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Latude

are borne in spikes on the surface. The roots of the plant are used as an article of food by the

Lattice Leaf.

1, Part of flower spike.

natives of Madagascar, where it is indigenous.

Latude, JEAN HENRI MASERS DE (1725-1805), French adventurer, was born at Montagnac, Languedoc. When a young officer, he injudiciously courted the favor of Mme. de Pompadour, by pretending knowledge of a plot against her. Consigned to the Bastille in 1749, he remained incarcerated for twentyseven years, in spite of several efforts to escape. Afterward released, he returned to Paris contrary to orders, and was again imprisoned for seven years. See Thierry's Mémoires de Latude (1791-2).

Lauban, tn., Prussian prov. Silesia, 13 m. E. of Görlitz. Industries: linen, woollen, cotton, and dye works, railway workshops, and brewing. Pop. (1900) 13,793.

Laube, HEINRICH (1806-84), German novelist and playwright, early showed revolutionary sympathies, which led to his imprisonment (1834); was the successful director of the Burgtheater (1849-67) and the Stadttheater (1870-9) at Vienna. His plays are of considerable merit, but it is through his novels, which include Das junge Europa (1833-7), Der Prätendent (1842), and Die Böhminger (1880), that he is chiefly remembered.

Laud, WILLIAM (1573-1645), archbishop of Canterbury, the son of a clothier, was born at Reading. Educated at St. John's College, Oxford, he took holy orders in 1600. His ecclesiastical advancement was rapid, and in 1611 he was elected president of St. John's College. In 1614 he received a prebend in Lincoln Cathedral, in 1615 he became

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archdeacon of Huntingdon, and in 1616 dean of Gloucester. In 1621 Laud received the bishopric of St. Davids. During his tenure of the Welsh see his friendship with Buckingham began, and visits to the court became more frequent. From 1622 he was involved in political life. On the death of James 1. Laud speedily secured the confidence of Charles, and was one of his advisers during the stormy period from 1625 to 1629. In 1626 he was made bishop of Bath and Wells, and two months later became dean of the Chapel Royal. From this time the religious policy of Charles I. was guided by Laud. From 1628 to 1633 Laud was fully occupied. The reformation of the church was the object of his heart. Supported by Charles, he compelled all the bishops to retire to their sees; he also carried out many valuable reforms in the University of Oxford. In August, 1633, he was appointed archbishop of Canterbury, and was able to continue his policy of reform, with the result that churches were everywhere improved. His attempt to introduce a service book and canons into the Scottish Church was a decided failure, and enabled the opposition to the royal power to secure the support of the Presbyterians. The opening of the Long Parliament in 1640 was shortly followed by the imprisonment of Laud and Strafford. In 1643 Laud was tried for endeavoring (1) to 'alter the Protestant religion into Popery,' and (2) to subvert the laws of the kingdom.' No adequate proofs could be produced; but a bill of attainder was passed against him on Jan. 4, 1645, and a few days later he was beheaded. See Heylin's Cyprianus Anglicanus (1668); Mozley's Essays (1878); Hutton's William Laud (1895); and Simpkinson's Life and Times of Laud (1894).

Lauda, the name given to early Italian religious and spiritual songs, which date from the 13th century. The chief writer of the genre at this early stage was Jacopone da Todi. The most remarkable thing about the pieces is that they gradually became more and more dramatic, and thus played an important part in the development of the Italian drama. They were produced in large numbers till well into the 15th century. See Galletti's Laude spirituali di Belcari, L. de' Medici (1863); D'Ancona's Origini del Teatro Ital. (1891); and Rappresentazioni sacre dei Sec. XIV., XV., e XVI. (1872); Torraca's Teatro dei Sec. XIII., XIV., XV. (1885).

Laudanum, or TINCTURE OF OPIUM, is an alcoholic extract, prepared by rubbing opium up

Lauderdale

with water, adding alcohol, and straining off the liquid portion. The weight of morphine in given volume is next determined, and the solution diluted to the desired strength. Laudanum is a brown-colored liquid, which is valuable medicinally on account of the morphine present. See MORPHIA and OPIUM.

Lauder, ROBERT SCOTT (180369), Scottish portrait painter, was born near Edinburgh; studied in London and Italy, and returned to Edinburgh in 1849. His bestknown works are Christ Teacheth Humility and Trial of Effie Deans. Examples of his work are in the Scottish National Gallery.

Lauder, SIR THOMAS DICK (1784-1848), Scottish author, was born at Fountainhall, Haddingtonshire. Endowed with most versatile talents, he was alike eminent in many fields. Among his publications, all connected with Scottish subjects, are his classic paper, The Parallel Roads of Glenroy (1818); Account of the Great Moray Floods of 1829 (1830); 'Scottish Rivers,' in Tait's Mag. (1847-9); Tour Round the Coast of Scotland (1842); and his romance, The Wolf of Badenoch (1827).

Lauder, WILLIAM (c. 16801771), Scotch literary forger, was the author of Poetarum Scotorum Muse Sacræ (1739) and other compilations and reiterated ad nauseam the supposed superiority over George Buchanan of Arthur Johnston, the Scottish writer of sacred poems and of Latin verse. He also attacked the literary and poetical status and good faith of Milton, and issued garbled extracts from Masenius and Staphoristius, which he asserted Milton had plagiarized in Paradise Lost. He was exposed by Douglas, afterward bishop of Salisbury.

Lauderdale, JOHN MAITLAND, FIRST DUKE OF (1616-82), born at Lethington, Haddingtonshire, eldest surviving son of the first Earl of Lauderdale. At first a zealous Covenanter, he was appointed one of the commissioners of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland to the Assembly of Divines at Westminster (1643). After the surrender of the king to the English he became a strenuous loyalist, and was one of the chief promoters of the 'engagement' for his rescue. He was one of those sent by the Committee of the Estates to invite Charles II. to return to Scotland, and accompanied him thither in 1650. Taken prisoner at the battle of Worcester (1651), he was not released until Monck's entry into London (1660). Later he went to Breda, where he entered into communication with Charles II., over whom he gained a remarkable influence, and by

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Laudon

whom, on the restoration, he was made secretary of state for Scotland. The unflinching severity of his administration against the Covenanting conventicles earned him the almost unexampled hatred of the Scottish people. Created Duke of Lauderdale and Marquis of March (1672), he was two years later made an English peer by the title Earl of Guildford and Baron Petersham. After the visit of the Duke of York to Scotland (1680) his influence declined, and in October of that year he resigned. See Lauderdale Papers, published by the Camden Society (3 vols. 1884-5); Airy, Quarterly Review, vol. clvii. (1884), and English Historical Review, vol. i. (1886).

Laudon, or LOUDON, GIDEON ERNST, FREIHERR VON (1717-90), Austrian field-marshal, born at Tootzen, Livonia, was for ten years in the Russian service, but exchanged into that of Austria (1742). He displayed great talent during the Seven Years' war, the victories of Hochkirch, Kunersdorf, Landshut, and Glatz being mainly due to his ability. Laudon again commanded during the war of the Bavarian Succession (1778), and in the Turkish war (1788-9), when he captured Belgrade. See Janko's Das Leben G. E. Laudons (1869), and Malleson's Life of Laudon (1884).

Lauds. See BREVIARY.

Lauenburg. (1.) Circle, prov. Schleswig-Holstein, Prussia, with area of 453 sq. m., and pop. (1900) 51,833. Well forested, with many lakes; agriculture and cattle-raising are the chief industries. Chief tn. Ratzeburg. (2.) Town, prov. Pomerania, Prussia, on the Leba, 38 m. W.N.W. of Danzig. Manufactures woollen, linen, leather, machinery, and matches. Pop. (1900) 10,436.

Laughing Gas. See NITROGEN. Laughing Jackass, or SETTLER'S CLOCK (Dacelo gigas), a very large kingfisher found in

Laughing Jackass.

Australia, where it receives its popular names from the peculiar gurgling cry uttered with great regularity at dawn and dusk. It

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is one of the wood kingfishers, the food consisting of reptiles, birds, insects, and even small mammals. The name is also applied to other species of the same genus found in Australia and New Guinea, and possessing similar habits. The coloring is not brilliant, consisting of a mixture of brown, black, and white, but the male has the lower part of the back of a greenish-blue color. See KINGFISHER.

Laughlin, JAMES LAWRENCE (1850), American economist, was born at Deerfield, O., and graduated (1873) at Harvard. He was associated with his alma mater as instructor and assistant-professor of political economy, 1878-87, and as professor in the same subject at Cornell, 1890-2, in the latter year becoming head professor of political economy at Chicago University. He devoted much attention to the study of money and the currency, and prepared reports on these subjects for foreign and state governments. His text-books, original and edited, have been widely used. Some of them are The Study of Political Economy (1885), History of Bimetallism in the United States (1885), Elements of Political Economy (1887), Principles of Money (1902), and Reciprocity (1903).

Laughton, JOHN KNOX (1830), English nautical writer, born at Liverpool; became secretary of the Navy Records Society. In 1885 he was elected professor of modern history, King's College, London. His works include A Treatise on Nautical Surveying (1872); Nelson (1895); Memoirs of Henry Reeve (1898); From Howard to Nelson (1899); Nelson and his Companions in Arms (1905).

Laun, tn., Bohemia, Austria, at the s. foot of the Erzgebirge, 35 m. N.W. of Prague, on the riv. Eger. Produces sugar, beer, and flour. Pop. (1900) 10,212.

Launce. See SAND-LAUNCE. Launceston. Principal town of the N. of Tasmania, Commonwealth of Australia, situated at the confluence of the North and South Esk rivers. There is communication by steamer with Melbourne and Sydney, and by railway with Hobart (120 m.), Ringarooma (47 m.), and Ulverstone (99 m.). The town is pleasantly situated in a valley surrounded by lofty hills. It is the commercial, official, and judicial capital of the north, and its commerce is larger than that of Hobart. Pop. (1901) 21,046; with suburbs, 26,430.

Laundries, MODERN STEAM. Mechanical contrivances to save labor and secure greater efficiency in the process of washing are very ancient, the wash-board, whether of plain or corrugated

Laundries

wood or of stone, and the wooden mallet-beater or other scrubbing implement, being found in all countries. A modification of this is the dolly, which, in its most simple form, is a wooden rod having a series of spokes at its lower end and a cross-bar handle at the upper one. Such a dolly is used to beat and rub clothes when placed in soap-suds in a tub, the implement being revolved by hand. This dolly ultimately was fixed in the tub, the lower end shod with a metal point fitting into a bearing, while the head was fixed to a horizontal beam supported by uprights, and the dolly was made to revolve by means of cog-wheels set in motion by a hand-wheel.

For washing the only contrivance in use in the modern steam laundry in this country is the rotary washer (Fig. 1). This consists of an outer water-tight cylinder or shell, of wood or metal, having water and steam connections and an outlet. Inside of this a cylinder some inches smaller is hung on trunnions. This cylinder, which is composed either of staves of wood or sheets of brass, with many perforations, is so arranged as to revolve inside the shell at from 25 to 35 revolutions per minute. It is into this inside perforated cylinder that the clothes are placed. By means of an automatic reversing device the motion changes every three revolutions, alternating first forward and then backward. This reverse was adopted to overcome the inevitable tangling of clothes which would occur with a one-way rotary motion. In no two laundries is the washing process alike, although it consists mainly of three steps, washing, rinsing, and blueing. Washing consists of volving the goods in a solution of soda and soap at a boiling temperature for some minutes.

re

Rinsing consists of the same process in clear water, either warm or cold, generally three or four times. The last rinse being tinted with analine blue is known as the blueing process.

The washing process, which is the most important, is as follows: Warm water is run into the machine, then a gallon each of soda solution and liquid soap is added, the machine is started up and steam turned on until the washing solution is boiling. The cylinder containing the clothes revolves rapidly in the solution and subjects the goods to a complication of actions. There is the soaking in alkaline water, the rubbing against the inner cylinder, the linen being raised is thrown down on the water below and subjected to a rain of soap suds. Meantime the steam forces itself

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Laundries

and the soap suds through and through the linen.

After the various rinsing and blueing processes which follow, the washer is stopped, the door opened, and the goods removed to the extractor or wringer, as it is commonly termed.

This consists of a solid outer shell or cage of metal, in which a perforated copper basket, some inches smaller, revolves. Into this basket the clothes are evenly packed. The machine is then set in motion, the basket revolving at the rate of from 1,000 to 1,400 revolutions per minute, and the water is flung from the clothes through the basket perforations by centrifugal force, a process occupying about 20 minutes and removing 85 per cent. of the water. In the Troy type (Fig. 2), universally adopted, the entire frame is in one solid casting, while the basket is controlled by rubber springs which hold it sufficiently rigid and at the same time allow the required oscillation.

Drying. After the extracting or wringing, as it is still called, the clothes are dried. In American steam laundries, the clothes line is unknown, the clothes being dried in dry rooms or drying cabinets heated by steam coils. These owe their efficiency to the water-absorbing power of heated air, and the immediate removal of this moisture-laden air by means of exhaust fans.

Three classes of dry rooms are used: the draw dry rooms (of which Fig. 4 is an illustration), in which the clothes are placed on racks hung on rollers; the sectional dry room, having trucks or horses to hold the clothes; and the conveyor dry room.

This last consists of a steamheated cabinet having several loops of steel track fastened near the ceiling. On this track, suspended by trolleys, runs a chain conveyor, equipped with numerous hooks. On these hooks the goods to be dried are placed. They pass into the cabinet along the various loops of track and emerge at the other side, dry. Here there is arranged a stripping device, consisting of a pair of flat fingers which rise up as the hooks pass between them and lift off the goods. This method is used principally for collars, cuffs, and shirts.

Starching. Before going to the dry room the starch goods must be taken care of. In American laundries, only boiled starch is used. This is boiled in the oldfashioned way, or prepared in a starch kettle into which raw steam is admitted, or in a steamjacketed starch cooker.

Vol. VII.-Mar. '12

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The original method of starching-i.e., dipping-is still used for large pieces. For shirts there are starchers in which the bosom is immersed in the solution between rollers which work the starch in. Collar and cuff starchers are numerous. They are all of the same general type, in which the goods are carried by means of aprons, and filled by rollers. A centrifugal extractor, similar in principle to the one previously described, is now used for extracting any excessive starch from goods treated by the dip method.

Damping. - After the goods come from the dry room they are dampened, preparatory to the ironing process. Most of them are sprinkled and placed in a steam press to dampen evenly. This consists of a box with a bottom which raises on a steam piston, compressing the clothes against the top. Collars, cuffs, and shirts are dampened by being passed between a pair of moist rubber rolls.

Ironing. There is possibly no other process in modern laundries in which so many different and distinct machines are used as in that of ironing. Several of these are shown in the accompanying illustration.

(1) There are steam-heated mangles (Fig. 3) for flat worktable and bed linen. These machines dry as well as iron, receiving goods directly from the

extractor.

(2) Shirt ironers (Fig. 5) for ironing the bosoms of shirts.

(3) Collar and cuff ironers, including shapers, folders, smoothers, and point finishers (Fig. 7).

(4) Body ironers (Fig. 6) for ironing shirt bodies, aprons, underwear, and ladies' garments.

(5) Band ironers for ironing neck and wristbands.

(6) Yoke and sleeve ironers. The mangle is seen in two principal types, the steam cylinder variety and the steam chest type.

The former consists of a large horizontal steam - heated cylinder, surrounded by smaller wool-wrapped or padded cylinders or rolls. The goods being fed in at one side, pass over the heated cylinder between it and the padded rolls, emerging on the other side smooth and polished.

The Triplex or steam - chest type consists of a number of polished steel concave beds heated by steam, and wool-blanketed rollers which revolve in contact with these beds. The linen is drawn through by the padded rolls, smoothed, ironed, and polished by the heated chests. Another type of ironing machine

Laura

consists of pressers in which there is no drawing movement of the goods ironed.

The danger of the feeding operator being caught by the mangle rolls has been successfully overcome by a safety device such as that shown on the Duplex or cylinder mangle.

In recent years the use of electricity for motive power as well as for heating has become widespread. Its cleanliness and ease of application have made it the ideal power for the laundry. It is particularly useful in such hand ironing as may be necessary in finishing some pieces, as the irons are kept continuously hot by the electric current. Consult Benjamin's The Launderer (1900); Modern Steam Laundry (Scientific American Supplement, vol. Ixiii., 1902).

La Unión, province, Luzon, Philippines, in the northern part of the island, on the west coast. Area, 867 sq. m. The coast line is 45 miles long, the southern half forming the shore of the Gulf of Lingayen. A highway parallels the coast, and the Dagupan - San Fernando Railway, following the same course, is practically completed (1912), and is in operation for two-thirds of the distance. The country is mountainous and has many streams. The soil is fertile, the climate moist. The river sands contain low-grade gold, and there is much valuable timber in the forests. Tobacco, rice, corn, cotton, sugar cane, and chocolate are important crops; the valuable dye plant sibucao is gathered in the interior. Stock raising is one of the principal industries. San Fernando, the capital, is 150 m. northwest of Manila. Pop. 150,000, nearly all civilized.

La Unión, department of Salvador, forming the southeast corner on the Bay of Fonseca. Mining is the chief industry. Pop. 40,000.

La Unión, seaport, Salvador, Central America, capital of department of La Unión, situated at the base of the volcano Conchagua, on the western shore of Union Bay, an arm of the Bay of Fonseca. Its harbor is the best in the republic, and offers a fine anchorage. It is the shipping point for the exports of the eastern part of Salvador. Pop. 5,000.

Laura (Greek, 'lane,'' passage,' 'alley), an assemblage of monastic cells or huts, separate but close together, and all gathered about a central chapel. inmates, usually one to each hut, were under a superior, whose rule was lax, and spent most of their

The

Lauracea

time apart, meeting only once or twice a week for a common meal, and in the common worship in the chapel. Such communities were common in the East, and form a connecting link between the earlier hermit life and the later more complex and better regulated monasteries. See MoNASTICISM.

Lauracea, a natural order of herbs, shrubs, and trees, mainly tropical in habitat, and mostly possessing marked aromatic properties. They bear evergreen, coriaceous leaves and small greenish flowers. Among the genera are Laurus, Cinnamomum, Camphora, and Sassafras.

Laurahütte, community, province Silesia, Prussia, on the Tarnowitz - Emanuelsegen Railway, 7 m. southeast of Beuthen. It has coal mines and extensive iron works employing upward of 6,000 hands. There are also zinc and cement works. Pop. (1910) 16,120.

Laureate. See POET LAU

REATE.

Laurel, the popular name in America for the beautiful though poisonous Kalmia (q.v.), but properly belonging to the wellknown evergreen shrub called the Sweet Bay Tree, of the genus Laurus. The latter is distinguished by long, lanceolate, shiny leaves, and by a characteristic aroma yielded by all parts of the plant when crushed. In early spring it bears small yellowish flowers, and these are followed by dark purple berries in autumn. In ancient times these fruiting twigs were woven into the laurel wreaths with which victorious poets and heroes were crowned. See BAY.

Laurel, town, Jones co., Mississippi, on the New Orleans and Northeastern (Queen and Crescent Route) and other railroads, 26 m. northeast of Hattiesburg, 7 m. northeast of Ellisville. The chief manufactures are lumber (300,000 feet daily), cotton, cotton-seed oil, wagons, and knit goods. There are also lumber industries. Pop. (1910) 8,465.

Laurel, city, Prince George co., Maryland, on the Big Patuxent River and on the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad; 18 m. southwest of Baltimore, and 18 m. northeast of Washington. The principal manufacture is cotton goods. Pop. (1910) 2,415.

Laurel Hill, a ridge of the Alleghany Mountains in Pennsylvania, lying between Cambria and Somerset counties on the east, and Westmoreland and Fayette counties on the west. It extends southward into West Virginia, and contains extensive Vol. VII.-Mar. '12

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deposits of bituminous coal. Its average elevation is 2,000 feet.

Laurence. See LAWRENCE.

Laurens, town, South Carolina, county seat of Laurens co., on the Charleston and Western Carolina and the Columbia, Newberry, and Laurens Railroads; 38 m. southwest of Spartanburg. It is surrounded by a farming district, and has manufactures of cotton and furniture. Pop. (1910) 4,818.

Laurens, HENRY (1724-92), American patriot, was born in Charleston, S. C., of Huguenot descent. He was a successful merchant in Charleston for many years. He lived in Europe in 1771-4, during which time he, with others, petitioned Parliament not to pass the Boston Port Bill (1774). During the American Revolution he was a prominent Whig or Patriot leader in South Carolina; was president of the South Carolina Committee of Safety; and was a member of the Continental Congress (177780), of which he was also president (November, 1777, to December, 1778). He was sent to Holland in 1780 to negotiate a loan, but was captured by a British vessel en route; and in 1780-81 he was imprisoned in the Tower, London, where he was treated with considerable severity. Subsequently he was one of the American peace commissioners in Paris, and signed the preliminary treaty (November, 1782). Among the papers taken when he was captured in 1780 was a proposed treaty between Congress and Amsterdam, which served as a pretext for England's declaration of war against Holland.

Laurens, JOHN (1754-82), American soldier, the son of Henry Laurens (q.v.), was born in Charleston, S. C. He was educated in England, but returned to South Carolina after the outbreak of the Revolution, and in 1777 became one of General Washington's aides, with the rank of lieutenant-colonel. In 1781, as a special commissioner from the United States, he secured a loan from the French government, opportunely reaching Boston with clothing, ammunition, and half a million dollars in cash (on Aug 25), just as Washington was starting with his army for Yorktown. As a soldier he was conspicuous for his daring. He also took a creditable part in the Yorktown campaign, serving with Viscount Noailles (q.v.) as a commissioner of the Americans and French to arrange with the British commissioners terms of the surrender of Cornwallis' army.

Lauria

He was killed in a skirmish on the Combahee River, S. C., on Aug. 27, 1782. His personal qualities won him the title, 'The Bayard of the American Revolution.' Consult his Army Correspondence (1777-8)..

Laurent, AUGUSTE (1807-53), French chemist, was born near Langres. He studied under Dumas, afterward becoming professor of chemistry at Bordeaux, and warden of the mint in Paris. He worked almost exclusively at organic chemistry, in particular on phenol and naphthalene, and is notable for his work in conjunction with Gerhardt in grafting the theory of 'radicals' on to that of 'types,' thus leading to a clearer understanding of the constitution of organic compounds. Laurentian System. ARCHEAN SYSTEM.

Sir Wilfrid Laurier.

See

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Laurentum, ancient capital of Latium, Italy, near the coast, 16 m. southwest of Rome. Its name is said to be derived from the surrounding laurel groves, which formed an attraction for wealthy Romans. Under Trajan, Laurentum and the neighboring town of Lavinium (q.v.) were recolonized under the name of Lauro-Lavinium.

Lauria (LORIA, LAGARIA), city, Potenza province, Basilicata, Italy, 42 m. south of Potenza. It is located high up on the southern slopes of the Apennines, about 7 m. north of the frontier of Calabria and 15 m. from the coast of the Tyrrhenian Sea. It has manufactures of woollens, linen, and leather. Pop. 12,000.

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