LAG 
mis of the clafs icofandria, order monogynia, natural or¬ 
der of falicarias, (faff.) The generic characters are—Ca¬ 
lyx: perianthium one-leafed, fix-cleft, bell-fhaped, rather 
acute, fmooth, permanent. Corolla : petals fix, ovate, ob- 
tufe, crifped, undulated, contorted; claws filiform, longer 
than the calyx, inferted into the receptacle. Stamina : 
filaments very many, filiform, longer than the calyx, in¬ 
ferted into the calyx below the germ ; the fix exterior ones 
are twice the thicknefs of the reft,, and are longer than 
the petals ; anthers oval, incumbent. Piftillum : germ 
lubglobofe ; ftyle filiform, length of the longer ftamens ; 
ftigma fimple. Pericarpiutn: capfule fubglobofe, crowned 
with the ftyle on its bluntifli top, fix-furrowed, fix-celled, 
fix-valved, the diflepiments coalefcing with the .futures. 
Seeds: feveral, ovate, awl-fhaped at the bafe, compreffed, 
adhering to a central hexagonal pillar.— EJfential CharaBer. 
Calyx fix-cleft, bell-fliaped ; petals fix, curled ; ftamina 
very many, the fix outer thicker than the reft, and longer 
than the petals. 
Species, i. Lagerftrcemia Indica, or Indian lagerftrce- 
mia : leaves alternate, ovate; calyxes naked, even. The 
trunk of this fmall tree is about a fathom high, or fome- 
what more, fmooth all over. Branches alternate, fomewhat 
angular, flexuofe, rigid, fpreading. Leaves alternate, fub- 
ieflile, on the twigs ovate, on the branches oblong, obtufe, 
entire, nerved, ftiffifh, from half an inch to an inch in length. 
Flowers in a decompound, trichotomous, naked, fpreading, 
panicle at the ends of the twigs; calyx inflated, hexagonal, 
green, five-parted ; fegrnents ovate, upright; Corolla pur¬ 
ple. Linnseus fays that this tree is the fee of a pomegra¬ 
nate ; that the leaves are oppofite, but fometimes alter¬ 
nate, fubfeflile, oblong, quite entire, fmooth ; the floral 
leaves roundi/h ; that the flowers are flefii-coloured, in a 
loofe terminating thyrfe, on trifid or three-flowered pedi¬ 
cels ; the petals on long claws, fix in number, curled and 
waved like the mefentery. Native of the Eaft Indies, 
China, Cochin-china, and Japan. It was introduced here 
in 1759, by Hugh duke of Northumberland 5 and flowers 
front Auguft: to October. 
2. Lagerftrcemia fpeciofa, or fightly lagerftrcemia: leaves 
alternate, ovate; calyxes and leaves tomentofe underneath. 
If this be the fame with Munchhaufia fpeciofa, it is a 
fmall tree, with round, fmooth, even, branches; and a na¬ 
tive of China. 
3. Lagerftrcemia regime, or royal lagerftrcemia : leaves 
eppofite, oblong, fmooth ; calyxes grooved. Trunk ereCl; 
branches horizontal, fpreading; bark fmooth, rult-co- 
1-oured ; young (hoots angular, with the angles winged as 
in L. Indica. Leaves oppofite or nearly fo, (hort-petioled, 
sblong, entire, fmooth, four or five inches long, and 
about two broad. Flowers much larger, and much more 
beautiful, than thofe of L. Indica ; colour in the morn¬ 
ing that of a pale rofe, growing deeper through the day, 
and acquiring a purple tinge. Native of the Eaft Indies; 
on many woody mountains of the northern pvirts of the 
Circars, where it grows to a tree of a middling fize ; flow¬ 
ering during the hot feafon, and ripening the feeds in 
Auguft. It is very beautiful when in flower, and well 
deferves a confpicuous place in our ftoves. This fpecies 
is fliown in the annexed Engraving. 
4. Lagerftrcemia parviflora, or fmall-flowered lagerftroe- 
jnia: leaves oppofite, oblong; fmooth above, downy un¬ 
derneath; calyxes grooved. Trunk ereCt, with a fmooth 
afti-coloured bark. Branches very numerous, the large 
and lower fpreading, the fmaller nearly erect. Leaves op¬ 
pofite, or in numbers, from fcabrous tubercles, very (hort- 
petioled, oblong, above fmooth and finning, below co¬ 
vered with a whitifir down, entire, from two to four inches 
long, and one or two inches broad. Flowers three to fix; 
fmall, white; capfule fmooth, oval, fize of a fmall nutmeg, 
three or four celled, three or four valved ; feeds winged. 
This is a fmall tree, a native of the Circar Mountains. 
It flowers during the hot feafon, and the feeds are ripe.in 
Auguft and September. The wood is ufed by the natives 
for various economical purpofess but neither the beauty 
LAG 85 
of the flowers, nor the appearance of the tree, recommend 
it for ornament on a footing with the others. 
LAGET'TA,yi in botany. See Daphne lagetto, vol. v. 
p. 597 - 
LAG'GA, a town of Sweden, in the province of Up¬ 
land : nine miles fouth -eaft of Upfal. 
LAG'GER, f. A loiterer; an idler; one that loiters- 
behind. 
LAG'GING,yi The aft of loitering. 
LAGH, f. [from the Sax. laga.] The law. Obfclete -j. 
Phillips. 
LAGH-LITE, f. A breach of the law, a punifhment 
for breaking the laws.. Phillips. 
LAG'HI, a town of Arabia, in the province of Hadra- 
maut, on the coaft of the Arabian Sea t twelve miles 
north-eaft of Aden. 
LAGI'DA, a river of the ifland of Cuba, which runs- 
into the fea at the Havannah. 
LAGLE'RA, a river of Spain, which rifes in New Caf- 
tile, and runs into the Ebro a little to the north of Cal— 
zada. 
L AGNAS'CO, a town of the Ligurian Republic: eleven 
miles north-weft of Genoa. 
LAGNAS'CO, a town of France, in the department of 
the Stura: five miles weft of Savigliano, and twenty-four 
fouth of Turin. 
LAGNIEU', a town of France, in the department of 
the Ain :. four miles fouth-weft of St. Rambert, and twen¬ 
ty-two north-eaft of Lyons. 
LA'GNY, a town of France,, in the department of the 
Seine and Marne, on the Marne. In the year 835, Louis 
the Debonair held a parliament in this town ; and in the 
year 1432 it was befieged by the Englifii, but without 
fuccefs. In the year 1590 it was taken by the duke of” 
Parma. Lagny contains three pariftt-churches : nine miles 
weft-fouth-weft of Meaux, and fifteen eaft-north-eaft of" 
Paris. Lat. 48. 53. N. Ion. 2. 4(5. 
LA'GNY (Thomas Fantet de), a very eminent French 
mathematician, was born at Lyons in the year 1660. He 
was defigned by his father for the bar, and was fent to 
purfue his ftudies in the college of the Trinity at Lyons,, 
and afterwards in the univerfity of Thouloufe. But, hav¬ 
ing met accidentally with. Fournier’s Euclid and Pelletier’s 
Algebra, his genius for the mathematics was developed, 
and from that time he gave himfelf up wholly to the pur- 
fuit of his favourite fcience. He came to Paris in the 
year 1686, and was foon afterwards appointed tutor to 
the duke de Noailles. In 1691 he publifiied A general 
and brief Method of extracting Roots; of which, in the 
following year, he printed an enlarged and improved edi¬ 
tion, entitled, “New and concife Methods for the Extract 
tion and Approximation of Roots,” &c. 4to. This work 
at once eftablifiied his fame in the mathematical world, 
and (bowed him to be worthy of the honour which he re¬ 
ceived in 1695, when he was nominated an aflociate mem¬ 
ber of the Academy of Sciences. In 1697 he publifiied 
his “ New Elements of Arithmetic and Algebra, or In¬ 
troduction to the Mathematics,” 12010 and in the fame 
year, the abbe Bignon, protector-general of letters, pro¬ 
cured him the appointment of pfofeflbr royal of hydro¬ 
graphy at Rochfort. In that fituation he fpent fixteen 
years, to the great benefit of the royal marine eftablifli- 
ment, and zealoufly applied his fcientific knowledge to 
the improvement of navigation. In 1699, upon the re¬ 
newal of the Academy of Sciences, he was named aftoci- 
ate geometrician. In the year 1715, the duke of Orleans, 
then regent of France, recalled him to .Paris, and made 
him fub-direCtor of the general bank, in which he loft the 
greater part of his fortune by the failure of that eftablifti- 
ment. During the fame year he was appointed a pen- - 
fioner of the Academy of Sciences ; and foon afterwards 
obtained the place of fub-librarian to the king, for phi- 
lofopbieal and mathematical books. In 1724 he was cho- 
fen fub 1 -direCVo'r of the academy, and was gratified by the 
regent with a penfion of two thoufand livres; and in the- 
following- 
