LON 
ence of longitude. Thongh tlii.s computa- 
tion witli tables, which give every tenth 
second, is not operose, it is much abridged 
by the fbrmiil® given in the said works. 
Time - pieces are likewise rendered so 
perfect at present, that they afford the 
most inestimable assistance to mariners. 
.See Chronometer and Horology. Our 
John Harrison, between the years 172G 
and 1762, first vanquished the great diffi- 
culty, and was rewarded with 20,0001. 
from the English government. Very libe- 
ral encouragement has since been given to 
other artists, such as Arnold, Earnshaw, 
and others. 
Longitude of moHnn, according to 
some philosophers, is the distance which the 
centre of any moving body runs through, as 
it moves on in a riaht line. 
LONGITUDINAL, in general, denotes 
something placed lengthwise; thus some of 
the fibres of the vessels in the human body 
are placed longitudinally, others transverse- 
ly, or across. 
LONGOMONTANUS (Christian), a 
learned astronomer, I>orn in Denmark in 
1.662, in the village of Longomontani, 
whence he took his name. Vossius, by 
mistake, calls him Christopher. Being the 
son of a poor man, a ploughman, he was 
obliged to suffer, during his studies, all the 
hardships to which he could be exposed, di- 
viding his time, like the philosopher Clean- 
thes, .between the cultivation of the earth, 
and the lessons he received from the minis- 
ter of the place. At length, at fifteen 
years old, he stole away from his family, 
- and went to Wiburg, whei-e there was a 
college, in which he spent eleven years ; 
and though he was obliged to earn his live- 
lihood as he could, his close application to 
study enabled him to make a great pro- 
gress in learning, particularly in the mathe- 
matical sciences. 
From hence he went to Copenhagen ; 
Where the professors of that University soon 
conceived a very Irtgh opinion of hjm, and 
recommended him to the celebrated Tycho 
Brahe ; with whom Longomontamis lived 
eight years, and was of great service to him 
in his observations and calculations. At 
length, being very desirous of obtaining a 
professor’s chair in Denmark, Tycho Brahe 
consented with some difficulty to his leav- 
ing him; giving him a discharge filled with 
the highest testimonies of his esteem, and 
furnishing him with money for the expense 
of his long journey from Germany, whither 
Tycho had retired. 
LOO 
He accordingly obtained a professorship 
of mathematics in the University of Copen- 
hagen, in 1605; the duty of which he dis- 
charged very w'orthily till his death, which 
happened in 1647, at eighty-five years of 
age. 
Longomontamis was author of several 
works, which show great talents in mathe- 
matics and astronomy. The most distin- 
guished of them is his “ Astronomica Da- 
nica,” first printed in quarto, 1621, and 
afterwards in folio, in 1640, with augmen- 
tations. He amused himself with endea- 
vouring to square the circle, and pretended 
that he had made the discovery of it ; but 
our countryman. Dr. John Pell, attacked 
him warmly on the subject, and proved that 
he was mistaken. It is remarkable, that, 
obscure as his village and father were, he 
contrived to dignify and eternize them 
both; for he took his name from his vil- 
lage, and in the title-page to some of his 
works, he wrote himself Christianus Longo- 
montanus .Severini filius ; his father’s name 
being Severin or Severinus. 
LO NICER A, in botany, honeysuckle, 
named from A . Lonicer, a semis of the Pen- 
tandria Monogynia class and order. Natural 
order of Aggregate. Caprifolia, Jussieu. Es- 
sential character: corolla one-petalled, irre- 
gular ; berry many-seeded, two-celled, infei 
rior. There are nineteen .species, of which 
L. gfata, ever-green honeysuckle, is the 
most beautiful : it grows naturally in North 
America : it has strong brane' es, covered 
with a purple bark, which are ornamented 
with lucid green leaves, embracing the 
stalks, an^ continuing their verdure all tlie 
year; the flowers are produced in whorled 
bunches at the end of the branches; there 
are frequently two, and sometimes three, 
of these bunches rising one out of the other; 
they are of a bright red on their outside, 
and yellow within, of a strong aromatic fla- 
vour ; it begins to flower in June, and there 
is a constant succession of flowers till the 
frost puts an end to them. 
LOO, or lanter-loo, a game at cards. See 
Lanter loo. 
LOOP, in the sea-language, is a term 
used in various senses ; thus the loof of a 
ship is that part of her aloft which lies just 
before the chest-tree; hence the guns which 
lie there are called loof pieces ; keep your 
loof, signifies, keep the ship near to’ the 
wind ; to loof into a harbour, is to sail into 
it close by the wind ; loof up, is to keep 
nearer the wind ; to spring the loof, is when 
Ms 
