Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 12.djvu/165

* LEPKOSY. Some authorities inention tliree forms of leprosy: the muciilar, characterized by dark red or black stains; the ancesthetic, characterized by loss of sensation in patches of the integument and flesh; and the tubercular, characterized by nodules of tubercular granulation tissue, or a difl'use infiltration in skin and mucous tissue. Some cases unite all three varieties. In the macular-ansesthetic type the chief changes are in the nerves, leading to destruction of nerve- fibres with consequent anicsthesia, paral.ysis of muscles, and trophic disturbances. The period of incubation of leprosy is from tliree to seven or ten years, the patches first appearing on the unexposed parts of the body, with ulcers on the upper part of the nasal passages, thus render- ing detection difficult. Heredity of leprosy is considered a mistake. Consult: ilorrow, "Lep- rosy," in Atlas of iSkin and Venereal Diseases (New York, 1890) ; Ashmead, liuppression and Prevention of Leprosy (Xorristown, Pa., 1897). See Hansen. LEPSIXJS, lep'se-us. K.BL ElCH.RD (1810- 84.) A German archieologist and Egyptologist, born at Xaumburg. Decemljer 23, 1810. He stud- ied at Leipzig, GOttingen, Berlin, and Paris. His first work. Die Paliiograpliie als Mittel der Sprachforschunf) (1834), received the Volney Prize of the French Institute. For some j'ears after this he wrote chiefly on paleography, on the Etruscan, Oscan, and I'mbrian inscriptions {In- scriptiones Umbric<€ et Oscce, 1841), and on com- parative philology (Zwei sprachvergleichende Abhandlungen, 1836, etc.). With his Lettre a il. le professeur H. Kosellini sur I'alphabet hiero- glyphique (1837), written while he was living at Rome (where he became intimately acquainted with Bunsen), he entered the field of hieroglyphic research. In 1842 he was placed at the head of an expedition sent to Egj'pt by the King of Prussia and spent three years (1842-45) in exploring the ruins of Egypt and Nubia as far as Khartum. The results of this expedition were given to the world in the magnificent work, Denkmiiler aus Aegypten und Aethiopien ( 18.50-.59). published at the expense of the King, and in his Briefe aus Aegypten (18.52). He became professor of Egyp- tology^ at Berlin in 184(5. director of the Berlin Egyptian Museum in 1865. and director of the Royal Library in 1873. Of his numerous works the following are the most important: Chronol- ogie der Aegypter( 1840) : Todfenbnch der Aegyp- ter (1842); Das bilingue Decret von Kanopus (1866). He also wrote on metrology, Die Langenmasse der Alien ( 1884), and on phonetics, Standard Alphabet for Reducing Unwritten Lan- guages, etc. (1863). His Xubische &rammatik (1880) touched on comparative African phi- lology. He died July 10, 1884. Consult Ebers, Richard Lepsius, ein Lebensbild (Leipzig, 1885). liEPT^'NA (Neo-Lat., from Cik. Xe7rT6s, lep- tos. slender). A fossil brachiopod genus char- acteristic of the middle Paleozoic rocks through- out the world. The shells are of deltoid outline, with concentric folds and fine radiating lines. All the varieties, ranging from the upper Ordo- vician into the lower Carboniferous rocks, are probably only modifications of a single race typified by the species Leptaena rhoniboidalis, which has undergone adaptive changes caused by the climatic and physical conditions during the various geological epochs in which it lived. 147 LERCHE. LEPTANDEA (Neo-Lat., from Gk. Xc^Tis, leptos, slender -f di-Tip, aner, male: in modern botanical terminology, stamen). A generic name proposed by Nuttall for Veronica virginica, Cul- ver's root, or Culver's physic, and now employed as the pharmaceutical name of that plant. In America it grows in rich woods from Vermont and Wisconsin southward, and is often cultivated for ornament. It blossoms in .July and August. See Plate of Bloodroot, etc., accompanying article Saxguinabia. LEPTOCARDII, lep'to-kiir'di-i ( Neo-Lat. nom. pi., from Gk. Xeirris, leptos, slender -f Kapdla, kardia, heart). A class of small fish-like animals belonging to the phylum Chordata. It includes two genera, Amphioxus and Asynnnetron. The leptocardians are commonly classed with the vertebrates, although they possess no true back- bone, and as such they form the Acrania in dis- tinction to all the remaining vertebrates — the Craniata. (See Classification of Axijials. ) Because of this primitive organization and conse- quent low position among chordates. they form a most important group for the naturalist, and their anatomy and development have been exten- sively studied. See AiiPHioxus. LEPTODISCtJS. See Noctiluca. LEP'TOME (from Gk.firT6i, leptos, slender). The conducting portion of the phloem of a vas- cular bundle. It includes the sieve-tubes, com- panion cells, cambium, and bast-parenchjTua, but not the bast-fibres. See Hadrome and Mestome. liE PUY, le pwe. A town of France. See PuY, Le. LE QUEUX, le ku, William (1864-). An English novelist, born in London. He was edu- cated there and in Italy, was an art student, then a journalist in Paris, and on his return to London was editor of Gossip and Piccadilly, and Parliamentary reporter for the Globe (1888). He was a sub-editor of that paper in 1891-93. traveled in the East, in 1900 went to San Marino as secretary to a British diplomatic mission, and afterwards became consul there. He produced siich novels as Guilty Bonds (1890): Sinned Against (I89I) ; The Great ll'or in England in lain (1892); Zoraida (1894); The Temptress (1895) : Devil's Dice (1896) ; A Madonna of the Music HaUs (1897) : Of Royal Blood (1899) ; In ^yhite Rfument (1900) ; Her Majesty's Minister (1901) ; and The Tickencotc Treasure (1902). XERAT, le-ra', Francis Xavier (1825-87). An American Catholic prelate. He was born at Chateaugiron. France ; was educate<l at Rennes, and when eighteen years old came to the L'nited States, and after a theological course at Balti- more in the Sulpitian College was ordained a Roman Catholic priest in 1852. He taught in Saint Mary's College, ilaryland. and became its prefect. After missionary labors in the West, he worked at Jackson, Miss., during the epidemic of 1853, and at Vicksburg. IMiss., in 1837-61. After the Civil War, in which he served as a Confederate chaplain, he returned to Vicksburg. rendered valuable service during the plague of 1807, and in 1873 was made Bishop of Natchi- toches. La. He was appointed .Archbishop of New Orleans in 1883, and died in France. LERCHE, ler'Ke, Vincent Stoltenrebq (1837-92). A Norwegian painter, born at Tdns- berg. He was a pupil of Gude at the Dflsseldorf