L I S 



L I S 



ami thence incrcaled to 150, wliich was the freezing point. 

 In the ycnr 1747, after much ill treatment on the part of 

 the Ruflian government, he obtained his dilmifl'ion, lett Pe- 

 tcrlhurg in the month of May, and arrived in Paris in .Sep- 

 tember of tlie fame year. On his return he was appointed 

 profeilbr of the mathematics at the college royal, in which 

 fittiation he lived to render the greated fervicc to the interell-! 

 cf fcicnee, by training up pnpils worthy of fncli a mafter, 

 iimnn<T whom was the celebrated M. de la Lande. fie now 

 fitted up and furniflied an obfervatory, in which he continued 

 his labours, without interruption, tor feveral years. In the 

 year 174H, his pupil M. Moniiier took a voyage to Scotland 

 to obferve an annular cclipfe of the fun, which furnilhed an 

 opportunity for meafuring the diameter of the moon at the 

 time when it thould be entirely vihble on tlie fun's difl<. On 

 this fubjeft De I.ille publifhcd a large advertifement, which 

 was reckoned a complete treatiie on annular echples. He 

 afterwards entered more fully on the confideration of the 

 theory of eclipfes, and he communicated a part of his re- 

 fearches on the fubjedtothe Academy in 1749. He was lo 

 expert in calculations, that he made many tounded on the 

 obfervations of Greenwich, Berlin, Scotland, and Sweden. 

 He publifhed " New Charts of the Difcoveries of Admiral 

 de Fonte, orFuente, made in 1640, and thofe of other navi- 

 gators, Spanilh, Portuguefe, Englilh, Dutch, French and 

 KaJiiaf) i" ^''^ Northern feas, with explications." This 

 •work was prefented to the public in 1750 and l75^ In 

 the latter of thefe years he publiftied a curious map of the 

 world, in which he reprefented, for the benefit of allrono- 

 mers impatiently waiting for the tranlit of Mercury over 

 the fun, the effcft of the parallaxes of Mercury in different 

 countries, in order to point out the proper places for making 

 fuch obfervations on the tranfit, as fliould, ft-om the difference 

 of their refult, furnifh a method of determining the dif- 

 tance of the fun, in a manner fimilar to that apphed by Hal- 

 ley to the tranfit of Venus. Another work of this la- 

 borious and indefatigable philofophcr, publifhed in the 

 Tranfaftions of the Academy, was on the comet of 1758, 

 ■which had been firft difcovercd by a peafant in the neigh- 

 bourhood of Drcfden, and which was vifible feveral months ; 

 but he was principally attentive to the one predifted by Dr. 

 Halley, forty years before, as to make its appearance in 

 1759, and which was firft feen in January of that year. He 

 gave an account of his obfervations on that comet in the 

 firft volume of the " Mercure," for July 1759. He was 

 afterwards afiiduoufly engaged on the fubjeft of the tranfit 

 of Venus, which was expelled in 1761, in order that he 

 might correft the error of Halley, and thus prevent perfons 

 from undertaking long voyages for the fake of obferving it, 

 ■whofe labours would have proved ufelefs with refpeft to the 

 objeft in view. 



M. de Lifle had, fome years previoufly to this, been ap- 

 pointed aftronomical geographer to the marine, an office 

 ■which had been' eftablifhed many years, with the exprefs 

 ■view of having a depot, in which might be prefervcd all the 

 defigns, pla.!S, charts, &c. of the (Joafts of France, and of 

 the colonies and eftabhfhmcnts in different parts of the 

 world, with the memoirs relating to them : to M de JLifle's 

 office was attached tlie bufinefs of collefting and arranging 

 the plans and journals of naval captains, and to extraft from 

 them whatever might be found beneficial to the king's fervice 

 in this department. His majelly now purchafed, with a 

 penfion for life, all M. de Lifle's rich aftronomical and geo- 

 graphical colleflions, which were added to the MSS. in the 

 depot. In the year 1758, our author felt fome fymptoms of 

 decline, and withdrew as much as he could from pub- 

 lic life, leaving the care gf his oblervationj to M. Meffier, 



aad obtaining from the minifter the appointment of M. deli 

 Lande for his coailjutor at tlic college royal. He went to 

 refide at the abbey of St. Genevieve, where he fpent much 

 of his time in devotional exercifes, and devoted the greateft. 

 part of his income to afts of benevolence and charity. In 

 his retirement he cherifhed his tafle for aftronomy and geo- 

 graphy, correfponded with men of fcience, read new works, 

 and even ("elected fome of his own in M.S. with a view to publi- 

 cation. He died on the nth of July 1768, being in the 

 Sill year of his age. As a man of fcience his merits are 

 very great, and in private life he was diftiiiguiflied by unaf- 

 fected piety, pure nior.als, undeviating integrity, and raoft 

 amiable manners. Gen. Biog. 



Ll.StK Ui: 1.A DREVEllKltK, Lf.W IS-Fr.\XCIS DE, a 



French dramatic writer, was defcended from a noble family, 

 and born in the province of Dauphine. His friends intend- 

 ed him for the bar, but his own inclinations were decidedly 

 againft the profeffion of the law, and as his father could not 

 fupport him in the ftyle which his diflipated turn required, 

 he was relolvcd to maintain himfelf by his talents, and began 

 to write for the ItaUan theatre. In 1721 he prefented for 

 public exhibition his comedy of" Arlcquin Sauvaj^e," which 

 was fuccefsful, and which is even now occafionally brought 

 before the public. His " Timnn le Mifantlirope" acquired 

 a much larger (hare of popularity : he publifhed and brought 

 on the ftage many other pieces, chiefly of the comic call : 

 and he compofed a tragedy entitled " Danaus," and a poein 

 entitled " Effai fur 1' Amour Propre ;" which, with feveral 

 other pieces, were colle£iedin a fingle volume. He died in 

 1756, and has been defcribed as a haughty, taciturn, and 

 thoughtful charafter. 



Lisle, in Geography,. See LiLLE. 



Lisle, a town of France, in the department of the Dor- 

 dogne ; 9 miles N.W. of Perigueux. — Alfo, a town of 

 France, in the department of the Yonne ; 24 miles S.E. of 

 Auxerre. 



Li.sle, a poft-town of America, in Tioga county, Ne^w 

 York ; through which paffes a branch of the Chenengo, 

 uniting with the Chenengo in the S.E. corner of the town- 

 fliip. It contains 660 inhabitants. 



LiSLENA, a town of Sweden, in the province of Up- 

 land ; 16 miles S.S.W. of Upfal. 



I^ISMORE, an ifiand of the Hebrides, in the county of 

 Argyle, Scotland. It is fituated at the month of the great 

 arm of the fea called Locli-Linnhe, and extends about ten 

 miles in length and two in breadth. The whole of this 

 illand lies on a Ifratum of excellent lime-ftone, unfirtunately 

 rendered of little value to the inhabitants by the deficiency 

 of fuel to burn it. Mr. Pennant fays the derivation of its 

 name is from I.iofmor, or the great garden. According to 

 tradition, however, it was not a garden, but a decr-forell, 

 and as a proof of this, multit-.ides of (lags' horns of un- 

 common fi-/.es are frequently dug up in the moffy parts of it. 

 At prefent there is very little wood, but the foil being fer- 

 tile, the leffer vegetables fhoot up with uncommon vigour. 

 The chief produtlions of the ground are beans and oats. 

 The former are moftly applied to the purpofes of diftillation; 

 and the latter go to the dilcharge of rents, fo that the in- 

 habitants are obliged to import large quantities of meal for 

 their fubfiftence. There are a conliderable number of cattle 

 reared in this ifiand, but they are generally of very fmall 

 llature. The author already mentioned thinks they mirll 

 have greatly degenerated from their original growth, for he 

 informs us that he faw the IkuU of an ox dug up here, which 

 was of much larger dimenfions than any now living ui Great 

 Britain. About a hundred head of the largeft are exported 

 annually. The horfes bred here are extremely fhort-hved. 

 2 They 



