Lemaître

and of Cromwell. After the Restoration he was appointed painter to Charles II., who knighted him. His work reflects the voluptuous temper of the times, and his portraits are painted with a freedom of sentiment and disregard of likeness which make them peculiarly characteristic of the period. They manifest, however, a brilliancy and grace of handling which sometimes recall Van Dyck. Consult Cunningham's Lives of Eminent British Paint

ers.

Le maître, ANTOINE LOUIS PROSPER, known as FRÉDÉRICK (1800-76), French actor, was born in Havre. From the year (1823) when he created Robert Macaire in the melodrama L'Auberge des Adrets at the Ambigu, Paris, his career was an unbroken success. Among the plays which he marked with his original and powerful impress were Trente Ans, ou la Vie d'un Joueur; Dumas' Kean, ou Désordre et Genie; Hugo's Ruy Blas.

Lemaître, FRANÇOIS ELIE JULES (1853), French poet, critic, and dramatist, came first before the public with two small volumes of verse, Les Médaillons (1880) and Petites Orientales (1883), and a work entitled La Comédie après Molière (1882). At this time he held a professorship at Grenoble, but resigned in 1884 to devote himself to literary and dramatic criticism. His literary essays have been reprinted from the Revue Bleue and other journals in a series of volumes as Les Contemporains (1885-95); and similarly his dramatic criticisms, which have for the most part appeared in the Journal des Débats, as Impressions du Théâtre (1888-95). He has frequently attempted drama, with varying success. His plays are La Révoltée (1889); Le Député Leveau (1890); Mariage Blanc (1891); Flipote (1893); Les Rois (founded on his novel of the same name, 1895); Le Pardon (1895); L'Age Difficile (1895); La Bonne Hélène (1896); L'Aînée (1898); La Massière (1905); Bertrade (1906). In fiction he is responsible for Sérénus (1886); Dix Contes (1890); Les Rois (1893); Myrrha (1894). He also wrote Jean-Jacques Rousseau (1907).

Leman, Lake. See GENEVA, LAKE.

Le Mans. See MANS, LE.

Le Mars, city, Iowa, county seat of Plymouth county, 25 miles northeast of Sioux City, on the Floyd River and on the Chicago, St. Paul, Minneapolis and Omaha, and Illinois Central Railroads. It is the seat of WestVol. VII.-Oct. '11

273

ern Union College (United Evangelical). It has foundries, machine shops, flour mills, and a large trade in grain and live stock. Features of interest are the City Hospital and Cleveland Park. It was settled in 1857. Pop. (1910) 4,157.

Lemberg (Polish, Lwow), capital of Galicia, Austria, is the fourth city in population, and the residence of three archbishops (Roman Catholic, Greek Catholic, and Armenian). It is on the Peltew River, 185 miles east of Cracow. The chief features of interest are the three cathedrals, palace of the Roman Catholic archbishop, provincial house of assembly, university (founded 1784) with over 100 instructors and 2,000 students, National Institute, polytechnic (1873). The largest manufactures are of machinery and iron-ware, liquors, beer, leather, matches, and candles, and the city has a large trade in agricultural products. Pop. (1910) 206,574.

Lemercier, JACQUES (?1585– 1660), French architect, sculptor, and engraver, was born in Pontoise. He was patronized by Cardinal Richelieu, and made architect to Louis XIII. (1618), in charge of the Louvre and the Tuileries. His buildings are in a modified Italian Renaissance style, the chief ones being the Sorbonne (1629), the Pavillon de l'Horloge, and the churches of St. Roche, Reuil, and Bagnolet.

Lemery, town, Batangas province, Philippines, 15 miles northeast of Batangas. It is on the Pansipit River, which connects Lake Taal with the sea. Lying in a rich agricultural region, it has a large commerce in those products. Pop. 13,000.

Lemieux, RODOLPHE (1866), Canadian official, was born in Montreal. He was educated at Nicolet College and Laval University, and engaged in journalistic and literary work. He was called to the bar in 1891, and was a member of the law faculty of Laval University (1896-1906). He was elected to the Canadian House of Commons in 1896; be came Solicitor-General of Canada in 1904, and Postmaster-General in 1906. In 1907 he served as special immigration commissioner to Japan. In August, 1911, he became Minister of Marine and Fisheries.

Lemming, a small brownish rodent, closely related to the vole (q.v.). and belonging to the genus Myodes. In the Norwegian lemming (M. lemmus), the body reaches a length of about five inches. It excavates shallow burrows in the soil of the moun

Le Moine

tain meadows, in which it lives. and tunnels beneath the snow for its food. This food is wholly vegetable, consisting of roots, shoots, catkins, moss, and lichens. At irregular intervals the lemmings suddenly appear in vast numbers in Northern Europe, and in search of food a great body begins to migrate toward more fertile grounds. These armies of

Lemming.

migrating lemmings are said to number millions of individuals, and multiply during the journey. The animals show a wonderful persistency both in the act of migration and in the general direction of the movement. They swim without hesitation any bodies of water which may block their path; and as from the contour of the Scandinavian peninsula they inevitably come in the long run to the sea, those which have not perished from overcrowding, from disease, or from the attacks of their enemies die in attempting to swim across it.

The lemming of Northern Europe is replaced in North America by allied M. obensis, and the banded lemming (Cuniculus torquatus); the latter is circumpolar, and turns white in winter. Other allies, called lemming-mice, inhabit Northwestern Canada, and have somewhat similar habits, but rarely, if ever, migrate from their habitat. Consult Ingersoll's Life of Mammals (1906).

Lemnos, or LIMNOS, one of the largest islands in the North Egean Sea, about midway between Mount Athos and the Hellespont. It is in the vilayet of Jezairi-Bahri-Sefid, European Turkey, and lies some 40 miles west of the entrance to the Dardanelles. Area, 180 square miles. It is largely mountainous, and the hillsides are devoted to grazing sheep and cattle; but there

Le Moine

tory, including L'Ornithologie du Canada (1860); Legendary Lore of the Lower St. Lawrence (1862); Quebec, Past and Present (1876); Birds of Quebec (1891); Histoire Archéologie (1882-90); Legends of the St. Lawrence (1898); Annals of the Port of Quebec (1901).

Le Moine. See LE MOYNE. Lemon, the fruit of Citrus Limonum, a tree or shrub belonging to the orange group. It is a native of India, but has been naturalized and is cultivated in many sub-tropical parts of the world. It is an important crop of California and Southern Florida, but is less hardy than the orange. It is a much-branched, thorny bush, about twelve feet in height, of rather ragged growth, requiring much pruning. It bears oval leaves and five-petalled flowers, followed by the well

Lemon Tree-Twig, with Leaves and Flowers.

1. Pistil and part of stamens; 2, fruit.

known light yellow ovoid fruits. The lemon may be grown from cuttings, but is usually grafted on sour-orange stock. There are many varieties, among them C. javanica, C. medica (or Median lemon), C. margarita (the pearl lemon), and C. lumia (the sweet lemon). The name is also given to the fruit of Passiflora maliformis (the water lemon).

It naturally ripens during the winter season of northern climates, and as the demand is greatest in the summer, the fruit is gathered green and ripened artificially in 'curing' rooms, which are kept cool and dark. The Vol. VII.-Oct. '11

274

ripe lemon gradually loses its acidity and taste. The juice is much used dietetically and in medicine. See LEMON GIL.

Lemon, MARK (1809-70), English journalist, was born in London. He contributed to numerous journals, and was the author of several plays and novels, but is best known as one of the founders and first editor of Punch. From 1841 till his death his history is the history of Punch.

Lemon Dab, a flat fish (Pleuronectes microcephalus), found from the Bay of Biscay to Iceland in moderately deep water. It is caught almost entirely by trawlers, and is an important item in European markets.

Lemon Grass, a name given, from their suggestive odor, to several species of Andropogon, especially to A. schænanthus. It is a handsome. perennial, Asiatic grass, but is too coarse to serve as fodder, unless very young. It furnishes a lemon-scented yellow essential oil, used in perfumery, and known commercially as citronella oil (q.v.), and sometimes as 'oil of verbena.'

Lemonnier, 'PIERRE CHARLES (1715-1799), French astronomer, was born in Paris. His activities comprised a series of lunar observations covering fifty years; researches in terrestrial and atmospheric electricity; the determination of the position of many fixed stars; and the discovery of the planet Uranus. His works include Histoire Céleste (1741); Nouveau Zodiaque (1755); Observations de la Lune, du Soleil, et des Etoiles Fixes (1751-1775); Lois du Magnétisme (1776-1778).

Lemon Oil, an essential oil obtained from the rind of lemons. It is a colorless liquid of pungent odor. Lemon oil is made from the fruit while in its green state, when the rind contains the largest percentage of oil. The finest grade is obtained by squeezing the strips of rind against a sponge held in the hand. When the sponge is saturated, its contents are pressed out into a vessel and allowed to settle, the top being carefully skimmed off for the choice product. A lower grade is obtained by distillation in water of the rinds which have been squeezed by hand, or, in some processes, after grating or bruising new rinds. The yield from 1,000 lemons is from 20 to 30 ounces of the oil.

Lemont, village, Cook county, Ill., 20 miles southwest of Chicago, on the Des Plaines River, the Chicago and Alton and Atchison, Topeka, and Santa Fé RRs., and the Illinois and Michigan and Chicago Sanitary Canals. There are marble quarries, manu

Lemprière

factures of aluminum, and bottle works. Pop. (1910) 2,284.

Le Moyne, CHARLES (16561729), French-Canadian soldier, son of one of the early Canadian seigneurs, was born in Villemarie, Canada, and early in life served with the French army in Flanders. He was made mayor of Montreal on his return to Canada (1683), and erected a fort on his estates at Longueuil. He commanded a division against the Iroquois in 1687, and was wounded in an action with the British under Sir William Phips (1690). In 1700 he was made governor of Montreal and first Baron de Longueuil for his military services, but was refused the governorship of the colony in 1725 on account of being a native.

Le Moyne, CHARLES, SIEUR DE LONGUEUIL (1626–83), French pioneer in Canada, was a native of Normandy. He emigrated to Canada in 1641, lived for a time among the Huron Indians, and distinguished himself in the border warfare against the Iroquois and the English. He was ennobled by Louis XIV. (1668), and made captain of Montreal.

Le Moyne, JACQUES (165990), French-Canadian soldier, brother of Charles le Moyne (q.v.), and Sieur de Ste. Hélène, was born at Villemarie. He was distinguished for his participation in the expedition of De Troye against the English in 1686, in which he surprised and captured Fort St. Rupert with an inferior force. He took part in the burning of Schenectady (1690), and in the same year repulsed Admiral Phips' attack upon Quebec, falling mortally wounded in the hour of victory.

Le Moyne, PAUL (1663–1704), French-Canadian soldier, brother of Charles and Jacques le Moyne (q.v.), and Sieur de Maricourt, was born in Villemarie. He participated in the Hudson Bay campaigns against the British, and was also one of the most prominent leaders in the defeat of the British troops before Quebec (1690). In 1696 he waged a successful campaign against the Iroquois and forced them to sue for peace.

Lempa River, in Salvador, Central America, rises in Lake Guija, Guatemala, flows east, then south, and empties into the Pacific. Length, 200 miles.

Lemprière, JOHN (c. 17651824), English classical scholar, was born in Jersey. He was headmaster of the grammar schools at Abingdon (1792) and Exeter (1809), and subsequently held two Devonshire livings till his death. His Classical Dictionary, which has been many times

Lemur

reprinted, was founded upon Sabatier's Dictionnaire des Auteurs classiques.

Lemur, or HALF-APE, a term first applied by Linnæus to certain members of the mammalian order Primates, because of their nocturnal habits and spectral appearance. The lemurs differ in many respects from the monkeys and

Ring-tailed Lemur (L. catta).

apes, and constitute the sub-order Lemuroidea. They all inhabit trees, and have a very varied diet, including fruit, leaves, birds' eggs, small reptiles and birds, and insects.

The distribution of the lemurs is interesting. They are especially numerous in the island of Madagascar, and elsewhere occur only on the continent of Africa, and in India and parts of the Malay Archipelago. This anomalous distribution is explained by the fossil remains of lemuroids, found both in Europe and America, showing that the animals were once widely distributed. Their abundance in Madagascar is explained by the fact that in that great island the large carnivores and the higher primates are alike absent; so that these almost defenceless little animals have not been killed off.

As an example of a lemur, mention may be made of the ring-tailed lemur (Lemur catta), or Madagascar cat,' frequently seen in menageries- -a furry animal with a foxy face, and a long bushy tail banded with black and white. In its native habitat it goes in troops which remain at rest during the heat of the day, but becoming noisy and active at dusk. Their nocturnal, secretive habits and strange cries have made them objects of dread and superstition among the natives of the countries they inhabit. See Ingersoll, Life of Mammals (1906). For other lemurs, see articles LORIS, AYE-AYE, and GALAGO.

Lemures, the name given by the Romans to the spirits of the dead; according to some authorities, it was the general name, the term larva being applied to the bad, and manes or lares to the good spirits. They were feared on account of their nocturnal wanderings, and to propitiate them a festival called Lemuralia

275

or Lemuria was celebrated on May 9, 11, and 13. At midnight of each day the father of the family, with special ceremonies, nine times threw black beans over his head, thus banning the ghosts from the house for another year.

Lena, great river of Siberia, with a drainage area of about 900,200, sq. m. With its farthest sources in the Onot range, E. of Lake Baikal, it reaches the sea, after a course of nearly 2,900 m., through a large delta, and pours 350,000 cub. ft. of water into the ocean every second. Flowing in its upper course between Lake Baikal and the Angara, it approaches very close to the basin of the Yenisei. Its most important tributaries are the Vitim (1,300 m. long), the Olekma (1,100 m.), and the Aldan (1,300 m.), on the r. bk., and the Vilyu (2,000 m.), on the 1. bk. At Kachugskoye, 30 m. above Verkholensk, the river is already 70 yds. broad and from thence to the sea, fully 2,700 m., there is no serious obstacle to navigation. For sea traffic the Lena is less favorably situated than the Ob and Yenisei, being on the E. side of the Taimir Peninsula, and frequently choked up by polar ice. The total length of navigable waterways is 7,110 m., of which 4,835 are utilized by steamers.

Lenau, NIKOLAUS (1802-50), pseudonym of Nikolaus Niemsch von Strehlenau, Hungarian poet, born at Czatad. He visited the U. S. and travelled in the West. In 1833 he returned and settled at Vienna, and subsequently at Stuttgart. His poems give utterance to his melancholy, and are full of sentiment, of mysterious reverie, and of vague aspirations. They include his charming lyrics Schieflieder, and his epics Faust (1836), Savonarola (1837), and Die Albigenser (1842).

Lenbach, FRANZ (1836-1904), German portrait painter, studied at Munich under Piloty; paved the way in Germany for the realistic movement with his Shepherd Boy (1856), and his Peasants taking Refuge from the Weather (1858). He painted portraits of eminent European personalities, including Bismarck, Gladstone, Wagner, and Heyse. His emphasis of the dominant traits of character and manner revealed so strikingly the personality of his sitter that he was called the evocateur d'ames. See Pecht's 'Franz Lenbach,' in Nord und Sud (1877).

Lencas. See CHONTALS.

Lenclos, ANNE or NINON DE (1616-1706), Parisian courtesan, celebrated for beauty, grace, and wit, as well as for intellectual culture, was born in Paris. Notwithstanding her numerous liaisons, she was admired and consulted

Lennox

about their works by Molière, Fontenelle, Rochefoucauld, and Voltaire, and was intimate with Madame de Maintenon and Queen Christina of Sweden. See Capefigue's Ninon de Lenclos (1864), and Ninon de Lenclos (1904).

L'Enfant, PIERRE CHARLES (1755-1825,) Franco-American engineer officer, was born in France, whence, a lieutenant in the provisional service, he was brought to America by Lafayette in 1777. He became an engineer in the Continental army, and was wounded at the siege of Savannah. He was assigned to Washington's personal command and was commissioned brevet major, 1783. He performed various public engineering services after the Revolution, and declined a professorship at West Point, 1812. He designed the plan of the city of Washington, and was architect of some of its public buildings.

Lennep, JACOB VAN (1802-68), Dutch poet and novelist, born at Amsterdam; studied law at Leyden, and while practising his profession at his native town published many poems and patriotic novels, Nederlandsche Legenden and De Pleegzoon (1833), which won him the title of 'the Walter Scott of Holland.' In addition to these he wrote several dramatic pieces, and translated from many English poets. Collected editions of his poetical works appeared (1859-72); dramatic works (1852-4); novels (1855-72). See Lives by Beeloo and Jan ten Brink.

Lennox. The old district of Lennox was coextensive with the ancient sheriffdom of Dumbarton, Scotland, which included, in addition to the present shire, portions of Perth, Renfrew, and Stirling. The earldom of Lennox was bestowed by David 1. on a Celt named Alwyn before 1193, and passed in 1473 to his descendant, Sir John Stewart, Lord Darnley (d. 1494). Matthew, fourth earl of the Stewart line (d. 1571), in his earlier years served with distinction in France. On behalf of Henry VIII. he made various abortive descents on the west of Scotland, and on this account was, by a parliament held at Stirling (October, 1545), declared guilty of treason, and his estates forfeited. Recalled by Queen Mary to Scotland (1564), the forfeiture was rescinded; and Mary married his son, Lord Darnley. After the murder of Darnley he took a prominent part against the queen. On his death (1571) the title devolved on James VI., who granted it to Charles, younger brother of Lord Darnley (April 10, 1572). He died without male issue in 1576, when the earldom again devolved on James VI., who in 1579 bestowed it on Esmé,

Lennox

son of John Stuart, Lord of Aubigny in France, third son of the third earl. An emissary of Mary's Roman Catholic friends, Stuart speedily won the favor of the young king, who created him Duke of Lennox (1581); but after the Raid of Ruthven he was compelled to leave the country, and he died at Paris (1583). His son, Ludovick, second duke (d. 1624), who married a daughter of the Earl of Gowrie, was present at the Gowrie tragedy (1600), and was one of the main witnesses. After the accession of James to the English throne, he was (1613) created Earl of Rich

276

in New York, and went to England when fifteen. She published poems, novels, and plays, her best-remembered work being a novel entitled The Female Quixote (1752), of which Fielding entertained a high opinion. She also published, Memoirs of Harriet Stuart (1751); The Sisters (1769) and Old City Manners (1773) the last two, comedies; Euphemia (1790) and Shakespeare Illustrated (3 vols. 1753-54), which is discussed by Prof. Lounsbury in his Shakespeare as a Dramatist (1901).

Lenormant, FRANÇOIS (183783), French archæologist, born

Ross LONDON

mond, and (1623) Earl of Newcastle and Duke of Richmond in the English peerage. His line became extinct on the death of Charles, sixth Duke of Lennox and fourth of Richmond (1672)the dukedom of Lennox, with all its possessions, devolving on Charles II., who in 1675 revived the title in the person of his illegitimate son, Charles Lennox (1672-1723), by Louise de Keroualle, Duchess of Portsmouth. See Fraser's The Lennox (1874).

Lennox, CHARLOTTE, née RAMSAY (1720-1804), Anglo-American poet, critic, and writer, was born

and educated in Paris. He became sub-librarian at the Institute (1862), professor of archæology at the Bibliothèque Nationale (1874), and in the intervals of his work superintended excavations in Greece and in the south of Italy. He discovered the non-Semitic or Akkadian element in the cuneiform inscriptions, and contributed a brilliant defence of the historical value of the early Scriptures in Les Origines de P'Histoire d'après la Bible (188082). He also wrote Histoire des Peuples Orientaux et de l'Inde (1869), and Les Antiquités de la Troade (1876).

Lenses

Le Nôtre, ANDRÉ (1613-1700), French architect and landscape gardener. He was appointed by Louis XIV. to lay out the park of Versailles, the gardens of the Trianon, Chantilly, Fontainebleau, and St. Cloud, and the terrace at St. Germain. In Rome he laid out the gardens of the Vatican and the Quirinal, and in England St. James's and Kensington Gardens, and the park at Greenwich. See LANDSCAPE GAR

DENING.

Lenox, tn., Berkshire co., Mass., 6 m. s.s.w. of Pittsfield, and on the N. Y., N. H., and H. H. R. It is beautifully situated in the picturesque Berkshire Hills, and is one of the most fashionable of American summer resorts. It is handsomely laid out, and numerous commodious and beautiful mansions, many of them the summer homes of wealthy and prominent residents of New York city, adorn the town and vicinity. The many notable features of scenic interest include Mattoon Hill, the Ledge, Laurel and Mackeenac lakes, etc. The town includes the villages of New Lenox and Lenoxdale. It has an academy. Nathaniel Hawthorne and Henry Ward Beecher lived here. Pop. (1905) 3,058.

Lenox, JAMES (1800-80), American philanthropist, was born in New York, and graduated (1818) at Columbia. He was admitted to the bar, but never practised, devoting himself to the care of the large estate inherited from his father (1839), and to the collection, in the U. S. and Europe, of the extensive library and gallery of paintings which, with a building and grounds costing nearly $900,000, he presented to the city of New York in 1870. He gave largely also to many Presbyterian charities, and extended assistance, where it could be done with secrecy, to a great number of deserving cases. See Stevens's Recollections of James Lenox (1886).

Lens, tn., dep. Pas-de-Calais, France, on the Deule, 10 m. N.N.E. of Arras, in an important coal field. It has iron and steel works, and sugar and soap factories. Pop. (1901) 24,370.

Lenses are generally discs of glass with one or both of the faces curved, the simple magnifying glass or burning glass being perhaps the most familiar example. When such a lens is held so as to allow the sun's rays or the rays from any other sufficiently distant source of light to pass through it, the rays become concentrated on the farther side of the lens very nearly to a definite point, known as the principal focus of the lens. A lens thus capable of condensing a beam of parallel rays to a definite

Lenses

focus is called a condensing, converging, or convex lens. It may be a plano-convex lens, with one face plane and the other convex; or a double-convex lens, with both surfaces convex; or a concavoconvex lens, in which the convex face has the greater curvature. The other type of lens is the diverging or concave lens, with its three varieties-plano-concave, double-concave, and convexo-concave. When parallel rays are passed through it they are made to diverge. They cannot, therefore, be brought to a focus on the farther side; but they appear to come from a point on the side next to the source of light, and this point is one of the principal foci of the lens. In both kinds of lenses there are obviously two principal foci, situated at equal distances from the lens on opposite sides of it.

The main properties of lenses may be easily deduced from a few simple experiments. Take, for example, several magnifying glasses of different strengths, place each in turn in the path of a ray of sunlight, and measure the distance from the lens of the position of the principal focus. It will be found that the stronger magnifying glass has the shortest focal length-that is to say, it produces the greatest convergence in the rays which were originally parallel. And generally if we arrange the lenses in order of their magnifying powers, beginning with the strongest, the result will be the same as if we had arranged them in the order of increasing focal lengths. The less the focal length, the greater the convergence, the more powerful the lens.

It remains to consider the formation of the image of an object in a lens. Let AB be a convex

Diagram of Action of a Lens.

lens with its principal foci at F and F', and let uu be an object representing the position of the object.

All rays diverging from a prinpal focus become parallel to the axis of the lens after they have passed through it, and all rays originally parallel to the axis pass through the focus on the other side of the lens. Applying these principles, we find that the ray UF, falling on the lens at P, continues in a direction parallel to the line FF'. Also the ray U2, drawn parallel to FF', proceeds after refraction so as to pass through the other focus F'. Thus

277

we have two rays from the same point U, which after refraction pursue courses meeting in the point v. This point v is therefore the image of the point U. In similar fashion we find the image v of the point u. In the one case the images are formed on the other side of the lens by rays really passing through the geometrical point of intersection. The image is then a real image, and may be projected upon a screen. In the other case the rays of light do not really meet, but they seem to come from a point on the same side of the lens as the object point. The image uv is formed at a farther distance from the lens than the object is, and is magnified and in the same relative position as the object. See MICROSCOPE and TELESCOPE.

Lenses are of great practical importance in correcting defective eyesight. The short-sighted eye is unable to focus clearly the rays from objects farther off than a few inches. Before clear vision is possible, the divergence of these rays must be increased. This is effected by use of a concave lens of suitable focal length, the image of the object being formed at a distance. nearer than the focus of the lens, so that divergence of the rays is increased and the image becomes clearly focused on the retina. (See EYE.) On the other hand, in long-sightedness there is lack of power of adjustment for objects nearer than a particular distance, which may be several feet. For the clear vision of near objects it is necessary to use a convex lens which will produce a more distant image of a near object. By this means the rays are rendered less divergent, and distinct vision is attained.

Special combinations of lenses are used in microscopes, telescopes, opera and field glasses, photographic cameras, and other optical instruments, the practical problem being in all such cases to get a clear-cut image free from color fringes and not appreciably distorted. See ACHROMATIC LENS.

Lent (A.S. Lencten, 'spring'), the great church fast of six weeks before Easter. Originally the duration of this fast appears to have been only forty hours. (See Bingham's Christian Antiquities, bk. xxi. 1.) Until the age of Gregory the Great, Lent consisted of only thirty-six days of fasting, since the Sundays were omitted, and all the Saturdays except one. It is not certain whether Gregory the Great, or Gregory II., nearly a hundred years after, added Ash Wednesday and the remainder of the week to Lent, which now, saving the Sundays, includes ex

Lentini

actly forty days of abstinence. The last seven days are called Passion or Holy Week, commencing with Palm Sunday. Maundy Thursday is kept as commemorative of the institution of the eucharist. (See also GOOD FRIDAY.) Lent cannot be strictly accounted an apostolical institution, but it is of extreme antiquity. As a preparation for Easter its reason is very evident.

Lentibulariaceæ, a natural order of dicotyledonous plants, most of which are aquatic herbs, having entire radical leaves, or multipartite floating leaves with bladders. The corolla is twolipped, and the fruit a manyseeded capsule. Pinguicula (butterworts) and Utricularia (bladderworts) are the two American

The Lentil Plant.

countries bordering the Mediterranean and elsewhere. The seeds are highly nitrogenous, and of great food value. They form the principal constituent of the well-known Revalenta arabica of commerce. They consist ofstarch, 50 per cent.; casein, 24 per cent.; fat, 2 per cent.; and water, 14 per cent. The dark-green German lentils are much more palatable than the reddish-yellow Egyptian variety.

Lentini (anc. Leontini), tn., east coast of Sicily, 14 m. S.E. of the lake of the same name, 36 m. N.N.W. of Syracuse. It was founded by colonists from Naxos