Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 14.djvu/841

 L O M L O M 817 the island, but in 1815 it suffered severely from the eruption of Tombora on the neighbouring island of Sum- bawa. Of the numerous streams by which it is watered none are navigable except by small boats ; among the mountain lakes Segara Anak, lying some 9000 feet above the sea, is noteworthy in point of size. The best harbour is Ampanan (8 34 15&quot; S. lat., 116 3 40&quot; E. long.) on the west coast, often visited by European and American vessels ; that of Labuhan Tring farther south is also good, but less frequented. Forest-clad mountains and stretches of thorny jungle alternating with rich alluvial plains, cultivated like gardens under an ancient and elaborate system of irrigation, make the scenery of Lombok exceed ingly attractive ; and to the naturalist it is of particular interest as the frontier island of the Australian region, with its cockatoos and megapods or mound-builders, its peculiar bee-eaters and ground thrushes. Rice is the prin cipal export ; ponies, skins, ducks eggs and other eggs, and edible nests, are also sent from the island. The rajah of Lombok (who has his capital at Mataram, a large village on the west coast, and his country seat at Gunong Sari) is tributary to the susuhunan of Bali and Lombok ; he has possession of the whole island, which was formerly divided into the four states of Karang-Asam Lombok on the west side, Mataram in the north-west, Pagarawan in the south-west, and Pagutan in the east. Balinese supremacy dates from the conquest by Agong Dahuran in the beginning of the present century ; the union under a single rajah dates from 1839. The population is variously estimated. The Woordenboek van Ned. Ind. (1869) gives about 405,000 souls ; Behm and Wagner conjecture 100,000 in 1880. The greater proportion are Sassaks. as the Mohammedanized native stock are called ; but the dominant Balinese, who still retain their Buddhist creed, may amount to about a twentieth of the whole. Sec Zollinger, in Tijdschrift voor Ned. Ind., Jaarg. ii. ; J. P. Freyss, in the Tijdschr. v. Ind. taal- land- en volkcnlcunde, ix. (3d series); Melvill de Carnbee, in Monitcur des Indcs, 1847; W&quot;. R. van Hoevell, llcis over Java, &c. ; Wallace, Malay Arcliipelaqo. LOMONOSOFF, MIKHAIL VASILIEVICH (1711-1765), was born in the year 1711, in the village of Denisovka (which in later times has had its name changed in honour of the poet), situated on an island not far from Kholmogori, in the government of Archangel. His father, a fisherman, took the boy as soon as he was ten years of age to assist him in the labours of his calling ; but his eagerness for knowledge was unbounded. The few books accessible to him he almost learned by heart ; and, seeing that there was no chance of his stock of knowledge being enlarged under the arctic skies of his native place, he resolved to betake himself to Moscow in the best way he could. An op portunity occurred when he was seventeen years of age, and by the intervention of friends he obtained admission into the Zaikonospasski school. There his progress was very rapid, especially in Latin, and in 1734 he was sent from Moscow together with other promising students to St Petersburg. There again his proficiency, especially in physical science, was remarked by all, and he was one of the young Russians chosen to complete their education in foreign countries. He accordingly commenced the study of metallurgy at Marburg; but, not content with his work under the professors, he now began to write poetry, imitating German authors, among whom he is said to have especially admired Giinther. His Ode on the Taking of K hot in from the Turks was composed in 1739, and attracted a great deal of attention at St Petersburg. During his residence in Germany Lomonosoff married a native of the country, and found it difficult to maintain his increasing family on the scanty allowance granted to him by the St Petersburg Academy, which, moreover, was irregularly sent. His circumstances became embarrassed, and he resolved to leave the country secretly, and to return home. On his arrival in Russia, after an adventure with a Prussian recruiting officer which at one time threatened serious consequences, he rapidly rose to distinction, and was made professor of chemistry in the university of St Petersburg; he ultimately became rector, and in 1764 secretary of state. He died in 17G5. The most valuable of the works of Lomonosoff are those relating to physical science, and he wrote upon many branches of it. He everywhere shows himself a man of the most varied learning. He compiled a Russian grammar, which long enjoyed popularity, and did much to improve the rhythm of Russian verse. Many of his poems are good, but they do not constitute his chief claim to be remembered. The school upon which he formed himself as a poet was a bad one. We must remember that these were the days of falsely-conceived classicism, and the French taste upon which all the literature of Europe was moulded. His great merit is that he belongs to the glorious band of patriots, which includes such men among Slavs as Dositei Obradovich, Raich, and Primus Truber, men whose object was to elevate and give dignity to their country, earnest toilers in the field of national education. LOMZA, or LOMZHA, a government of Russian Poland, is bounded on the N. by Prussia and the Polish government of Suwalki, on the E. by the Russian government of Grodno, on the S. by the Polish governments of Siedlce and Warsaw, and on the W. by that of Plock. It covers an area of 4670 square miles, or 9^ per cent, of all Poland. It is mostly flat or undulating, with a few tracts in the north and south-west, where the deeply-cut valleys give a hilly aspect to the country. Extensive marshes overspread it, especially on the banks of the Nareff, and in the east there are also good forests. Lomza is traversed by the Nareff, which flows from east to south-west, joining the Bog in the south-western corner of the government. The B6g flows along the southern border, joining the Vistula 20 miles below its junction with the Nareff. The inhabit ants numbered 501,385 in 1872, the Poles constituting 76 per cent, of the population (or 83 per cent, when the Poles who are mixed with Lithuanians are included), the Jews 14 J per cent., and the Germans 2 per cent. Of this population 402,146 belonged in 1870 to the Catholic Church, 10,354 to the Protestant, and 1817 to the Greek and United Churches. In 1878 394,570 were peasants, while only 76,950 belonged to the citizen class, and 11,470 to the nobility (sdachta). In 1877 45 per cent, of the total area, or 1,366,000 acres, were under crops. Stock raising is carried on to some extent (197,900 cattle, 263,700 sheep, and 68,705 horses). The wood trade is an import ant branch of industry, but manufactures are very imper fectly developed, the total production in 1873 having been only some 11 0,000, or 1 3 percent, of the total for Poland. Lomza produces some wooden wares, spirits, tobacco, and sugar. There is only one railway (between Grodno and Warsaw) ; the B6g is navigable, but only wood is floated down the Nareff. The province is divided into eight districts, of which the chief towns are Lomza (13,860), Pultusk (7950), and Ostrolenka (6900) on the Nareff; Mazowiec (2750), Ostrciw (6300), Mak6w (6600), Kolno (4800), and Szczuczyn (4750). Tykocin (5400) and Nasielsk (6250), although not district towns, have lately acquired some importance. LOMZA, capital of the above province, on the Nareff, 80 miles north-east from Warsaw, and 30 miles north from the Chizheff station of the railway between Warsaw and Grodno, had a population in 1872 of 13,860. Lomza is an old town, one of its churches having been erected before the year 1000. In the 16th century it carried on a brisk trade with Lithuania and Prussia. It was well fortified and had two citadels, but nevertheless had often to suffer from the invasions of Germans and Tartars, and in the 17th century it was twice plundered by the Cossacks of the Ukraine. In 1796 it fell under the dominion of Prussia, and after the peace of Tilsit it came under Russian rule. XIV. 103