Page:Appletons' Cyclopædia of American Biography (1892, volume 3).djvu/648

612 the U. S. naval academy, where he remained for three years, becoming, in 1872, professor of chemistry in the Western university of Pennsylvania. Since 1875 he has filled the chair of chemistry in the University of Michigan. Prof. Langley's scientific work has been principally in connection with the development of the chemistry of iron-ores, and his results have been published in the " American Journal of Science " and elsewhere. In 1877 he received the honorary degree of M. D. from the University of Michigan, and, besides being a member of several societies, held the office of vice-president of the American association for the advancement of science in 1884.

LANGMUIR, John Woodburn, Canadian official, b. in Warwickmains, Ayrshire, Scotland, 6 Nov., 1835. He was educated at Kilmarnock, came to Canada in 1849, and was a merchant at Pictou till 1867. In 1859 he was elected mayor of that town, and in 1868 appointed by the Sandfield-Macdonald administration inspector of prisons and public charities for Ontario, which post he resigned in 1882. During his term of office there were founded under his supervision the asylums for the insane at Toronto and Hamilton, the asylum for idiots at Orillia, the institution for the deaf and dumb at Belleville, the institution for the blind at Brantford, and the Central prison, and the Mercer reformatory and refuge at Toronto. His reports to the legislature during his inspectorship fill fourteen volumes. In 1882 Mr. Langmuir and others established the Toronto general trust company, of which he is now (1887) manager. He is one of the Niagara Falls park commissioners.

LANGSDORFF, George Henry, Baron de, German traveller, b. in Laisk, Suabia, in 1774; d. in Fribourg, Germany, 3 July, 1852. He studied medicine in the University of Göttingen, began his travels in 1797, and during the following years visited Japan and explored Siberia. After the peace of 1815 he entered the service of Russia, and was appointed consul-general in Brazil. He occupied himself very actively with plans of colonization for this country, with only partial success, but acquired much knowledge of the natural his- tory of Brazil. He went to Russia in 1823 and spent some time in exploring the Ural mountains. On his return to Brazil he was employed at the expense of the Russian government, and in company with the astronomer Ruszow, the naturalists Riedel and Ménétries, and the painter Rugendas, in extensive journeys in the interior of Brazil from 1825 till 1829. The botanical collections in the museums of St. Petersburg benefited greatly by his labors during this period. Among his works are " Plants collected during a Voyage Round the World" (2 parts, Tübingen, 1810-18), and " Memoirs on Brazil, a Guide for those who wish to Settle there " (Paris. 1820).

LANGSTON, John Mercer, educator, b. in Louisa county, Va., 14 Dec, 1829. He was by birth a slave, but was emancipated at the age of six years. He was graduated at Oberlin in 1849, and at the theological department in 1853. After studying law he was admitted to the bar of Ohio in 1854, and practised his profession there until 1869, during which time he was clerk of several townships in Ohio, being the first colored man that was elected to an office of any sort by popular vote. He was also a member of the board of education of Oberlin. In 1869 he was called to a professorship of law in Howard university, Washington, D. C, and became dean of the faculty of the law department and active in its organization, remaining there seven years. He was appointed by President Grant a member of the board of health of the District of Columbia, and was elected its secretary in 1875. In 1877-85 he was U, S. minister and consul-general in Hayti. On his return to this country in 1885 he was appointed president of the Virginia normal and collegiate institute in Petersburg, which office he now (1887) holds. In addition to various addresses and papers on political, biographical, literary, and scientific subjects, Mr. Langston is the author of a volume of selected addresses entitled "Freedom and Citizenship" (Washington, 1883).

LANGSTROTH, Lorenzo Lorraine, apiarian, b. in Philadelphia, Pa., 25 Dec, 1810. He was graduated at Yale in 1830, and subsequently held a tutorship there in 1834-'5. After this he was pastor of various Congregational churches in Massachusetts, and in 1848 became principal of a young ladies' school in Philadelphia. Since 1858 he has made Oxford, Ohio, his residence, and devoted his time to bee-keeping. He invented the movable-comb hive, which has come into extensive use, and is the author of " The Hive and the Honey-Bee" (Northampton, 1853).

LANGTRY, Lillie, actress, b. in the island of Jersey in 1852. She was the daughter of Very Rev. William Corbet Le Breton, dean of Jersey, married Edward Langtry, a native of Belfast, Ireland, and became distinguished for taste and beauty in London society. Determining to go upon the stage, she made her début as Lady Clara, in "A Fair Encounter," in the Town hall at Twickenham, and soon afterward appeared at the Haymarket theatre, London, as Miss Hardcastle in "She Stoops to Conquer," on 15 Dec, 1881. In the following month she played Blanche Haye in Thomas W. Robertson's play of " Ours." After a provincial tour, during which she essayed new characters, she made her appearance in September, 1882, as Hester Grazebrook in Tom Taylor's "Unequal Match," and a week later as Rosalind in " As You Like It." The same autumn she came to the United States and played in New York and Boston to large audiences, which, like the English public, manifested at first a qualified approval. As she improved rapidly in her acting, she gained the praise of critics and popular applause. Returning to London, she leased the Prince's theatre, and appeared on 20 Jan., 1885, in the title rôle of an English version of "La Princesse Georges," by Alexander Dumas the younger, on 11 Feb. as Lady Teazle, and on 6 April as Lady Ormonde in "Peril." In 1886 she created the character of the heroine of Charles F. Coghlan's "Enemies," and played Pauline in the "Lady of Lyons." In the autumn of that year she returned to the United States, and repeated her successes in this country, where she has invested most of her earnings. Other characters played by Mrs. Langtry are Julia in "The Hunchback," the title rôle of "Galatea," and the part of Lady Clancarty in "The Young Tramp," which was written for her by G. F. Mills. In July, 1887, while in San Francisco, she renounced British allegiance, and applied for naturalization as a citizen of the United States.

LANGWORTHY, Edward, patriot. He was educated in Whitefield's orphan house, in Georgia, where he subsequently taught, but at the opening of the Revolution became secretary for the council of safety, organized 11 Dec, 1775. He was a delegate to the Continental congress from Georgia in 1777-'9, and a signer of the articles of confederation. After the establishment of the constitution he removed to Maryland, where he died. Mr. Langworthy was the first to attempt to write a history