820 LIT 
{ilver, is transformed into a matter compofed of fmall 
femi-tranfparent ftiining plates, refembling mica, which is 
litharge. See the article Chemistry, vol. iv. p. 295. 
This preparation of lead is of great life in roafting the 
ftubborn ores of gold, filver, and copper; for it melts all 
kinds of ftones and earth into glafs, i’ooner than the me¬ 
tals ; and by this means the metal, which is heavier, will 
fall through the glafs, which is a thin and light fubltance, 
and will be collefted under it into a regulus, with only a 
few dufty fcoriae adhering to it. But, if it be copper that 
is thus feparated, a fmall portion of it is always deltroy- 
ed ; and, if gold or filver, a like fmall portion is always 
lodged and detained in the fcoriae. But, as the litharge 
penetrates through all forts of vefl'els, and while melting 
rifes into a fcum, that often runs over their edges, the 
aflayers never ufe it alone, but always mix with it fuch 
fubftances as may give it a clamminefs, as flints, fands, 
clay, or the like; they mix two parts of litharge with one 
part of any of thefe fubftances, and add fotne nitre, or 
common fait, that the whole may run the more eafily. 
Litharge is more or lefs white or red, according to the 
metals with which the filver was alloyed. Accordingly 
the white is called litharge of filver, and the red has been 
improperly called litharge of gold. But litharge may be 
eafily revived into lead ; accordingly, much of that which 
is produced by refining in great is reduced, by being 
melted upon burning coals. The part which is leaft al¬ 
tered by mixture with other metals is thus reduced, and 
thus good and faleable lead is obtained. The reft of the 
litharge of thefe refineries is fold and ufed for various 
purpofes. The potters ufe much of it to give a beautiful 
glofs to their wares ; it is alfo employed in the compofi- 
tion of fome glafl’es, for it is very fufible, and aflifts the 
fufion of other fubftances; and it is alfo ufed by painters, 
dyers, fkinners, and glaziers. When mixed with wine, 
it gives it a bright fprightly colour, but renders it ex¬ 
tremely unwholefome. In general, it has the fame pro¬ 
perties with the other calces of lead. The litharge com¬ 
monly fold is obtained from refineries, and the quantity 
thus procured is more than fufficient for the demand. It 
is employed for the preparation of fome plafters and other 
external remedies. 
LITHAY', or Litey, a town of the duchy of Carniola, 
on the Save: eight miles north-north-eaft of Weixelburg, 
and fifteen eaft of Lavbach. Lat. 4.6. 8 N. Ion. 15. E. 
LI'THE, adj. [IrSe, Sax.] Limber; flexible; pliant; 
eafily bent: 
Th’ unwieldy elephant, 
To make them mirth, us’d all his might, and wreath’d 
His lithe probofcis. Milton's Paradife Loft. 
LI^THENESS, f. Limbernefs; flexibility. 
LITH'ER, adj. Soft; pliant: 
Thou antick death, 
TwoTalbots, winged through the litkerQiny, 
In thy defpight (hall ’fcape mortality. Shakefpeare. 
[LySep, Sax.] Bad; forry; corrupt. It is in the work 
t>{ Robert of Gloucefter written lutker. 
LITH'ER, adj Lazy, fluggiih. Cole. 
LITH'ERLINESS, ft Lazinefs. Chaucer. 
LITH'GOW (William), a Scotchman, whofe fufferings 
by imprifonment and torture at Malaga, and whofe tra¬ 
vels, on foot, over Europe, Ada, and Africa, feem to raife 
him alnfoft to the rank of a martyr and a hero. He pub¬ 
lished an account of his peregrinations and adventures; 
and, though he deals much in the marvellous, the horrid 
account of the ftrange cruelties of which, he tells us, he 
was the fubjedf, have however an air of truth. Soon af¬ 
ter his arrival in England from Malaga, he was carried to 
Theobald’s on a feather-bed, that king James might be 
an eye witnefs of his martyred anatomy , by which he means 
his wietched body, inangled and reduced to a fkeleton. 
The whole court crowded to fee him ; and his majefty or¬ 
dered him to be taken care of, and he was twice fent to 
L I T 
Bath at his expenfe. By the king’s command he applied 
to Gondamar, the Spaniih ambaflador, for the recovery of 
the money and other things of value which the governor 
of Malaga had taken from him, and for ioool. for hisfup- 
port. He was promifed a full reparation for the damage 
lie had fuftained; but the perfidious minifter never per¬ 
formed his promife. When he was upon the point of 
leaving England, Lithgow upbraided him with the breach 
of his word in the prefence-chamber, before feveral gen¬ 
tlemen of the court. This occafioned their fighting i?pon 
the fpot ; and the ambaflador, as the traveller oddly ex- 
prefles it, had his fiftula (with which diforder he was af¬ 
flicted) contrabanded with his flft. The unfortunate 
Lithgow, who was generally condemned for his fpirited 
behaviour,.was fent to the Marflialfea, where he continued 
a prifoner nine months. At the conclufion of the ottavo 
edition of his Travels he informs us, that, in his three 
voyages, " his painful feet have traced over (befides paf- 
fages of Teas and rivers) 36,000 and odd miles, which 
draweth near to twice the circumference of the whole 
earth.” Here the marvellous feems to rife to the incre¬ 
dible ; and to fet him, in point of veracity, below Coryat 
whom it is neverthelefs certain that he far outwalked! 
His defcription of Ireland is whimfical and curious. This 
together with the narrative of his fufferings, is reprinted 
in Morgan’s Phcenix Britannicus. 
LITHI'ASIS,/. [from *i 0 oj, Gr. a ftone.] In furgery, 
the diforder in which calculous concretions are formed in 
the urinary organs, and more efpecially in the bladder 
occafioning a variety of fymptoms dependent upon their 
(hape, fize, and fituation. 
LI'THIC, adj. [fromAiOor, Gr. a ftone.] Partaking of 
the nature of ftone: proceeding from ftone; forming 
ftone, particularly the ftone in the bladder. 
Lithic Acid. See the article Chemistry, vol, iv. 
p. 163 It is now’ called CJric Acid. 
LI'THNESS, ft. Lenity; rnildnefs. Obfolete. 
LITHOBO'LIA, f. [Gr. lapidation. j In antiquity, a 
feftival celebrated by the Traezenians, in memory of La¬ 
mia, and Auxelia, two virgins, that, coming from Crete to 
Traszene in a time of tumult and fedition, became a fa- 
crifice to the fury of the people, by whom they were ftoned 
to death. Hence the name of the folemnity. 
Lithobolia, or Lapidation, was alfo a common punifh- 
ment inflicted by the primitive Greeks upon fuch as wer« 
taken in adultery. 
LITHOCOL'LA, or Lithocollum, ft. [from the Gr. 
*i 9 ot, ltone, and r.oXha, glue.] A cement ufed by the lapi¬ 
daries to fallen their precious ftones, in order for cutting 
them. It is compofed of refin and brick-duft. For dia¬ 
monds, they ufe melted lead, putting them into it before 
it be quite cold ; for other cements, they mix marble-duft 
with Itrong glue ; and, to fallen their fparks, add the white 
of an egg, and pitch. 
LITHODiE'MON, or Lapis Djemonum, ft. A name 
given by fome authors to jet. See Bitumen gagas, under the 
article Mineralogy. 
LITHODEN'DRON,/ A name by which, according 
to Diofcorides, many of the ancients cxprefs the common 
red coral. 
LI rHOGENE'SIA, f. [from the Gr. TuOo?, a ft one, and 
ymc-ie, generation. ] The generation of ftones. 
LITHOGLYPH'IC, ado. [from the Greek Ai 6 of, a ftone, 
and yhvtpa, to grave.] Belonging to the art of graving in 
ftone. 
LITHOG'RAPHY,^ [from the Gr. AiSoc, a ftone, and 
•y^atpa, to write.] The art or practice of engraving upon 
ftones. 
LITHOI'DES, ft [Greek.] A bone of the temples. 
LITHOLO'BON,/ [from the Gr. Atfinr, a ltone, and 
ha’cv, to take hold of.] An inllrurnent with which the 
ftone is extracted from the bladder. 
LITHOI O'GY,ft. [At 0 o?, a ltone, and Aoyoc, a difcourfe.] 
A treatife or lecture on Hones; a fyltematic arrangement' 
of liones. 
IITHOM'ANCY, 
