Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 14.djvu/205

 L A C--L A C in June 1827 he was promoted to the ordinary professor ship in the same department ; and in 1830 he was admitted a member of the Academy of Sciences. The remainder of his laborious and fruitful life as an author and a teacher presents no episode requiring special record. In January {851 he was seized with an inflammatory affection of the left foot, to which lie ultimately succumbed on March 13, 1851. StJC Hertz, Karl Lachmann, tine JJionraimie (Berlin, 1851). Lachmann, who was the translator of the first volume of P. E. .Miiller s Sagaenbibliothek des Skandhiavischen Altcrthums, published at Berlin in 1816, is a figure of considerable importance iu the his tory of German philology (see Rudolf von Raumer, Gesch. d. ycr- manischcn Philologio, 1870). In his &quot; habilitationsschrift &quot; on the Nibelungennoth, and still more in his review of Hagen s Xibelungcn and Benecke s Boner ins, contributed in 1817 to the JenaiscJic Literal urzcit tiny, he had already laid down the rules of text criticism and elucidated the phonetic and metrical principles of Middle High German in a manner which marked a very distinct advance in that branch of learned investigation. The rigidly scientific character of his method becomes increasingly apparent in the Aus- walil aus den Hochdcutschcn Dichtcrn dcs drcizchnlen Jahrhundcrts (dedicated to Benecke, 1820), in the edition of Hartmann s limn (the text being Lachmanu s special care, while the explanatory notes are by Benecke, 1827), in those of AValthcr von der Vogelweide (1827) and Wolfram von Eschenbach (1833), in the papers&quot;&quot; Uebsr das Hildebrandslied,&quot; &quot; Ueber althochdeutsche Betonunf 193 und Verskunst,&quot; &quot; Ueber den Eingang des Parzivals,&quot; and &quot; Ueber drei Bruchstiicke niederrheinischer Gedichle&quot; published in the Abhandlungen of the Berlin Academy, and in Der Xibelungcn Not lished in the Abhandlungen of the Berlin Academy in 1837 and 1841, in which lie sought to show that the Iliad consists of sixteen independent &quot;lays&quot; variously enlarged and interpolated, have had considerable influence on modern Homeric criticism. See HOMEU. His smaller e lition of the Xew Testament appeared in 1831, 3d ed. 1846 ; the larger, in two volumes, in 1842-50 (Novum Tcsta- mcnturii Greece ct Latino : Carolus Lachmannus rcccnsuit, Philippics Buttmannus Gnecie lectionis audoritatcs ctjjposuit}. The plan of Lachmann s edition, which has been explained by himself in the Stud. u. Krit. of 1830, is a modification of the unaccomplished project of Bentley. It seeks to restore the most ancient reading current in Eastern MSS., using the consent of the Latin authorities j (Old Latin and Greek Western Uncials) as the main proof of anti- I quity of a reading where the oldest Eastern authorities differ. Be- j sides Propertius, Lachmann edited Catullus, 1829 ; Tibullus, 1829; ; Genesius, 1834; Terentianus Maurus, 1836; Babrius, 1845; Avianus, 1845 ; Gains, 1841-42 ; the Agrimensores Romani, 1848-52 ; and Lucretius, 1850. The last, which was the main occupation of the closing years of his life, from 1845, was perhaps his greatest achieve- | vaent, and has been characterized by Monro as &quot;a work which will be a landmark for scholars as long as the Latin language continues to be studied.&quot; LACOXDAMIXE, CHARLES MARIE DE (1701-1774), French geographer and mathematician, born at Paris, January 28, 1701, was trained for the military profession, but turned his attention to science and geographical ex ploration. He was a member with Godin and Louguer of the expedition seat to Peru in 1735 to determine the length of a degree of the meridian in the neighbourhood of the equator (see vol. vii. 598), and on his homeward route made the first scientific exploration of the river Amazon. He returned to Paris in 1745, and published the results of his measurements and travels with a map of the Amazon in Mim. de V Academic des Sciences, 1745 (English translation 1745-47). La Condamine continued to interest himself in metrical problems, and on a visit to Rome made careful measurements of the ancient buildings with a view to a precise determination of the length of the Ilornan foot. The journal of his voyage to the equator was published at Paris in 1751. He also wrote in favour of inoculation. He died February 4, 1774. LACONIA, the Greek AaKwvtfo/, is the name generally applied in modern times to the country which occupied the south-eastern corner of the Peloponnesus, often called Lace- daemon, AaKeScu/Mov, which is the only name used in Homer. The history of the district has already been given (see GREECE), and it only remains to give a slight sketch of its physical features. These are very peculiar, and had great influence in producing the marked and distinctive character of the section of the Dorian race which occupied Laconia throughout the historical period. The country is a deep valley almost completely surrounded by mountains, and it is the general opinion that both names, Laconia and Lacedsemon, refer to this hollow sunken character bein&quot; I connected with locus, XU KICOS, ic. The mountains of Arcadia shut in this valley on the north, and from them two parallel chains of mountains stretch due south bounding the valley on the east and on the west. The eastern chain bore in ancient times the mine Taygetus, the western, Parnon ; both ridges stretched far out into the Bea, forming respect ively the promontories of Taenarus and Malea. Taygetus, now called Pentedaktylon, is a splendid unbroken chain of lofty peaks, well deserving its Homeric epithet Trept/zT^o-cxj ; the highest point is the ancient Taleton, now St Elias, 7900 feet high. Mount Parnon is not such a fine ridge but still forms a strong barrier along the sea-coast. Through the whole length of the valley from north to south flows the river Eurotas, which has only one tributary of any consequence, the Oenus. The soil was not remarkably fertile, except in the low ground towards the sea ; but the sides of Taygetus were covered with dense forests which afforded excellent sport to the inhabitants of the plain. The people were thus inured to the hardy life of moun taineers ; they were so securely defended by nature against invasion that the victorious Epaminondas hesitated to attack the country; while with command of the passes they could at any time invade the neighbouring countries. Over Mount Taygetus there was hardly any pass prac ticable for an army ; from Arcadia there were only two entrances, both easily defended, one by the course of the Oenus, the other by the Eurotas. Mount Parnon stretched along the east coast, which offered no harbour, hardly even a landing place, for foreign ships. While adding to the security of the country, the same causes isolated it greatly from intercourse with other peoples, tended to keep the inhabitants backward and to prevent education, and led to that jealous and exclusive character which distinguished the Lacedivmonians. LACORDAIRE, JEAX BAPTISTE HENRI (1802-1861), French orator, was born at Recey-sur Ource, Cote d Or, 12th March 1802. He was the second of a family of four, the eldest of whom travelled a great deal in his youth, and subsequently occupied the chair of comparative anatomy at Liege, from which he contributed some valuable treatises on entomology. For several years Lacordaire studied at Dijon, showing a marked talent for rhetoric ; this naturally led him to the pursuit of law, and in the local debates of the advocates he attained a high celebrity. At Paris he for a time thought of going on the stage, but was induced to finish the course, and, having done so with credit, ap plied himself for eighteen months with much success to the consideration of briefs. Meanwhile a great change was passing over his convictions. Lameunais had published his Essai sur V Indifference,- a passionate vindication of belief as against the tolerant contempt of a generation which regarded truth and falsehood in every department of life with equal complaisance, a demonstration of the weakness of individual reason and an assertion of the rightful supremacy of a central religious authority. La cordaire read and was convinced. His ardent and believ ing nature was weary of the theological negations of the Encyclopedists. He was impelled towards a deistical ex planation of the universe, from which in turn he went on to Catholicism as the only faith calculated to keep society from disintegration. In 1823 he became a theological student at the seminary of Saint Sulpice ; four years later XIV. 25