Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 11.djvu/855

* LAPLACE. 773 Xaplace soon after liis arrival at Paris as a _vouiig man, and tirst brought him to the atten- tion of the Academy. He made much use of the subject ill his ilvcunUjue celeste, and was the first to treat the new theory of least squares as a problem of probabilities. His Theorie analytique dcs prohahilites appeared in 1812, and his Ksnai philosophique sur lea probabilites in 1814. La- place's complete works have been twice published by the French Government, respectively under the titles. fEtiires de Laplace (7 vols., 1843-47), Les (xuires completes de Laplace (13 vols., be- ginning in 1878). The ilceanique celeste is also known in English from an adaptation of a por- tion of the work under the title Mechanism of the Heavens, by Mrs. Somerville (London, 1831), and the first book through a translation by Toplis under the title Treatise upon Analytical Mechan- ics ( Xottingliam, 18141. One of Laplace's works on proliabilities was translated into English by Truscott and Emory, under the title Philosophical Essay on Probabilities (Xew York, 1902). For biography, consult : Kaufman, Laplace ( Paris, 1841) ; and Arago, Biortraphies of Scientific Men (trans.. Boston, 1859) ! LAF'LAND. A region embracing an area of about loO.OOO square miles in Xorthwest Europe. It is not a political entity, but derives its name from the fact that it is the home of the Lapps, or Laplanders. Its southern boun- dary is not definitely defined, but it may be said to extend south in Xorway approximately to latitude 65°. in Sweden to latitude 64°. and in Russia to latitude 66° (Map: Europe, F 1). It includes the whole northern part of Xorway (some distance inland from the Atlantic coast), Sweden, and Finland, and the Kola Peninsula of Russia. X'orwegian Lapland is included under the provinces of Xordlaml. Tromso. and Fin- niarken : Swedish Lapland occupies the northern part of the Province of Xorrland and the whole of Xorrbotten iXorth Bothnia), and is divided into Toine;-. Lulea-. Piteft-, UmeA-, and Asele- Lappmark. Scandinavian Lapland is moun- tainous in Xorway. except in the northeastern ■district of Finmarken. while in Sweden, though very rough and uneven, the country inclines to flatness. In Finland the country of the Lapps is chiefly flat, with many glacial lakes; about one-half of the Peninsula of Kola is tundra or swampy. The rocks of Lapland are chiefly of plutonic origin, covered with a thin layer of hunuis. The course of the Swedish rivers shows that the land slopes gently from northwest to southeast, the rivers emptying into the Gulf of Bothnia. Economically this whole region has only one preeminent resource, and that is the beds of iron ore scattered over the southern part of Swedish Lapland. The development of these mines at Gellivare, 44 miles north of the Arctic Circle, resulted in the building of a railroad from the port of Lulea, on the Gulf of Bothnia, to that mining centre, and its extension (com- pleted in 1902) across Lapland to the head of the deep Ofotcn Fiord on the .tlantic. the railroad beinS about 280 miles long, of which 230 miles is north of the Arctic Circle. This railroad was extended to the Atlantic to give ore vessels an ice-free port. Victoria Haven, the year round, as the Gulf nf Bothnia is frozen durinir tlie winter. The mine* of Gellivare vielded 800.000 tons of ore in 1899. 1.000.000 tons in 1900, and LAPLAND. the quantity will now be largely augmented by the increased facilities for getting the mineral out of the country. These Swedish ores are regarded as among the best steel ores in the world, and there is a large market for them in England and Germany. At Kirunavaara, on the line of the railroad, is a ridge about 700 feet in height, several miles long, of solid magnetic ore, perhaps the largest and most compact mass of this superior iron ore in the world. The diamond drill has proved the continuity of tliis metallic rock throughout the ridge, and Swedish engineers estimate that the mass contains from 200,000,000 to 250,000,000 tons of ore. The climate of the whole of Lapland is very severe for nine months in the year, except along the coasts, where the ameliorating influences of the Atlantic extend even to the ilurman coast of the Kola Peninsula. The snowfall in Sweden is very hcavv. A large mileage of snowsheds has been built on the Swedish portion of the rail- road. All the most exposed parts of the line are thus protected. The heat of July and Au- gust is extreme, but these hot months are sepa- rated from the cold seasons by a spring and autumn that are only two or three weeks long. Barley may be grown as far north as 70°, but the general limit of cereals is latitude 66° X. A large part of the country, particularly in the south, is covered with a thin growth of birch, pine. fir. and alder, but trees entirely disappear in the Kola Peninsula. The more elevated tracts, except in Xorway. are destitute of vegetation and have no inhabitants; but in the valleys and the lower parts of Lapland there is an under- growth of lichens and mosses which provide abundant food for the numerous herds of rein- deer that are the chief riches of the inhabitants. Some of the southern Laplanders carry on a little agriculture with indifferent success. The Laplanders do not number more than 30.000. They are short in stature (height. 1.529 to 1.555 meters) and brachycephalic. They have triangular faces, high cheek-bones, flat noses, small black eyes, and chestnut or black hair. Over two-thirds of them live in X'orway, about 5000 in Sweden, and 3000 in Russia, ilany Norwegians, Swedes, Finns, and Russians have moved into the country, and it is quite certain that the Lapps, who are of Asiatic origin, will ultimately disappear by absorption among the surrounding peoples. They were called Lapps by the Swedes, the name meaning nomads: they call themselves Sameh, or Samelats. Virchow believed them to be a branch of the Finns, though they seem to be clearly distinguished from the Finns proper by the form of the crania and their physical features. Schaafhausen regarded them as" the descendants of Mongoliail trilies driven northward and migrating west along the .rctic shores. Their language is allied to that of the Finns, and they are not a pure race, as is shown by their family names, which include Swedish, Norwegian. Finnish, and Russian names. The Lapps living on or not far from the seacoast are more numerous than those of the interior, and are known as the coast Lapps. Their living is largely derived from fishing and hunting, though the Norwegian Lapps keep many reindeer as well as those of the interior, who are known as the reindeer Lapps. The huts of both the fiihin? and reindeer Lapps are made of a conical framework covered with canvas or