bifid. Osteoderms absent. Limbs always well developed. Old World.
This family contains only one genus, _Varanus_, with nearly 30
species, in Africa, Arabia and southern Asia, and Australia, but not
in Madagascar. The generic term is derived from the Arabic _Ouaran_,
which means lizard. Owing to a ridiculous muddle, this Arabic word has
been taken to mean "warning" lizard, hence the Latin _Monitor_, one of
the many synonyms of this genus, now often used as the vernacular.
Many of the "monitors" are semi-aquatic, e.g. _V. niloticus_, and
these have a laterally compressed tail; others inhabit dry sandy
districts, e.g. _V. scincus_, the _ouaran el ard_ of North Africa;
others prefer wooded localities. _V. salvator_ is the largest species,
reaching a length of 7 ft.; it ranges from Nepal and southern China to
Cape York; a smaller species, common in New Guinea and Australia, is
_V. gouldi_. They all are predaceous, powerful creatures, with a
partiality for eggs. Their own eggs are laid in hollow trees, or
buried in the sand. The young are prettily spotted with white and
black ocelli, but the coloration of the adult is mostly very plain.
[Illustration: FIG. 3.--Monitor of the Nile (_Varanus niloticus_).]
The following families are much degraded in conformity with their, in
most cases, subterranean life. They are of doubtful relationships and
contain each but a few species.
Family 17. _Pygopodidae._--Pleurodont, snake-shaped, covered with
roundish, imbricating scales. Tail long and brittle. Fore-limbs
absent; hind-limbs transformed into a pair of scale-covered flaps.
Tongue slightly forked. Eyes functional but devoid of movable lids.
Australia, Tasmania and New Guinea.
_Pygopus_, e.g. _P. lepidopus_, about 2 ft. long, two-thirds belonging
to the tail, distributed over the whole of Australia.
_Lialis burtoni_, of similar size and distribution, has the hind-limbs
reduced to very small, narrow appendages. The members of this family
seem to lead a snake-like life, not subterranean, and some are said to
eat other lizards. _L. jicari_, from the Fly river, has a very
snake-like appearance, with a long, pointed snout like certain
tree-snakes, but with an easily visible ear-opening; their eyelids are
reduced to a ring which is composed of two or three rows of small
scales. (H. F. G.)
FOOTNOTE:
[1] For the etymology of this word, see CROCODILE.
[2] For anatomical detail and experiments, see R. W. Shufeldt, _P. Z.
S._ (1890), p. 178; G. A. Boulenger, _ibid._ (1891), p. 109, and C.
Stewart, _ibid._ (1891), p. 119.
LIZARD POINT, or THE LIZARD, the southernmost point of Great Britain, in
Cornwall, England, in 49° 57´ 30´´ N., 5° 12´ W. It is generally the
first British land sighted by ships bound up the English Channel, and
there are two lighthouses on it. The cliff scenery is magnificent, and
attracts many visitors. The coast is fretted into several small bays,
such as Housel and, most famous of all, Kynance Cove; caves pierce the
cliffs at many points, and bold isolated rocks fringe the shore. The
coloured veining of the serpentine rock is a remarkable feature. The
Lion's Den is a chasm formed by the falling in of a sea-cave in 1847;
the Stags is a dangerous reef stretching southward from the point, and
at Asparagus Island, Kynance Cove, is a natural funnel in which the air
is compressed by the waves and causes a violent ejection of foam. The
principal village is Lizard Town, 10½ m. from Helston, the nearest
railway station.
LJUNGGREN, GUSTAF HÅKAN JORDAN (1823-1905), Swedish man of letters, was
born at Lund on the 6th of March 1823. He was educated at Lund
university, where he was professor of German (1850-1859), of aesthetics
(1859-1889) and rector (1875-1885). He had been a member of the Swedish
Academy for twenty years at the time of his death in September 1905. His
most important work, _Svenska vitterhetens häfder efter Gustav III.'s
död_ (5 vols., Lund., 1873-1895), is a comprehensive study of Swedish
literature in the 19th century. His other works include: _Framställning
af de förnämste estetiska systemerna_ (an exposition of the principal
system of aesthetics; 2 vols., 1856-1860); _Svenska dramat intill slutet
af 17 århundradet_ (a history of the Swedish drama down to the end of
the 17th century, Lund, 1864); an edition (1864) of the _Epistlar_ of
Bellman and Fredman, and a history of the Swedish Academy in the year of
its centenary (1886).
His scattered writings were collected as _Smärre Skrifter_ (3 vols.,
1872-1881).
LLAMA, the Spanish modification of the Peruvian name of the larger of
the two domesticated members of the camel-tribe indigenous to South
America. The llama (_Lama huanacus glama_) is a domesticated derivative
of the wild guanaco, which has been bred as a beast of burden. Chiefly
found in southern Peru, it generally attains a larger size than the
guanaco, and is usually white or spotted with brown or black, and
sometimes altogether black. The following account by Augustin de Zarate
was given in 1544:
[Illustration: Llama.]
"In places where there is no snow, the natives want water, and to
supply this they fill the skins of sheep with water and make other
living sheep carry them, for, it must be remarked, these sheep of Peru
are large enough to serve as beasts of burden. They can carry about
one hundred pounds or more, and the Spaniards used to ride them, and
they would go four or five leagues a day. When they are weary they lie
down upon the ground, and as there are no means of making them get up,
either by beating or assisting them, the load must of necessity be
taken off. When there is a man on one of them, if the beast is tired
and urged to go on, he turns his head round, and discharges his
saliva, which has an unpleasant odour, into the rider's face. These
animals are of great use and profit to their masters, for their wool
is very good and fine, particularly that of the species called pacas,
which have very long fleeces; and the expense of their food is
trifling, as a handful of maize suffices them, and they can go four or
five days without water. Their flesh is as good as that of the fat
sheep of Castile. There are now public shambles for the sale of their
flesh in all parts of Peru, which was not the case when the Spaniards
came first; for when one Indian had killed a sheep his neighbours came
and took what they wanted, and then another Indian killed a sheep in
his turn."
The disagreeable habit of spitting is common to all the group.
In a wide sense the term "llama" is used to designate all the South
American _Camelidae_. (See TYLOPODA.)
LLANBERIS, a town of Carnarvonshire, N. Wales, 8½ m. E. by S. of
Carnarvon, by a branch of the London & North-Western railway. Pop.
(1901) 3015. It is finely situated in a valley near the foot of
Snowdon. The valley has two lakes, Llyn Peris and Llyn Padarn, of over 1
m. and 2 m. long respectively, about ¼ m. apart. From Padarn rises the
Seint, called Rothell in its upper part. Dolbadarn Castle is a circular
tower near the foot of Peris lake. Dolbadarn means the "Padarn meadow."
Several Welsh churches are dedicated to Padarn. In the castle Owen Goch
(Owen the Red) was imprisoned from 1254 to 1277, by the last Llewelyn,
whose brother Dafydd held it for some time against Edward I. During the
time of Owen Glendower (_temp._ Henry IV. and Henry V.), the castle
often changed hands. Near is Ceunantmawr waterfall. The Vaenol slate
quarries are here, and hence is the easiest ascent of Snowdon, with a
railway to the summit. From the road over the fine Llanberis pass
towards Capel Curig, a turn to the right leads to Beddgelert, through
Nant Gwynnant ("white" or "happy valley," or "stream"), where Pembroke
and Ieuan ap Robert (for the Lancastrians) had many skirmishes in the
time of Edward IV. Gwynnant Lake is about 1 m. long, by ¼ m. broad, and
below it is the smaller Llyn Dinas.
LLANDAFF, a city of Glamorganshire, Wales, on the Taff Vale railway, 149
m. from London. Pop. (1901) 5777. It is almost entirely within the
parliamentary borough of Cardiff. It is nobly situated on the heights
which slope towards the southern bank of the Taff. Formerly the see of
Llandaff was looked upon as the oldest in the kingdom; but its origin is
obscure, although the first two bishops, St Dubricius and St Teilo,
certainly flourished during the latter half of the 6th century. By the
12th century, when Urban was bishop, the see had acquired great wealth
(as may be seen from the _Book of Llandaff_, a collection of its records
and land-grants compiled probably by Geoffrey of Monmouth), but after
the reign of Henry VIII. Llandaff, largely through the alienations of
its bishops and the depredations of the canons, became impoverished, and
its cathedral was left for more than a century to decay. In the 18th
century a new church, in debased Italian style, was planted amid the
ruins. This was demolished and replaced (1844-1869) by the present
restored cathedral, due chiefly to the energy of Dean Williams. The
oldest remaining portion is the chancel arch, belonging to the Norman
cathedral built by Bishop Urban and opened in 1120. Jasper Tudor, uncle
of Henry VII., was the architect of the north-west tower, portions of
which remain. The cathedral is also the parish church. The palace or
castle built by Urban was destroyed, according to tradition, by Owen
Glendower in 1404, and only a gateway with flanking towers and some
fragments of wall remain. After this, Mathern near Chepstow became the
episcopal residence until about 1690, when it fell into decay, leaving
the diocese without a residence until Llandaff Court was acquired during
Bishop Ollivant's tenure of the see (1849-1882). For over 120 years the
bishops had been non-resident. The ancient stone cross on the green
(restored in 1897) is said to mark the spot on which Archbishop Baldwin,
and his chaplain Giraldus Cambrensis, preached the Crusade in 1187.
Money bequeathed by Thomas Howell, a merchant, who died in Spain in
1540, maintains an intermediate school for girls, managed by the
Drapers' Company, Howell's trustees. There is an Anglican theological
college, removed to Llandaff from Aberdare in 1907. The city is almost
joined to Cardiff, owing to the expansion of that town.
Llandaff Court, already mentioned, was the ancient mansion of the Mathew
family, from which Henry Matthews, 1st Viscount Llandaff (b. 1826), was
descended. Another branch of this family formerly held the earldom of
Llandaff in the Irish peerage. Henry Matthews, a barrister and
Conservative M.P., whose father was a judge in Ceylon, was home
secretary 1886-1892, and was created viscount in 1895.
LLANDEILO GROUP, in geology, the middle subdivision of the British
Ordovician rocks. It was first described and named by Sir. R. I.
Murchison from the neighbourhood of Llandeilo in Carmarthenshire. In the
type area it consists of a series of slaty rocks, shales, calcareous
flagstones and sandstones; the calcareous middle portion is sometimes
termed the "Llandeilo limestone"; and in the upper portion volcanic
rocks are intercalated. A remarkable feature in the history of the
Llandeilo rocks in Britain, more especially in North Wales and
Cumberland, was the outbreak of volcanic action; vast piles of Llandeilo
lava and ashes form such hills as Cader Idris, and the Arenigs in Wales,
and Helvellyn and Scafell in Westmorland and Cumberland. The series is
also found at Builth and in Pembrokeshire. The average thickness in
Wales is about 2000 ft. The group is usually divided in this area into
three subdivisions. In the Corndon district of Shropshire the _Middleton
Series_ represents the Llandeilo group; it includes, in descending
order, the Rorrington black shales, the _Meadowtown limestones_ and
flags, and the western grits and shales. In the Lake District the great
_volcanic series of Borrowdale_, green slates and porphyries, 8000 to
9000 ft. in thickness, lies on this horizon; and in the Cross Fell area
the _Milburn beds_ of the Skiddaw slates (see ARENIG) appear to be of
the same age. In Scotland the Llandeilo group is represented by the
_Glenkiln shales_, black shales and yellowish mudstones with radiolarian
cherts and volcanic tuffs; by the _Barr Series_, including the Benan
conglomerates, Stinchar limestone and Kirkland sandstones; and by the
Glenapp conglomerates and Tappins mudstones and grits south of Stinchar.
Graptolitic shales, similar to those of southern Scotland, are traceable
into the north-east of Ireland.
The fossils of the Llandeilo group include numerous graptolites,
_Coenograptus gracilis_ being taken as the zonal fossil of the upper
portion, _Didymograptus Murchisoni_ of the lower. Other forms are
_Climacograptus Scharenbergi_ and _Diplograptus foliaceus_. Many
trilobites are found in these rocks, e.g. _Ogygia Buchi_, _Asaphus
tyrannus_, _Calymene cambrensis_, _Cheirurus Sedgwickii_. Among the
brachiopods are _Crania_, _Leptaena_, _Lingula_, _Strophomena_;
_Cardiola_ and _Modiolopsis_ occur among the Pelecypods; _Euomphalus_,
_Bellerophon_, _Murchisonia_ among the Gasteropods; _Conularia_ and
_Hyolithes_ among the Pteropods; the Cephalopods are represented by
_Orthoceras_ and _Cyrtoceras_. The green roofing slates and plumbago
(graphite) of the Lake District are obtained from this group of rocks,
(see ORDOVICIAN).
LLANDILO, or LLANDEILO FAWR, a market town and urban district of
Carmarthenshire, Wales, picturesquely situated above the right bank of
the river Towy. Pop. (1901) 1721. Llandilo is a station on the Mid-Wales
section of the London & North-Western railway, and a terminus of the
Llandilo-Llanelly branch line of the Great Western. The large parish
church of St Teilo has a low embattled Perpendicular tower. Adjoining
the town is the beautiful park of Lord Dynevor, which contains the
ruined keep of Dinefawr Castle and the residence of the Rices (Lords
Dynevor), erected early in the 17th century but modernized in 1858. Some
of the loveliest scenery of South Wales lies within reach of Llandilo,
which stands nearly in the centre of the Vale of Towy.
The name of Llandilo implies the town's early foundation by St Teilo,
the great Celtic missionary of the 6th century, the friend of St David
and reputed founder of the see of Llandaff. The historical interest of
the place centres in its proximity to the castle of Dinefawr, now
commonly called Dynevor, which was originally erected by Rhodri Mawr or
his son Cadell about the year 876 on the steep wooded slopes overhanging
the Towy. From Prince Cadell's days to the death of the Lord Rhys, last
reigning prince of South Wales, in 1196, Dinefawr continued to be the
recognized abode of South Welsh royalty. The castle ruins remain in the
possession of the Rices, Lords Dynevor, heirs and descendants of Prince
Cadell. At one period residence and park became known as New-town, a
name now obsolete. Some personal relics of the celebrated Sir Rhys ap
Thomas, K.G. (1451-1527), are preserved in the modern house. Dinefawr
Castle and its estates were granted away by Henry VIII. on the execution
for high treason of Sir Rhys's grandson, Rhys ap Griffith, but were
restored to the family under Queen Mary.
LLANDOVERY (_Llan-ym-ddyffri_), a market town and ancient municipal
borough of Carmarthenshire, Wales, situated amid hills near the left
bank of the Towy. Pop. (1901) 1809. Llandovery is a station on the
Mid-Wales section of the London & North-Western railway. The
old-fashioned town lies in the parish of Llandingat, and contains the
two churches of Llandingat and Llanfair-ar-y-bryn. The slight remains of
the castle stand on a hillock above the river Brân. The public school
was founded here by Sir Thomas Phillips in 1847.
The place probably owes its Celtic name of Llan-ym-ddyffri (the church
amid the waters) to the proximity of Llandingat church to the streams of
the Towy, Brân and Gwydderig. On account of its commanding position at
the head of the fertile vale of Towy, Llandovery was a strategic site of
some importance in the middle ages. The castle erected here by the
Normans early in the 12th century frequently changed owners during the
course of the Anglo-Welsh wars before 1282. In 1485 the borough of
Llandovery, or Llanymtheverye, was incorporated by a charter from
Richard III., and this king's privileges were subsequently confirmed by
Henry VIII. in 1521, and by Elizabeth in 1590, the Tudor queen's
original charter being still extant and in the possession of the
corporation, which is officially styled "the bailiff and burgesses of
the borough of Llanymtheverye, otherwise Llandovery." The bailiff
likewise holds the office of recorder, but has neither duties nor
emoluments. In the 17th century the vicarage of Llandingat was held by
the celebrated Welsh poet and preacher, Rhys Prichard, commonly called
"the vicar of Llandovery" (d. 1644). In the middle of the 19th century
William Rees of Tonn published at Llandovery many important works
dealing with early Welsh history and archaeology.
LLANDOVERY GROUP, in geology, the lowest division of the Silurian (Upper
Silurian) in Britain. C. Lapworth in 1879 proposed the name _Valentian_
(from the ancient north British province of Valentia) for this group. It
includes in the type area the Tarannon Shales 1000-1500 ft., Upper
Llandovery and May Hill Sandstone 800 ft., Lower Llandovery, 600-1500
ft.
The _Lower Llandovery_ rocks consist of conglomerates, sandstones and
slaty beds. At Llandovery they rest unconformably upon Ordovician
rocks (Bala), but in many other places no unconformity is traceable.
These rocks occur with a narrow crop in Pembrokeshire, which curves
round through Llandovery, and in the Rhyader district they attain a
considerable thickness. Northwards they thin out towards Bala Lake.
They occur also in Cardiganshire and Carmarthenshire in many places
where they have not been clearly separated from the associated
Ordovician rocks.
There is a change in the fauna on leaving the Ordovician and entering
the Llandovery. Among the graptolites the Diplograptidae begin to be
replaced by the Monograptidae. Characteristic graptolite zones, in
descending order, are:--_Monograptus gregarius_,
_Diplograptusvesiculosus_, _D. acuminatus_. Common trilobites
are:--_Acidaspis_, _Encrinurus_, _Phacops_, _Proëtus_; among the
brachiopods are _Orthis elegantula_, _O. testudinaria_, _Meristella
crassa_ and _Pentamerus_ (_Stricklandinia_) _lens_ (_Pentamerus_ is so
characteristic that the Llandovery rocks are frequently described as
the "Pentamerus beds").
The _Upper Llandovery_, including the May Hill Sandstone of May Hill,
Gloucestershire, is an arenaceous series generally conglomeratic at
the base, with local lenticular developments of shelly limestone
(Norbury, Hollies and Pentamerus limestones). It occurs with a narrow
outcrop in Carmarthenshire at the base of the Silurian, disappearing
beneath the Old Red Sandstone westward to reappear in Pembrokeshire;
north-eastward the outcrop extends to the Longmynd, which the
conglomerate wraps round. As it is followed along the crop it is found
to rest unconformably upon the Lower Llandovery, Caradoc, Llandeilo,
Cambrian and pre-Cambrian rocks. The fossils include the trilobites
_Phacops caudata_, _Encrinurus punctatus_, _Calymene Blumenbachii_;
the brachiopods _Pentamerus oblongus_, _Orthis calligramma_, _Atrypa
reticularis_; the corals _Favosites_, _Lindostroemia_, &c.; and the
zonal graptolites _Rastrites maximus_ and _Monograptus spinigerus_ and
others (_Monograptus Sedgwicki_, _M. Clingani_, _M. proteus_,
_Diplograptus Hughesii_).
The _Tarannon shales_, grey and blue slates, designated by A. Sedgwick
the "paste rock," is traceable from Conway into Carmarthenshire; in
Cardiganshire, besides the slaty facies, gritty beds make their
appearance; and in the neighbourhood of Builth soft dark shales. The
group is poor in fossils with the exception of graptolites; of these
_Cyrtograptus grayae_ and _Monograptus exiguus_ are zonal forms. The
Tarannon group is represented by the Rhyader Pale Shales in
Radnorshire; by the Browgill beds, with _Monograptus crispus_ and _M.
turriculatus_, in the Lake district; in the Moffat Silurian belt in
south Scotland by a thick development, including the Hawick rocks and
Ardwell beds, and the Queensberry group or Gala (Grieston shales,
Buckholm grits and Abbotsford flags); in the Girvan area, by the
Drumyork flags, Bargany group and Penkill group; and in Ireland by the
Treveshilly shales of Strangford Lough, and the shales of Salterstown,
Co. Louth.
The Upper and Lower Llandovery rocks are represented in descending
order by the Pale shales, Graptolite shales, Grey slates and Corwen
grit of Merionethshire and Denbighshire. In the Rhyader district the
Caban group (Gafalt beds, shales and grits and Caban conglomerate),
and the Gwastaden group (Gigrin mudstones, Ddol shales, Dyffryn flags,
Cerig Gwynion grits) lie on this horizon; at Builth also there is a
series of grits and shales. In the Lake district the lower part of the
Stockdale shales (Skelgill beds) is of Llandovery age. In south
Scotland in the central and southern belt of Silurian rocks, which
extends across the country from Luce Bay to St Abb's Head, the
Birkhill shales, a highly crumpled series of graptolitic beds,
represent the Llandovery horizon. In the Girvan area to the north
their place is taken by the Camregan, Shaugh Hill and Mullock Hill
groups. In Ireland the Llandovery rocks are represented by the
Anascaul slates of the Dingle promontory, by the Owenduff and Gowlaun
grits, Co. Galway, by the Upper Pomeroy beds, by the Uggool and
Ballaghaderin beds, Co. Mayo, and by rocks of this age in Coalpit Bay
and Slieve Felim Mountains.
Economic deposits in Llandovery rocks include slate pencils
(Teesdale), building stone, flag-stone, road metal and lime. Lead ore
occurs in Wales. (See SILURIAN.) (J. A. H.)
LLANDRINDOD, or LLANDRINDOD WELLS, a market town, urban district and
health-resort of Radnorshire, Wales, situated in a lofty and exposed
district near the river Ithon, a tributary of the Wye. Pop. (1901) 1827.
Llandrindod is a station on the Mid-Wales section of the London &
North-Western railway. The town annually receives thousands of visitors,
and lies within easy reach of the beautiful Wye Valley and the wild
district of Radnor Forest. The saline, sulphur and chalybeate springs of
Llandrindod have long been famous. According to a treatise published by
a German physician, Dr Wessel Linden, in 1754, the saline springs at
Ffynon-llwyn-y-gog ("the well in the cuckoos' grove") in the present
parish of Llandrindod had acquired more than a local reputation as early
as the year 1696. In the 18th century both saline and sulphur springs
were largely patronized by numbers of visitors, and about 1749 a Mr
Grosvenor built a hydropathic establishment near the old church, on a
site now covered by a farm-house known as Llandrindod Hall.