Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 12.djvu/527

* LOTUS. 469 LOXJBET. part, being called the sacred bean. The Hindu . deities of the dill'erent sects are often represented seated on a throne of its shape, or on the ex- panded flower. It symbolized the world; the meru, or residence of the gods ; and female beauty. Among the Chinese the lotus had a simi- lar reputation and poetic meaning, being espe- cially connected with Fuh, or Buddha, and symbolizing female beauty, the small feet of their women being called kin loeu, or 'golden lilies.' In the United States the name lotus is often applied to the yellow water-lily or water- chinquapin {yelmnbo lutea) . Lotus is also the generic name for a genus of leguminous plants, of which there are about 80 species. They have leaves with three leaflets and red, yellow, or white flowers. One of the best known is bird's- foot clover (Lotus corniculatus) . It grows on light sandy soils where hardly any other plant will thrive and is much liked by stock. It is commonly grown in Europe and in the United States, especially at the South. In Europe Celt is aiistralis, the haekberry (q.v.), is called lotus. See Colored Plate of Aquatic Plants. LOTUS BIBD. The Queensland parra. See Jacana. LOTUS-EATERS (Lat. Lotophaf/i, from AoiTOipiyoi., from oit6s, lotos, lotus + <pay€Tv, phagein, to eat). A mythical Libyan people, in- habiting a portion of Cyrenaica, in Northern Africa. These people were greatly dependent for subsistence on the fruit of a tree which also yielded an excellent wine, and it made those "who partook of it forget all about their native land. The place was visited by Uiys.ses in his wanderings, and no sooner had his sail- ors eaten the fruit and partaken of the juice than they lost all desire of returning to Greece. The plant has been identified as the jujube (Zizyphus lotus). The people living on the coast of Tripoli now eat the jujube fruit and make from it a favorite drink. Other plants mentioned in this connection are the Celfis aus- tralis, the nettle tree, a member of the elm tribe which bears a small sweet fruit, and also the fig. LOTUS TREE. See Hackberbt. LOTZE, lo'tse, Rudolf Hebmaxx (1817-81). A German philosopher. He was born at Bautzen in Saxony, and educated at Leipzig, where in 18.39 he took doctor's degrees in medicine and philosophy, and became a privat-docent in both subjects. In 1842 he was made professor ex- traordinary in the university, and two years later succeeded Herbart in the professorship at Gottingen. Here he did all his subsequent work. In 1881 he was called to Berlin, but delivered lectures there only part of a semester before his iluth on .July ij 1881. Among his more ini- piirtant works are: Metaphi/sik (1841); Logik ( 1843) : Mikrokosmns (1856-64) ; and Geschichte der Aesthetik in Deutschland (1868). Of his projected definitive Si/stem der Philosophic only two parts were completed before his death — the Lofiik (1874; 2d ed. 1881) and the Meiaphysik (1879) ; an English translation of both has ap- peared (Oxford. 1884: reprinted 1887-88). After his death also appeared notes from his lectures on the important disciplines of philosophy (Eng. trans., ed. G. T. Ladd. 6 vols.. Boston. 1884-87). Lotze was one of the most influential philoso- phers of the latter half of the nineteenth ceiitury. His main significance is to be found in his at- tempt to reconcile mechanism and teleology: i.e. to show that a scientific explanation of phe- nomena by efficient causation does not exclude purpose. Mechanism, instead of being antago- nistic to teleolog}', was considered a necessary ele- ment in any true system of teleologii- ; for it is only an aspect of the interrelation of things, and interrelation is essential to a world in which pur- pose may be realized. Relations do not obtain between independent things; they are states of things; they are as much attributes of things as sensible qualities are. Things, therefore, are not independent, but are essentially related. What these things are in their inner nature can be con ceived only by analogj'. Spirit is the only form of inner being that we know ; hence following out this analogy he gets a system of monads (see Leib.nitz), which must all be thought to be grounded in a supreme absolute personality or God. In his philosophy, especially of the abso- lute, Lotze is influenced as much by the pressure of his feelings and emotions as by the demands of logic, and his idealism is ethical rather than intellectual. In psychology, his most noteworthy contribution was the local-sign theory, according to which the distinctive, non-spatial sense-attri- butes, which vary according to the locality of the sense-organs stimulated, are the original element out of which our space-consciousness is built. Consult: Lindsay, "Hermann Lotze," in Mind (1876); Santayna, "Lotze's Jloral Idealism." in Mind (1890): Eastwood. "Lotze's Antithesis Between Thought and Things." in Mind (1892) ; Jones, A Criticfil Account of the Philosophy of Lotze, the Doctrine of Thought (New York, 1895) ; Hartmann. Lotzes Philoso/ihie (Leip- zig, 1888) ; Moore. The Ethical Aspect of Lotze's Metaphysics (New York, 1901); Robins, Some Problems of Lotze's Theory of Knoicledge (ib., 1900) ; E. Pfleiderer, Lotzes philosophische Welt- anschauung nach ihren Grundziigcn (2d ed., Boston, 1884) ; Vorbrodt, Prinzipien der Ethik nnd Religionsphilosophie Lotzes (Dessau, 1891). LOUBET, loo'ba'. EinLE ( 1838— ). A French statesman, seventh President of the French Re- public. He was born at Marsanne. in the De- partment of Drome, Southern France, the son of a prosperous peasant proprietor. He was edu- cated in Paris, where he graduated in law. and then returned south and established himself in practice at Montelimar. His legal ability soon attracted attention, and won for him recognition and influence. He was appointed counsel for the Paris, Lyons and ifediterranean Railway, and became mayor of the city of Montelimar. In 1876 he was elected to the Chamber of Deputies. Here he joined the group known as the Republican Left. He was reelected to the Lower House in 1877 and 1881, and in 1885 was chosen Senator. In December. 1887. he entered the Cabinet of M. Tirard as Minister of Public Works, but retired with his colleagues in .April following. On Febru- ary 20. 1892. he became Premier by appointment of President Camot, who was his personal friend, succeeding IL de Freycinet. He himself took the portfolio of the Interior. His administration, which lasted until Xovember. was marked by successfuUv meeting the problems arising from the miners' strike at Carmaux. and by the un- earthing of the Panama scandal, but upon a favorable vote in the Chamber on a resolution declaring that the (Jovemment policy was too passive, he resigned. Reelected to the Senate, he