LOP 



LOT 



used in various senses ; thus the loof of a 

 ship is that part of her aloft which lies 

 just before the chest-tree ; hence the 

 guns which lie there are called loof- 

 picces: keep your loof, signifies keep 

 the ship near to the wind; to loof into a 

 harbour, is to sail into it close by the 

 wind; loof up, is to keep nearer the 

 wind ; to spring the loof, is when a ship 

 that was going large before the wind is 

 brought close by the wind. 



LOOKING-g-fcmes, are nothing but 

 plane mirrors of glass ; which being im- 

 pervious to the light, reflect the images 

 of things placed before them. See OP- 

 TICS. 



LOOM, a frame composed of a variety 

 of parts, used in all the branches of weav- 

 ing; for a particular description of which 

 see WEAVING. 



LOOM, in the sea-language: when a ship 

 appears big, when seen at a distance, they 

 say she looms. 



Loont gale, a gentle easy gale of 

 wind, in which a ship can carry her top- 

 sails a-trip. 



LOOP, in the iron works, denotes a part 

 of a sow, or block of cast iron, broken or 

 melted off from the rest. 



LOOP holes, in a ship, are holes made in 

 the coamings of the hatches of a ship, and 

 in their bulk-heads, to fire muskets 

 through, in a close fight. 



LOPHIUS, the angler, in natural histo- 

 ry, a genus of fishes of the order Cartila- 

 ginei. Generic character : head depress- 

 ed ; teeth numerous and sharp ; mouth 

 armed with teeth ; pectoral fins brachiat- 

 ed. There are eight species, of which 

 we shall notice the following. L. euro- 

 paeus, or the European angler, is a native 

 of the European seas, and measures some- 

 times seven feet in length, but is general- 

 ly about three, in shape similar to a tad- 

 pole. It frequents the shallow parts of 

 the sea, and imbedding itself almost com- 

 pletely in sand 'or gravel, moves its ten- 

 tacula, or the long processes on its head, 

 in various directions. The small fishes, 

 mistaking these for worms, catch at them 

 with avidity, and in the moment of ex- 

 pected happiness find certain destruction. 

 L. histrio, or the harlequin angler, is a 

 native of the Indian and American seas, 

 and is one of the most curious and remark- 

 able of fishes; but we have not here room 

 for the detail of its form and appendages. 

 Its general length is about a foot. Its 

 ventral fins resemble short arms, and 

 Shaw mentions Renard's stating, that he 

 knew an instance of some of these fishes 

 living without water for three days, and 



walking about the house in the manner of 

 a dog ! For a representation of this fish, 

 see Pisces, Plate V. fig. 3. 



LOPPING, among gardeners, the cut- 

 ting off the side-branches of trees. 



LORANTHUS, in botany, a genus of 

 the Hexandria Monogynia class and or- 

 der. Natural order of Aggregate. Ca- 

 prifolia, Jussieu. Essential character : 

 germ inferior ; calyx none ; corolla six- 

 cleft, revolute; stamens at the tips of 

 the petals; berry one-seeded. There 

 are eighteen species ; these are mostly 

 parasitical shrubs, having thick opposite 

 leaves, and axillary flowers: natives of 

 warm climates. 



LORD's day. All persons not having 

 a reasonable excuse, shall resort to their 

 parish church or chapel (or some con- 

 gregation of religious worship allowed 

 by the toleration act) on every Sunday, 

 on pain of punishment by the censures of 

 the church, and of forfeiting one shilling 

 to the poor for every offence. To be le- 

 vied by the church- wardens by distress, 

 by warrant of one justice. The hundred 

 shall not be answerable for any robbery 

 committed on the Lord's day. No per- 

 son upon the Lord's day shall serve or ex- 

 ecute any writ, process, warrant, order, 

 judgment, or decree (except in cases of 

 treason, felony, or breach of the peace), 

 but the service thereof shall be void. Pub- 

 lic houses are shut during the usual hours 

 of divine service. 



LORICAR1A, in natural history, a ge- 

 nus of fishes of the order Abdominales. 

 Generic character : head smooth ; mouth 

 without teeth ; gill membrane six-rayed ; 

 body mailed. Of this genus there are, ac- 

 cording to Gmelin, two species. Shaw 

 enumerates seven. The L. costata is 

 found both in the seas of India and Ame- 

 rica, and is a fish highly daring, and, by 

 the strength and acuteness of its spines, 

 capable of wounding and lacerating those 

 who attempt to take it with great severi- 

 ty. By the fishermen in those seas they 

 are regarded as formidable enemies. Se.e 

 Pisces, Plate V. fig. 4. L. callicthys, which 

 alone we shall add to the former, is about 

 twelve inches in length, and by the inhabi- 

 tants of Surinam is regarded as a delica- 

 cy. It is stated by a writer of most ludi- 

 crous or contemptible credulity, that this 

 fish being harassed occasionally by the 

 shallowness of the stream which it has in- 

 habited, makes an excursion by land 

 in search of another that it may find 

 deeper, or even perforates the land for 

 the same purpose. 



LOTION, in medicine and pharmacy, 

 is such washing- as concerns beautify- 



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