, those remains of ter- 

 restrial animals and vegetables found 

 everywhere on digging in the earth, 

 mostly interchanged with strata con- 

 taining marine remains. See FOSSIL. 



LAND' OFFICE, an office in most colo- 

 nies in which the sales of new lands are 

 registered, and warrants issued for the 

 location of land, and where other busi- 

 ness respecting unsettled land is trans- 

 acted. 



LAND'SLIP, a portion of land which has 

 been separated from the main body, 

 usually on the side of a hill, in conse- 

 quence of long continued rains, or other 

 cause, and has slipped to a lower situation. 

 Landslips are often attended, like the 

 fall of avalanches, with fatal effects. 



LAND SPRINGS, sources of water which 

 are in action only after heavy Tains, dis- 



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