LAG 
carries as much as slie can stow for the pur- 
poses of navigation- As a ton in measure 
is generally estimated at 2000 pounds in 
weight, a vessel of 200 tons ought accord- 
ingly to carry a weight equal to 400,000 
pounds ; therefore, when the matter of 
which the cargo is composed is specifically 
heavier than the water in which she floats ; 
or, in other words, when the cargo is so 
heavy that she cannot float high enough 
with so great a quantity of it as her hold 
will contain, a diminution thereof becomes 
absolutely necessary. 
LAETIA, in botany, so named from 
John de Laet of Antwerp , a genus of the 
Polyandria Monogynia class and order. 
Natin al order of Tiliacea?', Jussieu. Essen- 
tial character: calyx five-leaved; corolla 
five-petalled, or none ; fruit one-celled, 
three-cornered ; seeds with a pulpy aril. 
There are four species, of which L. guido- 
nia is a tree which grows to a considerable 
size in Jamaica, and is esteemed highly for 
its fine timber, which is much used in all 
sorts of building ; in the fruit of this tree, 
the lines between the valves are of a beau- 
tiful red colour, as well as the placenta; ; 
the filaments of the flower are very nume- 
rous. 
LAGERSTROEMIA, in botany, so 
named from Magnus Lagerstroem, of Got- 
tenburgh ; a genus of the Icosandria Mono- 
gynia class and order. Natural order of 
Salicarite, Jussieu. Essential character : 
calyx six-cleft, bell-shaped ; petals six, 
curled ; stamina very many, the six outer 
thicker than the rest, and longer than the 
petals. There are four species, of which 
L. indica, according to Linnaeus, is a tree 
the size of a pomegranate, with opposite 
leaves, sub-sessile, oblong, quite entire, 
smooth ; the floral leaves roundish ; flowers 
flesh-coloured, in a loose terminating thyrse, 
on trifid or three-flowered pedicels; the 
petals, on long claws, six in number, curled 
aiM waved. Native of the East Indies, 
China, Cochin China, and Japan. 
LAGOECIA, in botany, a genus of the 
Pentaudria Monogynia class and order.. 
Natural order of Umbellatae, or Umbellife- 
raj. Essential character ; involucre univer- 
sal, and partial : petals bifid ; seeds solitary, 
inferior. There is but one species, viz. 
L. cuminoides, wild or bastard cumin ; this 
is an annual plant, about a foot high ; the 
leaves resemble those of honeywort : the 
flowers are collected into spherical heads, 
at the extremity of the stalks, and are of a 
greenish yellow colour. Native of the Le- 
vant. 
LAM 
LAGUNQSA, in botany, so called from 
Andreas Laguna, a Spanish physician and 
botanist ; a genus of the Monadelphia Po- 
lyandria class and order. Natural order of 
Columniferae. Malvaceae, Jussieu. Essen- 
tial character: calyx simple, five-cusped ; 
style simple ; stigma peltated ; capsule five- 
celled, five-valved. There are three spe- 
cies, of which L. aculeata, prickly lagunoea, 
has a round tomentose stem, armed with 
small upright prickles, a little branched, 
and is about a foot and a half in height; 
leaves alternate, shorter than the petioles, 
deeply divided into three serrate-toothed 
segments, the middle one longer than the 
others; flowers on short peduncles; calyx 
tomentose, terminating in five short awl- 
shaped points, bursting on one side to the 
middle, when the corolla expands, which is 
yellow, and twice as long as the calyx ; fila- 
ments short, scattered over the whole sur- 
face of the tube; stigma red, peltate, 
scarcely standing out ; capsule oblong, acu- 
minate, five-cornered, tomentose ; seeds 
kidney -form, black. It is a native of Coro- 
mandel, near Pondicherry, where it is call- 
by the inhabitants, Cattacacheree. 
LAGURUS, in botany, a genus of the 
Triandria Digynia class and order. Natu- 
ral order of Gramina, Graminese, or Grasses. 
Essential character: calyx two-valved, with 
a villose awn ; corolla having, on the outer 
petal, two terminating awns, and a third 
dorsal one, twisted back. There is but one 
species, viz. L. ovatus, an annual grass, 
eighteen inches or more in height; very 
soft and hoary, as are also the leaves and 
spikes. Native of the South of Europe. 
LAKE, in the arts, is a combination of 
colouring extract, with an earth, or metal- 
lic oxide, formed by precipitation from the 
solution of the colouring matter. If a solu- 
tion of alum is added to an infusion of mad- 
der, a mutual decomposition takes place, 
and part of the alumine. falls united with 
the colouring matter of the madder. Pre- 
cipitates, of different shades of colour, are 
obtained with alum, nitre, chalk, acetate of 
lead, and muriate of tin. The lakes form 
some of the beautiful pigments, and are 
highly esteemed in water-colour painting, 
and other purposes : and they are almost 
invariably composed, either of alum, or 
sometimes the solutions of tin, and some 
otlier watery solution of a colouring matter. 
See Colour. 
LAMA, the sovereign pontiff, or rather 
god of the Asiatic Tartars, inhabiting the 
coiuitry of Barantola. The Lama is not 
only adored by the inhabitants of the coun- 
