Page:Cyclopaedia, Chambers - Supplement, Volume 1.djvu/1022

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■another with great order "in 'their marches ; but what is moft: tbrprifing, is, to Tee them ftraggk very far from their nefts, ^and this often, by feveral repeated windings and turnings without lofing their way. Their art, in doing this, deferves notice, and is the fame by which Thefeus got out of the labyrinth of Crete. Phil. Tranf. N° 470* p. 459. Thefe creatures fpin all the way that they go. The firft Tpins a thread as he crawls along, the fecond follows him in -the fame tract, and a third follows that, and fo on, all fpin- ning as they go ; and their threads being all laid clofe toge- ther, by means of their all purfuing the fame track, they at length furnifli a fine fhining track all the way they have gone. Thefe make a fort of path, and feveral of thefe paths are feen running feveral ways from the neft, which is the common center of them all. By means of thefe paths the creatures are able, at pleafure, to run back directly to the neft through all the ways they have gone from it. If any one of thefe congeries of threads be broken in any part, all the caterpillars that are beyond that part, will be found at a terrible lofs, and running about in different direc- tions, when they come to the place, without any knowledge of the true road to the neft, till they are led by fome one, who happens to find the way to the other broken end of the path, and by drawing his threads acrofs the breach, unites

. the path again ; as foon as this is done, all the reft go on the lame road, and arrive at the neft.

Thefe, and fome other caterpillars, have veryfingular taftes as to food. They firft of all prey upon the fhell of the egg out of which they were hatched, and fome not content with this fmall quantity of a food they judge fo delicious, will eat the fhells of other eggs of the fame fpecies that lie near them, and are not yet hatched. Other caterpillars are very fond of .their own fkins, eating up their own exuviae as a very ■delicious food. They feize upon thefe as food the moment they are thrown off j and this is the more lingular, as it is "well known that the caterpillar, when it has newly thrown off its fkin, is very feeble, and is not in a condition to eat for fome time, till its neceflary organs are hardened in this

■ new ftate. Yet thefe fpecies not only immediately devour their tough fkin, but even the hard parts of their former covering, as the fkull, fcales, legs, &c. nay, fome are ob- ferved to feize firft of all upon thefe hard parts, and to eat them up before they touch any other. Phil. Tranf. N°47o. p. 461.

LIVIA, in zoology, a name given by fome authors to a par- ticular fpecies of pigeon called pelaas by the Greeks. It is very like the common pigeon in fhape, but is fomewhat fmaller, its legs are red, and Its beak white, except that it is a little purplilh about the noftrils. It is all over grey, but that the ends of its tail feathers are black, and there is a purplilh and greenifh variegation about the fides and moulders. And its wing feathers have fome white variegations, as has alfo the lower part of the neck. It is fuppofed, by Mr. Ray, and fome others, to be the fame with the faj/arollo of the Italians, or Columba rupicola. Gefner de Avib. See the article Sassarollo.

LIVONIC A terra, in the materia medica, a kind of fine bole ufed in the fliops of Germany and Italy, of which there are two fpecies, the yellow and the red. The diftinguifhing characters of which are thefe.

The yellow livonian earth is a pure and perfectly fine bole, of a fhattery friable texture confiderably heavy, and of a dull dufky yellow, which lias ufually fome faint blufh of reddifh- nefs in it. It is of a fmooth furface, and does not ftain the hands j it adheres firmly to the tongue, and melts freely in the mouth, leaving no grittinefs between the teeth, and ferments not at all with acid menftrua.

The red livonian earth is an impure bole, of a loofe texture, and of a pale red. It is of a fmooth furface, breaks eafily between the fingers, and does not at all ftain the hands. It melts freely in the mouth, has a very ftrongly aftringent tafte, but leaves a grittinefs between the teeth, and does not ferment with acid menftrua.

Thefe earths are both dug out of the fame pit, in the place from whence they have their name, and in fome other parts of the world. They are generally brought to us made up into little cakes, and fealed with the impreffion of a church, and an efcutheon with two crofs keys. In Spain and Portugal they are much ufed, fometimes finely, fometimes mixed together, and are good in fevers and in fluxes of all kinds. The red is the more powerful aftringent. Hill's Hift. of FolT. p. 12.

The Spaniards and Portugueze make alfo a light kind of earthen ware of them.

LIXIV1AL falts. See the artice Salt.

LIXIVIUMftTjW.)— Lixivium martis\ anew form of medicine introduced into practife in the late London Difpenfatory. The manner of preparing it is to fet the matter remaining in the retort after the fubliming the flares martis, in a damp place, where by means of the moifture of the air it will run into a liquor. Pemberton's Lond. Difp. p. 216. See the article Flores martiales.

Lixivium faponariwn, foap lees, a liquor now much ufed in mediciae ia cafes of the ftone j and when intend-

ed for this ufe, is to be made fomething lefs ftrong than for the foap boiler's ufe, and fhould be prepared in the fol- lowing manner. Take Ruffia pot-afh, and quick-lime, of each an equal quantity ; throw water on them by fmall quantities till the lime is flaked j then throw on more water, and ftir the whole together, that the fait of the afhes may be dinolved : after fome time pour the liquor filtered through paper, if needful, into another veffel. A true ftandard wine pint of this liquor meafured with the greateft exactnefs, ought to weigh juft fixteen ounces. If it be found on trial to be heavier than this ; for every dram it exceeds that weight, an ounce and a half of water is to be added to each pint : but if it be lighter than this, it muft be either boiled to this ftandard, or elfe poured upon frefh lime and afhes. The makers of foft foap with us prepare their lees fo much ftronger than this, that to be reduced to this ftandard, it requires to be diluted with an equal quantity of fair water. Peniherton's Lond. Difp. p. 183.

Lixivium tartari, the name given in the London Difpen- fatory to the liquor called, by moft authors, oil of tartar per deliquium. This is made of tartar which is to be calcined to a whitenefs, and then fet in a damp place, where it will liquify by the moifture of the air. The liquor thus procured is more pure, than if the calcined tartar were dillblved di- rectly in water. Pe?nberton's Lond. Difp. p. 181.

LIZARD, in zoology. See Lacertus.

Dot7-Lizard, or Fly-catching Lizard. See Maeoujas.

LIZIERE, the fame with berme, foreland, or relais. See the article Berme, Cycl.

When this fpace is covered with a parapet, it is called a fauffe-braye, or low wall. See Fausse-Braye, Cycl.

LLECH, the welch name for a kind of monumental ftonc found in that country. See Pillar.

LOACH, in ichthyology, the Englim name of a fifh, called alfo the groundling, and by the Germans the fmorle orfinor- iing. It is a fpecies of the cobitis, and is diftinguifhed by Artedi, by the name of the fmooth fpottcd cobitis with die cylindric body. See Cobitis.

LOAD {Cyd.) — Load, in mining, is ufed, efpecially in the tin mines, for a vein of ore. See Tin. It Is to be obferved, that mines in general are veins or ca- vities within the earth, whofe fides receding from or ap- proaching to each other, make them of unequal breadths in different places, fometimes forming large fpaces, which are called holes ; thefe holes are filled like the reft with fub- ftances ; which, whether metallic, or of any other nature, are called loads. When the fubftances forming thefe loads are reducible to metal, the loads are by the Englifh miners faid to be alive, otherwife they are termed dead loads. In Cornwal and Devonfhire the loads all hold their courfe from eaftward to weft ward, though in other parts of Eng- land they frequently run from north to fouth. The miners report, that the fides of the had never bear in a perpendi- cular, but always overhang either to the north "or fouth. The mines feem to have been fo many channels, through which the waters pals within the earth, and like rivers they have their fmall brandies opening into them, in all direc- tions ; thefe are by the miners termed the feeders of the load. Moft mines have ftreams of water running through them, and when they are found dry, it feems owing to the water having changed its courfe, which it feems fometimes to have been compelled to by the load's having filled up the courfe, and fometimes to have fallen into other more eafy channels. Phil. Tranf. N° 401. p. 404. The load is frequently intercepted by the crofting of a vein of earth, or ftone, or fome other metalline fubftance, in which cafe it generally happens, that one part of the load is moved to a confiderable diftance on one fide. This tranfient load is, by the miners, termed a. floating ; and the part of the had which is moved, is by them faid to be heaved. This heaving of the load would be an inexpreilible lofs to the miner, did not experience teach him, that as the loads always run on the fides of the hills, fo the part heaved is always moved toward the defcent of the hill ; fo that the miner working toward the afcent of the hill, and meetino-a Hooking, conliders himfelf as working in the heaved part ■> wherefore, cutting through the Hooking, he works upon its back up the afcent of the hill, till he recovers the load, and via verfa.

Sometimes, though not univerfally, the mine is lined with an intermediate fubftance between the load and itfelf. This is properly fpeaking the wall of the load; though, in the common acceptation of that term, it fignifies either fuch in- termediate fubftance, or the fide of the" mine where the load immediately unites itfelf to it. The fprings in thefe parts are always hard, as they abound in ftony or other mineral particles. From thefe particles, which are fuftained in large quantities in all thefe places, we frequently find the pafiages quite choaked up; the ftony matter fcparated from the water of the fpring, gradually concreting to the walls of the mine, till it has in time blocked up the whole cavity, with a mafs of fpar, of a coarfe texture and irregular figure ; at other times this ftony matter concretes more diftinctlyj in which cafe it feems to be governed in its formation by a

plaftic