or MIDDLE TIBET, a very elevated and rugged country of central Asia, N. of the Punjab, and lying between N. Lat. 32. 25, and 35. 10., and E. Long. 75. 30. and 79. 10. It is bounded N. by the Karakoram Mountains, which separate it from the Chinese territory of Kotan, E. and S.E. by the Chinese districts of Rudok and Chumurti; on the S. it includes the districts of Lahul and Spiti, now attached to British India; and on the W. it is separated from Kashmir by the western Himalaya chain, and from Balti by an imaginary line drawn from the mouth of the Dras to the sources of the Nubra. Its greatest length from N.W. to S.E. is 240 miles, and its greatest breadth 190; but, from the irregularity of its outline, its entire area is little more than 30,000 square miles. The territory of Ladak is one of the most elevated regions of the globe. The great valley of the Indus traverses the country through its entire length from S.E. to N.W. On each side of the valley are several parallel ranges of mountains, some of which are calculated to rise to the enormous height of above 29,000 feet. These determine the course of the rivers, and furnish a system of divisions for the country. These divisions are,—1, at Nubra, on the Shayok; 2, Ladak Proper, on the Indus; 3, Zanskar, on the Zanskar River; 4, Rukchu, along the lakes of Tshomo Riri and Tsho-Kar; 5, Purik, and Suru, and Dras, on the different branches of the Dras River; 6, Spiti, on the Spiti River; and 7, Lahul, on the Chandra and Bhaga, or head waters of the Chenab. The first five are subject to Gholab Singh, and the two last belong to the East India Company.

The following table gives the area and mean elevation of the inhabited parts of the different districts:

| Area in Square Miles | Mean Height | |----------------------|-------------| | Nubra | 9216 | 12,763 | | Ladak | 3960 | 11,590 | | Zanskar | 3080 | 13,154 | | Rukchu | 5580 | 15,634 | | Purik, Suru, Dras | 4200 | 11,196 | | Spiti | 2312 | 12,596 | | Lahul | 1872 | 11,063 |

The great river of Ladak is the Indus. Its principal affluent is the Shayok, which rises in the Karakoram Mountains in N. Lat. 35, E. Long. 78. Its course for about 150 miles is generally in a S.E. direction, when it turns suddenly to the N.W., and continues a W.N.W. course to its junction with the Indus at Keris. Its length is about 400 miles. The Zanskar, a dark and turbulent torrent, falls into the Indus at Nyimo, 25 miles below Lé, after a northerly course of 210 miles. About 25 miles above its mouth it receives the Sum-gal, which has a N.N.W. course of 110 miles. At Moral, 125 miles below Lé, the Indus receives on the left the Dras, which is about 85 miles in length. There are also numerous lakes, the principal of which is Pankong, a long narrow sheet of extremely salt water, not less than 85 miles in length, with an average breadth of 3 miles. The great mountain ranges are generally of primary formation—granite, gneiss, and mica-slate. Lead, copper, and iron ores have been discovered; and gold is found in the sand of several of the rivers. Sulphur, soda, and borax are obtained in certain parts.

The climate of Ladak is characterized by great extremes of heat and cold, and by excessive dryness. In the elevated district of Rukchu it freezes almost every night during summer, but the noon-day sun is several degrees hotter than in most parts of India. The quantity of rain and snow that falls is, owing to the great lack of moisture in the atmosphere, exceedingly small. In the more elevated districts of Rukchu, Nubra, Zanskar, and Ladak Proper, it rains, or rather drizzles, for an hour or two, three or four times in a year. Snow falls much oftener, but not in any quantity, and in Ladak and Rudok it is never more than six inches deep. This aridity of climate renders artificial irrigation necessary in cultivation, and hence the cultivated land is only to be found along the courses of the rivers and streams. The waters of the smaller streams are arrested by dams, and conducted with great skill from field to field, and from terrace to terrace. The grain crops are wheat, barley, and buckwheat. The esculent vegetables are carrots, turnips, onions, cabbages, and radishes. Caraway, mustard, linseed, and tobacco, are cultivated to a small extent. The timber trees are few and unimportant. The most common are poplars and willows, which are planted round every village. Less common are the pencil cedar, the Eleocharis Moorcroftii, and a kind of tamarisk. The fruit trees are the apple, apricot, walnut, mulberry, and vine. The rhubarb of medicine grows in great profusion, and of the finest quality.

The wild animals are numerous. The elevated plains of the Indus, and the lofty table-lands of Rukchu, abound with the horse, marmot, and hare, while the snowy mountains and rugged glens teem with many varieties of the wild goat, sheep, and deer. Other wild animals are the leopard, bear, wolf, fox, ounce, lynx, jackal, and weasel. The domestic quadrupeds are horses, yaks, cows, asses, goats, and dogs. The goat furnishes the fine wool of which the fine Kashmir shawls are made. Birds are not numerous. The chakor is a bird resembling a partridge, but of the size of a guinea hen. The eagle, kite, and raven, are common, as are also smaller birds, as the sparrow, linnet, redbreast, and lark. Waterfowl abound on the lakes. The rivers teem with fish, which the superstition of the natives does not allow them to molest.

The manufactures of Ladak are few, rude, and unimportant, being chiefly coarse woollens for home consumption. The country furnishes few articles of trade, almost the only exports being wool, borax, sulphur, and dried fruits. The transit trade, however, is very large, owing to its position between Kashmir and India on the S. and S.W., and the Chinese provinces of Yarkand, Kotan, and Kashgar, on the N. and N.E.

Ladak is inhabited by a peculiar race of people, considered in features and language to bear a considerable resemblance to the Chinese. The population is estimated at 168,000.

The professed religion is Lamaism. The deity is worshipped in the character of a trinity, but adoration is paid to a great number of inferior beings, represented by a variety of curious idols. Among the social institutions of the country the most remarkable is the system of polygamy that prevails among the poorer classes. A family of brothers has only one wife in common, who will thus not unfrequently have three or four husbands. The system, however, is strictly confined to brothers. The rich, as in all eastern countries, have generally several wives. Previous to the conquest of the country by the Sikhs, the government was a simple despotism, administered by the Rajah, according to the direction of the influential Lamas. Gholab Singh invaded the country in 1835, and annexed it to the dominions of his master Ranjeet Singh. He now retains the acquisition as a portion of the principality which was assigned to him by the British after the conquest of the Punjab. (See Cunningham's *Ladakh.*)

**LADOGA,** a lake in Russia, the largest in Europe, lies between the governments of Viborg on the N. and W., Petersburg on the S., and Olonetz on the E. Its greatest length is about 130 miles, breadth above 70. The coast is generally low, much indented, and abounding in dangerous reefs. The depth in some places reaches about 150 fathoms, in others it is insufficient for safe navigation. Storms are frequent, and the influx of many considerable streams produces strong currents. The chief rivers entering the lake are the Swir (or Sver) from the E., bearing the waters of Lake Onega; the Volkhoft on the S.; those of Lake Ilmen and the Saima on the N., draining the reticulation of waters of that name. It empties itself on the S.W., by the Neva, into the Gulf of Finland. There are numerous islands scattered along the north-western shore, several of them inhabited. The principal towns on the coast are Kexholm, Schlusselburg, and Novia Ladoga. A canal executed in the reign of Peter the Great connects the two latter, forming a direct communication between the Neva and Volkhoft.

**LADRONE,** or **MARIANNE ISLANDS** (so called respectively from the thievish habits of the natives, and in honour of Queen Mary Anne of Spain), a group in the N. Pacific Ocean, between Lat. 13. and 21., Long. 144. and 146. They are about twenty in number, of volcanic origin, irregular and picturesque in outline, and clothed with luxuriant vegetation. The intervening straits abound in shoals and currents, and there are few good harbours. The heat of the climate is somewhat tempered by the trade-winds. Among the vegetable products are sugar, rice, Indian corn, tobacco, cotton, indigo, &c. Of wild animals, the most numerous are swine, sometimes of large size; cattle, horses, asses, mules, and llamas, have been introduced by the Spaniards. The principal island is Guajarat, or St John, the most southerly of the group. It is about 80 miles in circumference, and has a good fortified harbour, some miles to the S. of St Ygnacio de Agaña, the seat of government. The aboriginal inhabitants, an active and athletic race, have gradually given place to a mixed population, descended of colonists from Mexico and the Philippine Isles. This group was discovered in 1521 by Magellan; but no settlement was made in them for about 150 years, when the widow of Philip IV. sent out a body of missionaries to convert the natives. They were visited in 1742 by Anson, who spent some time on the island of Tinian, where he discovered architectural remains, indicating a considerable progress in the arts of civilization.

There are two other small island groups of this name, the one on the coast of China, at the mouth of the bay of Canton, a great stronghold of pirates, the other off the coast of Guatemala.

**LADY,** a word of Saxon origin, generally supposed to signify loaf-giver, the first part of the word *hlaef,* a loaf, being preserved in the Saxon *hlaeford,* a lord. In ancient times it was the practice of the lady of the manor to distribute bread to the poor with her own hands at stated times. Tooke, however, derives the term from the verb *hlyfan,* to raise, and thus regards it as denoting a person raised to equality with her lord. Both derivations are honourable to our Saxon ancestors. As a title it belongs to the daughters of all peers above the rank of a viscount, but is extended by courtesy to the wives of knights.

**Lady-Day** an immovable feast celebrated on the 25th of March, or the annunciation of the Holy Virgin.

**LELIUS SAPIENTIS,** C., was the son of C. Laelius Nepos, and distinguished by his love of philosophy in an age when war still continued to be regarded as the only employment worthy of a Roman. He was the pupil of Diogenes the Stoic, and afterwards of Panætius. (*Cic. Fin.* ii. 8.) He was the intimate friend and companion of Scipio Africanus the younger, and attended him in his expedition into Africa when he took Carthage, n.c. 146. (*Appian, Pun.* 126.) He was then employed as praetor in Iberia, where he obtained considerable advantages over Viriathus. (*Cic. Off.* ii. 11.) He was elected consul along with Servilius Caepio (n.c. 140); but notwithstanding the able manner in which he discharged the duties of the office, he did not succeed in being re-elected, a circumstance which Cicero laments in most feeling language. (*Tusc.* v. 19.) Laelius spent much of his time in the country, devoting himself partly to rural occupations, and partly to study. The mildness of his disposition, and the equanimity of his temper, are noticed by Horace, when he speaks of *mitis superposita Ladii* (*Sat.* ii. i). He was the intimate friend of Pacuvius and Terence; and it is said that he and Scipio assisted the latter in the composition of some of his plays. It was no doubt his friendship with Scipio that induced Cicero to place the name of Laelius at the head of his beautiful essay *On Friendship.* The interlocutors are Laelius himself, and his two sons-in-law, C. Fannius and Q. Mucius Scævola.

**LAENNEC,** RÉGIS THIOPHILE HYACINTHE, the discoverer of mediate auscultation, was born at Quimper, in Lower Brittany, February 17, 1781. After going through the usual course at the chief school in the department of the Loire Inférieure, he began the study of medicine under the care of his paternal uncle, a distinguished physician at Nantes. In 1799 he acted for a short time as assistant surgeon in the military hospitals then established in that city. Removing to Paris in the following year, he attached himself to the clinical school in the great hospital of La Charité, at that time under the direction of the celebrated Corvisart. Among his fellow-students were Double and Bayle. Even thus early he began to make himself known by his occasional essays and pamphlets, and by his contributions to the *Journal de Médecine.* He graduated in 1804. In the same year he became editor of the *Journal de Médecine,* and continued to enrich its pages with many learned and original papers, chiefly on morbid pathology, till bad health compelled him to resign his office. His intention at this time was to have published a complete work of morbid anatomy, on which he had lectured publicly for some sessions at Paris. He did not live to carry out his plan; but portions of the work were published as separate articles in the *Dictionnaire des Sciences Médicales.* Meanwhile his practice was keeping pace with his widening fame; and in 1816 he was appointed chief physician to the Hôpital Necker, the duties of which he undertook with his usual zeal and activity, and in which he was speedily rewarded for all his labours by his great discovery. For two years after the idea first dawned upon him he devoted himself with astonishing perseverance to perfecting the new system of diagnosis which he founded on it. By June in 1818 he had advanced so far as to read a memoir before the Academy of Sciences, containing the outline of his method, and in the September of the following year he published his remarkable work, under the title of *De l'Auscultation Médiate, ou Traité du diagnostic des Maladies des Poumons et du Coeur,* fondé principalement sur ce nouveau moyen d'exploration.* The profession, especially the elder members of it, received the work with distrust; and but for the admirable descriptions of diseases contained in it, and giving it a value independent altogether of the system of diagnostics, his discovery might have fallen into temporary oblivion. Fortun- ately, however, Laennec had many zealous friends among his own students, who diffused a knowledge of the new method, not only in France, but in other countries of Europe.

Meanwhile, the labour involved both in observing and redacting the results of his observations had very nearly proved fatal to Laennec. He was physically very small and puny, and his intense application had now broken his health, both of mind and body. Relinquishing his valuable practice, and all his appointments, he retired to a country-house of his own near his birth-place. He was not long of recovering his health and spirits, but he was very unwilling to return to Paris. However, in the autumn of 1821 he did return, and besides renewing his duties at the Necker Hospital, became private physician to the Duchess of Berri, and professor of medicine in the College of France. When the college was reconstituted in the following year, he was appointed to the chair of clinical medicine. His health again began to give way, and the art which he had himself discovered warned him that he was falling a prey to pulmonary consumption. After seeing through the press the second edition of his great work, he again retired to his native town. At first he seemed to benefit by the change; but the disease had gone too far to be arrested, and he died August 13, 1826, in the forty-fifth year of his age.

Though it was as the inventor of the stethoscope that Laennec became known in his own day, and wished to be known by posterity, that invention is not his only or his greatest title to posthumous fame. Its invention was indirectly invaluable, as it led Laennec to make diseases of the chest his special study. These pathological inquiries of his yielded results more beneficial to mankind than any discovery in modern medicine, except vaccination. Diseases of the chest, which before Laennec's time had been very little understood, are now diagnosed by mediate or immediate auscultation with an accuracy as faultless as those which show themselves on the surface of the skin. Though he had a large and lucrative practice, Laennec does not seem to have been highly esteemed as a physician, and the therapeutical portions of his work are the least satisfactory. It was as a pathologist that he was distinguished above most of his contemporaries.

His great work has been translated into most of the European tongues. The English translation, by Dr John Forbes of Chichester, is preceded by a life of Laennec, compiled from two biographies by Kergaradec and Bayle.

Lestrygones, a fabulous race of giants, whose name is often found in the Greek myths. They are first mentioned in the Odyssey, where they are described as a pastoral people, governed by a king called Lamus. Homer assigns them no site, but tradition placed them in the island of Sicily. Their exact locality in that island varied with the fancy of the writer. The current story is that they dwelt near Leontini, and that from this circumstance the rich plains adjoining that city came to be called the Campi Lestrygonii. The version most popular at Rome was that they lived on the Latian coast around Formia, which was represented as their capital.

Lafayette, Gilbert Motier, was born at Chavagne, in Auvergne, Sept. 6, 1757, and educated at the Parisian College of Louis le Grand. At the age of 20, and only three years after his marriage with the granddaughter of the Duc de Noailles, he left France to assist the Americans in the war of independence; and fought as a volunteer at Brandywine. Shortly after, equipping 2000 infantry at his own expense, he signalled himself at the capture of New York. On the close of the war he returned to France; in 1787 became a member of the Notables; and, during the revolution of 1789 sat in the National Assembly, where he proposed the famous "Declaration of Rights." Having been appointed commander-in-chief of the National Guards, he was present at the attack upon Ver-

sailles, and saved the lives of the royal family. In 1790, after organizing the Club of Feuillons, and defending the king from popular fury, he retired to his estates. In the war of the coalition, in 1792, he was one of the three major-generals in command; but losing his popularity on account of his moderate opinions, he was compelled to flee from France, and fell into the hands of the Austrians, who imprisoned him at Olmütz. He was liberated along with the other prisoners in 1797. During the ascendency of Bonaparte, Lafayette declined all public offices until the emperor's return from Elba, when he accepted a seat in the House of Representatives. This body, at his instigation, attempted to continue sitting after the disaster at Waterloo, but was dissolved by military force, and Lafayette returned to his retirement. He visited the United States in 1824. In 1830 he commanded the National Guards, and was instrumental in raising Louis Philippe to the throne. He died in 1834.

Lafayette, a town of the United States of North America, capital of Tippecanoe county, Indiana, on the left bank of the Wabash River, 66 miles N.W. of Indianapolis, and 123 miles S.E. of Chicago. It stands on a rising ground, which slopes gradually to the water side, and affords extensive views of the surrounding country. Its chief trade consists in cast-iron, paper, and pork. The prosperity of Lafayette is greatly owing to its easy communication with the Mississippi valley and the lakes of Michigan and Erie. The Wabash and Erie Canal passes through the town, while by rail it is connected with Indianapolis, Lake Michigan, &c. Pop. (1854) about 8000.