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LAY OF THE LAST MINSTREL

1040

LEAD

Lay of the Last Minstrel. This is a beautiful story of border-life, told in irregular stanzas, full of force and fire, by Sir Walter Scott. The poem deals with the healing of a border-feud. Some of its best features are the description of the life at Branksome Hall, the story of the ride of William of Deloraine, the faithful retainer, the delightful treatment of the supernatural which is involved and the admirable couplets which tell of the last minstrel himself and form a framework for the story.

La'yard (la'ard), Sir Austen Henry, English traveler and diplomatist, was born at Paris, March 5, 1817, and passed his boyhood in Italy. At 16 he was sent to London to study law, but in 1839 he set out upon an overland journey to Ceylon. On the banks of the Tigris he saw Birs Nimrud, the supposed site of Nineveh, and in 1845-47, with the financial aid of Lord Stratford de Redcliffe and £3,000 voted by Parliament, he excavated and found the ruins of four palaces, from which he sent many carvings and basreliefs to the British Museum. He published Nineveh and Its Remains in 1849 and Monuments of Nineveh in 1853. During the next 40 years he received many honors, served the state and won distinction not only as a public man but as a student of the fine arts. He died at London on July 5, 1894. See his Autobiography.

Lay'ering, a method of plant-propagation (q. v.), depending on some plants' natural habit of sending out roots from the joints or tips of branches which come in contact with the earth, as the black raspberry. The procedure is to cover a portion of the branch and, after the roots are well-established and independent shoots are sent up, to cut the branch connecting with the parent plant. "Mound" layering is a modification of the process, in which the old plant is cut off close to the ground and the "stool" covered with earth. The new shoots, sending out roots at their lower joints underground, may be cut off as separate plants.

Laz'arus, St., Order of, a religious and military order which dates its origin from the first Occupation of Jerusalem by the crusaders. Its primary object was the succor of the leprous, of whom Lazarus was regarded as a patron. After the expulsion of the crusaders Louis VII (1253) gave its members the lands of Boigny near Orleans, France, and a building at the gates of Paris, used as a leperhouse for the poor of the city. Pope Alexander IV confirmed the order in 1255. From the disappearance of leprosy and from other causes the order was gradually changed to a purely civil corporation. In 1572 it was joined by Pope Gregory XIII with the Order of St. Maurice of Savoy. In 1608 it was united with the order of Notre Dame de Mont-Carmel. At the Revolution it

was abolished, but it was remtroduced at the Restoration, although at present it is not recognized. In 1633 the buildings of the priory in Paris were given to St. Vincent du Paul for the us3 of the fathers of his mission who from this came to be known as Lazarites.

Laz'zaro'ni, Italian for lepers, until lately were a separate class living in Naples, with no houses or occupations, but employed as porters, vendors or messengers, and often begging. They took aggressive parts in all the revolutions of Naples, and formerly elected a chief every year.

Lea, Henry Charles, publisher and author, was born at Philadelphia, Sept. 19, 1825, and succeeded to the business of the publishing house of Mathew Carey and Sons. He has written extensively on European mediaeval history. Among his works are History of the Inquisition of the Middle Ages, Historical Sketch of Sacerdotal Celibacy in the Christian Church, Chapters from the Religious History of Spain, History of Indulgences and Moriscoes of Spain. Mr. Lea's conclusions as to celibacy have been called in question by eminent Catholic scholars. German savants regard his works as final authorities.

Lead is a bluish-white or grayish metal, becoming dull on exposure, very soft, malleable but not ductile, and possessing little tenacity. Its specific gravity varies from 11.352 to 11.365, and its melting point is 633° F. It is one of the metals known in very early times, being mentioned in Job ocioc: 24, and articles made from it by the Romans, some of them bearing inscriptions, as water-pipes, tanks, weights and rings, are still preserved in museums. It can be forced through a perforation when heated below its melting-point, as in making rods for rifle-balls and pipes. The action of water upon lead is important in that so much lead is used in water-service of almost all kinds; and salts of lead, dissolved even in very small quantities, form a cumulative and very dangerous poison. Water that has Ifceen standing in a lead pipe, therefore, should never be used for drinking. Lead in its native state is seldom found, the metal being chiefly obtained from galena, a sulphide of lead. There are several oxides of lead, two of which, plumbic oxide and red oxide, are used in the arts. Ordinary lead oxide (massicot or litharge),, from which red lead, another oxide, is manufactured, is obtained in a yellow powder by heating lead to a dull redness in a current of air and grinding the product. Lead peroxide, with sulphur and other ingredients, is used for tipping some kinds of matches. White lead is a substance much used as a basis for paints, for a cement and for pottery glazes. To manufacture it, the lead is cut into different forms, placed in pots containing a little weak acetic acid, and