Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 11.djvu/856

* LAPLAND. 77-i LAPPARENT. some woolen fabric, with a hole at the top to jxTiiiit the smoke to escape. Those tishiiig Lapps who have no reindeer lead a more settled life than their kinsmen, who are compelled to be mifiMtory in iheir habits because of the frequent need of supplvinj; their reindeer with fresh pas- turajre. While the lishinf; Lapps have some small settlements of more or less ]H'rmanency, each fam- ily of the nomadic natives lives by itself, because n herd of reindeer requires a considerable area in which to live. The lichens grow very slowly after h:ivin<; been nibbled, and pasturage once closely cropi)cd is not regarded as usable again for at least ten years. A family is very poor that docs not own at least 25 reindeer, while 100 head are regarded as a modest competence. A few of the wealthier La])ps own as many as 2000. The staple food is the llcsh. blood, and milk of these animals, the herd also supplying the clothing. The Lapps are honest, strongly attached to their people and country. The Bible and a few religious books have been translated into their language, and they embrace the forms of religion prescribed by their local Government. Thus they are all Lutherans in Scandinavia and Orthodox Greeks in Kussia. Those who have come so far under the iniluence of missionaries or civilized immigrants as to learn to read and to adopt some of the ways of civilization usually abandon the nomad life and remain in the settlements, blend- ing with the more southern peoples. Towns or villages are luiknown among the Lapps proper. The mining town of Gellivare has (iOOO inhabi- tants, and the ice-free port of Alexandrovsk. on the north shore of the Kola Peninsula, founded by the Russians, is developing into an important town. Consult: Von Diiben. Om Lapplaiid och Lap- panic (Stockholm. 187.'?). with included bibliog- raphy; Stockfleth, Dayhog over mine Missions- Jiciscr i Finiiiark-rn ( t'hristiania, 1800); Frijs, 1 Finmarken (Christiania, 1871); Auliel, h'cisc niich Lappland (Leipzig, 1874) ; Du Chaillu, iMnd of the Midnight Sun (London, 1881); Edward Rue, The White Sea Peninsula (1882); O. Nicolaissen, Fra Xordlands Fort id (1889); G. H. Mellin, SIcildringar af den Scandinaviska Xordcns Folklif og aiur (1870); Fries, "Det Forsta Naturvetenskapliga Forskningsfiirden i Sverige," in the Xordisk Tidsk (1898). LAPLAND LONGSPTJR. See Loxcspub, LA PLATA, l;i jjlii'ta. Capital of the State of Buenos Ayrcs, Argentina, situated 32 miles southeast of the eity of Buenos Ayres, and 5 miles from Knsenada, its port on the La Plata estuary (Map: Argentina, F 11). The city is laid out after the plan of Washington, the capi- tal of the United States. In form it is a perfect square, with an area of 6 square miles, and is surrounded by an avenue ."^.SO feet wide. The streets cross each other at right angles, making rectangular blocks, which are intersected diag- onally by broad avenues, and there are twenty- three open squares or parks of v«rious sizes. The public buildings are many and handsome, the most notable being the Capitol, the court-hon.se, the mnsenni. and the public library. The ob- servatory stands in the beautiful Buenos Ayres Park, which is entered through a handsome arch. Kducation is well provided for by a system of public and private schools, at the bead of which is the provincial college founded in 1885. The city has a good supply of water, pumped from wells into a reservoir 72 feet high. The streets are lighted by electricity and traversed by sur- face railroads. An artilicial harbor 20 feet deep has been constructed bi'twcen Knsenada and La Plata, by means of a dike; it is connected with the La I'lat.a lticr channel l>v a canal 5 miles long. Two drainage canals keep the water from becoming :*tagnant. The town has increased very rapidly in |)opul:ition, nnnil)cring over 30.000 three years after its foundation in 1882, and now having ujjward of 70,000 people. It was established to provide a capital for the State of Buenos Ayres. when the city of that name was ceded to the National Government. LA PLATA, Rio de. A river of South Ameri- ca. See I'LAIA, Rio de la. LA PORTE, la port. A city and the county- seat of L.i I'orte County, Ind., 12 miles from Lake Michigan and 59 miles east-southeast of Chicago: on the Lake Erie and Western, the Lake Shore and Michigan Southern, and the Pere Marquette railroads (Map: Indiana, CI). It is a city of great natural beauty and a popu- lar sinumer resort, situated on tlic edge of a fer- tile prairie, and having a chain of picturesque lakes. La Porte has a public library. There are manufactures of woolen goods, threshing- machines, traction-engines, buggies, etc. The governnu'nt is administered by a mayor and a uni- cameral council, elected biennially. The water- works are owned and operated by the city. Popu- lation, in 18;m, 7120; in lilOO.'7113. Settled in 1830, La Porte was ineor])orated as a town in 1832. and in 1S52 was chartered as a city, its jnopulation then being about 5000. Consult Packard. Hislon/ of La Porte Count g (La Porte, 1870). LA PORTE DTJ THEIL. A p.-,rt du tA'y', Fraxc^ols Jean Gabriel (1742-1815), A French Hellenist, born in Paris. He left the army in 1703 to devote himself to the study of Greek. In 1779 he went to Italy, and by the help of Cardinal de Bernis received ]>ermission to ex- amine the archives of the Vatican, and made important discoveries there, es))ccially in mediic- val history. He took back to Paris 18,000 docu- ments, and many of them were afterwards print- ed at the expense of the Government before the Revolution, His works include: Hginnes de Callimof/ue, avec une versimi francaise et des notes ( 1775) ; Lcs amours de Leandcr et de Hero, par MusvF. irnduits du grec en fra»C"is (1784) ; and Theatre d'Esehijle, iraduit du gree en fran- i-ais (1794). LAPPARENT, lA'pi'riiN', Albert Augilste CocHON DE (1839—). A French engineer and geologist, born at Boiirges. He was educated at the Polyteehniqne (1858-00), and at the Ecole des Mines; for some time was connected with the great French geological survey and map, and in 1875 was chosen professor of geology- and min- eralogy at the Catholic Institute of Paris. He was elected president of the French Geological Society in 1880, was made a member of the Academic des Sciences in 1897, and also appoint- ed to a chair of mineralogy, geology-, and physical geography in the Ecole Libre des Hautes- Etudes. With Poticr he undertook the geological survey for the projected Channel tunnel. His publica- tions include: Traill de genlonie (2d ed. 1885) ; Cours de miniralogie (2d ed. 1889) ; Lcs tremble-