or LOTING, amongst chemists, a mixed, tenacious, ductile substance, which grows solid by drying, and, being applied to the juncture of vessels, stops them up so as to prevent the air from getting in or out.

Lute is also a stringed musical instrument. The lute consists of four parts; the table; the body or belly, which has nine or ten sides; the neck, which has nine or ten stops or divisions, marked with strings; and the head or cross, where the screws for raising and lowering the strings to a proper pitch of tone are fixed. In the middle of the table there is a rose or passage for the sound; there is also a bridge to which the strings are fastened, and a piece of ivory between the head and the neck to which the other extremities of the strings are fitted. In playing, the strings are struck with the right hand, and with the left the stops are pressed. The lutes of Bologna are esteemed the best, on account of the wood, which is said to be peculiarly fitted for producing a sweet sound.