L Y N 



L Y N 



Abfojbing veffels. 



I. External, arifing on 



1. Tlic mucous furfaces. 



2. Theildn. 



1. The ferous furfaces. 



2. The cfllu'ar fyllem; and 



2. Internal, ariung on 



deriving from it 



3. The medullary fyftem 



C I. Scrum. 

 ( 2. I'"at. 



' I . Of (hov'. and broad 

 bones ; and the ex- 

 tremities of long 

 bones. 

 2. Of the middle of 

 long bones. 



<; 



4. The fynovial fvllem i ' ^^ 



^ ' ■ ^2. Of tei 



i_ 3. Of nutrition, taking up the refidHal nutriti"e matter of each organ 



I; Of thejoints. 



" " )dinous flieatis. 



The ftruiJ^ure, properties, funftions, and diftribution of 

 the ablorbing lyikms, both the veffcls and glands, are con- 

 ildered in detail in the articles Absokbexts and Absokp- 



TIO.V. 



Lymphatics of Birds and Fifhes. See Anatomy of Birds 

 and Fishes, 



LYNCHBURG, in Geography, a pod-town of Virgi- 

 nia, in Bedtord ctiunty, on the S.lideof Jarr.es river, nearly 

 oppofue to Maddifon, and one mile diftant. It contains 

 about 100 houfes, and a large warehoufe for the inf^eftion 

 of tobacco ; i 2 miles from London. 



LYNCH ET, among Farmers, a line of green fward, 

 ferving as a boundary to feparate ploughed land, in common 

 fields. See Balk.s. 



LYNCHVILLE, in Geography, a pod-town of Marion 

 county. South Carolina, 450 miles from Wafliir.gton. 



LYNCIS L.\Pi.s, in Natural Hiflory, the name given by 

 fome of the writer,*; of the middle age to the helemnkes. 



LYNCURIUM, or Lyscurius, in Mimralogical Anti- 

 quities, a mineral fubdance, refpecling the nature of which 

 ieveral conj^ftures have been broached, from the time of ' 

 Pliny down to the prefent day. The opinions of the pre- 

 fent mineri'.logi:ls appear to be divided between- amher and 

 hyacinth ; but it is mod 'probable that both thefe fubftances 

 have been confounded under the name of ivncunum. Pluiy, 

 in fpeaking" of the mineral in quedion, isinclined to deny its 

 very exiilence : " De lyncurio," he fays " maxime dfcl co- 

 git auCtorum pertinacia. Qaippe etiamfi eleclrum id effet, 

 lyjjcurium tamen gemmam ede contendunt. Fieri auteni ex 

 urina qmdem lyncis,. fed congeda terra protinusbedia ape- 

 riente earn, quoniam invideat hominum ufui. Efle autcm 

 qualem in igneis fuccinis, co^orem, fcalpique. Nee folia 

 tantum aut llramenta ad fe raperc, fed xris etiam ac ferri lami- 

 nas, , quod Diodes quidem et Theophralius credidit. . F.go 

 falfum id latum arbitror, nee vifam in sevo nodro gemmam 

 uliam ea appeUatione." (Hid. Nat. xxxvii. 3.) It is re- 

 markable that Pliny, whofe incredulity upon other occa- 

 fions was certainly not over great, {hould have treated the 

 whde of what has been faid of the lyncurium as a mere 

 fable, whin his fcepticifm might have more properly been 

 confined to that part of the llory which relates to the origin 

 of the fubdance in queftion. Indead of this,- in fpoakmg 

 r£ the lynx^ he a&ually gives credit to what has been faid of 

 the extraordinary quality of its urine. " Lyncunn Immor 

 (he fays) ita redditus ubi gignuntur glsciatur, arcfcitve in 

 gemaias, carbunculis fitniles,et igneo colore fulgentes, lyncu- 



rium vacata', atque ob id fuccino a plerifque ita generari pra- 

 dito." lb. viii. j;S 



Theophradjs, from whom Pliny has principally derived 

 his information refpefting lyncurium, me.ilions among its 

 qualities that of attrafting, Lke amber, particles of draw, - 

 and even thin laminre of copper or iron. Our hyacinth does 

 not pofTefs the quality of becoming cleClric by friCrion ; a - 

 circumdance to whi.-h fir John Hill does not advert in his 

 obfervations on this done, which he c-mfiders as the only 

 one that can be faid to anfwer the defcription given of the 

 lyncurium by Theophraftus. On the other hand, it mud be 

 confeded that its remaining quahties, as mentioned by the 

 Erefian philofopher, -uic. the confiderable liardnefs attributed 

 to it, and the confequent ufe made of it for engraving feals 

 on, do not exaftly fquare with the well known charafters cf 

 . amber, which is moreover feparately defcribed in his work as • 

 a Jubdance perfefily didincl: from lyncurium. 



It is more than probable, that in this cafe, as in many, 

 others, the qualities of two didinft fubdances have been er- - 

 roneoufly combined by tlie ancients, who, in their attempt . 

 ' to identify natural bodies, were but too often drangely mifled - 

 by a fancied fimilarity of charafters, where the eve of a . 

 modern naturalid would fcarccly difcover traces of the moft .' 

 didant refemblance. 



It would appear that the fined amber, and a particular 

 deep-coloured variety of it, was formerly obtained from Li- 

 guria, where, indeed, it dill occurs, though not in the fame 

 quantity in which it is found on the fea-coad of Pruflia. If. 

 we may fuppofe the word lieurium to have beeh derived from . 

 that part of Italy, it is certainly equally probable that ig- - 

 noranceand the love of the marvellous may afterwards have - 

 fubdituterl that of lyneurium, implying the fabulous origin 

 of this fubdance from the urine of the lynx. Similarity of . 

 colour appears to have been fufiicient afterwards to affix the ■• 

 fame appellation to the hyacinth ; and it is proliahly this -; 

 confuCon which- produced the defcription of Theophraftus .- 

 above alluded to, and which is partly applicable to amber, and 1 

 partly to the V.yacinth, or any other hard done of fimilar .- 

 colour and tranfparency, fuch as yellow garnets, yellow cal- - 

 cedony, &c. 



Among the authors who have confidered amber to be the ■ 

 lyncurium of the ancients, are Geoffroy, Gefner, Beckcin, , 

 and Napione ; mod of the. other modern writers on' minera- 

 logy follow St. Epiphanius, LetTer, and Hili, who are de- 

 cidedly of opinion that the hyacinth alone could have been 

 meant by it. Sir William Watfon fuppofes that Theophraf-"- 



tua'a J 



