Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume X.djvu/566

 560 LOBO LOBSTEPw to have received a distinctive popular name. Gr. lasianthus, which is found only as a shrub in Virginia, in favorable localities further south reaches the height of 30 or even 50 ft. The lanceolate- oblong leaves are narrowed at the base, thick and evergreen ; the flowers are on axillary peduncles, large, showy, white,' about 2 in. across, and with the general aspect of a single camellia ; the stamens are united at the base to a five-lobed cup, which adheres to the base of the petals ; the fruit is an ovoid, five- celled capsule, opening by five valves, with two to eight seeds in each cell. G. pulescens differs in having deciduous leaves, its stamens attached to the petals, and the manner in which the capsule opens. The wood of the loblolly bay is considered of little value ; it has a fine mahogany color, but its grain is too coarse for cabinet work. The bark of the tree is rich in tannin, and is nearly if not quite equal to oak for making leather. Both species flower when quite small, and are desirable ornamen- tal plants wherever the climate is not too se- vere. Cr. pubescens, being deciduous, is more hardy than the other, but neither is to be re- lied upon where the winters are mucU colder than at Washington. LOBO) Jeronimo, a Portuguese missionary, born in Lisbon about 1595, died there, Jan. 29, 1678. He entered as a novice the order of Jesuits in 1609, and in 1621 was made a pro- fessor in the Jesuit college at Ooimbra. In 1622 he was sent as a missionary to India. He remained at Goa till 1624, when he sailed for the African coast, with the intention of penetrating into Abyssinia. His first attempt failed, but in 1625 he disembarked at a port of the Red sea, entered Abyssinia, and took up his abode there as superintendent of Catholic missions. During the lifetime of the sove- reign then reigning he enjoyed protection, but the next Abyssinian monarch persecuted the missionaries, who were compelled to leave the country in 1634. The exiles fell into the hands of the Turks at Massowah, and Lobo had to return to India in order to procure funds to effect their ransom. Having accom- plished this object, he embarked for Portugal to submit their case to the Portuguese govern- ment, and endeavor to rouse it to undertake a crusade against Abyssinia. After undergoing shipwreck and captivity he arrived at Lisbon ; but finding that he could not induce either Portugal or the other Catholic powers to as- sent to his views, he reembarked for India in 1640, and was subsequently rector and pro- vincial of the Jesuits at G-oa. In 1656 he sailed once more for Lisbon, and there passed the rest of his life chiefly in literary pursuits. He published an account of Abyssinia, and of the Catholic missions there, under the title of Historia de Ethiopia (Coimbra, 1659). An English translation by Dr. Johnson, from the French, was published in London in 1735. LOBOS (or Seal) ISLANDS, three islands in the Pacific near the coast of Peru, and belong- ing to that country. The principal island, Lo- bos de Tierra, is in lat. 6 29 ; S. and Ion. 80 52' W., and is 5 m. long and 2 m. broad. About 30 m. S. S. E. of Lobos de Tierra, and separated from each other by a channel a few hundred feet wide, are the Lobos de Afuera, each from H m. to 2 m. long by less than 1 m. in breadth. There is good anchorage near the larger isl- and, and two safe and capacious bays at the smaller islands. The sheltered parts of these islands are covered with guano, the product not only of birds, but of the seals which fre- quent them, and from which they are named. The quantity of the deposit on the whole group is estimated at 2,000,000 tons. In 1851 a con- troversy respecting the title to these islands sprung up between the government of Peru and that of the United States, the latter claiming them in consequence of their alleged discovery by an American vessel in the early part of this century. On investigation, however, the claim of Peru to them was established, and admitted by the American and British governments. LOBSTER, a well known- marine crustacean, of the order decapoda and genus homarus (Milne-Edwards). The common lobster of the United States (H. Americanw, Milne-Edwards) American Lobster (Homarus Americanus). has the general form of the crawfish, hereto- fore described, but may be distinguished by its larger size, marine habitat, narrow and spiny rostrum, and greatly developed anterior claws. The rostrum is sharp, turned up at the point, furnished with spines at the base, on the sides, and beneath, and with a slight furrow on the dorsal surface. The shell, which is olive or blackish green with darker spots and blotches, as is well known, becomes red by boiling, from the action of the heat upon its pigmentary matter; acids and alcohol produce a similar effect, but all in a manner not perfectly under- stood, except by the further oxidation of the coloring matter. This horny, many-jointed, ex- ternal skeleton, being non-extensile, is changed