LA'DANUM, or LABDANUM. See CISTUS. LADIES OF THE BEDCHAMBER. LADIES OF THE QUEEN'S HOUSEHOLD.

See

LADIES OF THE QUEEN'S HOUSEHOLD, THE, consist of the Mistress of the Robes, the Ladies of the Bedchamber, the Bedchamber Women, and the Maids of Honour.

The office of Mistress of the Robes is of considerable antiquity. It is her duty to regulate the rotation and times of attendance of the rest of the Ladies of the Household, who are all subordinate to her. She has the superintendence of all duties connected with the bedchamber-within which the Lord Chamberlain has no authority-and the custody of the robes. On state occasions, she must see that the ceremony of robing the Queen is properly performed. In public ceremonials, she accompanies the Queen in the same carriage, or walks immediately before Her Majesty. The Ladies of the Bedchamber, who now number eight, with three extra ladies, and the Bedchamber Women, of whom there are eight, besides one resident and two extra, are personal attendants, ministering to the state of Her Majesty. The Maids of Honour, of whom there are eight, are immediate attendants on the royal person, and in rotation perform the duty of accompanying the Queen on all occasions. They enjoy by courtesy the title Honourable,' when not entitled to it by birth, and are then designated the 'Honourable Miss without the Christian name.

LADING, BILL of. See BIL OF LADING. LADISLAS, VLADISLAS, VLADISLAF, ULADISLAS, different forms of a name frequently occurring in the histories of Poland, Hungary, Bohemia, and Servia.-VLADISLAS L. of Poland, surnamed Lokietek (the Short)-one of those princes who appear to be raised up during a period of intestine confusion and disorganisation, for the purpose of shewing how powerful is the influence of one great mind-was ruler of the small province of Cracow, at a time when Poland was subdivided into countless small independencies. V. united them in 1319; and the further to increase the stability of the government, he reduced the privileges of the higher nobles, removed the council of prelates and magnates, replacing it by a popular assembly; he greatly improved the administration of justice, and furthered commerce and industry.-VLADISLAS II. and VLADISLAS III. See JAGELLONS-VLADISLAS IV. (1632-1648), while yet a youth, was elected Czar of Russia in 1610, but was prevented by his father, Sigismund, from accepting the crown. He was a wise and politic prince, yet it was under his reign that Sweden, Russia, and Turkey commenced to nibble at the outlying provinces. He strove manfully to remedy the peculiar defects of the Polish constitution, but they were too deeply rooted; and though he sought to end the oppression of the dissidents, and took the part of the Cossacks against those nobles who had deprived them of their rights, Bo weak was the royal authority, that his support availed them nothing. The Cossacks, maddened by deprivation of their liberties, the imposition of new taxes, and the persecuting zeal of the Roman Catholic clergy, rose in rebellion, annihilated the Polish army, and put themselves under the rule of Russia. At

this critical moment, V. died.

LAD'OGA (STARAIA, or OLD LADOGA), an ancient Russian town, in the government of St Petersburg,

LADOGA, LAKE, the largest lake of Europe, is situated in the north-west of Russia, between Finnland and the governments of Olonetz and Petersburg. It is 120 miles in length, 70 miles in breadth, It receives the and 6804 square miles in area. waters of Lake Onega, Lake Saim, and Lake Ilmen, and its own waters are carried off to the Gulf of Finnland by the Neva (q. v.). The depth of Lake L. varies from 12 to 1000 feet, and the navigation is exceedingly dangerous, owing to the shallows, sandbanks, and sunken rocks in which it abounds, and to the gusty winds which are created by its steep Of the several islands of the and rocky banks. lake, the principal are the Valaam and Konevetz, with monasteries, which attract numbers of pilgrims. Of the 70 rivers which fall into Lake L, the principal are the Wolkhof, the Sias, and the Svir, each of which is a means of communication between the Neva and the Volga. In order to obviate the difficulty of navigation, canals have been constructed along its south and south-east shores, the principal being the Ladoga Canal (70 feet wide), which unites the mouth of the Wolkhof with the Neva. Other two canals unite the mouths of the Sias and Svir with the Ladoga Canal. This canalsystem forms the thoroughfare for a very extensive Cointraffic between the Volga and the Baltic. munication by water subsists between Lake L. and the White Sea as well as the Caspian.

LADRO'NES, or THIEVES' ISLANDS, a group of about 20 islands, the northernmost Australasian group, in lat. 134°-204° N., and long. 145°-147° E. They are disposed in a row almost due north and south. Their united area is about 1254 square miles. They were discovered by Magellan (in 1521), who gave them the name which they still bear, from the thievish propensity displayed by the natives. They were afterwards called the Lazarus Islands; and the Jesuit missionaries, who settled here in 1667, called them the Mariana Islands. They are moun tainous, well watered and wooded (among the trees are the bread-fruit, the banana, the cocoa-nut), fruitful in rice, maize, cotton, and indigo. European domestic animals are now very common. At the time when they were discovered, the population was reckoned at 100,000, but the present population is only about 5500. The inhabitants, who are docile, religious, kind, and hospitable, resemble in physiognomy those of the Philippine Islands. The islands are very important to the Spaniards, in a commercial point of view. The largest island is Guajan, 90 miles in circumference; on it is the capital, San Ignacio de Agaña, the seat of the Spanish governor.

LADY, a woman of distinction correlatively to Lord (q. v.), used in a more extensive sense in common parlance correlatively to gentleman. As a title, it belongs to peeresses, the wives of peers, and of peers by courtesy, the word Lady being in all these cases prefixed to the peerage title. The daughters of dukes, marquises, and earls are by courtesy desig nated by the title Lady prefixed to their Chris tian name and surname; a title not lost by marriage with a commoner, when the lady only substitutes her husband's surname for her own, and retains her

precedence. But a peer's daughter marrying a peer, can no longer be designated by her Christian name with Lady; she must take her husband's rank and title, even should a loss of precedence be the result, as when the daughter of a duke marries an earl, viscount, or baron. Should her husband, however, be merely a courtesy peer, she may retain her designation by Christian name with Lady prefixed, substituting her husband's courtesy title for her surname; this title and precedence being again dropped on her husband's succession to the peerage by his father's death. The daughter-in-law of a duke, marquis, or earl, is generally designated by the title Lady prefixed to the Christian name and surname of her husband; but if she be the daughter of a peer of a higher rank than her father-in-law, she may, if she pleases, be designed by Lady prefixed to her own Christian name and her husband's surname, and in that case she retains the precedence which she had when unmarried. The wife of a bar met or knight is generally designed by Lady pretixed to her husband's surname; the proper legal designation, however, being Dame, followed by her Christian name and surname.

LADY CHAPEL, a chapel dedicated to the Virgin Mary (Our Lady'), and usually, but not always, placed eastwards from the altar when attached to cathedrals. Henry VII.'s Chapel at Westminster is the lady chapel of that cathedral.

LADY OF MERCY, OUR, a Spanish order of knighthood, founded in 1218 by James I. of Aragon, in fulfilment of a vow made to the Virgin during his captivity in France. The object for which the order was instituted was the redemption of Christian captives from among the Moors, each knight at his inauguration vowing that, if necessary for their ransom, he would remain himself a captive in their stead. Within the first six years of the existence of the order, no fewer than 400 captives are said to have been ransomed by its means. On the expulsion of the Moors from Spain, the labours of the knights were transferred to Africa. Their badge is a shield party per fess gules and or, in chief a cross pattée argent, in base four pallets gules for Aragon, the shield crowned with a ducal coronet. The order was

extended to ladies in 1261.

LADY OF MONTESA, OUR, an order of knighthood, founded in 1317 by King James II. of Aragon, who, on the abrogation of the order of the Templars, urged Pope Clement V. to allow him to employ all their estates within his territory in founding a new knightly order for the protection of the Christians against the Moors. His request was acceded to by the following pope, John XXII., who granted him for this purpose all the estates of the Templars and of the Knights of St John situated in Valencia. Out of these was founded the new order, which King James named after the town and castle of Montesa, which he assigned as its head-quarters. The order is now conferred merely as a mark of royal favour, though the provisions of its statutes are still nominally observed on new creations. The badge is a red cross edged with gold, the costume a long white woollen mantle, decorated with a cross on the left breast, and tied with very long white

cords.

LADYBIRD (Coccinella), a genus of coleopterous insects of the section Trimera, containing a great number of species very similar to each other. They are very pretty little beetles, well known to every one, generally of a brilliant red or yellow colour, with black, red, white, or yellow spots, the number and distribution of which is one of the characteristic marks of the different species. The form is nearly hemispherical, the under-surface being very flat, the

thorax and head small; the antennæ are short, and terminate in a triangular club; the legs are short When handled, these insects emit from their join's a yellowish fluid, having a disagreeable smell. They and their larvæ feed chiefly on aphides, in devouring which they are very useful to hopgrowers and other agriculturists. They deposit their eggs under the leaves of plants, on which the larvæ are to find their food, and the

Magnified.

larvæ run about in pur- Ladybird (Coccinella ocellata): suit of aphides. Ladybirds are sometimes to be seen in immense numbers, which, from ignorance of their usefulness, have sometimes been regarded with a kind of superstitious dread. Several species are abundant in Britain, and (C. novem-notata) the nine-dotted Coccinella, one of the most common, is found in N. America in great numbers. The name I is perhaps a corruption of Ladybug (Lady, i. e., the Virgin Mary). The German name is Marienkäfer.

LADY-DAY, one of the regular quarter-days in England and Ireland, on which rent is generally made payable. It is the 25th of March in each year.

LADY'S MANTLE (Alchemilla), a genus of herbaceous plants, chiefly natives of temperate and cold climates, of the natural order Rosacea, sub-order Sanguisorbeæ; having small and numerous flowers, an 8-cleft calyx, no corolla, and the fruit surrounded by the persistent calyx. The name L. M. signifying Mantle of our Lady-i. e., of the Virgin Mary-is derived from the form of the leaves.-The COMMON L M. (A. vulgaris) is abundant on banks and in pastures throughout Britain.-Still more beautiful is the ALPINE L. M. (A. alpina), which grows on mountains in Scotland, and has digitate serrated leaves, white and satiny beneath.

LADY'S SLIPPER (Cypripedium), a genus of plants of the natural order Orchidee, of which one species, C. Calceolus, is a native of Britain, being found in a few places in the north of England, and is reckoned one of the most beautiful of the British Orchids. The genus is remarkable for the large inflated lip of the corolla. Several very beautiful species are natives of the colder parts of the United States.

LAELAPS, the name of a genus of carnivorous Dinosauria, of which remains have been found in the cretaceous strata of New Jersey, Mississippi, and Nebraska. The largest species, Laelaps aquilunguis, was one of the most extraordinary of the forms which have inhabited the earth during the periods of the past. Its length was about 25 feet, the hind limbs measuring about 10 feet, and the fore limbs but 3. It walked exclusively on the former, only resting on the latter in bringing the head to the ground. The structure of the leg and foot enabled Cope, its discoverer, to determine the affinities of these reptiles to the birds. The foot was armed with acute claws, like those of a bird of prey, but of 10 and 11 inches in length. The teeth were flat, knife-shaped, and designed for cutting flesh. It is supposed that animals with the claws of the hind foot, and tore the flesh by of this type leaped on their prey and transfixed them bird of prey. Their mode of defence would be by a backward motion of the head, in the manner of the throwing the body on its back, and striking with this immense and powerful hind legs.

LAENNEC, RENE THEOPHILE HYACYNTHE, a distinguished physician, was born at Quimper, in

numerous banks, hotels, and manufactories. Pop. in 1870, 15,300; in 1880 (with suburbs), about 21,000. LAFFITTE, JACQUES, a French banker and statesman, born of humble parentage at Bayonne, 24th October 1767, was early employed as a clerk by the rich banker Perregaux in Paris, and succeeded him in business in 1809. He soon rose to great wealth and a European reputation. He was made President of the Chamber of Commerce, and in 18 4 governor of the Bank of France. On the return of Napoleon from Elba, Louis XVIII. deposited a large sum in L.'s hands; and after the battle of Waterloo, Napoleon intrusted 5,000,000 francs to him, which he kept safe, although the government made some attempts to lay hold of it. After the second restoration, he became one of the opposition in the Chamber of Deputies, and enjoyed the highest popularity in Paris. When the revolution broke out in 1830, he wrote to the Duke of Orleans, saying, 'You have to make your choice between a crown and a passport.' He freely supplied the money requisite on that occasion. He became one of the first ministry of the new king, and in November 1830 was intrusted with the formation of a cabinet, the conservative character of which caused the loss of his popularity. Meanwhile his banking affairs fell into confusion, and he was obliged to sell all his property to pay his debts. A national subscription preserved him his hotel in Paris; and being again elected to the Chamber as a deputy for Paris, he became a leader of the opposition. From the ruins of his fortune he founded a new Discount Bank. As the government receded more from the principles of the revolution of 1830, L. became more active in opposition. In 1843, to the great displeasure of the court, he was elected president of the Chamber of Deputies. He died 26th May 1844.

LAFONTAINE, JEAN DE, a French poet, distinguished above all his countrymen as a fabulist, was the son of a Maître des Eaux et Forêts, and was born July 8, 1621, at Château-Thierry, in Champagne. In his early youth, he learned almost nothing, and at the age of 20, he was sent by his father to the Oratory at Rheims, in a state of extreme ignorance. Here, however, he began to exhibit a decided taste for the classics and for poetry. Though selfish and vicious to the last degree, he possessed withal a certain childlike bonhommie; it was not grace, or vivacity, or wit, but a certain soft and pleasant amiability of manner, so that he never wanted friends. He successively found protectors in the Duchess de Bouillon, who drew him to Paris; in Madame de Sablière, and in M. and Madame Hervart. He enjoyed the friendship of Molière, Boileau, Racine, and other contemporary celebrities; and even the saintly Fenelon lamented his death in extravagant strains. In 1693, after a dangerous illness, he carried into execution what a French critic char: acteristically terms his projet de conversion, and spent the brief remainder of his life in a kind of artificial penitence, common enough among licentious men and women in those sensual days. He died at Paris, April 13, 1695. His best, which, how ever, are also his most immoral productions, are Contes et Nouvelles en Vers (Paris, 1665; 2d part, 1666; 3d part, 1671), and Fables Choisies mises en Vers (also in three parts, of which the first appeared in 1668, and the third in 1693). The editions of the Fables have been innumerable. The best edition of L's collected works is that of Walckenaer (18 vols. Paris, 1819-1820; improved edition, in 6 vols. 1822-1823).

LAGERSTROMIA, a genus of plants of the

natural order Lythracea, the type of a sub-order Lagerstromie, which is distinguished by winged seeds, and in which are to be found some of the noblest trees of tropical forests, whereas the true Lythrea are generally herbaceous. Lagerstroemia Regina is the JAROOL of India-a magnificent tree, with red wood, which, although soft, is durable under water, and is therefore much used for boatbuilding.

LA'GOMYS, a genus of rodent quadrupeds, of the family Leporida, much resembling hares or rabbits, but with limbs of more equal length, more perfect clavicles, longer claws, longer head, shorter ears, and no tail. They are interesting from their peculiar instincts, storing up herbage for winter use in heaps or stacks. The ALPINE L., or PIKA of Siberia (L. alpinus), the largest of the genus, is scarcely larger than a guineapig, yet its stacks are sometimes four or five feet high, by eight feet in diameter, and often afford adventurous sable-hunters the food necessary for their horses. The little animals live in burrows, from the inhabited part of which galleries lead to the stacks. The herbage of which they are com. posed is of the choicest kind, and dried so as to retain much of its juices, and form the very best of hay.

LAGOO'N (Lat. lacuna, a hollow or pool) is a species of lake formed by the overflowing either of the sea or of rivers, or by the infiltration of water from these; and hence lagoons are sometimes divided into fluvial and marine. They are found only in low-lying lands, such as the coasts of Holland, Italy, the Baltic, and the east coast of South America; are generally shallow, and do not always present the same aspect. In some cases, they are completely dried up in summer; in others, after being once formed, they preserve throughout the whole year the character of stagnant marshy pools; and in others, again, the sea, which re-unites them to itself in winter, is separated from them in summer by a bar of sand or shingle.

LA'GOS, a city and seaport of Portugal, in the province of Algarve, on a wide bay, 23 miles eastnorth-east from the extremity of Cape St Vincent. The harbour affords protection from north and west winds only, and accommodates only small vessels. A productive tunny-fishery is carried on in the vicinity. Pop. 7800. In the bay of L., Admiral Boscawen obtained a signal victory over the French Toulon fleet, August 18, 1759.

LAGRANGE, JOSEPH LOUIS, COMTE, one of the greatest of mathematicians, was born at Turin in 1736. He was of French extraction, and was the grandson of Descartes. When still a yonth, he solved the isoperimetrical problem of Euler, and when scarcely 19 years of age, was appointed Professor of Mathematics in the Artillery School in Turin. Frederick the Great appointed him to be Euler's successor, as director of the Academy at Berlin, in 1759. After Frederick's death, Naples, Sardinia, Tuscany, and France strove for the honour of offering L. a better position. He accepted the offer of France, and took up his quarters in the Louvre in 1787, obtaining a pension of 6000 francs (£238). In 1791, he was chosen a foreign member of the Royal Society of London, and the same year the National Assembly con firmed to him his pension, and he was appointed one of the directors of the Mint. He was in great danger during the Reign of Terror, but escaped, and was afterwards professor in the Normal and Polytechnic Schools. Napoleon made him a mem ber of the Senate, bestowed on him the Grand Cross of the Legion of Honour, the title of Count