L U N 



ih-ation, fliewing, tlia* in all proper altitudes it will give tlie 

 true dillance within a few feconds. The fimplicity of this 

 projeftion is extremely curious, as giving an approximate 

 folution of a complicated problem, by drawing four right 

 lines only from the fctle of chords, and it mull therefore be 

 very ufefiil wliere great expedition is required. 



Lunar Rainbow. See Rainbow. 



LuNAK Tear, confills of three hundred and fifty-four 

 days, or twelve fynodical months. See Year. 



In the firfl ages, the year ufed by all nations was lunar ; 

 the variety of courfe being more frequent in this plaaet, and 

 of confeqiience more confpicuous, and better known to men 

 than thofe of any other. The Romans regulated their year, 

 in part, by the moon, even till the time of Julius Csfar : 

 the Jews too had their lunar months. Some rabbins preten^, 

 that the lunar month did not commence till the moment the 

 moon began to appear ; and that there was a law, which 

 obliged the perfon who difcovered her firft, to go and inform 

 the fanhedrim tiicreof. Upon which the prefident folemnly 

 pronounced the month begun, and notice was given of it to 

 the people by fires lighted on the tops of mountains. But 

 thij appears fomcwhat chimerical. 



LUNA RE Os, in Anatomy, one of the bones of the 

 carpus. See ExiTiEMiTiEs. 



LUNARIA, 'm Botany, elegantly fo named by the older 

 botanills and by all fuccecding ones, from lima, the moon ; 

 on account of the filvery femi-tranfparent afpeft, and broad 

 orbicular fliape, of its feed-vefTels. Honelly or Sattin- 

 flowcr. Linn. Gen. 537. Schreb. 440. Willd. Sp. PI. 

 V. 3. 476. Mart. Mill. Did. v. 3. Ait. Hort. Kew. ed. i. 

 V. 2. 385. JulT. 239. Tourn. t. 105. Lamarck lUultr. 

 t. 561. Gsrtn. t. 142, reilmma. — Clafs and order, Tetra- 

 dynamla SUir.ulofa. Nat. Ord. ■S'J/Vj'ao/i, Linn. Cniclfer<f, Ju{[. 



Gen. Ch. Ca/. Perianth inferior, oblopg, of four ovate- 

 oblong, obtufe, cohering, deciduous leaves, of which two 

 oppofite ones are gibbous and pouched at the bafe. Cor. 

 cruciform, of four equal, large, undivided, obtufe petals, 

 as long as the calyx, each tapering down into a claw of the« 

 fame length. Stnm. Filaments fix, awl-fhaped, about the 

 length of thj caly.'c, two of them rather (horter ; anthers 

 ^rect, or llightly fpreading. Pijl. Germen {talked, ovate- 

 oblong, compreffed ; ftyle (hort, permanent ; ftigma obtufe, 

 undivided. Peric. Pouch elliptical, compreffed quite flat, 

 undivided, ereft, very large, {talked, terminated by the 

 ftyle, of two cells and two valves ; tlie partition flat, paral- 

 lel and equal to the valves. Seetls feveral, projcfting into 

 the middle of the pouch, kidney-fliaped, compreffed, bor- 

 dered, fupported by long thread-fhaped ftalks, infcrtcd into 

 the lateral futures. 



Eff. Ch. Pouch undivided, elliptical, flat, ftalked ; valves 

 equal and parallel to the diflepiment, flat. Calyx-leaves 

 bagged at the bafe. 



1. L. redhiva. Perennial Honefty. Linn. Sp. PI. Qti. 

 (L. grasca perennis ; Befl. Eytl. vern. ord. 1. t. 21. t. i. 

 '\'iola lunans, longioribus filiquis; Ger. em. 464. f. 2.) — 

 Leaves doubly and fharply toothed. Pouches elliptic-lance- 

 olate, acute at each end. — Native of Germany, Switzer- 

 land, and Greece. In our gardens it flowers in May or 

 June, and is perennial, but by no means common. Tlie 



Jlems are three or four feet high, erect, round, leafy. 

 Leaves on long (talks, heart-fliaped, pointed, nearly fmooth, 

 doubly, iharply and finely toothed ; the lower ones oppofite, 

 the red alternate. Flowers numerous, large, corymbofe, 

 fragrant, crimfon. Pouch two inches long and not one 

 broad, e'liptical, making a fharp angle at each extremity, 

 green or brownifli. 



2. 'L. annua. Annual Pionefty. Linn. Sp. PI. 911. 



L U N 



Mil. Illuftr. t. ^4. (Viola lunaris, five Bolbonac ; Ger. 

 cm. 464. f. I.) — Leaves fimply and bluntly toothed. Poucli 

 elliptical, fomcwhat orbicular, rounded at each end. — Na- 

 tive of Germany and Switzerland ; very common in gardens, 

 flowering in May and June. The root is annual or rather 

 biennial, tapering. Stem folitary, branched. Leaves vi'wh. 

 much broader and lefs taper teeth than in the former, in a 

 fimple feries only. Floivers copious, large, fcentlefs, crim- 

 fon. Pouch glaucous, fcarcely more than an inch long, and 

 nearly as broad, being almolt orbicular, rounded at each 

 end. 



LinnKUS having founded his fpecific differences of thefe 

 plants on the oppofite or alternate fituation of their leaves, 

 in which refpedl they both vary, has led fome to fuppofe 

 they were both the fam.e. Nothing however can be more 

 diltindt than the fliape of their feed-veffels, to which wa» 

 have added the different manner in which their leaves are 

 toothed. They alfo permanently differ as to duration. 



Willdenow charges Gasrther wrongfully with figuring the 

 pouch of L. rediviva for Rkotia ; tlie latter differs in not 

 being elevated on a ftalk above the bafe of the flower, which ' 

 Ita'k in the faid Lunnria is an inch long, or more. Ricolia 

 is obferved by Mr. R. Brown, as well as by Goertner, to 

 have, fometimes at leafl, two cells. 



L. annua was difcovered wild in Switzerland by M. Schlei- 

 cher, though Haller feems not to have been aware of it. 



Lt7N.\RiA, in Gardening, comprifes plants of the herba- 

 ceous, annual, and perennial kinds, of which the fpecies cul- 

 tivated are, the perennial honelly (L. rediviva) ; the annual 

 honefty, moor-wort, or fatin-flower (L. annua) ; and the 

 Egyptian honefty (L. Egyptiaca.) 



In the fecond fort the feed-veffels, when fully ripe, become 

 tranfparent, and of a clear fhining white, like fatin ; whence 

 the name of fatin flower. 



Method of Culture. — Thefe plants may be raifed by fow- 

 ing the feed in a fhady border, or, which is better, in patches \ 

 in the fituations where they are to remain, in the autumn, ^ 

 keeping the plants afterwards properly thinned out and free '\ 

 from weeds. They may like wife be fown in the early fpring ; 1 

 but the former is the better feafon, as the plants rife Itronger. 

 The laft fort fhould have an open fituation. When fown in 

 beds, the perennial fort fhould be fet out where they are to 

 remain, in the following autumn after being fown. 



Thefe plants all afford ornament and variety in the borders 

 and clumps of pleafure-grounds, in whieh the iirft fort fiiould 

 be placed more backward. 



LuNARi.\, in Ichthyology, a fpecies of Perca ; which 

 fee. 



LuNAKiA, in Natural Hijlory, is alfo ufed by fome 

 authors for the felenites. 



LUNARIS Cochlea, the name of a genus of fliells 

 of the fnail-kind, according to the claffiflcation of fome 

 writers, the dillinguifliing charadler of which is their hr.ving , 

 a perfeftly round mouth. Thefe are univalve, umbilicated 

 fhells, with a depreffed clavicle, and a furface fometimes 

 fmooth, but more frequently ftriated, furrowed, laciniated, 

 or covered with tubercles. 



It is faid, that Archimedes took the invention of the 

 fcrew, fo famous ever fince his time, and flill called after 

 his name, from the form of this ihell ; and it is generally 

 allowed, that architects have taken the hint of their wind- 

 ing flights of ftairs from it. See Trochus, Heli.x, Sec. 

 under Conciiologv. 



LUNAS, in Geography, a town of France, in the de- 

 partment of the Herault, and chief place of a canton, in 

 the diftridl of Lodeve. The place contains 1296, and the 



A canton 



