Page:Cyclopaedia, Chambers - Supplement, Volume 1.djvu/979

 •LAV

oF ■ ■ ')' one leaf, which is hollowed into the fhape of a bafon, and divided into many fegments at the edges; from the bottom of the flower arifes a piftil, which finally becomes an ova! fruit, or berry, having under its back an unicapfular fced veiFei, containing feeds of an oval figure. The fpecies of bay enumerated by Mr. Tournefort are thefe. i. The broad leaved bay. 2. The common^). 3. The common ■lay with double flowers. 4-The common bay with undulated leaves j and 5. The narrow leaved bay. Tourn. Inft. p. 597. Wc have feveral fpecies of this tree cultivated in the gardens about London : they are all propagated by fowing the ber- ries, or by laying down the tender branches^ which will take root in one year's time, and may then be transplanted into beds for a year or two, or even placed at once where they are to remain.

If they are to be raifed by fowing:, the berries mull be ga- thered when ripe, which is in January, and kept in dry fand till the beginning of March, when they muft be fown in a bed of rich dry earth, well flickered from the north and eaft winds. The bed mult be levelled, and then fur- rows of an inch deep made along it, at eight inches diftance j into thefe the berries are to be dropped about two inches utunder, and covered with earth ; and if the feafon prove \cry dry they mull: be watered : they will come up in about two months, and fhould be fuffered to remain in thefe beds two years. They fhould then be tranfplanted into a bed of earth well dug, and fet at eighteen inches afunder; this fhould be done in April, and they fhould be well watered, and the ground covered with fome muck about their roots. They mull be trained up ftrait, by tying them to flakes, and their under fhoots pruned off, to make them advance in height. Thefe. trees are proper to plant on the warm fides of hills, where they may be fheltered from the north and north eaft winds. In open fituationsj the bay tree will fometimes indeed lofe all its verdure in fevere winters and appear dead, and many trees have on this occafion been dug up and burnt ; but this is a raih and very wrong practice 5 for ufually, if they are fuffered to remain they fhoot freely again, and after another feafon are found as lively as ever. Miller's Gardners Diet.

Laurus Alexandrina, in botany, a name given by many au- thors to fome of the larger fpecies of rufcus, or butcher's broom. See Ruscus.

LAWNS. Thefe fpacious plains make a noble figure before grand houfes, and the great rule in regard to their dimen- sions, is to make them as large as the ground will permit, but they ought never to be lefs than fifty acres. Latum ought always to lie open to the front of the houfe, and be open to the neighbouring country, not pent up with trees ; and the moft happy fituation is, when the beft rooms of the houfe front the eaft, and the lawn lies immediately before them ; becaufe the fun, in an afternoon, in this cafe, mines on the profpect, and at the fame time not into the rooms. The beft fituation for a lawn, except this, is on the fouth fide of a houfe ; for if on the weft, it expofes the houfe to too much wind, and if on die north too much open to the cold. It is beft therefore to plant trees and wildernefTes on the weft and north fides of houfes. The beft figure for a lawn is fquare, and it is beft left quite open ; but if it is to be bounded by walks, there fhould be rows of lime trees planted at proper diftances, on each fide, but the end fhould be left open, unlefs it fink very much from the houfe. A circular lawn is avery agreeable profpect, and a triangular one not amifs, but then the angle leading to the front of the houfe muft not be too acute. If the country beyond the lawn do not afford an agreeable profpect, the end fhould be blocked up with an amphitheatre of trees, which will have a very beautiful effect. AH/lcr's Gardners Diet. The lime is a very proper tree for bounding lawns, becaufe it grows in a good fhape, and if carefully planted will thriv on any good foil. The elm is alfo very proper, having a large and very green leaf. The beech, chefnut, and cherry tree alfo are very proper, where the foil will fuit them ; and the fir and pine kind where they can live are of peculiar value, as affording a green profpect in winter as well as fummer.

LAWSONIA, in botany, a name given in honour to the late Dr. Lawfon to a genus of plants, before called alhen by Dr. Shaw, and henna by Ludwing. The characters of the genus are thefe. The perianthium is fmall and permanent, and is divided into four parts. The flower confifts of four petals, of'an oval pointed figure, which ftand expanded. The ftamina are eight capillary filaments of the length of the flower, they ftand in pairs within the petals. The an- theras are roundifh. The germen of the piftil is Foundifh, the ftyle is fimple, permanent, and of the length of the fta- mina, and the ftigma is capitated. The fruit is a globofe capfule, terminating in a point ; it contains four cells, in which are feveral angular pointed feeds. Linnesi Gen. Plant. p. 163. Shaw's Travels. Ludiv. 143.

LAY (Cyel.)— Lay fee, jeodum lakum, land held in fee from a lay lord, by the common fcrvices to which military tenure was fubject, as diftinguifhed from the eedeftajlical holding in Frankalmoign, difcharged from thofe burdens. Ken. Glofl.

LAYERS (Cycl.) — The propagating trees by layers is done in the following manner ; the branches of the trees are to be

LEA

flit a little way, and laid under the mould for about half -t foot; the ground fhould be firil made very light, and after they are laid they fhould be gently watered. If they will not remain eafily in the pofition they are put in, they muft be pegged down with wooden hooks : the beft feafon for doing this is, for ever-greens, toward the end of Auguft, and for other trees, in the beginning of February. If they are found to have taken root, they are to be cut off from the main plant the fucceedmg winter, and planted out. If the branch be too high from the ground, a tub of earth is to be raifed to a proper height for it, and fome bare off the rind, and others twift the branch before they lay it, but this is not necefl'ary in all cafes.

The end of the layer fhould be left about a foot out of the ground, and the branch may be either tied tight round with a wire, or cut upwards from a joint, or cut round for aft inch or two at the place ; and it is a good method to pierce feveral holes through it with an awl, above the part tied with the wire. Miller's Gardners Dift.

LAZARI morbus, a name given by fome writers to the ele- pbantiafis.

LAZIVRAD, iri natural hiffory; one of the oldeft names by which we find the lapis lazuli expreffed in authors.. They ufed this equally for the ftone itfelf, and for the colour pre- pared from it; and, in after times, every blue colour became called by the fame name. From this were derived the other names of lazurad, lazuri and azure, as well as lazuli, now its common name. Avifenna defcribes the lapis lazuli under the name of alazarad, and his interpreter renders this d'e lapide lazuli Jive armenio, making them to be the fame thing. But they ftrifily are not fo, though nearly allied to one another. See Lapis lazuli.

LAZULI lapis. See Lapis lazuli.

LEA of yarn, is ufed in fome parts of England for a certain quantity of yam. At Kidminfter it ought to contain 200 tnreads.on a reel four yards about. Stat. i2k2^Car.2. Blount.

LEACK brine, a word ufed by the Englifh fait workers to ex- prefs the brine, which tuns out from the fait, when it Hands in the bafkets to drain, immediately after being taken out of the pan ; and alfo the liquor left in the pan, when no more fait will fhoot. This is alfo called the mother brine, and bittern. In the German fait works they always throw this liquor away. In our brine fait works in Chefhire they always prefefve it, and add it to the next boiling ; and in the Newcaftle, and other fea water fait works, they lave it for the making the bitter purging fait, called Epfom fait.

LEAD (Cycl.) — The method of feparating lead 'from its common fufible ore by allaying, is this : beat the ore into a coarfe powder, like grains of coarfe fand; weigh two docimaftical centners of this powder, and put it into a teft. Put upon this a tile, or elfe another teft ; the ore muft be fpread wide all over the bottom of the teft. Roaft it in a fire moderate at firft; but afterwards encreafed, fo far as to make the teft red hot ; leave it thus for a few minutes, then take ofF the tile, and in a fhort time the ore will change its blackifh to a yellowifh colour. This fhews that great part of the ful- phur is now dimpated.

Beat this roafted ore into a fine powder, and add twice as much of the black flux, and of filings of iron not rufty, and of fandiver, of each half a centner ; powder all thefe in a mortar to mix them well ; then put them into a crucible large enough to contain twice or three times as much ; cover them over a quarter of an inch thick with common fait, and prefs all down with a finger ; put a tile, on a fmall cru- cible; and flop the joint with a lute that will bear the fire; then dry the veffel with a moderate heat. Then put the crucible into a wind furnace, and heap coals upon it, co- vering it fome inches high. When the crucible is red hot you will hear the fait crackle, and this will be fucceeded by a gentle biffing noife ; fo long as this lafts keep the fame degree of fire, but when it is over, increafe the fire till the whole mafs is melted, which will be done in a quarter of aii hour, in a moderate melting fire. Then take out the cruci- ble, put it upon the hearth of the furnace, which muft be very dry, ftrike it a few times with a hammer, to get all the lead together in the bottom ; when it is cold take it out, and you will find by the weight of the regulus how much lead the ore contains. Cramer's Art of AfTaying, p. 287. This metal may be procured from its ore, of what- ever kind that be, by a ftratification with charcoaf. The method of doing it in allay is this : take for a docimaf- tical centner of the ore a hundred half ounces, or three pounds and four half ounces, that by this means each half ounce may ftand in lieu of the docimaftical pound ; beat this to a coarfe powder, or lumps not larger than a pea. Put it at firft into a large earthen or iron frying-pan, and heat it firft by a gentle fire, which muft be encreafed gradually, that the greateft part of the fulphur may be diflipated-. Now have at hand a melting* furnace, with its bed made of lute and duft of charcoal. Apply to this, on the outfide, an- other bed, joined to it by lute, that the matter running out of the inferior hole, when open, may be received into it. Surround this outer bed with burning and frefh coals, and fill the whole furnace with the fame fuel, that it may be

dried.