L O T 



LOT 



prefix nil exprefling its growing particularly in the river 



Nile. 



Neophyt'.is tells lis, that this lotomctra has leaves of a 

 middle form between thofe of the common nymphxa, whicli 

 are roiindifh, and ithofe of the arum, which arc oblong and 

 pointed, and are cardated at the bafe ; and this is the very 

 figure of the leaves of the faba ^gyptiaca, as we fee it in all 

 paintings, &c. 



LOTOS (fee Lotus) is held in the liigheft veneration in 

 India, inclii live of Thibet and Nepaul. Amongthe Brahmans 

 and enthuliadic Hindoos, no objeft in nature is- looked on 

 with more fuperftition ; and their books abound with myftical 

 alluCons to this lovely aquatic. Being efteemcd the mott 

 beautiful of vegetables, it not unappropriately furnifties a 

 name for the Hindoo queen of beauty, and Kamal ov Kamala 

 ie, as noticed under that article, a name of Lakflimi ; as is 

 Padma or Pedma, another Sanfcrit appellation for botli. 

 (See Lakshmi.) Under the form of Kamala, Lakftimi is 

 ufually reprefented with a lotos in her hand, and in mod 

 pictures and ftatues of her confort Vifimu, he is furnidied 

 with the Pedma, or lotos bud, in one of his four hands, as 

 a diftinguifhing attribute. Accordingly, as it is reprefented 

 in different ilages of efflorefcence, it varies, in the eye of 

 myilics, its emblematical allufions. As an aquatic, the lotos 

 is a lymbol alfo of Vi(hnu, he being a perfonification of 

 water or humidity, and he is often reprefented feated on it. 

 Brahma, the creative power, is alfo fometimes feated on the 

 lotos, and is borne on its caly.Kin the whimfical reprefentation 

 of the renovation of the world, when this myftical plant 

 iffued out of the navel of Vifhnu from the bottom of the fea, 

 ■where he was repofing on the ferpent Seftia. (See Sesha.) 

 The followin^^ extraft from the curious and learned diiTerta- 

 tion of Major Wilford, " On the facred Ifles of the Weft," 

 will ferve to fhew the wild extravagance of Hindoo mytho- 

 logifts. " The nymphasa, or lotoS, floating on the water, is 

 an emblem of the world ; the whole plant Cgnifics both the 

 earth and its two principles of fecundation. The ftalk ori- 

 ginates from the navel of Vifhnu, deeping at the bottom of 

 the ocean ;• and the flower is the cradle of Brahma, or man- 

 kind. The germ is both Meru and the Linga ; the petals 

 and filaments are the mountains which encircle Meru, and 

 are alfo the type of the Yoni." (Afiatic Refearches, 

 vol. viii. ) This may fufBce as to the extravaganzas of Hin- 

 doo myilics. The reader may fee farther hereon under our 

 articles Lixc.l, Meru, and Yoni Hindoo poetry alfo fu- 

 perabounds in allufions to the lotos. One allufion, conneAed 

 with an intereliing fa£l in natural hiftory, we will notice. In 

 the northern parts of India the petals of the lotos, are blue, 

 3G well as red and white ; while in the fouthern provinces the 

 blue flower is not feen ; the poets have hence feigned that the 

 crimfon hue was imparted to it by the blood of Siva 

 jfluing from the wound made by the arrow of Kama, when 

 the god of love daringly endeavoured to infpire the " king 

 of dread'" with an amorous paffion, for which prefump- 

 tion he was reduced to afhes, or, as fome fay, to a mental 

 effence, by the fire which iffued from the forehead of the 

 " three-eyed god." (See Kam.\ and Siva.) In the 

 Hindoo Pantheon, neceffarily comprifing a great mafs of 

 myfticifm in its mythological details, the reader will find 

 many particulars and plates connefted with the fubjetts of 

 this article. 



LOTTERY, a kind of game of hazard, wherein feveral 

 lots of merchandize, or fums of money, are depofited as 

 prizes, for the benefit of the fortunate. 



Thedefignof lotteries, and the manner of drawing them, 

 are too well known among us to need a defcription : they are 

 very freque:it in England and Holland, where they cannot 



be fet on foot without the permifBon of the magiftrate. In 



France too, there have been feveral lotteries in favour of 

 their hofpitals. 



M. Le Cierc has compofed a treatife of lotteries, wherein 

 is fhewn v.'hat is laudable, and what blameable in them.- 

 Gregorio Leti has alfo a book on the fubjeCl of lotteries. 

 Father Meneftrier has a treatife on the fame, publifhed in 

 1700, where he fhews their origin and ufe among the Ro- 

 mans. He diftinguiflies feveral kinds of lotteries, and takes 

 occafion to fpeak of chances, and refolves feveral cafes of 

 confcicnce relating thereto. See feveral ftatutes relating to 

 lotteries under the article Gaming. 



An aft pafTed in 1778, for regulating the conduft of the 

 lottery, reftrains any perfon from keeping an office for the 

 fale of tickets, fhares, or chances, or for buying, felling, m- 

 furing, or regiftering, without a licence ; for which licence 

 each office-keeper muft pay 50/., if it be in, or within 

 twenty miles of London, Edinburgh, or Dublin, and 10/. 

 for every licence for every other office, to continue in force 

 for one year, and the produce to be applied towards defray- 

 ing the expences of the lottery. And no perfon is allowed 

 to fell any fhare or chance lefs than a fixteenth, on the pe- 

 nalty of jo/. All tickets divided into fhares or chances are 

 to be depofited in an office, to be eltablifhed in, London by 

 the commifGoners of the treafury, who are to appoint a 

 perfon to conduft the bufinefs thereof ; and all (hares arc to 

 be flamped by the faid officer, who is to give a receipt for 

 every ticket depofited with him. The numbers of all tickets 

 fo depofited are to be entered in a book, with the names of 

 the owners, and the number of (hares into which they are 

 divided ; and two-pence for each fhare is to be paid to the 

 officer on depofiting fuch tickets, who is therewith to pay 

 all expences incident to the office. All tickets depofil ed in 

 the office are to remain there three days after the drawinor. 

 And any perfon keeping an office, or felling lliares, or who 

 (hall publifh any fcheme for receiving monies in confidera- 

 tion of any intereft to hi granted in any ticket in the faid 

 lottery, S:c. witho.it being in pofTefTion of fuch ticket, (hall 

 forfeit joo/. and fuffer three months imprifonment. And 

 no bufinefs is to be tranfaC^ed at any of the offices after eight 

 in the evening, except on the evening of the Saturday pre- 

 cedi Y ttie drawing. No perfon is to keep any office for 

 the fale of tickets, &c. in Oxford or Cambridge, on pe- 

 nalty of 20.'. Before this regulating ftatute took place, 

 there were upwards of 400 lottery offices in and about Lon- 

 don only ; but the whole number afterwards, for all Eng- 

 land, as appeared by the lift publifhed by authority, amount- 

 ed to no more th.an 5 1 . They are, howeyer, at this time much 

 more numerous. , _.. » 



By 42 Geo. III. c. 1 19, all games or lotteries called lit- 

 tle-goes are declared public nuifances, and. all perfons keep- 

 ing an office or place for any game or lottery not authorized 

 by law, (hall forfeit jco/. and be deemed rogues and vaga- 

 bonds. The proprietor of a whole ticket may neverthelcfs 

 infure it for its value only, with any licenfed office for the 

 whole time of drawing, from the time of infuraocc, under 

 a bond fide agreement, without a ftamp. The laft ftate lot- 

 tery aft enafting various new regulations was 49 Geo. III. 

 c. 94. 



The propofals for the firft public lottery of which we have 

 any account were publiflied in 1567 and 156S, and it was 

 drawn in 1569, at the weft door of St. Paul's cathedral. 

 The tickets were fold at ten fliillings each, and there were 

 no blanks. The prizes confiflcd chiefly of plate, and the 

 profits of it were intended for repairing the havens of the 

 kingdom, and other public works. In 161 2, James I. granted 

 permiffion for a lottery to be held alfo at the weft end of St. 

 12 Paul's, 



