526 L E R 
it is faid, the emperor Lotharius II. died in a peafant’s 
hut. It is twelve miles fouth-fouth-weft of Reite. 
'LER'NA, in ancient geography, not far from Argos, 
on the confines of Laconia ; fuppofed to be a town of La¬ 
conia, but on the borders of Argolis 5 the pofition Pau- 
fanias allots to it, near Temenium, on the fea ; without 
adding whether it is a town, river, or lake. According 
to Strabo, it is a lake, fituated between the territories of 
Argos and Mycene, in contradiction to Paufanias. If 
there was a town of this name, it feems to have flood to¬ 
wards the fea, but the lake to have been more inland. 
Mela calls it a well-known town on the Sinus Argolicus; 
and Statius by Lerna feems to mean fomething more than 
a lake. This, however, is the place rendered famous by 
the fable of the defeat of the hydra with many heads, 
which retired hither and was killed by Hercules. Here 
alfo, according to the poets, theDanaides threw the heads 
of their murdered hufbands. The people of the country- 
pretend that near this lake Neptune ran away with Pro- 
ferpine ; in memory of which event were annually cele¬ 
brated the myfteries confecrated to Ceres; and hence 
thefe myfteries were denominated the Lernsean myfteries. 
Near the lake was a wood confecrated to this goddefs, 
which commenced at Mount Pontinus. Paufan. Corinth. 
1. ii. c. 36. 
LERNZE'A,y. in helminthology, the Fish-biter ; a 
genus of gelatinous worms, the characters of which are— 
An oblong, fomewhat-cylindrical, and naked, body; head 
deftitute of eyes, but furnilhed with ftrong branched ten- 
tacula or horns, (two or three on each fide,) by which it 
infinuates itfelf between the gills of ii(h, and there fucks 
its nourifhment; its ovaries are external, projecting like 
two tails from the lower extremity, which it glues on the 
fins and gills of the fifli whereto it adheres, and there the 
young are hatched. There are fifteen fpecies, which in- 
feft as many kinds of filh. 
1. Lernaia branchialis, the cod-biter. Specific charac¬ 
ters, body round, flexuous; mouth lateral and feated be¬ 
tween three (lightly-branched horns. This inhabits the 
North Seas, on the gills of cod-fi(h, and is eaten by the 
Greenlanders ; it is about two inches long. See the arti¬ 
cle Helminthology, vol. ix. p. 350. and Plate III. 
fig. 6. 
There is a variety, | 9 , Lernsea minor, which is fmaller 
in every dimenfion. 
2. Lernasa cyprinacea, the carp-biter: body cylindri¬ 
cal, clavate behind; thorax forked, tentacula lunate at 
the tip. Body about half an inch long, and not thicker 
than aftraw; round, pale and fomewhat pellucid ; tenta¬ 
cula four, two of them lunate at the tips. Inhabits 
ponds, fixed to the fides of carp and roach. 
3. Lernaea falmonea, the falmon-loufe: body obovate; 
thorax inverfely heart-fhaped ; arms two, approximate, 
linear. Body pale, foft; head fmall, oblong, rather con¬ 
vex, with two horizontal lips, the upper armed with two 
rigid moveable hooks, the lower fhort, bifid ; abdomen 
inverfely ovate; ovaries round, granulate within, and as 
large as the whole body. Inhabits the gills of falmon ; 
fix lines long. 
4. Lernaea afellina, the ling-biter: body lunate ; thorax 
heart-fliaped. Found in the gills of cod and ling. 
5. Lernaea huchonis, the trout-biter: body knotty ; 
tentacula or arms two; ovary double, and united behind. 
Body clear white, and fomewhat cartilaginous. Found in 
the gills of the Salmo lrucho, or German trout. 
6. Lernaea clavata, the perch-biter: body cylindrical, 
fubfinuate, and tripled beneath the tip of the fnout. 
Body pellucid, white, with red lines ; neck narrow, yel- 
lowifli, pointed at the top, incurved and knotty; ovaries 
tubular, the eggs adhering on the outfide. Found in the 
fins, gills, mouth, and eyes, of the Perea norwegica. 
7. Lernasa uncinata, the Greenland lernasa: body 
fomewhat heart-fliaped ; fnout fimple, curved ; mouth 
terminal. Body foft, pale, with a longitudinal groove 
down the middle of the back; ovaries rounded and 
L E R 
thickened towards the tip. Inhabits Greenland, on the 
fins and gills of cod-fi(h. 
8. Lerntea gobina, the bull-head lernasa: body rhom¬ 
boid ; arms two before and as many behind, all nodofe ; 
head with two curved horns. Body bluifti-white ; head 
roundifh ; mouth placed between the horns, and furnifhed 
with three lips ; arms angular, curved, knotty ; inteftines 
tranflucent above ; tail bifid ; ovaries fpiral, round, fubu- 
late. Inhabits the gills of the Cottus gobio ; feven lines 
long. 
9. Lernasa radiata, the coryphasna-biter: body fquare, 
depreffed ; with three pair of arms, and four horns. Body 
about eleven lines long, dirty white or cinereous, and 
rough with hardifh tubercles ; the fides a little crenate 5 
head depreffed, rounded, a little more convex beneath* 
and covered with numerous papillae ; ovaries large, obo- 
val. Found about the mouth of the Coryphasna rupeftris. 
10. Lernaea nodofa, the knotted lernaea: body fquare, 
tuberculate; with two very fhort arms beneath on each 
fide. Body foft, pale cinereous, above convex, beneath 
concave, with four hard white tubercles in the middle of 
the back, and five white teeth each fide ; head rounded, 
and divided by a white ftreak in the middle. Inhabits 
about the mouth of the Perea norwegica. 
11. Lernaea cornuta, the horned lernasa: body oblong, 
with four ftraight emarginate arms; head fubovate, with 
two horns. Found on the plaife and linguatula. 
12. Lernaea pefloralis, the breaft-biter: head orbicu¬ 
lar, hemifpherical; abdomen obcordate, with a termi¬ 
nal truncate papilla. Body white, diaphanous, covered 
with blackifh dots; crown with two falciform projec¬ 
tions ; fnout conic, truncate, with four minute horns, 
two very fhort fpines and two feelers near a third conic 
fpine; arms two, not curved ; ovaries two, rather nar¬ 
row, fubannulate, and of equal diameter. Found on the 
gills and pefloral-fins of flounders, See. 
13. Lernaea lotas, the barbot-biter : with four unequal 
ovaries. Mouth with two hooks; appendages four, cru¬ 
ciate. On the gills of the Gadus lota. 
14. Lernasa cyclopterorum, the lump-biter: body round, 
flexuous, with a double orifice in the middle of the fnout; 
fnout terminated by three three-parted horns. Body re- 
fembling L. branchialis ; but the horn is (lender, turned 
up, and entire at the tip ; tail narrow, with two convex 
lobes each fide; ovaries fimple, fpiral, and nearly five 
inches long when extended. Found on the Cyclopterus 
fpinofus. 
| 3 . Body lefs 3 ovaries greenilh. Infefts the Cyclopterus 
liparis. 
15. Lernasa pinnarum, the fin-biter: rufous; head cy¬ 
lindrical and roftrate on the fore-part; tentacula two, lu¬ 
nate, and bifid at the tip ; arm only one. Body depreffed, 
fieftiy, grooved on the back, with a cylindrical arm placed 
on the fore-part of the back, and concealed in a groove 5 
ovaries long, cylindrical. Found on the dorfal-fins of the 
Gadus barbatus. 
On the annexed Plate, fig. 1 reprefents the Lernasa cla¬ 
vata cf the natural fize ; fig. 2, the fame magnified. Fig. 
3, L. uncinata; fig. 4, L. gobina ; fig. 5, L. radiata ; fig. 
6, L. nodofa ; fig. 7, L. cornuta ; fig. 8, a part of the 
ovaries of the fame magnified; fig. 9, L. peftoralis, of 
the natural fize. 
LERNE^AN, adj. [from Lerna.'] Belonging to the wa- 
ter-ferpent; belonging to the lake where Hercules was 
fuppofed to have (lain the hydra. 
LERNEB', a town of Algiers: twenty miles fouth of 
Tipfa. 
LER'NICA, formerly a large city in the ifiand of Cy¬ 
prus, as appears from its ruins; but now no more than a 
village, feated on the fouthern coaft of that ifland, where 
there is a good road, and a fmall fort for its defence. 
LE'RO, anciently LEROs,anifland of the Grecian Archi¬ 
pelago. Strabo (ays that it was formerly inhabited by a co¬ 
lony of Milefians. It is about eight miles long, and two 
broad. It has a good harbour and a few coves, and alfo high 
mountain^ 
