LAY 



LEA 



record, and of substance ; than to chat- 

 tels, things in the personalty, matters not 

 of record, on circumstances. 



LAW of nations, is a system of rules de- 

 ducible, by natural reason, from the im- 

 mutable principles of natural justice, and 

 established by universal consent amongst 

 the civilized inhabitants of the world, in 

 order to decide all disputes, and to insure 

 the observance of justice and good faith, 

 in that intercourse which must frequently 

 occur between them and the individuals 

 belonging to each ; or they may depend 

 upon mutual compacts, treaties, leagues, 

 and agreements between the separate, 

 free, and independent communities. In 

 the construction of these principles, there 

 is no judge to resort to, but the general 

 law of nature and of reason, being the 

 only law with which the contracting par- 

 ties are all equally conversant, and to 

 which they are all equally amenable. 

 Laws have properly their effect only in 

 the country where and for which they 

 have been enacted. However, 1. Those 

 which relate to the state, and to the 

 personal condition of the subjects, are 

 acknowledged in foreign countries. 2. A 

 foreigner, who is plaintiff against a sub- 

 ject, must abide by the decisions of the 

 law of the country in which he pleads. 

 3. When the validity of an act done in a 

 foreign country is in question, it ought to 

 be decided by the laws of that foreign 

 country. 4. Sometimes the parties agree 

 to the question being determined by par- 

 ticular laws of a foreign country. 5. A 

 foreign law may have been received as a 

 subsidiary law. 6. Foreigners sometimes 

 obtain the privilege of having their dis- 

 putes with each other settled by the laws 

 of their own country. 



LAWSONIA, in botany, so named 

 from Isaac Lawson, M. D. a genus of the 

 Octandria Monogynia class and order. 

 Natural order of Salicarise, Jussieu. Es- 

 sential character : calyx tour-cleft ; pe- 

 tals four ; stamens in four pairs ; cap- 

 sule four-celled, many-seeded. There 

 are four species ; natives of warm coun- 

 tries. 



LAXMANNIA, in botany, so called 

 from Ericus Laxman, a Swede, a genus 

 of the Hexandria Monogynia class and 

 order. Essential character : calyx one- 

 leafed, four-toothed, inferior ; corolla 

 ibur-petalled ; berry four-celled ; seeds 

 solitary. 



LAYERS, in gardening, are tender 

 shoots, or twigs of trees, laid or buried in 

 the ground ; till, having struck root, they 



are separated from the parent tree, and 

 become distinct plants. 



LAZULITE, in mineralogy, is of a 

 deep smalt blue : it occurs disseminated 

 in fine grains, or masses of the size of a 

 hazel nut. The latter often present the 

 appearance of short tetrahedral prisms. 

 Its fracture is uneven, with a glimmering 1 

 lustre. It is brittle, and easily frangible : 

 at a red heat it loses its colour, and be- 

 comes grey. Without addition it is in- 

 fusible before the blow-pipe, but with bo- 

 rax it runs into a clear yellow glass. It 

 has been analyzed by Klaproth, and is 

 found to contain silex, alumina, and oxide 

 of iron. 



LAZURSTEIN, in mineralogy, called 

 also azure-stone, a species of the flint 

 genus, is of a perfect azure blue colour, 

 in some varieties it passes into sky blue : 

 it is found massive, disseminated, and in 

 rolled pieces : hard, brittle, and not heavy : 

 specific gravity is from 2.7 to 2.95. It 

 melts into a white enamel before the blow- 

 pipe. When previously calcined and 

 powdered, it forms a jelly with acids : it 

 is composed of 



Silica 46.0 



Alumina 14 5 



Carbonate of lime .... 28.0 



Sulphate of lime 6.5 



Oxide of iron 30 



Water 2.0 



100.0 



It has been found in Persia, Bucharia, 

 China, Great Tartary, and Siberia : it is 

 also obtained in considerable quantities in 

 the island of Hainan, in the Chinese sea, 

 from whence it is sent to Canton, where 

 it is employed in painting. It has like- 

 wise been met with in South America ; 

 and in Europe among the ruins at Rome. 

 It is used in various articles of ornamen- 

 tal dress, and in Mosaic and Florentine 

 work, and is highly valued on account of 

 the fine blue colour which it yields. 



LEAD, is a white metal, of a consider- 

 ably blue tinge, very soft and flexible, not 

 very tenacious, and consequently incapa- 

 ble of being drawn into fine wire, though 

 it is easily extended into thin plates un- 

 der the hammer. Its weight is very con- 

 siderable, being rather greater than that 

 of silver. Long before ignition, namely, 

 at about the 540th degree of Fahrenheit's 

 thermometer, it melts ; and then begins 



