[1] See a paper by Dr Girtanner on this bird in Switzerland
(_Verhandl. St-Gall. naturw. Gesellschaft_, 1869-1870, pp. 147-244).
[2] Among other crimes attributed to the species is that, according
to Pliny (_Hist. Nat._ x. cap. 3), of having caused the death of the
poet Aeschylus, by dropping a tortoise on his bald head! In the Atlas
range the food of this bird is said to consist chiefly of the
_Testudo mauritanica_, which "it carries to some height in the air,
and lets fall on a stone to break the shell" (_Ibis_, 1859, p. 177).
It was the [Greek: harpê] and [Greek: phênê] of Greek classical
writers.
LAMOIGNON, a French family, which takes its name from Lamoignon, a place
said to have been in its possession since the 13th century. One of its
several branches is that of Lamoignon de Malesherbes. Several of the
Lamoignons have played important parts in the history of France and the
family has been specially distinguished in the legal profession.
GUILLAUME DE LAMOIGNON (1617-1677), attained eminence as a lawyer and
became president of the parlement of Paris in 1658. First on the
popular, and later on the royalist side during the Fronde, he presided
at the earlier sittings of the trial of Fouquet, whom he regarded as
innocent, and he was associated with Colbert, whom he was able more than
once to thwart. Lamoignon tried to simplify the laws of France and
sought the society of men of letters like Boileau and Racine. Having
received rich rewards for his public services, he died in Paris on the
10th of December 1677. Guillaume's second son, NICOLAS DE LAMOIGNON
(1648-1724), took the surname of Basville. Following his hereditary
calling he filled many public offices, serving as intendant of
Montauban, of Pau, of Poitiers and of Languedoc before his retirement in
1718. His administration of Languedoc was chiefly remarkable for
vigorous measures against the Camisards and other Protestants, but in
other directions his work in the south of France was more beneficent,
as, following the example of Colbert, he encouraged agriculture and
industry generally and did something towards improving the means of
communication. He wrote a _Mémoire_, which contains much interesting
information about his public work. This was published at Amsterdam in
1724. Lamoignon, who is called by Saint Simon, "the king and tyrant of
Languedoc," died in Paris on the 17th of May 1724. CHRÉTIEN FRANÇOIS DE
LAMOIGNON (1735-1789) entered public life at an early age and was an
actor in the troubles which heralded the Revolution. First on the side
of the parlement and later on that of the king he was one of the
assistants of Loménie de Brienne, whose unpopularity and fall he shared.
He committed suicide on the 15th of May 1789.
LAMONT, JOHANN VON (1805-1879), Scottish-German astronomer and
magnetician, was born at Braemar, Aberdeenshire, on the 13th of December
1805. He was sent at the age of twelve to be educated at the Scottish
monastery in Regensburg, and apparently never afterwards returned to his
native country. His strong bent for scientific studies was recognized by
the head of the monastery, P. Deasson, on whose recommendation he was
admitted in 1827 to the then new observatory of Bogenhausen (near
Munich), where he worked under J. Soldner. After the death of his chief
in 1835 he was, on H. C. Schumacher's recommendation, appointed to
succeed him as director of the observatory. In 1852 he became professor
of astronomy at the university of Munich, and held both these posts till
his death, which took place on the 6th of August 1879. Lamont was a
member of the academies of Brussels, Upsala and Prague, of the Royal
Society of Edinburgh, of the Cambridge Philosophical Society and of many
other learned corporations. Among his contributions to astronomy may be
noted his eleven zone-catalogues of 34,674 stars, his measurements, in
1836-1837, of nebulae and clusters, and his determination of the mass of
Uranus from observations of its satellites (_Mem. Astron. Soc._ xi. 51,
1838). A magnetic observatory was equipped at Bogenhausen in 1840
through his initiative; he executed comprehensive magnetic surveys
1849-1858; announced the magnetic decennial period in 1850, and his
discovery of earth-currents in 1862. His _Handbuch des Erdmagnetismus_
(Berlin, 1849) is a standard work on the subject.
See _Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie_ (S. Günther); V. J. Schrift,
_Astr. Gesellschaft_, xv. 60; _Monthly Notices Roy. Astr. Society_,
xl. 203; _Nature_, xx. 425; _Quart. Journal Meteor. Society_, vi. 72;
_Proceedings Roy. Society of Edinburgh_, x. 358; _The Times_ (12 Aug.,
1879); Sir F. Ronalds's _Cat. of Books relating to Electricity and
Magnetism_, pp. 281-283; _Royal Society's Cat. of Scientific Papers_,
vols. iii. vii.
LAMORICIÈRE, CHRISTOPHE LÉON LOUIS JUCHAULT DE (1806-1865), French
general, was born at Nantes on the 11th of September 1806, and entered
the Engineers in 1828. He served in the Algerian campaigns from 1830
onwards, and by 1840 he had risen to the grade of _maréchal-de-camp_
(major-general). Three years later he was made a general of division. He
was one of the most distinguished and efficient of Bugeaud's generals,
rendered special service at Isly (August 14, 1844), acted temporarily as
governor-general of Algeria, and finally effected the capture of Abd
el-Kader in 1847. Lamoricière took some part in the political events of
1848, both as a member of the Chamber of Deputies and as a military
commander. Under the régime of General Cavaignac he was for a time
minister of war. From 1848 to 1851 Lamoricière was one of the most
conspicuous opponents of the policy of Louis Napoleon, and at the _coup
d'état_ of the 2nd of December 1851 he was arrested and exiled. He
refused to give in his allegiance to the emperor Napoleon III., and in
1860 accepted the command of the papal army, which he led in the Italian
campaign of 1860. On the 18th of September of that year he was severely
defeated by the Italian army at Castelfidardo. His last years were spent
in complete retirement in France (he had been allowed to return in
1857), and he died at Prouzel (Somme) on the 11th of September 1865.
See E. Keller, _Le Général de Lamoricière_ (Paris, 1873).
LA MOTHE LE VAYER, FRANÇOIS DE (1588-1672), French writer, was born in
Paris of a noble family of Maine. His father was an _avocat_ at the
parlement of Paris and author of a curious treatise on the functions of
ambassadors, entitled _Legatus, seu De legatorum privilegiis, officio et
munere libellus_ (1579) and illustrated mainly from ancient history.
François succeeded his father at the parlement, but gave up his post
about 1647 and devoted himself to travel and _belles lettres_. His
_Considérations sur l'éloquence française_ (1638) procured him admission
to the Academy, and his _De l'instruction de Mgr. le Dauphin_ (1640)
attracted the attention of Richelieu. In 1649 Anne of Austria entrusted
him with the education of her second son and subsequently with the
completion of Louis XIV.'s education, which had been very much
neglected. The outcome of his pedagogic labours was a series of books
comprising the _Géographie_, _Rhétorique_, _Morale_, _Économique_,
_Politique_, _Logique_, and _Physique du prince_ (1651-1658). The king
rewarded his tutor by appointing him historiographer of France and
councillor of state. La Mothe Le Vayer died in Paris. Modest, sceptical,
and occasionally obscene in his Latin pieces and in his verses, he made
himself a _persona grata_ at the French court, where libertinism in
ideas and morals was hailed with relish. Besides his educational works,
he wrote _Jugement sur les anciens et principaux historiens grecs et
latins_ (1646); a treatise entitled _Du peu de certitude qu'il y a en
histoire_ (1668), which in a sense marks the beginning of historical
criticism in France; and sceptical _Dialogues_, published posthumously
under the pseudonym of Orosius Tubero. An incomplete edition of his
works was published at Dresden in 1756-1759.
See Bayle, _Dictionnaire critique_, article "Vayer"; L. Étienne,
_Essai sur La Mothe Le Vayer_ (Paris, 1849).
LA MOTTE, ANTOINE HOUDAR DE (1672-1731), French author, was born in
Paris on the 18th of January 1672. In 1693 his comedy _Les Originaux_
proved a complete failure, which so depressed the author that he
contemplated joining the Trappists, but four years later he again began
writing operas and ballets, e.g. _L'Europe galante_ (1697), and
tragedies, one of which, _Inès de Castro_ (1723), was produced with
immense success at the Théâtre Français. He was a champion of the
moderns in the revived controversy of the ancients and moderns. Madame
Dacier had published (1699) a translation of the _Iliad_, and La Motte,
who knew no Greek, made a translation (1714) in verse founded on her
work. The nature of his work may be judged from his own expression: "I
have taken the liberty to change what I thought disagreeable in it." He
defended the moderns in the _Discours sur Homère_ prefixed to his
translation, and in his _Réflexions sur la critique_ (1716). Apart from
the merits of the controversy, it was conducted on La Motte's side with
a wit and politeness which compared very favourably with his opponent's
methods. He was elected to the Academy in 1710, and soon after became
blind. La Motte carried on a correspondence with the duchesse du Maine,
and was the friend of Fontenelle. He had the same freedom from
prejudice, the same inquiring mind as the latter, and it is on the
excellent prose in which his views are expressed that his reputation
rests. He died in Paris on the 26th of December 1731.
His _Oeuvres du théâtre_ (2 vols.) appeared in 1730, and his _Oeuvres_
(10 vols.) in 1754. See A. H. Rigault, _Histoire de la querelle des
anciens et des modernes_ (1859).
LAMOUREUX, CHARLES (1834-1899), French conductor and violinist, was born
at Bordeaux on the 28th of September 1834. He studied at the Pau
Conservatoire, was engaged as violinist at the Opéra, and in 1864
organized a series of concerts devoted to chamber music. Having
journeyed to England and assisted at a Handel festival, he thought he
would attempt something similar in Paris. At his own expense he founded
the "Société de l'Harmonie Sacrée," and in 1873 conducted the first
performance in Paris of Handel's _Messiah_. He also gave performances of
Bach's _St Matthew Passion_, Handel's _Judas Maccabaeus_, Gounod's
_Gallia_, and Massenet's _Eve_. In 1875 he conducted the festival given
at Rouen to celebrate the centenary of Boïeldieu. The following year he
became _chef d'orchestre_ at the Opéra Comique. In 1881 he founded the
famous concerts associated with his name, which contributed so much to
popularize Wagner's music in Paris. The performances of detached pieces
taken from the German master's works did not, however, satisfy him, and
he matured the project to produce _Lohengrin_, which at that time had
not been heard in Paris. For this purpose he took the Eden Theatre, and
on the 3rd of May 1887 he conducted the first performance of Wagner's
opera in the French capital. Owing to the opposition of the Chauvinists,
the performance was not repeated; but it doubtless prepared the way for
the production of the same masterpiece at the Paris Opéra a few years
later. Lamoureux was successively second _chef d'orchestre_ at the
Conservatoire, first _chef d'orchestre_ at the Opéra Comique, and twice
first _chef d'orchestre_ at the Opéra. He visited London on several
occasions, and gave successful concerts at the Queen's Hall. Lamoureux
died at Paris on the 21st of December 1899. _Tristan und Isolde_ had
been at last heard in Paris, owing to his initiative and under his
direction. After conducting one of the performances of this masterpiece
he was taken ill and succumbed in a few days, having had the consolation
before his death of witnessing the triumph of the cause he had so
courageously championed.
LAMP (from Gr. [Greek: lampas], a torch, [Greek: lampein], to shine),
the general term for an apparatus in which some combustible substance,
generally for illuminating purposes, is held. Lamps are usually
associated with lighting, though the term is also employed in connexion
with heating (e.g. spirit-lamp); and as now employed for oil, gas and
electric light, they are dealt with in the article on LIGHTING. From the
artistic point of view, in modern times, their variety precludes
detailed reference here; but their archaeological history deserves a
fuller account.
[Illustration: FIG. 1.]
[Illustration: FIG. 2.]
[Illustration: FIG. 3.]
[Illustration: FIG. 4.--Bronze Lamp in British Museum.]
[Illustration: FIG. 5.]
_Ancient Lamps._--Though Athenaeus states (xv. 700) that the lamp
([Greek: lychnos]) was not an ancient invention in Greece, it had come
into general use there for domestic purposes by the 4th century B.C.,
and no doubt had long before been employed for temples or other places
where a permanent light was required in room of the torch of Homeric
times. Herodotus (ii. 62) sees nothing strange in the "festival of
lamps," Lychnokaie, which was held at Sais in Egypt, except in the vast
number of them. Each was filled with oil so as to burn the whole night.
Again he speaks of evening as the time of lamps ([Greek: peri lychnôn],
vii. 215). Still, the scarcity of lamps in a style anything like that of
an early period, compared with the immense number of them from the late
Greek and Roman age, seems to justify the remark of Athenaeus. The
commonest sort of domestic lamps were of terra-cotta and of the shape
seen in figs. 1 and 2 with a spout or nozzle ([Greek: myktêr]) in which
the wick ([Greek: thryallis]) burned, a round hole on the top to pour in
oil by, and a handle to carry the lamp with. A lamp with two or more
spouts was [Greek: dimyxos], [Greek: trimyxos], &c., but these terms
would not apply strictly to the large class of lamps with numerous holes
for wicks but without nozzles. Decoration was confined to the front of
the handle, or more commonly to the circular space on the top of the
lamp, and it consisted almost always of a design in relief, taken from
mythology or legend, from objects of daily life or scenes such as
displays of gladiators or chariot races, from animals and the chase. A
lamp in the British Museum has a view of the interior of a Roman circus
with spectators looking on at a chariot race. In other cases the lamp is
made altogether of a fantastic shape, as in the form of an animal, a
bull's head, or a human foot. Naturally colour was excluded from the
ornamentation except in the form of a red or black glaze, which would
resist the heat. The typical form of hand lamp (figs. 1, 2) is a
combination of the flatness necessary for carrying steady and remaining
steady when set down, with the roundness evolved from the working in
clay and characteristic of vessels in that material. In the bronze lamps
this same type is retained, though the roundness was less in keeping
with metal. Fanciful shapes are equally common in bronze. The standard
form of handle consists of a ring for the forefinger and above it a kind
of palmette for the thumb. Instead of the palmette is sometimes a
crescent, no doubt in allusion to the moon. It would only be with bronze
lamps that the cover protecting the flame from the wind could be used,
as was the case out of doors in Athens. Such a lamp was in fact a
lantern. Apparently it was to the lantern that the Greek word _lampas_,
a torch, was first transferred, probably from a custom of having guards
to protect the torches also. Afterwards it came to be employed for the
lamp itself ([Greek: lychnos], _lucerna_). When Juvenal (_Sat._ iii.
277) speaks of the _aenea lampas_, he may mean a torch with a bronze
handle, but more probably either a lamp or a lantern. Lamps used for
suspension were mostly of bronze, and in such cases the decoration was
on the under part, so as to be seen from below. Of this the best example
is the lamp at Cortona, found there in 1840 (engraved, _Monumenti d.
inst. arch._ iii. pls. 41, 42, and in Dennis, _Cities and Cemeteries of
Etruria_, 2nd ed. ii. p. 403). It is set round with sixteen nozzles
ornamented alternately with a siren and a satyr playing on a double
flute. Between each pair of nozzles is a head of a river god, and on the
bottom of the lamp is a large mask of Medusa, surrounded by bands of
animals. These designs are in relief, and the workmanship, which appears
to belong to the beginning of the 5th century B.C., justifies the esteem
in which Etruscan lamps were held in antiquity (Athenaeus xv. 700). Of a
later but still excellent style is a bronze lamp in the British Museum
found in the baths of Julian in Paris (figs. 3, 4, 5). The chain is
attached by means of two dolphins very artistically combined. Under the
nozzles are heads of Pan (fig. 3); and from the sides project the
foreparts of lions (fig. 5). To what extent lamps may have been used in
temples is unknown. Probably the Erechtheum on the acropolis of Athens
was an exception in having a gold one kept burning day and night, just
as this lamp itself must have been an exception in its artistic merits.
It was the work of the sculptor Callimachus, and was made apparently for
the newly rebuilt temple a little before 400 B.C. When once filled with
oil and lit it burned continuously for a whole year. The wick was of a
fine flax called Carpasian (now understood to have been a kind of
cotton), which proved to be the least combustible of all flax (Pausanias
i. 26. 7). Above the lamp a palm tree of bronze rose to the roof for the
purpose of carrying off the fumes. But how this was managed it is not
easy to determine unless the palm be supposed to have been inverted and
to have hung above the lamp spread out like a reflector, for which
purpose the polished bronze would have served fairly well. The stem if
left hollow would collect the fumes and carry them out through the roof.
This lamp was refilled on exactly the same day each year, so that there
seems to have been an idea of measuring time by it, such as may also
have been the case in regard to the lamp stand ([Greek: lychneion])
capable of holding as many lamps as there were days of the year, which
Dionysius the Sicilian tyrant placed in the Prytaneum of Tarentum. At
Pharae in Achaia there was in the market-place an oracular statue of
Hermes with a marble altar before it to which bronze lamps were attached
by means of lead. Whoever desired to consult the statue went there in
the evening and first filled the lamps and lit them, placing also a
bronze coin on the altar. A similar custom prevailed at the oracle of
Apis in Egypt (Pausanias vii. 22. 2). At Argos he speaks of a chasm into
which it was a custom continued to his time to let down burning lamps,
with some reference to the goddess of the lower world, Persephone (ii.
22. 4). At Cnidus a large number of terra-cotta lamps were found crowded
in one place a little distance below the surface, and it was conjectured
that there must have been there some statue or altar at which it had
been a custom to leave lamps burning at night (Newton, _Discoveries at
Halicarnassus, &c._, ii. 394). These lamps are of terra-cotta, but with
little ornamentation, and so like each other in workmanship that they
must all have come from one pottery, and may have been all brought to
the spot where they were found on one occasion, probably the funeral of
a person with many friends, or the celebration of a festival in his
honour, such as the _parentalia_ among the Romans, to maintain which it
was a common custom to bequeath property. For example, a marble slab in
the British Museum has a Latin inscription describing the property which
had been left to provide among other things that a lighted lamp with
incense on it should be placed at the tomb of the deceased on the
kalends, nones and ides of each month (_Mus. Marbles_, v. pl. 8, fig.
2). For birthday presents terra-cotta lamps appear to have been
frequently employed, the device generally being that of two figures of
victory holding between them a disk inscribed with a good wish for the
new year: ANNV NOV FAVSTV FELIX. This is the inscription on a lamp in
the British Museum, which besides the victories has among other symbols
a disk with the head of Janus. As the torch gave way to the lamp in
fact, so also it gave way in mythology. In the earlier myths, as in that
of Demeter, it is a torch with which she goes forth to search for her
daughter, but in the late myth of Cupid and Psyche it is an oil lamp
which Psyche carries, and from which to her grief a drop of hot oil
falls on Cupid and awakes him. Terra-cotta lamps have very frequently
the name of the maker stamped on the foot. Clay moulds from which the
lamps were made exist in considerable numbers. (A. S. M.)
LAMP-BLACK, a deep black pigment consisting of carbon in a very fine
state of division, obtained by the imperfect combustion of highly
carbonaceous substances. It is manufactured from scraps of resin and
pitch refuse and inferior oils and fats, and other similar combustible
bodies rich in carbon, the finest lamp-black being procured by the
combustion of oils obtained in coal-tar distillation (see COAL-TAR).
Lamp-black is extensively used in the manufacture of printing ink, as a
pigment for oil painting and also for "ebonizing" cabinet work, and in
the waxing and lacquering of leather. It is the principal constituent of
China ink.
LAMPEDUSA, a small island in the Mediterranean, belonging to the
province of Girgenti, from which it is about 112 m. S.S.W. Pop. (1901,
with Linosa--see below) 2276. Its greatest length is about 7 m., its
greatest width about 2 m.; the highest point is 400 ft. above sea-level.
Geologically it belongs to Africa, being situated on the edge of the
submarine platform which extends along the east coast of Tunisia, from
which (at Mahadia) it is 90 m. distant eastwards. The soil is
calcareous; it was covered with scrub (chiefly the wild olive) until
comparatively recent times, but this has been cut, and the rock is now
bare. The valleys are, however, fairly fertile. On the south, near the
only village, is the harbour, which has been dredged to a depth of 13
ft. and is a good one for torpedo boats and small craft.
The island was, as remains of hut foundations show, inhabited in
prehistoric times. Punic tombs and Roman buildings also exist near the
harbour. The island is the Lopadusa of Strabo, and the Lipadosa of
Ariosto's _Orlando Furioso_, the scene of the landing of Roger of Sicily
and of his conversion by the hermit. A thousand slaves were taken from
its population in 1553. In 1436 it was given by Alfonso of Aragon to Don
Giovanni de Caro, baron of Montechiaro. In 1661, Ferdinand Tommasi, its
then owner, received the title of prince from Charles II. of Spain. In
1737 the earl of Sandwich found only one inhabitant upon it; in 1760
some French settlers established themselves there. Catherine II. of
Russia proposed to buy it as a Russian naval station, and the British
government thought of doing the same if Napoleon had succeeded in
seizing Malta. In 1800 a part of it was leased to Salvatore Gatt of
Malta, who in 1810 sublet part of it to Alessandro Fernandez. In 1843
onwards Ferdinand II. of Naples established a colony there. There is now
an Italian penal colony for _domicilio coatto_, with some 400 convicts
(see B. Sanvisente, _L'Isola di Lampedusa eretta a colonia_, Naples,
1849). Eight miles W. is the islet of Lampione. Linosa, some 30 m. to
the N.N.E., measures about 2 by 2 m., and is entirely volcanic; its
highest point is 610 ft. above sea-level. Pop. (1901) about 200. It has
landing-places on the S. and W., and is more fertile than Lampedusa; but
it suffers from the lack of springs. Sanvisente says the water in
Lampedusa is good. A few fragments of undoubtedly Roman pottery and some
Roman coins have been found there, but the cisterns and the ruins of
houses are probably of later date (P. Calcara, _Descrizione dell' isola
di Linosa_, Palermo, 1851, 29). (T. As.)
LAMPERTHEIM, a town in the grand-duchy of Hesse-Darmstadt, 8 m. N. from
Mannheim by the railway to Frankfort-on-Main via Biblis, and at the
junction of lines to Worms and Weinheim. It contains a Roman Catholic
church and a fine Evangelical church, and has chemical and cigar
factories. Pop. (1900) 8020.
LAMPETER (_Llanbedr-pont-Stephan_), a market town, municipal borough and
assize town of Cardiganshire, Wales, on the right bank of the Teifi,
here crossed by an ancient stone bridge. Pop. (1901) 1722. Lampeter is a
station on the so-called Manchester-and-Milford branch line of the Great
Western railway. Though of ancient origin, the town is entirely modern
in appearance, its most conspicuous object being the Gothic buildings of
St David's College, founded in 1822, which cover a large area and
contain a valuable library of English, Welsh and foreign works (see
UNIVERSITIES). The modernized parish church of St Peter, or Pedr,
contains some old monuments of the Lloyd family. North of the town are
the park and mansion of Falcondale, the seat of the Harford family.
The name of Llanbedr-pont-Stephan goes to prove the early foundation of
the place by St Pedr, a Celtic missionary of the 6th century, while one
Stephen was the original builder of the bridge over the Teifi. As an
important outpost in the upper valley of the Teifi, Lampeter possessed a
castle, which was demolished by Owen Gwynedd in the 12th century. In
1188 the town was visited by Archbishop Baldwin on his way from Cardigan
to Strata-Florida Abbey, and the Crusade was vigorously preached at this
spot. Lampeter was first incorporated under Edward II., but the earliest
known charter dates from the reign of Henry VI., whereby the principal
officer of the town, a portreeve, was to be appointed annually at the
court-leet of the manor. The town was subsequently governed under a
confirmatory charter of 1814, but in 1884 a new charter was obtained,
whereby the corporation was empowered to consist of a mayor, 4 aldermen
and 12 councillors. Although only a small agricultural centre, Lampeter
has since 1886 become the assize town of Cardiganshire owing to its
convenient position. Until the Redistribution Act of 1885 Lampeter
formed one of the group of boroughs comprising the Cardigan
parliamentary district.
LAMPOON, a virulent satire either in prose or verse; the idea of
injustice and unscrupulousness seems to be essential to its definition.
Although in its use the word is properly and almost exclusively English,
the derivation appears to be French. Littré derives it from a term of
Parisian argot, _lamper_, to drink, greedily, in great mouthfuls. This
word appears to have begun to be prevalent in the middle of the 17th
century, and Furetière has preserved a fragment from a popular song,
which says:--
Jacques fuyant de Dublin
Dit à Lauzun, son cousin,
"Prenez soin de ma couronne,
J'aurai soin de ma personne,
Lampons! lampons!"
--that is to say, let us drink heavily, and begone dull care. Scarron
speaks of a wild troop, singing _leridas_ and _lampons_. There is, also,
a rare French verb, _lamponner_, to attack with ridicule, used earlier
in the 17th century by Brantôme. In its English form, lampoon, the word
is used by Evelyn in 1645, "Here they still paste up their drolling
lampoons and scurrilous papers," and soon after it is a verb,--"suppose
we lampooned all the pretty women in Town." Both of these forms, the
noun and the verb, have been preserved ever since in English, without
modification, for violent and reckless literary censure. Tom Brown
(1663-1704) was a past master in the art of lampooning, and some of his
attacks on the celebrities of his age have a certain vigour. When Dryden
became a Roman Catholic, Brown wrote:--
Traitor to God and rebel to thy pen,
Priest-ridden Poet, perjured son of Ben,
If ever thou prove honest, then the nation
May modestly believe in transubstantiation.
Several of the heroes of the _Dunciad_, and in particular John Oldmixon
(1673-1742), were charged without unfairness with being professional
lampooners. The coarse diatribes which were published by Richard Savage
(1697-1743), mainly against Lady Macclesfield, were nothing more nor
less than lampoons, and the word may with almost equal justice be
employed to describe the coarser and more personal portions of the
satires of Churchill. As a rule, however, the lampoon possessed no
poetical graces, and in its very nature was usually anonymous. The
notorious _Essay on Woman_ (1764) of John Wilkes was a lampoon, and was
successfully proceeded against as an obscene libel. The progress of
civilization and the discipline of the law made it more and more
impossible for private malice to take the form of baseless and
scurrilous attack, and the lampoon, in its open shape, died of public
decency in the 18th century. Malice, especially in an anonymous form,
and passing in manuscript from hand to hand, has continued, however, to
make use of this very unlovely form of literature. It has constantly
reappeared at times of political disturbance, and the French have seldom
failed to exercise their wicked wit upon their unpopular rulers. See
also PASQUINADE. (E. G.)
LAMPREY, a fish belonging to the family _Petromyzontidae_ (from [Greek:
petros] and [Greek: myzô], literally, stone-suckers), which with the
hag-fishes or _Myxinidae_ forms a distinct subclass of fishes, the
_Cyclostomata_, distinguished by the low organization of their skeleton,
which is cartilaginous, without vertebral segmentation, without ribs or
real jaws, and without limbs. The lampreys are readily recognized by
their long, eel-like, scaleless body, terminating anteriorly in the
circular, suctorial mouth characteristic of the whole sub-class. On each
side, behind the head, there is a row of seven branchial openings,
through which the water is conveyed to and from the gills. By means of
their mouth they fasten to stones, boats, &c., as well as to other
fishes, their object being to obtain a resting-place on the former,
whilst they attach themselves to the latter to derive nourishment from
them. The inner surface of their cup-shaped mouth is armed with pointed
teeth, with which they perforate the integuments of the fish attacked,
scraping off particles of the flesh and sucking the blood. Mackerel,
cod, pollack and flat-fishes are the kinds most frequently attacked by
them in the sea; of river-fish the migratory _Salmonidae_ and the shad
are sometimes found with the marks of the teeth of the lamprey, or with
the fish actually attached to them. About fifteen species are known from
the coasts and rivers of the temperate regions of the northern and
southern hemispheres. In Great Britain and Europe generally three
species occur, viz. the large spotted sea-lamprey (_Petromyzon
marinus_), the river-lamprey or lampern (_P. fluviatilis_), and the
small lampern or "pride" or "sand-piper" (_P. branchialis_). The first
two are migratory, entering rivers in the spring to spawn; of the
river-lamprey, however, specimens are met with in fresh water all the
year round. In North America about ten species of lamprey occur, while
in South America and Australasia still others are found. Lampreys,
especially the sea-lamprey, are esteemed as food, formerly more so than
at present; but their flesh is not easy of digestion. Henry I. of
England is said to have fallen a victim to this, his favourite dish. The
species of greatest use is the river-lamprey, which as bait is preferred
to all others in the cod and turbot fisheries of the North Sea. Yarrell
states that formerly the Thames alone supplied from 1,000,000 to
1,200,000 lamperns annually, but their number has so much fallen off
that, for instance, in 1876 only 40,000 were sold to the cod-fishers.
That year, however, was an unusually bad year; the lamperns, from their
scarcity, fetched £8, 10s. a thousand, whilst in ordinary years £5 is
considered a fair price. The season for catching lamperns closes in the
Thames about the middle of March. The origin of the name lamprey is
obscure; it is an adaptation of Fr. _lamproie_, Med. Lat. _lampreda_;
this has been taken as a variant of another Med. Lat. form _Lampetra_,
which occurs in ichthyological works of the middle ages; the derivation
from _lambere petras_, to lick stones, is a specimen of etymological
ingenuity. The development of lampreys has received much attention on
the part of naturalists, since Aug. Müller discovered that they undergo
a metamorphosis, and that the minute worm-like lamperns previously known
under the name of _Ammocoetes_, and abundant in the sand and mud of many
streams, were nothing but the undeveloped young of the river-lampreys
and small lamperns. See CYCLOSTOMATA.
LAMPROPHYRES (from Gr. [Greek: lampros], bright, and the terminal part
of the word porphyry, meaning rocks containing bright porphyritic
crystals), a group of rocks containing phenocrysts, usually of biotite
and hornblende (with bright cleavage surfaces), often also of olivine
and augite, but not of felspar. They are thus distinguished from the
porphyries and porphyrites in which the felspar has crystallized in two
generations. They are essentially "dike rocks," occurring as dikes and
thin sills, and are also found as marginal facies of plutonic
intrusions. They furnish a good example of the correlation which often
exists between petrographical types and their mode of occurrence,
showing the importance of physical conditions in determining the
mineralogical and structural characters of rocks. They are usually dark
in colour, owing to the abundance of ferro-magnesian silicates, of
relatively high specific gravity and liable to decomposition. For these
reasons they have been defined as a _melanocrate_ series (rich in the
dark minerals); and they are often accompanied by a complementary
_leucocrate_ series (rich in the white minerals felspar and quartz) such
as aplites, porphyries and felsites. Both have been produced by
differentiation of a parent magma, and if the two complementary sets of
rocks could be mixed in the right proportions, it is presumed that a
mass of similar chemical composition to the parent magma would be
produced.
Both in the hand specimens and in microscopic slides of lamprophyric
rocks biotite and hornblende are usually conspicuous. Though black by
reflected light they are brown by transmitted light and highly
pleochroic. In some cases they are yellow-brown, in other cases
chestnut-brown and reddish brown; in the same rock the two minerals have
strikingly similar colour and pleochroism. Augite, when it occurs, is
sometimes green, at other times purple. Felspar is restricted to the
ground mass; quartz occurs sometimes but is scarce. Although porphyritic
structure is almost universal, it is sometimes not very marked. The
large biotites and hornblendes are not sharply distinct from those of
intermediate size, which in turn graduate into the small crystals of the
same minerals in the ground mass. As a rule all the ingredients have
rather perfect crystalline forms (except quartz), hence these rocks have
been called "panidiomorphic." In many lamprophyres the pale quartz and
felspathic ingredients tend to occur in rounded spots, or _ocelli_, in
which there has been progressive crystallization from the margins
towards the centre. These spots may consist of radiate or brush-like
felspars (with some mica and hornblende) or of quartz and felspar. A
central area of quartz or of analcite probably represents an original
miarolitic cavity infilled at a later period.
There are two great groups of lamprophyres differing in composition
while retaining the general features of the class. One of these
accompanies intrusions of granite and diorite and includes the minettes,
kersantites, vogesites and spessartites. The other is found in
association with nepheline syenites, essexites and teschenites, and is
exemplified by camptonites, monchiquites and alnoites. The complementary
facies of the first group is the aplites, porphyrites and felsites; that
of the second group includes bostonites, tinguaites and other rocks.
The _granito-dioritic-lamprophyres_ (the first of these two groups)
are found in many districts where granites and diorites occur, e.g.
the Scottish Highlands and Southern Uplands, the Lake district,
Ireland, the Vosges, Black Forest, Harz, &c. As a rule they do not
proceed directly from the granite, but form separate dikes which may
be later than, and consequently may cut, the granites and diorites. In
other districts where granites are abundant no rocks of this class are
known. It is rare to find only one member of the group present, but
minettes, vogesites, kersantites, &c., all appear and there are
usually transitional forms. For this reason these rock species must
not be regarded as sharply distinct from one another. The group as a
whole is a well-characterized one and shows few transitions to
porphyries, porphyrites and other dike types; its subdivisions,
however, tend to merge into one another and especially when they are
weathered are hard to differentiate. The presence or absence of the
four dominant minerals, orthoclase, plagioclase, biotite and
hornblende, determines the species. Minettes contain biotite and
orthoclase; kersantites, biotite and plagioclase. Vogesites contain
hornblende and orthoclase; spessartites, hornblende and plagioclase.
Each variety of lamprophyre may and often does contain all four
minerals but is named according to the two which preponderate. These
rocks contain also iron oxides (usually titaniferous), apatite,
sometimes sphene, augite and olivine. The hornblende and biotite are
brown or greenish brown, and as a rule their crystals even when small
are very perfect and give the micro-sections an easily recognizable
character. Green hornblende occurs in some of these rocks. The augite
builds eumorphic crystals of pale green colour, often zonal and
readily weathering. Olivine in the fresh state is rare; it forms
rounded, corroded grains; in many cases it is decomposed to green or
colourless hornblende in radiating nests (pilite). The plagioclase
occurs as small rectangular crystals; orthoclase may have similar
shapes or may be fibrous and grouped in sheaflike aggregates which are
narrow in the middle and spread out towards both ends. If quartz is
present it is the last product of crystallization and the only mineral
devoid of idiomorphism; it fills up the spaces between the other
ingredients of the rock. As all lamprophyres are prone to alteration
by weathering a great abundance of secondary minerals is usually found
in them; the principal are calcite and other carbonates, limonite,
chlorite, quartz and kaolin.
Ocellar structure is common; the ocelli consist mainly of orthoclase
and quartz, and may be a quarter of an inch in diameter. Another
feature of these rocks is the presence of large foreign crystals or
xenocrysts of felspar and of quartz. Their forms are rounded,
indicating partial resorption by the solvent action of the
lamprophyric magma; and the quartz may be surrounded by corrosion
borders of minerals such as augite and hornblende produced where the
magma is attacking the crystal. These crystals are of doubtful origin;
they are often of considerable size and may be conspicuous in
hand-specimens of the rocks. It is supposed that they did not
crystallize in the lamprophyre dike but in some way were caught up by
it. Other enclosures, more certainly of foreign origin, are often
seen, such as quartzite, schists, garnetiferous rocks, granite, &c.
These may be baked and altered or in other cases partly dissolved.
Cordierite may be formed either in the enclosure or in the
lamprophyre, where it takes the shape of hexagonal prisms which in
polarized light break up into six sectors, triangular in shape,
diverging from the centre of the crystal.
The second group of lamprophyric dike rocks (_the camptonite,
monchiquite, alnoite series_) is much less common than those above
described. As a rule they occur together, and there are transitions
between the different sub-groups as in the granito-dioritic
lamprophyres. In Sweden, Brazil, Portugal, Norway, the north of
Scotland, Bohemia, Arkansas and other places this assemblage of rock
types has been met with, always presenting nearly identical features.
In most cases, though not in all, they have a close association with
nepheline or leucite syenites and similar rocks rich in alkalies. This
indicates a genetic affinity like that which exists between the
granites and the minettes, &c., and further proof of this connexion is
furnished by the occasional occurrence in those lamprophyres of
leucite, haüyne and other felspathoid minerals.
The camptonites (called after Campton, New Hampshire) are dark brown,
nearly black rocks often with large hornblende phenocrysts. Their
essential minerals in thin section are hornblende of a strong
reddish-brown colour; augite purple, pleochroic and rich in titanium,
olivine and plagioclase felspar. They have the porphyritic and
panidiomorphic structures described in the rocks of the previous
group, and like them also have an ocellar character, often very
conspicuous under the microscope. The accessory minerals are biotite,
apatite, iron oxides and analcite. They decompose readily and are then
filled with carbonates. Many of these rocks prove on analysis to be
exceedingly rich in titanium; they may contain 4 or 5% of titanium
dioxide.
The monchiquites (called after the Serra de Monchique, Portugal) are
fine-grained and devoid of felspar. Their essential constituents are
olivine and purplish augite. Brown hornblende, like that of the
camptonites, occurs in many of them. An interstitial substance is
present, which may sometimes be a brown glass, but at other times is
colourless and is believed by some petrographers to be primary
crystalline analcite. They would define the monchiquites as rocks
consisting of olivine, augite and analcite; others regard the analcite
as secondary, and consider the base as essentially glassy. Some
monchiquites contain haüyne; while in others small leucites are found.
Ocellar structure is occasionally present, though less marked than in
the camptonites. A special group of monchiquites rich in deep brown
biotite has been called fourchites (after the Fourche Mountains,
Arkansas).
The alnoites (called after the island of Alnö in Norway) are rare
rocks found in Norway, Montreal and other parts of North America and
in the north of Scotland. They contain olivine, augite, brown biotite
and melilite. They are free from felspar, and contain very low
percentages of silica.
The chemical composition of some of these rocks will be indicated by
the analyses of certain well-known examples.
+--------+-------+------+-------+-------+------+------+------+------+------+
| | SiO2 | TiO2 | Al2O3 | Fe2O3 | FeO | MgO | CaO | Na2O | K2O |
+--------+-------+------+-------+-------+------+------+------+------+------+
| I.[1]| 52.70 | 1.71 | 15.07 | 8.41 | ... | 7.23 | 5.33 | 3.12 | 4.81 |
| II. | 52.12 | 1.20 | 13.52 | 2.56 | 4.53 | 6.36 | 5.78 | 2.34 | 5.36 |
| III. | 45.15 | ... | 15.39 | 2.76 | 5.64 | 6.38 | 8.83 | 2.67 | 2.77 |
| IV. | 54.67 | ... | 12.68 | 11.68 | 2.13 | 6.11 | 4.96 | 3.85 | 3.65 |
| V. | 41.96 | 4.15 | 15.36 | 3.27 | 9.89 | 5.01 | 9.47 | 5.15 | 0.19 |
| VI. | 43.74 | 2.80 | 14.82 | 2.40 | 7.52 | 6.98 |10.81 | 3.06 | 2.90 |
| VII. | 29.25 | 2.54 | 8.80 | 3.92 | 5.42 |17.66 |17.86 | 0.77 | 2.45 |
+--------+-------+------+-------+-------+------+------+------+------+------+
In addition to the oxides given these rocks contain small quantities
of water (combined and hygroscopic), CO2, S, MnO, P2O5, Ca2O3, &c.
(J. S. F.)