LAR 



in the air as they are thrown up from the 

 hands of the women. The old birds of 

 this species are both rank and tough, but 

 the young are eaten by many persons, 

 and were' formerly much admired for the 

 table, taken so young as to be unable to 

 fly. The particular islets in the fenny 

 wastes of Lincolnshire, which used to be 

 preferred by these birds for breeding, 

 were every year in winter cleared of 

 weeds, rushes, and other impediments, in 

 preparation for their return in large flocks 

 to breed in the spring, and when the 

 voung had attained the precise growth, 

 several men were employed with long 

 staves to hurry them into nets spread for 

 their reception. This process constituted 

 a favourite diversion, and the rich and 

 fashionable assembled to be spectators of 

 it from a considerable distance. The 

 birds were sold at the rate of five shil- 

 lin^s per dozen, and in the details of 

 royal and noble feasts, will be found to 

 have constituted an article of high and 

 almost indispensable importance. 



L. catarractus, or the brown gull, 

 weighs about three pounds. It is more 

 frequent in the cold than in the warmer 

 latitudes, and is perhaps the most daring 

 and fierce of all the species. In the Faro 

 islands, lambs are stated to be often torn 

 to pieces by it, and carried to its nest. 

 On the island of Foula, however, it is said 

 to be highly valued on account of its en- 

 mity to the eagle, which it attacks, and 

 follows with the most animated hostility, 

 in this instance becoming the means of 

 security to flocks. It frequently makes 

 prey of the smaller gulls and of other 

 birds, and is often observed to watch the 

 movements of birds on the water, and as 

 thev are bearing oft' their prey in triumph 

 and imagined security, to pounce upon 

 them with amazing rapidity, obliging 

 them to drop their victims, which in the 

 same instant are intercepted by this rapa- 

 cious intruder. Even the albatross, when 

 on the wing, though so much larger than 

 this bird, is by no means a match for it 

 in strength and courage, and finds its 

 effectual resource only in alighting upon 

 the water, which it does with all possible 

 rapidity, when the skua immediately 

 ceases to annoy it. During the season of 

 incubation, the skua gull will attack every 

 creature approaching its habitation, not 

 excepting tbe human species, several of 

 whom have been assailed by it in com- 

 pany, with an energy and fury truly for- 

 midable. Its feathers are in high estima- 

 tion, and thought by many equal to llirose 



LAS 



of the goose. It is in many places killed 

 merely for these. 



L. tridactylus, or the tarrock, breeds 

 in Scotland, and is found so far north as 

 Spi^bergen. It is an attendant on the 

 progress of whales and other large fishes, 

 which drive the smaller 'inhabitants of 

 the ocean into creeks and shallows, 

 where the tarrocks suddenly dart on 

 them, ensuring always an easy and full 

 repast. They are very clamorous, swim 

 and fly well, are often seen on d tached 

 pieces of ice, are used by the inhabitants 

 of Greenland for food, their eggs being 

 highly valued for the same purpose, 

 while their skins are converted into 

 materials for caps and garments. For 

 the black-toed gull, see Aves, Plate IX. 

 fig. 3. 



LARYNX, the thick upper part of the 

 aspera arteria, or wind-pipe. See ANA- 

 TOMY. 



LASERPITIUM, in botany, kisenvort, 

 a genus of the Hentandria Digynia class 

 and order. Natural order of Umbellate 

 or Umbelliferae. Essential character : pe- 

 tals bent in, emarginate, spreading; fruit 

 oblong, with eight membranaceous angles. 

 There are fifteen species, natives of the 

 South of Europe. 



LASIOSTOMA, in botany, a genus of 

 the Tetrandria Monogynia class and or- 

 der. Natural order of Apocinex, Jus- 

 sieu. Essential character : calyx very 

 short, five petalled, with two acute 

 scales ; corolla funnel form, four-cleft ; 

 capsule orbiculate, one-celled, two-seed- 

 ed. There is only one species, viz. L. 

 rouhamon; this is a shrub, seven or 

 eight feet in height, with a greyish irregu- 

 lar bark, and a whitish wood ; branches 

 and branchlets opposite, covered with a 

 russet down, spreading over the neigh* 

 bouring trees. The branch lets are knob- 

 bed, and at each joint have a pair of 

 leaves, ending in a point ; they are of a 

 pale green colour, on short petioles ; 

 flowers in small axillary corymbs, on a 

 small peduncle, which has two scales 

 at the base ; corolla white ; capsule yel- 

 low ; this shrub is called by \he Caribs 

 rouhahamon; it is in flower and fruit 

 during the months of October and No- 

 vember-, it is found on the banks of the 

 river Sinemari, in Guiana, forty leagues 

 from its mouth. 



LAST, in general, signifies the bur- 

 den or load of a ship. 



It signifies, also, a certain number of 

 fish, corn, wool, leather, &c. A last of 

 cod-fish, white herrings, meal, and askes 



