LYC 



LYI 



a propensity to destruction itself, like the 

 pole-cat, always killing many more ani- 

 mals than it can devour. See Mammalia, 

 Plate XVI. fig. 6. 



L. Marina, or the sea-otter, is about 

 four feet and a quarter in its whole length, 

 und is found almost solely between the 

 forty-fourth and sixtieth degree of N. la- 

 titude, and the one hundred und twen- 

 tieth and one hundred and fiftieth degree 

 of E. longitude. Its skin is an important 

 article of commerce between the Rus- 

 sians and the Chinese, and a single fur of 

 this animal is not uufrequently sold for 

 the amazing price of twenty-five pounds. 

 Sea-otters are perfectly inoffensive, and 

 the female manifests the most affection- 

 ate attachment to her young, fondling it 

 with endless caresses, and often throwing 

 it in the air and catching it with the ut- 

 most caution and tenderness. These ani- 

 mals feed on crabs, lobsters, and other 

 shell-fish, and frequent the shallo.ws which 

 are most thickly covered with sea weeds. 

 The flesh of the young is thought parti- 

 cularly like lamb, and is highly valued. 

 The American species are, the Canaden- 

 sis, Lutris, Lutra, Lutreola, and Minx. 



LUXATION, in surgery, is when any 

 bone is moved out of its place or articu- 

 lation, so as to impede or destroy its pro- 

 per motion or office : hence it appears, 

 that luxations are peculiar to such bones 

 as have moveable joints. 



LYCHNIS, in botany, a genus of the 

 Decandria Pentagynia class and order. 

 Natural order of Caryophyllei. Essential 

 character: calyx one-leafed, oblong, even; 

 petals live, with claws, and a sub-bifid 

 border ; capsule five-celled. There are 

 twelve species. 



LYCIUM, in botany, box-thorn, a genus 

 of the Pentandria Monogynia class and 

 order. Natural order of Luridae. Sola- 

 neae, Jussieu. Essential character : corol- 

 la tubular, closed at the throat by the 

 beard of the filaments; berry two-celled, 

 many-seeded. There are thirteen spe- 

 cies. Several of these shrubs, from China 

 and the Cape of Good Hope, will bear the 

 open air in a warm situation and dry soil, 

 when they have once acquired strength, 

 except in very severe winters, especially 

 if the roots are covered with litter, and 

 the branches with mats. 



LYCOPERDON, in botany, a genus of 

 the Cryptogamia Fungi class and order. 

 Natural order of Fungi, or Mushrooms. 

 Generic character: fungus roundish, 

 fleshy, firm, becoming powdery, and 

 opening at the top ; seeds fixed to fila- 

 ments connected with the inner coat of 



the plant. These singular fungi are de- 

 scribed by Dr. Withering ; there is also an 

 elaborate dissertation on the British stel- 

 lated lycoperdons, by Mr. Woodward, in 

 the second volume of the Transactions of 

 the Linnean Society of London. 



LYCOPODIUM, in botany, wolf 's foot, 

 or wolfs claw moss, a genus of the Crypto- 

 gamia Miscellanea: class and order. Na- 

 tural order of Musci, or Mosses. Generic 

 character : fructifications in the axils of 

 the scales digested into oblong imbricate 

 spikes, or the leaves themselves, ses- 

 sile ; capsule kidney-shaped, two-valved, 

 elastic, many-seeded; veil none. There 

 are several species; six of these are na- 

 tives of Britain, figured by IJUlenius and 

 others. 



LYCOPSIS, in botany, wild bugloss, a 

 genus of the Pentandria Monogynia class 

 and order. Natural order of Asperifolise. 

 Borragineze, Jussieu. Essential character : 

 corolla with the tube bent in. Natives of 

 the South of Europe. 



LYCOPUS, in botany, water hore- 

 hnu.nd, a genus of the Diandria Monogy- 

 nia class and order. Natural order of 

 Verticellatx. Labiatx, Jussieu. Essen- 

 tial character : corolla four-cleft ; with 

 one division emarginate ; stamina dis- 

 tant ; seeds four, retuse. There are three 

 species. 



LYDIAN stone, in mineralogy, is of a 

 greyish black colour, which passes into 

 velvet black ; it occurs massive, and is 

 likewise found in trapezoidal-shaped roll- 

 ed pieces, with rounded angles ; it is 

 hard, but not very heavy. This mineral 

 is found near Prague and Carlsbad, in 

 Bohemia ; in other parts of Germany ; and 

 in Scotland. When polished, it is used 

 as a test stone for determining the puri- 

 ty of gold and silver ; owing, however, 

 to its great hardness, it is less suited for 

 this purpose than basalt. Ic takes its 

 name from the circumstance of its being 

 first found in the province of Lydia in 

 Lesser Asia. 



LYGEUM, in botany, a genus of the 

 Triandria Monogynia class and order. 

 Natural order of Graminese, or Grasses. 

 Essential character: spathe one-leafed; 

 corolla two on the same germ; nut two- 

 celled. There is only one species, vis. L. 

 spartum, rush-leaved lygeum, or hooded 

 matweed, which is a native of Spain, 

 where it is useful for making baskets and 

 ropes, also for filling their paillasses or 

 lower mattresses. 



LYING to, in naval affairs, the situa- 

 tion of a ship when she is retarded in 

 her course, by arranging the sails in such 



