LOX 



438 



LUC 



LOTE TREE. In Hindoo mythology, the 

 symbol of creasion. 



LOT'TERY, from .''<*, a shsre. A game of 

 hazard at which small sums are advanced 

 in the hope of gaining a larger. The state 

 lotteries were abolished in 1826. 



LO'TCS. The bird's foot trefoil. 1. An ex- 

 tensive genus of plants. Uiadelphia 

 Decandria. There are three British spe- 

 cies, all perennials ; but several of the 

 exotic species are shrubby, some bien- 

 nial, others annual. The name lotus, 

 AaTes, has been variously applied to a 



small herb, a species of trefoil. 2 



Some species of aquatic plants of the 

 water-lily tribe, as the sacred lotus of the 

 Egyptians, known at present in India 



under the name of Tamara. 3. To se- 



Teral trees or rather shrubs, as that at 

 present known by the vernacular name 

 of jujube, and some tree, the fruit of which 

 was said to be so delicious as to make 

 those who tasted it forsake all other de- 

 sires, hence the proverb, Awrov t<faye, 

 lotunt gustavi, I have tasted lotus. This 

 name is also said to be from the nymph 

 Lotis, who was changed Into this tree. 



LOUGH. ) The first is the Irish, and the 



LOCH, /second the Scotch, term for 

 lake. 



LOCIS-D'OR. A French gold coin, first 

 struck under Louis XIII. It was reck- 

 oned worth 24 livres, or II. sterling, by 

 which, however, it was under-rated in 

 respect to silver. The new Louis is worth 

 20 francs. 



Louis (Knights of St.), The name of a 

 military order instituted in France by 

 Louis XIV. in 1693. 



LOVE'-APPLE. In botany, a species of 

 nightshade, the Solatium ly coper sicum, an 



annual plant of South America. 2. The 



fruit of this plant. 



LOVE, FAMILY OF. A sect of fanatics in 

 the 16th century, resembling the early 

 anabaptists. 



LOVE FEASTS. A religious festival held 

 quarterly by the Methodists. 



LOVE'-LIES-BLEEDING. In botany, a spe- 

 cies of amaranth, the Amaranthus cauda- 

 tus, an annual plant. East Indies. 



LOW'ER and CP'PER. In geology, the chalk 

 formation or series is generally divided 

 into six members, named the lower green 

 sand; the gault ; the chalk without flints, 

 called the lower chalk; the chalk with 

 flints, called the upper ehalk; and the 

 Maestricht beds. 



Low PRESSURE ENGINE, condensing en- 

 gine. A steam-engine, in the cylinder of 

 which a vacuum is formed whereby the 

 pistons are worked, being forced to de- 

 scend by the pressure of the atmosphere. 



Low SUNDAY. The Sunday next after 

 Esster. 



LJTOI/ROMY, from *$*, oblique, and 

 ttousK course. A "oxodromic curve or 



spiral, or ;i iin<- ich a ship nmkf-s in 

 sailing on the same point of tin- 

 thereby cutting all the meridians at tho 

 same angle. 



LOZ'F.NGE, Fr. losamje. A figu:'" with 

 four equal sides, having two acute and 

 two obtuse angles. In geometry this 

 figure is usually called a rhomb, and a si- 

 milar figure, having the sides unequal, is 



a rhomboid. 2. In heraldry, a i 



a figure resembling a pane of glass in old 

 casements All single ladies must place 



theirarmson lozenges. 3. In pluirvMicy 



and confectionary, n small preparatio: ori- 

 ginally in the form of a lozenge: he 

 figure is now departed from. 



LOZ'ENQE'E. In /ieraWn/,dividedlozeng-'- 

 wise. 



LUB'BER'S-JIOLE. In a ship, the vacant 

 space between the head of the lower mast 

 and the edge of the top : it is so named 

 from a supposition, that a lubber or lands- 

 man, not caring to trust himself up the 

 futtock shrouds, will prefer that way of 

 getting into the top. 



LUCA'NUS. A genus of pentamerous col- 

 eoptera, placed among the Lamellicornea 

 by Cuvier. The stag-beetle (L. cerrtis, 

 Lin.) is perhaps the best known species. 

 The larva, which inhabits the interior of 

 the oak for several years previous to its 

 final metamorphosis, is considered as the 

 cossus of the Romans, regarded by them as 

 a delicious article of food. 



LU'CERES (Lat.). In Roman antiquity, a 

 body of horse composed of Roman knights. 



LUCERNA'RIA. The name given by Muller 

 to a genus of polypi ; order Carnosi. They 

 fix themselves to fuci, and other marine 

 bodies, by a slender pedicle, and their 

 superior portion dilates like a parasol, in 

 the centre of which is the mouth. 



LU'CERNE. Aspecies of moon-trefoil, the 

 Jfedicago satira, a perennial cultivated 

 like ciover. It is the medica of the an- 

 cients, and supposed originally from 

 Media. 



LC'CIFER, from lux, light, and fero, to 

 bring. A name of the planet Venus, so 

 called from its brightness ; or more strict- 

 ly, when she appears in the morning be- 

 fore sunrise: called, when she appears as 



an evening star, Hesperus. 2. Satan, 



"the prince of darkness." 3. Matches 



tipped with a mixture of chlorate of pot- 

 ash and sulphuret of antimony : inflamed 

 by friction on emery paper. 



LCCIFE'RIASS. A religious sect, the fol- 

 lowers of Lucifer, bishop of Cagliari, in 

 the 4th century. The sect held the carnal 

 nature of the soul, and that there is no 

 place of repentance for those who fall. 



LCCIM'ETER, from lux, light, and ^treoi, 

 measure. An apparatus for measuring 

 the intensity of light proceeding from dif- 

 ferent bodies. 



LCCUL'LITE. A subspecies of rhomboidal 



