L O N 



L O N 



Gen. Ch. Gnpfufa annulated, numeroiifly afTemblcJ in 

 crcfcent-fhaped, ftort, when young often divided, lines, in 

 the margin of each finus of the leaves. Involucrum mem- 

 branous, proceeding from the margin of the leaf, indexed, 

 often divided in the middle. 



Eff. Ch. Fruftification in crefcent-fliaped fpots, in the 

 fmufes of the leaves. Involncnmi from the inflexed margin 

 cf the leaf, feparating inwards. 



1. L. aurit.i. Linn. Sp. PI. ij,^6- (Filix latifolia, 

 fpinulis moUibus et nigris aculeata ; Plum. Fil. 14. t. 17. 



Petiv. Fil. t. 4. f. 4 Frond pinnate ; pinnatifid ; the lower 



pair of leaflets divided ; lobes obtufe, fmooth, wavy, toothed 

 at the fummit. Stalk prickly. — This fpecies, which Phi- 

 mier only appears to have feen, was gathered by him 

 in the courle of a valley, in a diftricl of Martinico, 

 commonly called !e Prefcheur. The root confifls of nume- 

 rous, black, entangled fibres. Fronds five or fix, erecl, 

 about a foot and a half high ; their ftalks brownifh, po- 

 lilhed, clothed with numerous, horizontal, black, pliant 

 prickles. The upper half of the plant confifts of a few 

 nearly oppofite pairs of long and broadilTi, pinnatifid, pointed 

 leaves, or pintiit, very thin, membranous, Imooth, delicate, 

 and finely veined, of a bright green. Their fegments are 

 feparated rather more than half way to the rib, broadifh, 

 wavy at the edges, toothed at their blunt apex, and bearing 

 at their finufes, between each other, a crefcent-fiiaped thick 

 mafs of frualfcatlon, which feems not to be cloven or di- 

 vided. 



2. L. hlrfuta. Linn. Sp. PI. 1536. (Filix viUofa, pin- 

 nulis quercinis ; Plum. Fil. 16. t. 20. Petiv. Fil. t. 4. f. 5.) 

 — Frond hairy, doubly pinnate ; deeply pinnatifid ; lobes 

 finiiated, obtufe, wavy^ many-flowered — Gathered by Plu- 

 mier by rivers in Martinico ; by R. Shakefpear in Jamaica. 

 We havealfo fpecimens from J. V. Thompfon, efq. collected 

 by him in fome part of the Weft Indies ; yet this fpecies is 

 very rare. It differs widely from the former in its hairinefs 

 and much greater fize, being five or fix feet high, and the 



Jid'iLs near an inch thick. The fronii moreover is doubly 

 pinnate, either in an alternate or oppofite manner ; its leaves 

 very deeply pinnatifid, pointed, their obtufe fegments alfo 

 pinnatifid, or at leaft deeply linuated, each finus bearing a 

 crefcent-fliaped mafs of feeds, or rather two feparate malTes, 

 each with its own roundifli involucrum, not unlike that of an 

 Adianlum, though they iinally, for the moll part, coalefcc. 



3. L.. javanica. Lamarck Dift. v. 3. J54. Swartz Syn. 

 Fil. 94 Frond hairy, once or twice pinnate; deeply pin- 

 natifid ; lobes finuated, pointed, crenate, many-flowered. 

 Involucrum fimple. — Gathered by Commerfon in Java, ac- 

 cording to Lamarck, though the fpecimen given to the 

 younger LinnEUS by Thouin is marked as coming from 

 the Mauritius. It feems at any rate to be of Fall, not 

 Well, Indian origin, and differs efTentially from the fore- 

 going. How often the frond is decompounded, we have 

 not materials to determine. Our fpecimen has two op- 

 pofite plnn£ only, each above a foot long, pointed, very 

 deeply pinnatifid, clothed with fine foft pubefcence, beau- 

 tifully reticulated with veins ; dark-green above, brighter 

 beneath. The fegments are likewile fharp-pointed, about 

 fifteen pair, deeply finuated, crenate. One thick, brown, 

 femilunar mafs of fruclifcaiion, ftarids in each finus, and is, 

 as far as we can dilcern, fimple and undivided, as well as its 

 involucrum 



4. L. glabra. Swartz. n. 3. Bory de St. Vincent Voy. 

 V. I. 321. — " Frond doubly compound, fmooth; leaves 

 fomewhat pinnate; their divifions deeply crenate." — Native 

 .fif the ifle de Bourbon. We know nothing of this fpecies 



, Vol,. XXL 



but the abere chara(!\cr, which, except as to fmoothricfi, 

 gives no very preclfe information. 



5. L. repens. Linn. Sp. PI. 1536. (Fihx aculeata re. 

 pens ; Plum. Fil. 1 1, t. 12. Petiv". Fil. t. 4. f. 6.) — Frond 

 thrice pinnate ; leaves deeply pinnatifid ; lobes finuated, 

 obtufe, crenate. Stalks prickly. Root creeping. — Ga- 

 thered by Plumier in Martinico. He defcribcd the root as 

 extremely long, cn.'eping like couchgrafs, half the thickncfs 

 of the finger, black both witiiiii and without. Fronds 

 fpreading liorizontally and very widely. Their general and 

 partial llalks prickly, twice pinnate, in an alternate order. 

 Leaves about fix inches long, pointed, very deeply pinna- 

 tifid, it not pinnate ; their fegments oblong, obtufe, deeply 

 finuated. Frucllfication fmall, apparently folitary in each 

 finus. We know not on what grounds Linnius fixed the 

 genus of this fpecies, which no other botanill than Plumier 

 appears to have feen. As far as his figure goes, it may 

 belong to Dkkfonia, or Cyathea, as probably as to Lon- 

 chhis. 



The L. ptdata of Luinsus, Sp. PI. i^T,Ch like a few 

 others named or publiflied by different bolaniils, belong 

 rather to Pter'is, betwixt which genus and the prefsnt, it is 

 not always eafy to draw a line. 



LONCHIURUS, in Natural Hi/lory, a genus of fiOies 

 of the order thoracici : peftoral fins feparate ; tail lanceo- 

 late. There is only one fpecies, viz. the barbatus, brown, 

 with two cirri under the chin, which is about ten inches long, 

 and inhabits the rivers of Surinam. 



LONDINIARES, in Geography, a \.o\vn of France, in 

 the department of the Lower Seine, and chief place of a 

 canton, in the diftricl ef Neufchatel ; 7 miles N. of Neuf- 

 chatel. The place contains 764, and the canton 5691 in- 

 habitants, on a territory of 225 kiliometres in 32 com- 

 munes. 



LONDON, the metropolis of the Britiflt empire, the 

 moll wealthy, moll extenfive, and probably the moft pa- 

 pulous and powerful city in the world, is feated in a fertile 

 and falubrious plain or valley, on the banks of the river 

 Thames, which divides the town into two irregular parts, 

 and pafies through it, from the wcfl; to the eaft, in its 

 progrefs to the lea. Many cities and towns of antiquity 

 h.ive been famous in the annals of nations : Nineveh was 

 noted for its towers and walls of vafl circumference, height, 

 and breadth ; Babylon, for the hanging gardens, and other 

 objefls of human labour ; Perfepolis, for its natural fortilica- 

 tions ; Palmyra and Balbeck, for fumptuous buildings ; and 

 Athens and Rome, for the civilization, refinement, and high 

 acconiplilhment of their inhabitants. But London may be 

 denominated the modern wonder of the world. The pro- 

 digious increafe of houfcs, inhabitants, trade, commerce, and 

 wealth, with the refinement and luxury which now prevail, 

 render it fuperior to all the cities of modern Europe ; and 

 muft excite the ailonifhment of fuch foreigners and Eng- 

 lifhmen as have ftudied the local and comparative hiftories 

 of places of note. It may be regarded as the focus of the 

 Britifh empire ; for within its jurifdiftion are concentrated the 

 royal, legillative, juridical, civil, commercial, fcientific, and 

 literary concerns of Great Britain. Many writers have been 

 employed, at different periods, to narrate the annals of this 

 great town ; and fcveral volumes in folio, quarto, oClavo, S:c. 

 have been exclufively devoted to the topographical hiflory 

 of London : but all are imperfcA and unfatisfaftory : thie 

 largefl works being mollly tedious, trivial, and prolix ; and 

 the fmaller publications are very fuperficial and inaccurate. 

 At the end of this account will be given a lill of fitvera! 

 of thefe works ; to point out the fources of the prefen' 



