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 530 LITHOLOGY LITHUANIA exceedingly limited, and the evidence respect- ing them is derived from their own later statements only, no specimens or contempo- raneous description being extant; but when we remember that the announcements of Fox Talbot's and DagueriVs inventions were only made two years before the date claimed by them, their assertions, which there is no rea- son to doubt, are of the highest interest. In 1873 the Graphic company was formed in New York, for the purpose of conducting the business of photo-lithography on a large scale. They established a daily illustrated newspaper, " The Graphic," one side of which, containing four large pages, is printed in lithograph, the illustrations being produced by photo-litho- graphy, and the other side from type in the usual manner. They profess to have made many improvements in the processes employed, the essential features of which they retain as a secret. By their processes they are able to produce upon stone a photo-lithographic copy of any engraving or drawing in less than half an hour, although two or three hours is the usu- al time. At the present day photo-lithography is one of the necessities of civilization, and there are few cities of importance where it is not practised. Its results have done much to popu- larize the graphic arts, and to bring admirable copies of engravings, maps, and drawings within the reach of all. (See PHOTOGRAPHY.) LITHOLOGY. See ROOKS. LITHOTOMY, and Lithrotrity. See STONE. ' LITHUANIA (Lith. Letuva ; Pol. Litwa ; Ger. LitJiauen a large tract of land in eastern Europe, which now belongs to the Russian empire, with the exception of a small part included in the East Prussian district of Gum- binnen, but which in the middle ages formed an independent state, and subsequently a great principality or grand duchy united with Po- land. At the period of its greatest power in the 14th century it extended from the shores of the Baltic to those of the Black sea, and from the northern Bug to the Don. At the time of the first dismemberment of Poland, in 1772, it consisted of the palatinates of Wilna, Troki, Novogrodek, Brzesc (Brest), Vitebsk, Polock (Polotzk), and Mstislav, and the duchy of Samogitia; almost the whole of these ter- ritories is now included in the Russian gov- ernments of Wilna and Grodno, or Lithuania roper, Kovno, Vitebsk, Mohilev, Minsk, and uwalki ; area estimated at about 100,000 sq. m. Lithuania is generally a flat and low coun- try, covered in great part with sand heaths, forests, marshes, and fens. The marshes of Pinsk, in the government of Minsk, are very extensive, and form a kind of dreary and gloomy desert. The principal rivers are the Niemen, Diina, Wilia, Dnieper, Beresina, and Pripet, all of which abound in fish. The chief exportable productions are grains, flax, hemp, honey, timber, cattle, and horses. Among the wild animals are bears, wolves, elks, lynxes, wild hogs, foxes, and the aurochs ! or European bison, which is now confined ex- clusively to the great forests in the govern- ment of Grodno. The climate is moderate and healthy. The inhabitants consist chiefly of Lithuanians proper, Poles, Russians, Tartars, and Jews. Lithuania is first mentioned under this name about the beginning of the llth cen- tury, when the inhabitants were little more than half savages living on the rude products of their extensive forests. They were long tributary to various neighboring Russian prin- cipalities, and, having recovered their inde- pendence, became involved in the 13th century in a long struggle with the knights sword- bearers, who established themselves on the shores of the Baltic, and in connection with the Teutonic order subdued and converted the kindred pagan tribes of the Prussians and others. Though inferior to their enemies in the art of war, the Lithuanians not only main- tained their freedom, but also commenced a series of aggressive wars with their eastern neighbors, and rapidly grew in power. Rin- gold appears as the first great prince or grand duke of the united country before the middle of the 13th century. His son Mindog re- ceived the royal diadem from the pope after having adopted the Christian religion, and was crowned at Novogrodek, but soon re- lapsed into paganism. Under Gedimin, in the earlier part of the 14th century, Lithuania became a powerful state by the conquest of Volhynia, the principalities of Kiev and Tcher- nigov, and others. His son and successor, Ol- gerd, even thrice appeared before the gates of Moscow. The son of the latter, Jagello, who married Hedvig, the daughter of King Louis of Hungary and Poland, becoming king of the latter country, united with it Lithuania, and converted his hereditary subjects to Christian- ity. Under Sigismund II. Augustus the two countries were still more closely united in 1569, though Lithuania retained separate ar- mies, finances, and laws. (See POLAND.) The Lithuanian language, a branch of the Lettio (see LETTIO RACE), is spoken in parts of East Prussia, in Samogitia, and in Lithuania proper. Its close affinity to the Sanskrit and relation to other languages have been established by Bohlen, Bopp, Schleicher, and others. The Latin form of writing was introduced with the religion of Rome, the vowels are the Italian is determined by the use of the three French accents (', x, A ), and u (ud). The consonants are : &, c (as in Polish, like ts in English), c or cz (the Polish cz, Eng. tch), d, g (hard), i before vowels (Pol. j, Eng. y consonant), &, ?, f (re- sembling rl m, n, p, r, s, sz (Eng. sli),, w (Eng. v), z (as in English), z (Eng. j). There is no letter h.. A dropped nasal sound is marked by a little line in the vowels. Like the Slavic tongues and the Latin, the Lithua- nian has no article, and three genders for nouns and adjectives. There are seven cases of de- clension, the same as in Polish: nominative,
 * , e, *', (or y, u, the pronunciation of which