Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume X.djvu/537

 LITMUS LITTLE FALLS 531 genitive, dative, accusative, vocative, instru- mental, and locative. The noun has five forms of declension, depending upon the termination and gender. The comparative degree is formed by esnis or esne, the superlative by ausas or ausa. The numerals are : wienas (Lat. unus), du (Lat. duo), trys (Lat. tres), Tceturi (Lat. quatuor, Pol. cztery penke (Pol. pipe}, szessi (Lat. sex, Pol. szest}, septyni (Lat. septem), asstuni (Lat. octo}, dewyni (Pol. dziewietf), dessimti (Pol. dziesiqc, Lat. decem), &c. The pronouns resemble those of most Indo-Euro- pean languages. The tenses of the verb are the present, imperfect, perfect, pluperfect, and future ; it has conjunctive, factitive, inchoative, frequentative, and reciprocal forms, various participles, and a passive formed by auxiliaries. The language is rich in f ormatives and particles of every kind. Prepositions govern the cases of declension. Among the earlier grammars and dictionaries are those by Ruhig (1747) and Mielcke (1800), and the Polish-Latin-Lithua- nian dictionary by the Jesuit Schyrnoid (died in 1631), whose sermons are the earliest extant work printed in the language. The most im- portant works on the language are Schleicher's HandbucJi der litauiscJien Sprache (2 vols., Prague, 1856-'7), his Litauische Mdrchen, &c. (Vienna, 1857), and his edition of the Lithu- anian verses of Donaleitis (St. Petersburg, 1865). There is hardly any Lithuanian litera- ture, the principal productions being popular songs, religious and liturgical hymns, riddles, and other poetry. LITMUS (Ger. Lackmus), a blue coloring mat- ter prepared from rocella tinctoria and related lichens. The various species of rocella are found upon the rocks of the coast of the Medi- terranean and other warm countries ; they are known in commerce as archil or orchella weed, and are designated by the names of the coun- tries which produce them. (See ARCHIL.) They are used for dyeing, and when prepared by fermentation with potash or soda, they produce litmus. The lichen is macerated for several weeks in water, to. which urine, lime, and potash have been added. Exposed to the air, the mixture undergoes a fermentation, be- coming at first reddish, and ultimately blue. "When the pulpy mass has assumed the proper blue color, it is pressed into a mould to form small rectangular cakes, plaster or clay being sometimes added to increase the bulk. As found in commerce, litmus is in small squares, light, friable, of the color of poor indigo, and of an odor that has been compared to that of violets. It consists of several peculiar coloring matters, together with the remain's of lichens and such earthy substances as may have been added. The sole use of litmus is as a test for acids and alkalies, it being reddened upon con- tact with an acid, and the blue color being at once restored by an alkali. Litmus paper is the form in which litmus is used as a test. To prepare this, a strong infusion of litmus is made with boiling water ; this is divided into two parts ; dilute sulphuric acid is gradually added to one of these portions until it assumes a red color, after which the two portions of liquid are mixed. As from the manner of preparation litmus is likely to contain an ex- cess of alkali, this method is adopted to render it as nearly neutral as may be, and thus in- crease its sensitiveness. Unsized paper is dipped into this infusion, and after it is dry cut in strips of convenient size and preserved in a stoppered bottle to prevent access of acid fumes. The paper thus prepared is a very sensitive test for acids. Another portion is prepared by adding acid to the blue infusion until it is red, and dipping paper in this ; this is red litmus paper, and serves as a test for the presence of alkalies, which restores the normal blue color. LITTi, Pompeo, count, an Italian historian, born in Milan, Sept. 27, 1781, died there, Aug. 17, 1852. Enlisting in 1804 as a common sol- dier, he attained a high position in the French army, which he left in 1814. Under the revo- lutionary government of Lombardy in 1848 he officiated for a short time as minister of war and commander of the national guard of Milan. He is the author of Famiglie celebri italiane (1819-'52), containing the history of upward of 50 eminent Italian families, a work renowned both for superb execution and historical accu- racy. It was continued from his materials by Odorici and others. LITTLEDALE, Richard Frederick, an Irish cler- gyman, born in Dublin, Sept. 14, 1833. He graduated at Trinity college, Dublin, in 1854, took orders in England in 1856, and was a curate in London till 1861, since which he has been occupied in writing. Among his works are : " Philosophy of Revivals " (1860) ; " Oflices of the Holy Eastern Church " (1863) ; " Catholic Ritual in the Church of England " (1865); "Lecture on the Reformers" (1868); " Commentary on the Song of Songs " (1869) ; " Church Reform " (1870) ; " Pharisaic Prose- lytism" (1870); and "Church and Dissent" (1871). He has also edited St. Anselm's Cur DeusHomof (1863), and " Primitive Liturgies in Greek and English" (1868-'9). LITTLE FiLLS, a town and village of Her- kimer co., New York, on the Mohawk river, and on the Erie canal and New York Central railroad, 65 m. W. 1ST. W. of Albany ; pop. of the town in 1870, 5,612; of the village, 5,387. The village lies partly in the adjoining towns of Manheim and Danube, and is built in a narrow valley, with granite rocks rising on either side to the height of about 500 ft. The river here falls 42 ft. in three fourths of a mile, affording great water power, and the canal passes by a deep cut in the solid rock through a picturesque defile, 2 m. in length. The feeder of the canal crosses the river by an aqueduct, with an arch of 70 ft. span. The village has an extensive trade in cheese, and contains paper mills, woollen factories, flour mills, a cotton mill, manufactories of starch,