Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 12.djvu/138

* LE MOYNE. 122 LEMUB. Sieur de Loiigiiouil, and celebrated a3 one of the colonizers of Louisiana. Sec BlENVlLLE. LE MOYNE, .JosEi'ii, Sieur de Serigny (1068- 1734). A Canadian olliecr and explorer, si.lh son of Charles he iMoyne, JSieur de Lonyueuil. He served against the English in the Hudson Bay country in the early part of his career, but the French possessions to the south were the scene of his most noted exploits. He went with his brother Iberville (q.v. ) to Louisiana, and made a study of the Uulf coast. For gallant action against the Spaniards at Pensacola and at Moliilo, he was in IT^.'i |)roni<>ted to be rear- admiral and Govi-rnor of Itochcfort, in France, where he passed the remainder of his life. LE MOYNE, Paul, Sieur de llaricourt (lG(i3-1704). A (Canadian soldier and explorer, fourth son of Charles Le iloj-ne, Sieur de Longueuil. He became an ollicer in the French army of Canada, and took a prominent part in colonial allairs, his success being largely due to his ability to deal with the Indians. He saw active service against the English in the Hud- son Bay expedition of lUSti with his brother Iberville (q.v.). and in the attack on Quebec in 1G90. In 1701 he negotiated a peace with the Iroquois at the close of Frontcnac's expedition against tlicm. He was killed in an Iroquois raid upon the stockade fort where he was stationed. LE MOYNE, I'lERRE, Sieur d'Iberville (1G6I- 170(1). A son of Charles Le Moyne, Sieur de Longueuil. and one of the colonizers of Louisiana. See liiEinii.i.E. LEM'PA. The principal river of Salvador, Central America. It rises in Lake Guija on the boundary of Guatemala, and flows east and south through a fertile and well-])opulatcd region, emptying into the Pacific Ocean (Map: Central America, C o) . It is the largest river on the I'acifie coast of Central America. Its length is 200 miles; it is navigable for 100 miles for small steamers. LEMPRIERE, Icm-prer', .John (c.1765- 1824). . ICnglish classical s<'holar. He was born in the island of .lersey, and studied at West- minster Seliool and at Pembroke College, O.xford, receiving the degree of 1?... in 1700. After taking orders, he became headmaster of schools in Abington and Exeter, and later rector of Meeth (1811) and of Newton-Petrock, Devon- shire (1823). He is best known as the author of a classical dictionary, the liihliolhecn CJassica (Reading. 1788: last edition. ISSS), which was afterwards freqiiently reprinted in England and in this country. It was founded u])on Saba- tier's great Dirtionnnirr A.s fiiitriirs I'hissiqiies ( 1760-00 ), and was itself used by Anthon as the basis of his classical dictionary. Other published works of Lemprifre are: firrmons (1701) ; a translation of Herodotus, first volume only (1792); and a Dictionary of Universal Biog- rafiln/ (Tendon. 1808). enlarged and reprinted by Lord (New York, 1825). LEMTIB (Lat. Icmirr. ghost). Of the many curious animals characteristic of Madagascar, lemurs are perhaps the most interesting. The name was originally bestowed by Linna-us on account of the nocturnal habits and peculiar ghostlike .appearance of the species known to him. and it is still used as the name of the typical genus of the group. But at the present time it is not easy to determine whether all the animals of the suborder Lemuroidea are to be called lenmrs or not. The lenmroids (suborder Lemuroidea) dill'er from all the other primates in certain peculiarities of the skull, hands, and feet, and in the simple structure of the brain, in which the cerebral hemispheres are little con- voluted and do not conceal the cerebellum. Yet there is rudimentary 'simian fissure.' They stand at a lower level than other primates. The head lacks the human expression of the anthro- jjoid apes or even of many monkeys — is more fox-like. The long tail in such as have it is never prehcnsible, nor is there ever any trace of cheek-pouches or of integuraental cal- losities. A curious contrast exists between the monkeys and the lemurs, as licddard points out, in respect to the digits of the hands and feet. In the former it is the hallux or poUex which is subject to great variation, but in the lemurs the thumb and great toe are always well devel- oped, although the second or the thini digit constantly shows some abnormality, such as the remarkable elongation of the third digit in the aye-aye (q.v. for illustration) and in the ab- sence of the index in the poltO. In all lemurs, moreover, a sharp claw is borne upon the second toe, unlike the other fiat 'nails.' The dentition is peculiar in the way the incisors (four in eaeli jaw) are enlarged and project forward, and in the incisor form of the lower canines. There are also important peculiarities in the visceral anatomy. The stomach is simple; the ciccum is always present and of variable lengths, but never has a vermiform appendix. Some of the arteries break up into 'retia mirabilia.' not known elsewhere among primates, but a char- acteristic of edentates: and a still more remark- able contrast with other primates is the fact that among lenuirs the jilaeenta is non-decid- uate. The geographical distribution of the lemurs is extraordinary and has given rise to much specu- lation. (Sec Lemuuia.) Two-thirds of the group are confined to Madagascar and near-by islands, where their perpetuation as a race may be due to the scarcity of carnivores; the remainder be- long to Ethiopia and the Oriental region: but in past ages tlicy were widespread in Europe, Asia, and North America. The Lemuroidea fall very naturally into three families, Lemuridce, Tarsiida>, and Chiromyidie. The last two, how- ever, contain only a single species each, the tarsier and the aye-aye (qq.v. ), and these are siicli curious animals that it is more natural not to call them lemurs. The family Lenuiridse in- cludes some thirty-five or forty species, which are quite gener.-illy grouped in four subfamilies, of which the first includes the indris and avahis of Madagascar: the .second, the true lemurs; the third, the ehirogales of Madagascar and the galagos of Africa ; and the fourth, the loris of Cej'lon, India, and Southeastern Asia, and the angwantibo (or awantibo) and potto of West Africa. The indris is one of the largest species, but the avahis or woolly lemur {Avahis lanigcr) is a small, solitary, and nocturnal species, slow in its movements and rarely descending to the groimd. The mouse-lemurs or ehirogales (genus Chirogaleus) are remarkable little creatures, long-tailed and nocturnal: some of the species build nests like tho.se of birds, while others are notable for spending the dry season in a state i