I, I N 



L I N 



IpcCtaWe evidence: and in purfuing this meihod, it appears 

 that tlie majority are in favour of the fuperior antiquity of 

 I.inus. No teilimouy places hiui in a more remote period, 

 or does more honour to liis memory, than that of Hero- 

 dotus; who tells us (Eutcrp.) "that among other memorable 

 cu'.loms, the Egyptians ling the fong of Linus, hke that 

 which is fung by the Phccnicians, Cyprians, and other na- 

 tions, who vary the name according to the different lan- 

 guages they fpcak. But the perfon they honour in this 

 iong, is evidently the fame that the Grecians celebrate : and 

 as I confefs mv furpri/.c at many thnigs I found among the 

 Egyptians, fo I more particularly wonder whence they had 

 this knowledge of Linus, becaufe they feem to have cele- 

 brated him from time immemorial. The Egyptians call 

 him by the name of Muncros, and fay he was the only fon 

 of the fu'ft of their kings, but dying an untimely death, in 

 the flower of his age, he is lamented by the Egyptians iu 

 this mourning fong, which is the only conipofition of the 

 kind ufed in Egypt." 



According to archbi(hop Uftier, Linus flourifhed about 

 1280 years before Chrill, and he is mentioned by Eufobius 

 (Prj;p. Evang.) among the poets who wrote before the time 

 of Mofes. Diodorus Siculus, who is very diffufe in his ac- 

 count of Linus (lib. iii. cap. 85.) tells us from Dionyfius 

 of Mitylene the hiftorian, who was contemporary with 

 Cicero, that Linus was the firft among the Greeks who in- 

 vented verfe and mufic, as Cadmus firll taught them the ufe 

 ' of letters. The fame writer likewife attributes to him art 

 account of the exploits of the firft Bacchus, and a treatife 

 upon Greek mythology, written in Pelafgian charafters, 

 which were alfo thofe ufed by Orpheus, and by Pronapides, 

 the preceptor of Homer. Diodorus fays, hkewife, that 

 he added the ftring hchanos to the Mercurian lyre, and 

 gives to him the invention of rhythm and melody, wliich 

 Suidas, who regards him as the moft ancient of lyric poets, 

 confirms. He is faid by many ancient writers to have had 

 feveral difciples of great renown, among whom were Her- 

 cules, Thamyris, and, according to fome, Orpheus. 



Hercules, fays Diodorus, in learnmg of Linus to play 

 upon the lyre, being extremely dull and obftinate, pro- 

 voked his mafter to Itrike him, which fo enraged the young 

 hero, that inftantly feizing the lyre of the mufician, he beat 

 out his brains with his own inilrument. Heroes are gene- 

 rally impatient of controul, and not often gifted with a talte 

 for refined pleafures ; hence, relying merely on corporal 

 force, their mental faculties, feeble perhaps by nature, are 

 fcldom fartified by education. 



With refpeft to the dirges, which Plutarch, from Hera- 

 clides of Pontus, mentions as written by Linus, we find no 

 account of them in any other ancient author. It appears, 

 however, that his death has given birth to many fongs of 

 that kind, which have been compofed in honour of his 

 memory. A feftival was likewife inllituted by the name of 

 l.'mla, for the celebration of his virtues ; and fo numerous 

 were his inventions, and various the periods and places in 

 which different authors fix them, that fome have tried to 

 reconcile thefe jarring accounts, by fnppoiing that there 

 were three feveral illuftrious perlbnages of that name ; a 

 fuppofition which we (hall not pretend eitlier to affirm or 

 deny. 



" The Thebans, fay« Paufanias (in Biotic,) afTure us, that 

 J>inus was buried in their city ; and that Philip, the ion of 

 Amyntas, after the battle of Cheronaea, which was fatal to 

 the Greeks, excited by a dream, removed his bones into 

 Macedon, whence, by counfel received in another dream, 

 he fent them back to Thebes ; but time has fo defaced his 

 tomb, that it is bo longer difcoverable,'^ 



Homer (lib. xviii. ver. 569.) has paid a tribute to the 

 memory of Linus, in his defcription of the fhield of 

 Achilles. 



" To thefe a youth awakes the warbling firings, 

 Whofe tender lay the fate of Linus lings ; 

 In meafur'd dance behind him move the train. 

 Tune foft the voice, and anfwer to the ftrain.'' 



Pope, in his note on this paflage, fays, from Paufanias, 

 that " before the yearly facrifice to the mufes on mount 

 Helicon, the obfequies of Linus were performed, who had 

 a llatue and altar eredted to him in that place. Homer 

 alludes to that cuflom in this paflage, and was doubtles fond 

 of paying thisrefpeft to the old father of poetry." 



LlO, in Geography, a lake of Thibet, about 30 miles in 

 circumference. N. lat. 31^ 22'. E. long. 86' 34'. 



LIOI-KIA-LANC-TSA, a town of Thibet, Too 

 miles S.S.E. of LafTa. N. lat. 28 8'. E. long. 92° 44'. 



LIOIPOU, a lake of Thibet, about 30 miles in cir- 

 cumference. N. lat. 34- 27'. E. long. 90" 34. 



LION, Leo, in the Linnaean fyllem of Zoology, is a 

 fpccies of quadrupeds belonging to the fells or cat kind, 

 with a long tail and pale-red or tawny body. See Fells. 



The lion is an inhabitant of all parts of Africa, and the 

 hot parts of Afia, fuch as India and Perfia, and fame fewr 

 are found in the defarts between Bagdat and BafTorah, on 

 the banks of the Euphrates ; but they mofl abound in the 

 torrid zone, where the fize is the largeft, and their rage 

 moft tremendous, being inflamed by the influence of a burn- 

 ing fun and a very dry feil. It is obferved, that, though 

 they reign abfolute mailers over every beaft, their rage di- 

 minilhes and their timidity increafes as they approach the 

 habitation of the human race. They have been alfo known 

 to fpare the weaker animals, and many inftances are related 

 by A. Gellius, jElian, and Pliny, ,&c. of their gratitude. 

 Lions are capable of being tamed ; and the monarch of 

 Perfia is faid, on days of audience, to have two large lions 

 chained on each fide of the paffage to the room of ftate, 

 led there by keepers in chains of gold. The lion preys on 

 all kinds of animals ; having roufed them into view by his 

 roar, he ilarts on his prey, ftriking it with his talons, and 

 tearing it to pieces. He alfo invades the folds, leaping over 

 the fences with his prey, and his ftrength is fo great, that 

 he can carry off a middling ox with the utmoft eafe. He 

 fometimes feizes his prey by furprize, and mankind falls a 

 viftim to his hunger, more through neceffity, as it is faid, 

 than choice. The Arabs have a notion of his fparing the 

 tender fex, but Dr. Shaw informs us in his Travels, p. 244, 

 that the lion obferves no diftinftion in thefe days. The 

 fleih is often eaten in Barbary, and is faid to referable veal 

 in taile. Pennant's Brit. Zool. p. 165, &c. 



LlON-Moniey. See SiMl.v Oedipus. 



Lion, Seal. See PilocA Leonina. 



L.JOyi-Puceion, in Natural Htftory, the name given by Mr. 

 Reaumur to a genus of worms which deftroy the pucerons 

 in the fame manner that the formica leo does the ants. 



Thefe little iiifcfts are a prey alfo to a fort of worm 

 hatched from the egg of a two-winged fly. This has no 

 legs, and is of feveral colours. See V t.v.- P uceron . 



Though thefe lion-pucerons be all hexapodes, yet they 

 are of different origin ; fome being produced from the eggs 

 of a four-winged fly, others from thofe ot a beetle. As the 

 formica leo has two horns, the extremities of which fcrve 

 him by way of mouths, our lion-puccron has the fame kind 

 alio ; but as the former of thefe infetfs can only move back- 

 wards, and is forced to make fnares for his prey, not being 

 able to bunt it, this creature runs very nimbly in the com- 



5 J»oa 



