according to Vitruvius (v. 10), "from which a brazen shield is | O'Connell being especially marked by point and clearness. He suspended by chains, capable of being so lowered and raised as to regulate the temperature." The walls of the laconicum were plastered with marble stucco and polished, and the conical roof covered with plaster and painted blue with gold stars. Sometimes, as in the old baths at Pompeii, the laconicum was provided in an apse at one end of the caldarium, but as a rule it was a separate room raised to a higher temperature and had no bath in it. In addition to the hypocaust under the floor the wall was lined with flue tiles. The largest laconicum, about 75 ft. in diameter, was that built by Agrippa in his thermae on the south side of the Pantheon, and is referred to by Cassius (liii. 23), who states that, in addition to other works, "he constructed the hot bath chamber which he called the Laconicum Gymnasium." All traces of this building are lost; but in the additions made to the thermae of Agrippa by Septimius Severus another laconicum was built farther south, portions of which still exist in the so-called Arco di Giambella. next thought that his presence in the National Assembly would be of use to his cause; but being rebuked by his ecclesiastical superiors for declaring himself a republican, he resigned his seat ten days after his election. In 1850 he went back to Rome and was made provincial of the order, and for four years laboured to make the Dominicans a religious power. In 1854 he retired to Sorrèze to become director of private lyceum, and remained there until he died on the 22nd of November 1861. He had been elected to the Academy in the preceding year. The best edition of Lacordaire's works is the Euvres complètes (6 vols., Paris, 1872-1873), published by C. Poussielgue, which contains, besides the Conferences, the exquisitely written, but uncritical, la vie chrétienne. For a complete list of his published correspondence Vie de Saint Dominique and the beautiful Lettres à un jeune homme sur see L. Petit de Julleville's Histoire de la langue et de la littérature française, vii. 598. The authoritative biography is by Ch. Foisset (2 vols., Paris, 1870). The religious aspect of his character is best shown in Père B. Choby A. Th. Drane, London, 1868); see also Count C. F. R. de Montalcarne's Vie du Père Lacordaire (2 vols., Paris, 1866-English translation embert's Un Moine au XIXème siècle (Paris, 1862-English translation by F. Aylward, London, 1867). There are lives by Mrs H. L. Lear (London, 1882); by A. Ricard (1 vol. of L'École menaisienne, Paris, 1883); by Comte O. d'Haussonville (1 vol., Les Grands écrivains Français series, Paris, 1897); by Gabriel Ledos (Paris, 1901); by Dora Greenwell (1867); and by the duc de Broglie (Paris, 1889). The Correspondance inédite du Père Lacordaire, edited by H. Villard (Paris, 1870), may also be consulted. See also SaintBeuve in Causeries de Lundi. Several of Lacordaire's Conférences have been translated into English, among these being, Jesus Christ (1869); God (1870); God and Man (1872); Life (1875). For a theological study of the Conférences de Notre Dame, see an article by Bishop J. C. Hedley in Dublin Review (October 1870). LACQUER, or LACKER, a general term for coloured and frequently opaque varnishes applied to certain metallic objects and to wood. The term is derived from the resin lac, which substance is the basis of lacquers properly so called. Technically, among Western nations, lacquering is restricted to the coating of polished metals or metallic surfaces, such as brass, pewter and tin, with prepared varnishes which will give them a golden, bronze-like or other lustre as desired. Throughout the East Indies the lacquering of wooden surfaces is universally practised; large articles of household furniture, as well as small boxes, trays, toys and papier-mâché objects, being decorated with brightcoloured and variegated lacquer. The lacquer used in the East is, in general, variously coloured sealing-wax, applied, smoothed and polished in a heated condition; and by various devices intricate marbled, streaked and mottled designs are produced. Quite distinct from these, and from all other forms of lacquer, is the lacquer work of Japan, for which see JAPAN, § Art. LACRETELLE, PIERRE LOUIS DE (1751-1824), French politician and writer, was born at Metz on the 9th of October 1751. He practised as a barrister in Paris; and under the Revolution was elected as a député suppléant in the Constituent Assembly, and later as deputy in the Legislative Assembly. He belonged to the moderate party known as the "Feuillants," but after the 10th of August 1792 he ceased to take part in public life. In 1803 he became a member of the Institute, taking the place of La Harpe. Under the Restoration he was one of the chief editors of the Minerve française; he wrote also an essay, Sur le 18 Brumaire (1799), some Fragments politiques et littéraires (1817), and a treatise Des partis politiques et des factions de la prétendue aristocratie d'aujourd'hui (1819). LACORDAIRE, JEAN BAPTISTE HENRI (1802-1861), French ecclesiastic and orator, was born at Recey-sur-Ource, Côte d'Or, on the 12th of March 1802. He was the second of a family of four, the eldest of whom, Jean Théodore (1801-1870), travelled a great deal in his youth, and was afterwards professor of comparative anatomy at Liége. For several years Lacordaire studied at Dijon, showing a marked talent for rhetoric; this led him to the pursuit of law, and in the local debates of the advocates he attained a high celebrity. At Paris he thought of going on the stage, but was induced to finish his legal training and began to practise as an advocate (1817-1824). Meanwhile Lamennais had published his Essai sur l'Indifférence,-a passionate plea for Christianity and in particular for Roman Catholicism as necessary for the social progress of mankind. Lacordaire read, and his ardent and believing nature, weary of the theological negations of the Encyclopaedists, was convinced. In 1823 he became a theological student at the seminary of Saint Sulpice; four years later he was ordained and became almoner of the college Henri IV. He was called from it to co-operate with Lamennais in the editorship of L'Avenir, a journal established to advocate the union of the democratic principle with ultramontanism. Lacordaire strove to show that Catholicism was not bound up with the idea of dynasty, and definitely allied it with a well-defined liberty, equality and fraternity. But the new propagandism was denounced from Rome in an encyclical. In the meantime Lacordaire and Montalembert, believing that, under the charter of 1830, they were entitled to liberty of instruction, opened an independent free school. It was closed in two days, and the teachers fined before the court of peers. These reverses Lacordaire accepted with quiet dignity; but they brought his relationship with Lamennais to a close. He now began the course of Christian conférences at the College Stanislas, which attracted the art and intellect of Paris; thence he went to Nôtre Dame, and for two years his sermons were the delight of the capital. His presence was dignified, his voice capable of indefinite modulation, and his gestures animated and attractive. He still preached the gospel of the people's sovereignty in civil life and the pope's supremacy in religion, but brought to his propagandism the full resources of a mind familiar with philosophy, history and literature, and indeed led the reaction against Voltairean scepticism. He was asked to edit the Univers, and to take a chair in the university of Louvain, but he declined both appointments, and in 1838 set out for Rome, revolving a great scheme for christianizing France by restoring the old order of St Dominic. At Rome he donned the habit of the preaching friar and joined the monastery of Minerva. His Mémoire pour le rétablissement en France de l'ordre des frères prêcheurs was then prepared and dedicated to his country; at the same time he collected the materials for the life of St Dominic. When he returned to France in 1841 he resumed his preaching at Nôtre Dame, but he had small success in re-establishing the order of which he ever afterwards called himself monk. His funeral orations are the most notable in their kind of any delivered during his time, those devoted to Marshal Drouet and Daniel His younger brother, JEAN CHARLES DOMINIQUE DE LACRETELLE, called Lacretelle le jeune (1766-1855), historian and journalist, was also born at Metz on the 3rd of September 1766. He was called to Paris by his brother in 1787, and during the Revolution belonged, like him, to the party of the Feuillants. He was for some time secretary to the duc de la RochefoucauldLiancourt, the celebrated philanthropist, and afterwards joined the staff of the Journal de Paris, then managed by Suard, and where he had as colleagues André Chénier and Antoine Roucher. He made no attempt to hide his monarchist sympathies, and this, together with the way in which he reported the trial and death of Louis XVI., brought him in peril of his life; to avoid this 14 m. in length, Lacroma is remarkable for the beauty of its subtropical vegetation. It was a favourite resort of the archduke Maximilian, afterwards emperor of Mexico (1832-1867), who restored the château and park; and of the Austrian crown prince Rudolph (1857-1889). It contains an 11th-century Benedictine monastery; and the remains of a church, said by a very doubtful local tradition to have been founded by Richard I. of England (1157-1199), form part of the imperial château. danger he enlisted in the army, but after Thermidor he returned | and lying less than half a mile south of Ragusa. Though barely to Paris and to his newspaper work. He was involved in the royalist movement of the 13th Vendémiaire, and condemned to deportation after the 18th Fructidor; but, thanks to powerful influence, he was left "forgotten "in prison till after the 18th Brumaire, when he was set at liberty by Fouché. Under the Empire he was appointed a professor of history in the Faculté des lettres of Paris (1809), and elected as a member of the Académie française (1811). In 1827 he was prime mover in the protest made by the French Academy against the minister Peyronnet's law on the press, which led to the failure of that measure, but this step cost him, as it did Villemain, his post as censeur royal. Under Louis Philippe he devoted himself entirely to his teaching and literary work. In 1848 he retired to Mâcon; but there, as in Paris, he was the centre of a brilliant circle, for he was a wonderful causeur, and an equally good listener, and had many interesting experiences to recall. He died on the 26th of March 1855. His son Pierre Henri (1815-1899) was a humorous writer and politician of purely contemporary interest. See Lacroma, an illustrated descriptive work by the crown princess Stéphanie (afterwards Countess Lónyay )(Vienna, 1892). LA CROSSE, a city and the county-seat of La Crosse county, Wisconsin, U.S.A., about 180 m. W.N.W. of Milwaukee, and about 120 m. S.E. of St Paul, Minnesota, on the E. bank of the Mississippi river, at the mouth of the Black and of the La Crosse rivers. Pop. (1900) 28,895; (1910 census) 30,417. Of the total population in 1900, 7222 were foreign-born, 3130 being German and 2023 Norwegian, and 17,555 were of foreignparentage (both parents foreign-born), including 7853 of German parentage, 4422 of Norwegian parentage, and 1062 of Bohemian parentage. La Crosse is served by the Chicago & North Western, the Chicago, Milwaukee & St Paul, the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy, the La Crosse & South Eastern, and the Green Bay & Western railways, and by river steamboat lines on the Mississippi. The river is crossed here by a railway bridge (C.M. & St P.) and wagon bridge. The city is situated on a prairie, extending back from the river about 2 m. to bluffs, from which fine views may be obtained. Among the city's buildings and institutions are the Federal Building (1886-1887), the County Court House (19021903), the Public Library (with more than 20,000 volumes), the City Hall (1891), the High School Building (1905-1906), the St Francis, La Crosse and Lutheran hospitals, a Young Men's Christian Association Building, a Young Women's Christian LACROIX, ANTOINE FRANÇOIS ALFRED (1863- ), Association Building, a U.S. Weather Station (1907), and a French mineralogist and geologist, was born at Mâcon, Saône et U.S. Fish Station (1905). La Crosse is the seat of a state Normal Loire, on the 4th of February 1863. He took the degree of School (1909). Among the city's parks are Pettibone (a. island D. ès Sc. in Paris, 1889. In 1893 he was appointed professor of in the Mississippi), Riverside, Burns, Fair Ground and Myrick. mineralogy at the Jardin des Plantes, Paris, and in 1896 director | The city is the see of a Roman Catholic bishop. La Crosse is of the mineralogical laboratory in the École des Hautes Études. an important lumber and grain market, and is the principal He paid especial attention to minerals connected with volcanic wholesale distributing centre for a large territory in S.W. Wisphenomena and igneous rocks, to the effects of metamorphism, consin, N. Iowa and Minnesota. Proximity to both pine and and to mineral veins, in various parts of the world, notably in hardwood forests early made it one of the most important the Pyrenees. In his numerous contributions to scientific lumber manufacturing places in the North-west; but this journals he dealt with the mineralogy and petrology of Mada- industry has now been displaced by other manufactures. The gascar, and published an elaborate and exhaustive volume city has grain elevators, flour mills (the value of flour and grist on the eruptions in Martinique, La Montagne Pelée et ses érup-mill products in 1905 was $2,166,116), and breweries (product tions (1904). He also issued an important work entitled Minera- | value in 1905, $1,440,659). Other important manufactures are logie de la France et de ses Colonies (1893-1898), and other works agricultural implements ($542,425 in 1905), lumber and planing in conjunction with A. Michel Lévy. He was elected member mill products, leather, woollen. knit and rubber goods, tobacco, of the Académie des sciences in 1904. cigars and cigarettes, carriages, foundry and machine-shop products, copper and iron products, cooperage, pearl buttons, brooms and brushes. The total value of the factory product in 1905 was $8,139,432, as against $7,676,581 in 1900. The city owns and operates its water-works system, the wagon bridge (1890-1891) across the Mississippi, and a toll road (2) m. long) to the village of La Crescent, Minn. J. C. Lacretelle's chief work is a series of histories of the 18th century, the Revolution and its sequel: Précis historique de la Révolution française, appended to the history of Rabaud St Étienne, and partly written in the prison of La Force (5 vols., 1801-1806); Histoire de France pendant XVIII siècle (6 vols., 1808): Histoire de l'Assemblée Constituante (2 vols., 1821); L'Assemblée Législative (1822); La Convention Nationale (3 vols., 1824-1825); Histoire de France depuis la restauration (1829-1835); Histoire du consulat et de l'empire (4 vols., 1846). The author was a moderate and fairminded man, but possessed neither great powers of style, nor striking historical insight, nor the special historian's power of writing minute accuracy of detail with breadth of view. Carlyle's sarcastic remark on Lacretelle's history of the Revolution, that it "exists, but does not profit much," is partly true of all his books. He had been an eyewitness of and an actor in the events which he describes, but his testimony must be accepted with caution. LACROIX, PAUL (1806-1884), French author and journalist, was born in Paris on the 27th of April 1806, the son of a novelist. He is best known under his pseudonym of P. L. Jacob, bibliophile, or "Bibliophile Jacob," suggested by the constant interest he took in public libraries and books generally. Lacroix was an extremely prolific and varied writer. Over twenty historical romances alone came from his pen, and he also wrote a variety of serious historical works, including a history of Napoleon III., and the life and times of the Tsar Nicholas I. of Russia. He was the joint author with Ferdinand Séré of a five-volume work, Le Moyen Âge et La Renaissance (1847), a standard work on the manners, customs and dress of those times, the chief merit of which lies in the great number of illustrations it contains. He also wrote many monographs on phases of the history of culture. Over the signature Pierre Dufour was published an exhaustive Histoire de la Prostitution (1851-1852), which has always been attributed to Lacroix. His works on bibliography were also extremely numerous. In 1885 he was appointed librarian of the Arsenal Library, Paris. He died in Paris on the 16th of October 1884. Father Hennepin and du Lhut visited or passed the site of La Crosse as early as 1680, but it is possible that adventurous coureurs-des-bois preceded them. The first permanent settlement was made in 1841, and La Crosse was made the county-seat in 1855 and was chartered as a city in 1856. LACROSSE, the national ball game of Canada. It derives its name from the resemblance of its chief implement used, the curved netted stick, to a bishop's crozier. It was borrowed from the Indian tribes of North America. In the old days, according to Catlin, the warriors of two tribes in their war-paint would form the sides, often 800 or 1000 strong. The goals were placed from 500 yds. tom. apart with practically no side | boundaries. A solemn dance preceded the game, after which the ball was tossed into the air and the two sides rushed to catch LACROMA (Serbo-Croatian Lokrum), a small island in the it on crosses," similar to those now in use. The medicine-men Adriatic Sea, forming part of the Austrian kingdom of Dalmatia, | acted as umpires, and the squaws urged on the men by beating "6 them with switches. The game attracted much attention from baggataway" The game found favour among the British settlers, but it was not until 1867, the year in which Canada became a Dominion, that G. W. Beers, a prominent player, suggested that Lacrosse should be recognized as the national game, and the National Lacrosse Association of Canada was formed. From that time the game has flourished vigorously in Canada and to a less extent in the United States. In 1868 an English Lacrosse Association was formed, but, although a team of Indians visited the United Kingdom in 1867, it was not until sometime later that the game became at all popular in Great Britain. Its progress was much encouraged by visits of teams representing the Toronto Lacrosse Club in 1888 and 1902, the methods of the Canadians and their wonderful "short-passing" exciting much admiration. In 1907 the Capitals of Ottawa visited England, playing six matches, all of which were won by the Canadians. The match North v. South has been played annually in England since 1882. A county championship was inaugurated in 1905. A North of England League, embracing ten clubs, began playing league matches in 1897; and a match between the universities of Oxford and Cambridge has been played annually since 1903. A match between England and Ireland was played annually from 1881 to 1904, Implements of the Game.-The ball is made of indiarubber sponge, weighs between 4 and 4 oz., and measures 8 to 8 in. in circumfer ence. The "crosse " is formed of a light staff of hickory wood, the top being bent to form a kind of hook, from the tip of which a thong is drawn and made fast to the shaft about 2 ft. from the other end. The oval triangle thus formed is covered with a network of gut or rawhide, loose enough to hold the ball but not to form a bag. At no The Crosse. part must the crosse measure more than 12 in. in breadth, and no metal must be used in its manufacture. It may be of any length to suit the player. The goals are set up not less than 100 nor more than 150 yds. apart, the goal-posts being 6 ft. high and the same distance apart. They are set up in the middle of the "goal-crease," a space of 12 ft. square marked with chalk. A net extends from the top rail and sides of the posts back to a point 6 ft. behind the middle of the line between the posts. Boundaries are agreed upon by the captains. Shoes may have indiarubber soles, but must be without spikes. The Game. The object of the game is to send the ball, by means of the crosse, through the enemy's goal-posts as many times as possible during the two periods of play, precisely as in football and hockey. There are twelve players on each side. In every position save that of goal there are two men, one of each side, whose duties are to mark" and neutralize each other's efforts. The game is opened by the act of "facing." in which the two centres, each with his left shoulder towards his opponents' goal, hold their crosses, wood downwards, on the ground, the ball being placed between them. When the signal is given the centres draw their crosses sharply inwards in order to gain possession of the ball. The ball may be kicked or struck with the crosse, as at hockey, but the goal-keeper alone may handle it, and then only to block and not to throw it. Although the ball may be thrown with the crosse for a long distance-220 yds. is about the limit-long throws are seldom tried, it being generally more advantageous for a player to run with the ball resting on the crosse, until he can pass it to a member of his side who proceeds with the attack, either by running, passing to another, or trying to throw the bail through the opponents' goal. The crosse, usually held in both hands, is made to retain the ball by an ingenious rocking motion only acquired by practice. As there is no off-side " in Lacrosse, a * player may pass the ball to the front, side or rear. No charging is " " 46 " stand," Lacrosse by W. C. Schmeisser, in Spalding's LA CRUZ, RAMÓN DE (1731–1794), Spanish dramatist, was born at Madrid on the 28th of March 1731. He was a clerk in the ministry of finance, and is the author of three hundred sainetes, little farcical sketches of city life, written to be played between the acts of a longer play. He published a selection in ten volumes (Madrid, 1786-1791), and died on the 5th of March 1794. The best of his pieces, such as Las Tertulias de Madrid, are delightful specimens of satiric observation. See E. Cotardo y Mori, Don Ramón de la Cruz y sus obras (Madrid, 1899); C. Cambronero, Sainetes inédites existentes en la Biblioteca Municipal de Madrid (Madrid, 1900). vessels of terra-cotta, or, more frequently, of glass, found in LACRYMATORY (from Lat. lacrima, a tear), a class of small Roman and late Greek tombs, and supposed to have been bottles into which mourners dropped their tears. They contained unguents, and to the use of unguents at funeral ceremonies the finding of so many of these vessels in tombs is due. They are shaped like a spindle, or a flask with a long small neck and a body in the form of a bulb. LACTANTIUS FIRMIANUS (c. 260-c. 340), also called Lucius Caelius (or Caecilius) Lactantius Firmianus, was a Christian writer who from the beauty of his style has been called the "Christian Cicero." His history is very obscure. He was born of heathen parents in Africa about 260, and became a pupil of Arnobius, whom he far excelled in style though his knowledge of the Scriptures was equally slight. About 290 he went to Nicomedia in Bithynia while Diocletian was emperor, to teach rhetoric, but found little work to do in that Greek-speaking city. In middle age he became a convert to Christianity, and about 306 he went to Gaul (Trèves) on the invitation of Constantine the Great, and became tutor to his eldest son, Crispus. He probably died about 340. "( is an and consists chiefly in the exercise of Christian love towards | It forms a colourless syrup, of specific gravity 1-2485 (15°/4°), and God and man. The seventh book, De Vila Beata, discusses, but at very low pressures (about 1 mm.) it distils at about 85° C., and decomposes on distillation under ordinary atmospheric pressure; among a variety of subjects, the chief good, immortality, the then sets to a crystalline solid, which melts at about 18° C. It second advent and the resurrection. Jerome states that possesses the properties both of an acid and of an alcohol. When Lactantius wrote an epitome of these Institutions, and such a heated with dilute sulphuric acid to 130° C., under pressure, it is work, which may well be authentic, was discovered in MS. in the resolved into formic acid and acetaldehyde. Chromic acid oxidizes it to acetic acid and carbon dioxide; potassium permanganate royal library at Turin in 1711 by C. M. Pfaff. oxidizes it to pyruvic acid; nitric acid to oxalic acid, and a mixture of manganese dioxide and sulphuric acid to acetaldehyde and carbon dioxide. Hydrobromic acid converts it into a-brompropionic acid, and hydriodic acid into propionic acid. Besides the Institutions Lactantius wrote several treatises: (1) De Ira Dei, addressed to one Donatus and directed against the Epicurean philosophy. (2) De Opificio Dei sive de Formatione Hominis, his earliest work, and one which reveals very little Christian influence. He exhorts a former pupil, Demetrianus, not to be led astray by wealth from virtue; and he demonstrates the providence of God from the adaptability and beauty of the human body. (3) A celebrated incendiary treatise, De Mortibus Persecutorum, which describes God's judgments on the persecutors of his church from Nero to Diocletian, and has served as a model for numberless writings. De Mort. Persecut. is not in the earlier editions of Lactantius; it was discovered and printed by Baluze in 1679. Many critics ascribe it to an unknown Lucius Caecilius; there are certainly serious differences of grammar, and temper between it and the writings already mentioned. It was probably composed in Nicomedia, c. 315. Jerome speaks of Lactantius as a poet, and several poems have been attributed to him:-De Ave Phoenice (which Harnack thinks makes use of 1 Clement), De Passione Domini and De Resurrectione (Domini) or De Pascha ad Felicem Episcopum. The first of these may belong to Lactantius's heathen days, the second is a product of the Renaissance (c. 1500), the third was written by Venantius Fortunatus in the 6th century. Editions: O. F. Fritzsche in E. G. Gersdorf's Bibl. patr. eccl. x., xi. (Leipzig, 1842-1844); Migne, Patr. Lat. vi., vii.; S. Brandt and G. Laubmann in the Vienna Corpus Script. Eccles. Lat. xix., xxvii. 1 and 2 (1890-93-97). Translation: W. Fletcher in Ante-Nicene Fathers, Literature: the German of Christian by A. Harnack, O. Bardenhewer, A. Ebert, A. Ehrhard, G. Kruger's Early Chr. Lit. p. 307 and Hauck-Herzog's Realencyk. vol. xi., give guides to the copious literature on the subject. LACTIC ACID (hydroxypropionic acid), CHO1. Two lactic acids are known, differing from each other in the position occupied by the hydroxyl group in the molecule; they are known respectively as a-hydroxypropionic acid (fermentation or inactive lactic acid), CH, CH(OH) CO2H, andẞ-hydroxypropionic acid (hydracrylic acid), (q.v.), CH,(OH)-CH2-CO2H. Although on structural grounds there should be only two hydroxypropionic The third acids, as a matter of fact four lactic acids are known. isomer (sarcolactic acid) is found in meat extract (J. v. Liebig), and may be prepared by the action of Penicillium glaucum on a solution of ordinary ammonium lactate. It is identical with a-hydroxypropionic acid in almost every respect, except with regard to its physical properties. The fourth isomer, formed by the action of Bacillus laevo-lacti on cane-sugar, resembles sarcolactic acid in every respect, except in its action on polarized light (see STEREOISOMERISM). Fermentation, or ethylidene lactic acid, was isolated by K. W. Scheele (Trans. Stockholm Acad. 1780) (rom sour milk (Lat. lac, lactis, milk, whence the name). About twenty-four years later Bouillon Lag. range, and independently A. F. de Fourcroy and L. N. Vauquelin, maintained that Scheele's new acid was nothing but impure acetic acid. This notion was combated by J. Berzelius, and finally refuted (in 1832) by J. v. Liebig and E. Mitscherlich, who, by the elementary analyses of lactates, proved the existence of this acid as a distinct compound. It may be prepared by the lactic fermentation of starches, sugars, gums, &c., the sugar being dissolved in water and acidified by a small quantity of tartaric acid and then fermented by the addition of sour milk, with a little putrid cheese. Zinc carbonate is added to the mixture (to neutralize the acid formed), which is kept warm for some days and well stirred. On boiling and filtering the product, zinc lactate crystallizes out of the solution. The acid may also be synthesized by the decomposition of alanine (a-aminopropionic acid) by nitrous acid (K. Strecker, Ann., 1850, 75, p. 27); by the oxidation of propylene glycol (A. Wurtz); by boiling a-chlorpropionic acid with caustic alkalis, or with silver oxide and water; by the reduction of pyruvic acid with sodium amalgam; or from acetaldehyde by the cyanhydrin reaction (J. Wislicenus, Ann., 1863. 128, p. 13) CH, CHO CHCH(OH).CN →→→CH, CH(OH)-COH. Lactide, CO-CH(CH)>0, a crystalline solid, of melting-point 124° C., is one of the products obtained by the distillation of lactic acid. LACTONES, the cyclic esters of hydroxy acids, resulting from the internal elimination of water between the hydroxyl and carboxyl groups, this reaction taking place when the hydroxy acid is liberated from its salts by a mineral acid. The a and Bhydroxy acids do not form lactones, the tendency for lactone formation appearing first with the y-hydroxy acids, thus y hydroxybutyric acid, CH2OH-CH-CH-CO2H, yields y-butyrolactone, CH2 CH2 CH2-CO-O. These compounds may also be prepared by the distillation of the y-halogen fatty acids, or by the action of alkaline carbonates on these acids, or from By-or Yo-unsaturated acids by digestion with hydrobromic acid or dilute sulphuric acid. The lactones are mostly liquids which are readily soluble in alcohol, ether and water. On boiling with water, they are partially reconverted into the hydroxy acids. They are easily saponified by the caustic alkalis. On the behaviour of lactones with ammonia, see H. Meyer, Monatshefte, 1899, 20, p. 717; and with phenylhydrazine and hydrazine hydrate, see R. Meyer, Ber., 1893, 26, p. 1273; L. Gatter. mann, Ber., 1899, 32, p. 1133, E. Fischer, Ber., 1889, 22, p. 1889. y-Butyrolactone is a liquid which boils at 206° C. It is miscible with water in all proportions and is volatile in steam. y-valero. lactone, CH, CH-CH-CH-CO-O, is a liquid which boils at 207-208 C. 8-lactones are also known, and may be prepared by distilling the 8-chlor acids. LA CUEVA, JUAN DE (1550?-1609?), Spanish dramatist and poet, was born at Seville, and towards 1579 began writing for the stage. His plays, fourteen in number, were published in 1588, and are the earliest manifestations of the dramatic methods developed by Lope de Vega. Abandoning the Senecan model hitherto universal in Spain, Cueva took for his themes matters of national legend, historic tradition, recent victories and the actualities of contemporary life: this amalgam of epical and realistic elements, and the introduction of a great variety of metres, prepared the way for the Spanish romantic drama of the 17th century. A peculiar interest attaches to El Infamador, a play in which the character of Leucino anticipates the classic type of Don Juan. As an initiative force, Cueva is a figure of great historical importance; his epic poem, La Conquista de Bélica (1603), shows his weakness as an artist. The last work to which his name is attached is the Ejemplar poético (1609), and he is believed to have died shortly after its publication. See the editions of Saco de Roma and El Infamador, by E. de Ochoa, in the Tesoro del teatro español (Paris, 1838), vol. i. pp. 251-285: and of Ejemplar poético, by J. J. López de Sedano, in the Parnaso español, vol. viii. pp. 1-68; also E. Walberg, "Juan de la Cueva et son Ejemplar poétice" in the Acta Universitatis Lundensis (Lund, 1904), vol. xxix.; Poèmes inédits de Juan de la Cueva (Viaje de Sannio,)" edited by F. A. Wulff, in the Acta Universitatis Lundensis (Lund, 1886-1887), vol. xxiii.; F. A. Wulff, "De la rimas de Juan de la Cueva, Primera Parte in the Homenaje a Menéndez y Pelayo (Madrid, 1899), vol. ii. pp. 143-148. (J. F.-K.) LACUNAR, the Latin name in architecture for a panelled or coffered ceiling or soffit. The word is derived from lacuna, The panels or coffers a cavity or hollow, a blank, hiatus or gap. of a ceiling are by Vitruvius called lacunaria. LACUZON (O. Fr. la cuzon, disturbance), the name given to the Franc-Comtois leader CLAUDE Prost (1607-1681), who of June 16c7. He gained his first military experience when was born at Longchaumois (department of Jura) on the 17th the French invaded Burgundy in 1636, harrying the French troops from the castles of Montaigu and St Laurent-la-Roche, | and devastating the frontier districts of Bresse and Bugey with fire and sword (1640-1642). In the first invasion of FrancheComté by Louis XIV. in 1668 Lacuzon was unable to make any effective resistance, but he played an important part in Louis's second invasion. In 1673 he defended Salins for some time; after the capitulation of the town he took refuge in Italy. He died at Milan on the 21st of December 1681. LACY, FRANZ MORITZ, COUNT (1725-1801), Austrian field marshal, was born at St Petersburg on the 21st of October 1725. His father, Peter, Count Lacy, was a distinguished Russian soldier, who belonged to an Irish family, and had followed the fortunes of the exiled James II. Franz Moritz was educated in Germany for a military career, and entered the Austrian service. He served in Italy, Bohemia, Silesia and the Netherlands during the War of the Austrian Succession, was twice wounded, and by the end of the war was a lieut.-colonel. At the age of twenty-five he became full colonel and chief of an infantry regiment. In 1756 with the opening of the Seven Years' War he was again on active service, and in the first battle (Lobositz) he distinguished himself so much that he was at once promoted major-general. He received his third wound on this occasion and his fourth at the battle of Prague in 1757. Later in 1757 Lacy bore a conspicuous part in the great victory of Breslau, and at Leuthen, where he received his fifth wound, he covered the retreat of the defeated army. Soon after this began his association with Field-Marshal Daun, the new generalissimo of the empress's forces, and these two commanders, powerfully assisted later by the genius of Loudon, made head against Frederick the Great for the remainder of the war. A general staff was created, and Lacy, a lieutenant field-marshal at thirty-two, was made chief of staff (quartermaster-general) to Daun. That their cautiousness aften degenerated into timidity may be admitted-Leuthen and many other bitter defeats had taught the Austrians to respect their great opponent-but they showed at any rate that, having resolved to wear out the enemy by Fabian methods, they were strong enough to persist in their resolve to the end. Thus for some years the life of Lacy, as of Daun and Loudon, is the story of the war against Prussia (see SEVEN YEARS' War). After Hochkirch (October 15, 1758) | Lacy received the grand cross of the Maria Theresa order. In 1759 both Daun and Lacy fell into disfavour for failing to win victories, and Lacy owed his promotion to Feldzeugmeister only to the fact that Loudon had just received this rank for the brilliant conduct of his detachment at Kunersdorf. His responsibilities told heavily on Lacy in the ensuing campaigns, and his capacity for supreme command was doubted even by Daun, who refused to give him the command when he himself was wounded at the battle of Torgau. | After the peace of Hubertusburg a new sphere of activity was opened, in which Lacy's special gifts had the greatest scope. Maria Theresa having placed her son, the emperor Joseph II., at the head of Austrian military affairs, Lacy was made a fieldmarshal, and given the task of reforming and administering the army (1766). He framed new regulations for each arm, a new code of military law, a good supply system. As the result of his work the Austrian army was more numerous, far better equipped, and cheaper than it had ever been before. Joseph soon became very intimate with his military adviser, but this did not prevent his mother, after she became estranged from the young emperor, from giving Lacy her full confidence. His activities were not confined to the army. He was in sympathy with Joseph's innovations, and was regarded by Maria Theresa as a prime mover in the scheme for the partition of Poland. But his self-imposed work broke down Lacy's health, and in 1773, in spite of the remonstrances of Maria Theresa and of the emperor, he laid down all his offices and went to southern France. On returning he was still unable to resume office, though as an unofficial adviser in political and military matters he was far from idle. In the brief and uneventful War of the Bavarian Succession, Lacy and Loudon were the chief Austrian commanders against the king of Prussia, and when Joseph II. at Maria Theresa's death, became the sovereign of the Austrian dominions as well as emperor, Lacy remained his most trusted friend. More serious than the War of the Bavarian Succession was the Turkish war which presently broke out. Lacy was now old and worn out, and his tenure of command therein was not marked by any greater measure of success than in the case of the other Austrian generals. His active career was at an end, although he continued his effective interest in the affairs of the state and the army throughout the reign of Joseph's successor, Leopold I. His last years were spent in retirement at his castle of Neuwaldegg near Vienna. He died at Vienna on the 24th of November 1801. See memoir by A. v. Arneth in Allgemeine deutsche Biographie (Leipzig, 1883). LACY, HARRIETTE DEBORAH (1807-1874), English actress, was born in London, the daughter of a tradesman named Taylor. Her first appearance on the stage was at Bath in 1827 as Julia in The Rivals, and she was immediately given leading parts there in both comedy and tragedy. Her first London appearance was in 1830 as Nina, in Dimond's Carnival of Naples. Her Rosalind, Aspatia (to Macready's Melantius) in The Bridal, and Lady Teazle to the Charles Surface of Walter Lacy (1809-1898)— to whom she was married in 1839-confirmed her position and popularity. She was the original Helen in The Hunchback (1832), and also created Nell Gwynne in Jerrold's play of that name, and the heroine in his Housekeeper. She was considered the first Ophelia of her day. She retired in 1848. * LACY, MICHAEL ROPHINO (1795-1867), Irish musician, son of a merchant, was born at Bilbao and appeared there in public as a violinist in 1801. He was sent to study in Paris under Kreutzer, and soon began a successful career, being known as Le Petit Espagnol." He played in London for some years after 1805, and then became an actor, but in 1818 resumed the musical profession, and in 1820 became leader of the ballet at the King's theatre, London. He composed or adapted from other composers a number of operas and an oratorio, The Israelites in Egypt. He died in London on the 20th of September 1867. LACYDES OF CYRENE, Greek philosopher, was head of the Academy at Athens in succession to Arcesilaus about 241 B.C. Though some regard him as the founder of the New Academy, the testimony of antiquity is that he adhered in general to the theory of Arcesilaus, and, therefore, that he belonged to the Middle Academy. He lectured in a garden called the Lacydeum, which was presented to him by Attalus I. of Pergamum, and for twenty-six years maintained the traditions of the Academy, He is said to have written treatises, but nothing survives. Before his death he voluntarily resigned his position to his pupils, Euander and Telecles. Apart from a number of anecdotes distinguished rather for sarcastic humour than for probability, Lacydes exists for us as a man of refined character, a hard worker and an accomplished orator. According to Athenaeus (x. 438) and Diogenes Laërtius (iv. 60) he died from excessive drinking, but the story is discredited by the eulogy of Eusebius (Praep. Ev. xiv. 7), that he was in all things moderate. See Cicero, Acad. ii. 6; and Aelian, V.H. ii. 41; also articles ACADEMY, ARCESILAUS, CARNEADES. LADAKH AND BALTISTAN, a province of Kashmir, India. The name Ladak, commonly but less correctly spelt Ladakh, and sometimes Ladag, belongs primarily to the broad valley of the upper Indus in West Tibet, but includes several surrounding districts in political connexion with it; the present limits are between 75° 40′ and 80° 30′ E., and between 32° 25′ and 36° N. It is bounded N. by the Kuenlun range and the slopes of the Karakoram, N.W. and W. by the dependency of Baltistan or Little Tibet, S.W. by Kashmir proper, S. by British Himalayan territory, and E. by the Tibetan provinces of Ngari and Rudok. The whole region lies very high, the valleys of Rupshu in the south-east being 15,000 ft., and the Indus near Leh 11,000 ft., while the average height of the surrounding ranges is 19,000 ft. The proportion of arable and even possible pasture land to barren rock and gravel is very small. Pop., including Baltistan (1901) |