Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 15.djvu/125

Rh L Y N L Y N 109 LYNN&quot;, a city in Essex county, Massachusetts, U.S., situated near the north end of Massachusetts Bay, on a harbour formed by the peninsula of Nahant, 10 miles north-east of Boston, with which it is connected by dif ferent lines of railway. The bulk of Lynn is built on the low grounds near the sea; but in the north-east the eleva tion is greater, and behind the city proper there is a range of porphyritic hills dotted with villas. Most of the houses are of wood, those of the main thoroughfare Market Street of brick. The city hall, a substantial erection of brick and brown stone, is considered one of the finest buildings of its class in New England. It contains the free public library, founded in 1862, and numbering 29,126 volumes in 1880. It was at Lynn that the first smelting-works in this part of the country were estab lished, in 1643; but the place has long been famous rather for the making of boots and shoes, a department, indeed, in which it has hardly a rival in the world. This trade was introduced in 1750 by a Welshman, John Adam Dagyr ; in 1767 the output was 80,000 pairs ; in 1810, 1,000,000 pairs; in 1865, 5,360,000; in 1868 upwards of 10,000,000; and in 1880, 16,276,380, the greater proportion being cheap shoes for women and children. About twelve thousand hands are employed, though labour-saving machinery is freely introduced. Another industry of great local importance is the tanning and dressing of sheep and goat skins, and the making of morocco leather. The population was 6138 in 1830, 14,257 in 1850, 28,233 in 1870, and 38,284 in 1880. The foundation of the town belongs to 1629 ; and the name was given in memory of Lynn Regis in England, the home of its first pastor. It obtained incorporation as a city in 1850 ; Swampscott and Nahant, which it then included, were rendered independent in 1852 and 1853 respectively. LYNN REGIS, KING S LYNN, or LYNN, a parliamentary and municipal borough and seaport of Norfolk, England, is situated on the Great Ouse, about 2 miles from the Wash, and on several railway lines, 100 miles north of London and 48 west-north-west of Norwich. On the land side the town was formerly defended by a fosse, and there are still considerable remains of the old wall, including a, handsome Gothic structure, known as the &quot; South Gates.&quot; The streets are generally narrow and winding ; some of the dwelling-houses are very ancient. The public walks form a fine promenade, and in the centre of them stands a quaint octagonal chapel called the Red Mount, at one time much frequented by pilgrims. The church of St Margaret s, formerly the priory church, is a fine Gothic building with two towers at the west end, one of which was formerly surmounted by a spire blown down in 1741. St Nicholas chapel, at the north end of the town, is also of mediaeval date, and contains many interesting memorials of the past. All Saints church is a beautiful and ancient cruciform structure. At the grammar school, founded in the reign of Henry VIII., Eugene Aram was at one time usher. There are also national schools, a British school, and several charities. Among the other public buildings are the guildhall, with Renaissance porch, the corn exchange, the custom-house, and the athena3um. The shipping trade is steadily progressing, and there is now regular steam communication with Hamburg. The prin cipal exports are corn, wool, and oilcake, and the principal imports, coal, timber, linseed, and manufactured goods. The total value of the exports in 1880 was .1,152,456, the average for the four years 1876-79 being 967,958, and for four years 1872-75 519,479. The value of the exports in 1880 was 366,649, the average value for 1876-79 being 251,491, and for 1872-75 140,974. The Alexandra dock, opened in 1869, has a water area of 6 1 acres, with an average depth of 31 feet. The fisheries of the town are important, and there are also breweries, corn-mills, iron and brass foundries, agricultural implement manufactories, shipbuilding yards, rope and sail works, and tobacco manufactories. The population of the borough in 1871 was 16,562, and in 1881 it was 18,475. Lynn is supposed to have been a British town, and was known as a port before the Norman invasion, after which it became the possession of the bishops of Norwich, and was known as Lynn Episcopi. After the suppression of the monasteries it came into the hands of Henry VIII., and its name was changed to Lynn Regis or King s Lynn. The town was taken by the parliamentary forces in 1643. It received its first charter from King John, but its first governing charter from Henry VIII. Since the 23d of Edward I. it has returned two members to parliament. LYNX, a name now appropriated to several animals forming a small section of the cats or genus Felis. It is not quite certain to which of these, if to any of them, the Greek name Xvyg was especially applied, though it was more probably the caracal than any of the northern species. The so-called lynxes of Bacchus were generally represented as resembling panthers rather than any of the species now known by the name. Various fabulous properties were attributed to the animal, whatever it was, by the ancients, that of extraordinary powers of vision, including ability to see through opaque substances, being one ; whence the epithet &quot; lynx-eyed,&quot; which has survived to the present day, although having no foundation in fact. There are two forms of cats which are now called lynxes. 1. The caracal or Persian lynx, Felis caracal, an animal about the size of a fox, is of slender build, with a mode rately long tail, reaching down to the heels. It is of a uniform vinous or bright fulvous brown colour above, and is paler, sometimes almost white, beneath. It is quite or almost entirely unspotted. The tail has a black tip, and the ears are black externally, long and upright, pointed, and surmounted by a pencil of fine black hairs. It in habits Central and North-West India, Persia, Arabia, Syria, and the greater part of Africa. 2. The name lynx is given to various species or varieties of animals found in the northern and temperate regions of both the Old and New World, all of moderate size, that is, smaller than the lions, tigers, and leopards, and larger than the true cats, with long limbs, short stumpy tail, ears tufted at the tip, and pupil of the eye linear when contracted. Their fur is generally long and soft, varying, however, according to season and locality, and always longish upon the cheeks. Their colour is always light brown or grey, and generally more or less spotted with a darker shade. The naked pads of the feet are more or less covered by the hair that grows between them. The skull and skeleton does not differ markedly from those of the other cats, but the small anterior upper premolar tooth found in many other species is usually wanting. Their habits are exactly those of the other wild cats ; they are excelled by none in the untameable savageness of their disposition. They capture their prey in the same manner, either lying in wait, or noiselessly stealing within reach, and then making a sudden rush or spring upon it. Their food consists of any mammals or birds which they can overpower. In inhabited countries they commit extensive ravages upon sheep, lambs, and poultry. They generally frequent rocky places and forests, being active climbers, and passing much of their time among the branches of the trees. Their skins are of considerable commercial value in the fur trade. Zoologists are by no means agreed at present as to the specific distinctions, if any really exist, between the various modifications of this group. As many as eight species are sometimes recognized, four belonging to the Old and four to the New World. The former are Felis lynx, of Scandi navia, Russia, northern Asia, and till lately the forest regions of central Europe (it has not inhabited Britain during the historic period, but its remains have been found