LINNET,O. Eng.LineteandLinet-wige, whence seems to have been corrupted the old Scottish “Lintquhit,” and the modern northern English “Lintwhite”—originally a somewhat generalized bird’s name, but latterly specialized for theFringilla cannabinaof Linnaeus, theLinota cannabinaof recent ornithologists. This is a common song-bird, frequenting almost the whole of Europe south of lat. 64°, and in Asia extending to Turkestan. It is known as a winter visitant to Egypt and Abyssinia, and is abundant at all seasons in Barbary, as well as in the Canaries and Madeira. Though the fondness of this species for the seeds of flax (Linum) and hemp (Cannabis) has given it its common name in so many European languages,1it feeds largely, if not chiefly in Britain on the seeds of plants of the orderCompositae, especially those growing on heaths and commons. As these waste places have been gradually brought under the plough, in England and Scotland particularly, the haunts and means of subsistence of the linnet have been curtailed, and hence its numbers have undergone a very visible diminution throughout Great Britain. According to its sex, or the season of the year, it is known as the red, grey or brown linnet, and by the earlier English writers on birds, as well as in many localities at the present time, these names have been held to distinguish at least two species; but there is now no question among ornithologists on this point, though the conditions under which the bright crimson-red colouring of the breast and crown of the cock’s spring and summer plumage is donned and doffed may still be open to discussion. Its intensity seems due, however, in some degree at least, to the weathering of the brown fringes of the feathers which hide the more brilliant hue, and in the Atlantic islands examples are said to retain their gay tints all the year round, while throughout Europe there is scarcely a trace of them visible in autumn and winter; but, beginning to appear in spring, they reach their greatest brilliancy towards midsummer; they are never assumed by examples in confinement. The linnet begins to breed in April, the nest being generally placed in a bush at no great distance from the ground. It is nearly always a neat structure composed of fine twigs, roots or bents, and lined with wool or hair. The eggs, often six in number, are of a very pale blue marked with reddish or purplish brown. Two broods seem to be common in the course of the season, and towards the end of summer the birds—the young greatly preponderating in number—collect in large flocks and move to the sea-coast, whence a large proportion depart for more southern latitudes. Of these emigrants some return the following spring, and are recognizable by the more advanced state of their plumage, the effect presumably of having wintered in countries enjoying a brighter and hotter sun.
Nearly allied to the foregoing species is the twite, so named from its ordinary call-note, or mountain-linnet, theLinota flavirostris, orL. montiumof ornithologists, which can be distinguished by its yellow bill, longer tail and reddish-tawny throat. This bird never assumes any crimson on the crown or breast, but the male has the rump at all times tinged more or less with that colour. In Great Britain in the breeding-season it seems to affect exclusively hilly and moorland districts from Herefordshire northward, in which it partly or wholly replaces the common linnet, but is very much more local in its distribution, and, except in the British Islands and some parts of Scandinavia, it only appears as an irregular visitant in winter. At that season it may, however, be found in large flocks in the low-lying countries, and as regards England even on the sea-shore. In Asia it seems to be represented by a kindred formL. brevirostris.
The redpolls form a little group placed by many authorities in the genusLinota, to which they are unquestionably closely allied, and, as stated elsewhere (seeFinch), the linnets seem to be related to the birds of the genusLeucosticte, the species of which inhabit the northern parts of North-West America and of Asia.L. tephrocotisis generally of a chocolate colour, tinged on some parts with pale crimson or pink, and has the crown of the head silvery-grey. Another species,L. arctoa, was formerly said to have occurred in North America, but its proper home is in the Kurile Islands or Kamchatka. This has no red in its plumage. The birds of the genusLeucosticteseem to be more terrestrial in their habit than those ofLinota, perhaps from their having been chiefly observed where trees are scarce; but it is possible that the mutual relationship of the two groups is more apparent than real. Allied toLeucosticteisMontifringilla, to which belongs the snow-finch of the Alps,M. nivalis, often mistaken by travellers for the snow-bunting,Plectrophanes nivalis.
(A. N.)
1E.g. Fr.Linotte, Ger.Hänfling, Swed.Hämpling.
1E.g. Fr.Linotte, Ger.Hänfling, Swed.Hämpling.
LINSANG,the native name of one of the members of the viverrine genusLinsanga. There are four species of the genus, from the Indo-Malay countries. Linsangs are civet-like creatures, with the body and tail greatly elongated; and the ground colour fulvous marked with bold black patches, which in one species (L. pardicolor) are oblong. In West Africa the group is represented by the smaller and spottedPoiana richardsoniwhich has a genet-like hind-foot. (SeeCarnivora.)
LINSEED,the seed of the common flax (q.v.) or lint,Linum usitatissimum. These seeds, the linseed of commerce, are of a lustrous brown colour externally, and a compressed and elongated oval form, with a slight beak or projection at one extremity. The brown testa contains, in the outer of the four coats into which it is microscopically distinguishable, an abundant secretion of mucilaginous matter; and it has within it a thin layer of albumen, enclosing a pair of large oily cotyledons. The seeds when placed in water for some time become coated with glutinous matter from the exudation of the mucilage in the external layer of the epidermis; and by boiling in sixteen parts of water they exude sufficient mucilage to form with the water a thick pasty decoction. The cotyledons contain the valuable linseed oil referred to below. Linseed grown in tropical countries is much larger and more plump than that obtained in temperate climes, but the seed from the colder countries yields a finer quality of oil.
Linseed formed an article of food among the Greeks and Romans, and it is said that the Abyssinians at the present day eat it roasted. The oil is to some extent used as food in Russia and in parts of Poland and Hungary. The still prevalent use of linseed in poultices for open wounds is entirely to be reprobated. It has now been abandoned by practitioners. The principal objections to this use of linseed is that it specially favours the growth of micro-organisms. There are numerous clean and efficient substitutes which have all its supposed advantages and none of its disadvantages. There are now no medicinal uses of this substance. Linseed cake, the marc left after the expression of the oil, is a most valuable feeding substance for cattle.
Linseed is subject to extensive and detrimental adulterations, resulting not only from careless harvesting and cleaning, whereby seeds of the flax dodder, and other weeds and grasses are mixed with it, but also from the direct admixture of cheaper and inferior oil-seeds, such as wild rape, mustard, sesame, poppy, &c., the latter adulterations being known in trade under the genericname of “buffum.” In 1864, owing to the serious aspect of the prevalent adulteration, a union of traders was formed under the name of the “Linseed Association.” This body samples all linseed oil arriving in England and reports on its value.
Linseed oil, the most valuable drying oil, is obtained by expression from the seeds, with or without the aid of heat. Preliminary to the operation of pressing, the seeds are crushed and ground to a fine meal. Cold pressing of the seeds yields a golden-yellow oil, which is often used as an edible oil. Larger quantities are obtained by heating the crushed seeds to 160° F. (71° C.), and then expressing the oil. So obtained, it is somewhat turbid and yellowish-brown in colour. On storing, moisture and mucilaginous matter gradually settle out. After storing several years it is known commercially as “tanked oil,” and has a high value in varnish-making. The delay attendant on this method of purification is avoided by treating the crude oil with 1 to 2% of a somewhat strong sulphuric acid, which chars and carries down the bulk of the impurities. For the preparation of “artist’s oil,” the finest form of linseed oil, the refined oil is placed in shallow trays covered with glass, and exposed to the action of the sun’s rays. Numerous other methods of purification, some based on the oxidizing action of ozone, have been suggested. The yield of oil from different classes of seed varies, but from 23 to 28% of the weight of the seed operated on should be obtained. A good average quality of seed weighing about 392 ℔ per quarter has been found in practice to give out 109 ℔ of oil.Commercial linseed oil has a peculiar, rather disagreeable sharp taste and smell; its specific gravity is given as varying from 0.928 to 0.953, and it solidifies at about -27°. By saponification it yields a number of fatty acids—palmitic, myristic, oleic, linolic, linolenic and isolinolenic. Exposed to the air in thin films, linseed oil absorbs oxygen and forms “linoxyn,” a resinous semi-elastic, caoutchouc-like mass, of uncertain composition. The oil, when boiled with small proportions of litharge and minium, undergoes the process of resinification in the air with greatly increased rapidity.Its most important use is in the preparation of oil paints and varnishes. By painters both raw and boiled oil are used, the latter forming the principal medium in oil painting, and also serving separately as the basis of all oil varnishes. Boiled oil is prepared in a variety of ways—that most common being by heating the raw oil in an iron or copper boiler, which, to allow for frothing, must only be about three-fourths filled. The boiler is heated by a furnace, and the oil is brought gradually to the point of ebullition, at which it is maintained for two hours, during which time moisture is driven off, and the scum and froth which accumulate on the surface are ladled out. Then by slow degrees a proportion of “dryers” is added—usually equal weights of litharge and minium being used to the extent of 3% of the charge of oil; and with these a small proportion of umber is generally thrown in. After the addition of the dryers the boiling is continued two or three hours; the fire is then suddenly withdrawn, and the oil is left covered up in the boiler for ten hours or more. Before sending out, it is usually stored in settling tanks for a few weeks, during which time the uncombined dryers settle at the bottom as “foots.” Besides the dryers already mentioned, lead acetate, manganese borate, manganese dioxide, zinc sulphate and other bodies are used.Linseed oil is also the principal ingredient in printing and lithographic inks. The oil for ink-making is prepared by heating it in an iron pot up to the point where it either takes fire spontaneously or can be ignited with any flaming substance. After the oil has been allowed to burn for some time according to the consistence of the varnish desired, the pot is covered over, and the product when cooled forms a viscid tenacious substance which in its most concentrated form may be drawn into threads. By boiling this varnish with dilute nitric acid vapours of acrolein are given off, and the substance gradually becomes a solid non-adhesive mass the same as the ultimate oxidation product of both raw and boiled oil.Linseed oil is subject to various falsifications, chiefly through the addition of cotton-seed, niger-seed and hemp-seed oils; and rosin oil and mineral oils also are not infrequently added. Except by smell, by change of specific gravity, and by deterioration of drying properties, these adulterations are difficult to detect.
Linseed oil, the most valuable drying oil, is obtained by expression from the seeds, with or without the aid of heat. Preliminary to the operation of pressing, the seeds are crushed and ground to a fine meal. Cold pressing of the seeds yields a golden-yellow oil, which is often used as an edible oil. Larger quantities are obtained by heating the crushed seeds to 160° F. (71° C.), and then expressing the oil. So obtained, it is somewhat turbid and yellowish-brown in colour. On storing, moisture and mucilaginous matter gradually settle out. After storing several years it is known commercially as “tanked oil,” and has a high value in varnish-making. The delay attendant on this method of purification is avoided by treating the crude oil with 1 to 2% of a somewhat strong sulphuric acid, which chars and carries down the bulk of the impurities. For the preparation of “artist’s oil,” the finest form of linseed oil, the refined oil is placed in shallow trays covered with glass, and exposed to the action of the sun’s rays. Numerous other methods of purification, some based on the oxidizing action of ozone, have been suggested. The yield of oil from different classes of seed varies, but from 23 to 28% of the weight of the seed operated on should be obtained. A good average quality of seed weighing about 392 ℔ per quarter has been found in practice to give out 109 ℔ of oil.
Commercial linseed oil has a peculiar, rather disagreeable sharp taste and smell; its specific gravity is given as varying from 0.928 to 0.953, and it solidifies at about -27°. By saponification it yields a number of fatty acids—palmitic, myristic, oleic, linolic, linolenic and isolinolenic. Exposed to the air in thin films, linseed oil absorbs oxygen and forms “linoxyn,” a resinous semi-elastic, caoutchouc-like mass, of uncertain composition. The oil, when boiled with small proportions of litharge and minium, undergoes the process of resinification in the air with greatly increased rapidity.
Its most important use is in the preparation of oil paints and varnishes. By painters both raw and boiled oil are used, the latter forming the principal medium in oil painting, and also serving separately as the basis of all oil varnishes. Boiled oil is prepared in a variety of ways—that most common being by heating the raw oil in an iron or copper boiler, which, to allow for frothing, must only be about three-fourths filled. The boiler is heated by a furnace, and the oil is brought gradually to the point of ebullition, at which it is maintained for two hours, during which time moisture is driven off, and the scum and froth which accumulate on the surface are ladled out. Then by slow degrees a proportion of “dryers” is added—usually equal weights of litharge and minium being used to the extent of 3% of the charge of oil; and with these a small proportion of umber is generally thrown in. After the addition of the dryers the boiling is continued two or three hours; the fire is then suddenly withdrawn, and the oil is left covered up in the boiler for ten hours or more. Before sending out, it is usually stored in settling tanks for a few weeks, during which time the uncombined dryers settle at the bottom as “foots.” Besides the dryers already mentioned, lead acetate, manganese borate, manganese dioxide, zinc sulphate and other bodies are used.
Linseed oil is also the principal ingredient in printing and lithographic inks. The oil for ink-making is prepared by heating it in an iron pot up to the point where it either takes fire spontaneously or can be ignited with any flaming substance. After the oil has been allowed to burn for some time according to the consistence of the varnish desired, the pot is covered over, and the product when cooled forms a viscid tenacious substance which in its most concentrated form may be drawn into threads. By boiling this varnish with dilute nitric acid vapours of acrolein are given off, and the substance gradually becomes a solid non-adhesive mass the same as the ultimate oxidation product of both raw and boiled oil.
Linseed oil is subject to various falsifications, chiefly through the addition of cotton-seed, niger-seed and hemp-seed oils; and rosin oil and mineral oils also are not infrequently added. Except by smell, by change of specific gravity, and by deterioration of drying properties, these adulterations are difficult to detect.
LINSTOCK(adapted from the Dutchlontstok,i.e.“matchstick,” fromlont, a match,stok, a stick; the word is sometimes erroneously spelled “lintstock” from a supposed derivation from “lint” in the sense of tinder), a kind of torch made of a stout stick a yard in length, with a fork at one end to hold a lighted match, and a point at the other to stick in the ground. “Linstocks” were used for discharging cannon in the early days of artillery.
LINT(in M. Eng.linnet, probably through Fr.linette, fromlin, the flax-plant; cf. “line”), properly the flax-plant, now only in Scots dialect; hence the application of such expressions as “lint-haired,” “lint white locks” to flaxen hair. It is also the term applied to the flax when prepared for spinning, and to the waste material left over which was used for tinder. “Lint” is still the name given to a specially prepared material for dressing wounds, made soft and fluffy by scraping or ravelling linen cloth.
LINTEL(O. Fr.lintel, mod.linteau, from Late Lat.limitellum,limes, boundary, confused in sense withlimen, threshold; the Latin name issupercilium, Ital.soprasogli, and Ger.Sturz), in architecture, a horizontal piece of stone or timber over a doorway or opening, provided to carry the superstructure. In order to relieve the lintel from too great a pressure a “discharging arch” is generally built over it.
LINTH,orLimmat, a river of Switzerland, one of the tributaries of the Aar. It rises in the glaciers of the Tödi range, and has cut out a deep bed which forms the Grossthal that comprises the greater portion of the canton of Glarus. A little below the town of Glarus the river, keeping its northerly direction, runs through the alluvial plain which it has formed, towards the Walensee and the Lake of Zürich. But between the Lake of Zürich and the Walensee the huge desolate alluvial plain grew ever in size, while great damage was done by the river, which overflowed its bed and the dykes built to protect the region near it. The Swiss diet decided in 1804 to undertake the “correction” of this turbulent stream. The necessary works were begun in 1807 under the supervision of Hans Conrad Escher of Zürich (1767-1823). The first portion of the undertaking was completed in 1811, and received the name of the “Escher canal,” the river being thus diverted into the Walensee. The second portion, known as the “Linth canal,” regulated the course of the river between the Walensee and the Lake of Zürich and was completed in 1816. Many improvements and extra protective works were carried out after 1816, and it was estimated that the total cost of this great engineering undertaking from 1807 to 1902 amounted to about £200,000, the date for the completion of the work being 1911. To commemorate the efforts of Escher, the Swiss diet in 1823 (after his death) decided that his male descendants should bear the name of “Escher von der Linth.” On issuing from the Lake of Zürich the Linth alters its name to that of “Limmat,” it does not appear wherefore, and, keeping the north-westerly direction it had taken from the Walensee, joins the Aar a little way below Brugg, and just below the junction of the Reuss with the Aar.
(W. A. B. C.)
LINTON, ELIZA LYNN(1822-1898), English novelist, daughter of the Rev. J. Lynn, vicar of Crosthwaite, in Cumberland, was born at Keswick on the 10th of February 1822. She early manifested great independence of character, and in great measure educated herself from the stores of her father’s library. Coming to London about 1845 with a large stock of miscellaneous erudition, she turned this to account in her first novels,Azeth the Egyptian(1846) andAmymone(1848), a romance of the days of Pericles. Her next story,Realities, a tale of modern life (1851), was not successful, and for several years she seemed to have abandoned fiction. When, in 1865, she reappeared withGrasp your Nettle, it was as an expert in a new style of novel-writing—stirring, fluent, ably-constructed stories, retaining the attention throughout, but affording little to reflect upon or to remember. Measured by their immediate success, they gave her an honourable position among the writers of her day, and secure of an audience, she continued to write with vigour nearly until her death.Lizzie Lorton of Greyrigg(1866),Patricia Kemball(1874),The Atonement of Leam Dundas(1877) are among the best examples of this more mechanical side of her talent, to which there were notable exceptions inJoshua Davidson(1872), a bold but not irreverent adaptation of the story of the Carpenter of Nazareth to that of the French Commune; andChristopher Kirkland, a veiled autobiography (1885). Mrs Linton was a practised and constant writer in the journals of the day; her articles on the “Girl of the Period” in theSaturday Reviewproduced a great sensation, and she was a constant contributor to theSt James’s Gazette, theDaily Newsand other leading newspapers. Many of her detached essays have been collected. In 1858 she married W. J. Linton, the engraver, but the union wassoon terminated by mutual consent; she nevertheless brought up one of Mr Linton’s daughters by a former marriage. A few years before her death she retired to Malvern. She died in London on the 14th of July 1898.
Her reminiscences appeared after her death under the title ofMy Literary Life(1899) and her life has been written by G. S. Layard (1901).
Her reminiscences appeared after her death under the title ofMy Literary Life(1899) and her life has been written by G. S. Layard (1901).
LINTON, WILLIAM JAMES(1812-1897), English wood-engraver, republican and author, was born in London. He was educated at Stratford, and in his sixteenth year was apprenticed to the wood-engraver G. W. Bonner. His earliest known work is to be found in Martin and Westall’sPictorial Illustrations of the Bible(1833). He rapidly rose to a place amongst the foremost wood-engravers of the time. After working as a journeyman engraver with two or three firms, losing his money over a cheap political library called the “National,” and writing a life of Thomas Paine, he went into partnership (1842) with John Orrin Smith. The firm was immediately employed on theIllustrated London News, just then projected. The following year Orrin Smith died, and Linton, who had married a sister of Thomas Wade, editor ofBell’s Weekly Messenger, found himself in sole charge of a business upon which two families were dependent. For years he had concerned himself with the social and European political problems of the time, and was now actively engaged in the republican propaganda. In 1844 he took a prominent part in exposing the violation by the English post-office of Mazzini’s correspondence. This led to a friendship with the Italian revolutionist, and Linton threw himself with ardour into European politics. He carried the first congratulatory address of English workmen to the French Provisional Government in 1848. He edited a twopenny weekly paper,The Cause of the People, published in the Isle of Man, and he wrote political verses for the DublinNation, signed “Spartacus.” He helped to found the “International League” of patriots, and, in 1850, with G. H. Lewes and Thornton Hunt, startedThe Leader, an organ which, however, did not satisfy his advanced republicanism, and from which he soon withdrew. The same year he wrote a series of articles propounding the views of Mazzini inThe Red Republican. In 1852 he took up his residence at Brantwood, which he afterwards sold to John Ruskin, and from there issuedThe English Republic, first in the form of weekly tracts and afterwards as a monthly magazine—“a useful exponent of republican principles, a faithful record of republican progress throughout the world; an organ of propagandism and a medium of communication for the active republicans in England.” Most of the paper, which never paid its way and was abandoned in 1855, was written by himself. In 1852 he also printed for private circulation an anonymous volume of poems entitledThe Plaint of Freedom. After the failure of his paper he returned to his proper work of wood-engraving. In 1857 his wife died, and in the following year he married Eliza Lynn (afterwards known as Mrs Lynn Linton) and returned to London. In 1864 he retired to Brantwood, his wife remaining in London. In 1867, pressed by financial difficulties, he determined to try his fortune in America, and finally separated from his wife, with whom, however, he always corresponded affectionately. With his children he settled at Appledore, New Haven, Connecticut, where he set up a printing-press. Here he wrotePractical Hints on Wood-Engraving(1879),James Watson, a Memoir of Chartist Times(1879),A History of Wood-Engraving in America(1882),Wood-Engraving, a Manual of Instruction(1884),The Masters of Wood-Engraving, for which he made two journeys to England (1890),The Life of Whittier(1893), andMemories, an autobiography (1895). He died at New Haven on the 29th of December 1897. Linton was a singularly gifted man, who, in the words of his wife, if he had not bitten the Dead Sea apple of impracticable politics, would have risen higher in the world of both art and letters. As an engraver on wood he reached the highest point of execution in his own line. He carried on the tradition of Bewick, fought for intelligent as against merely manipulative excellence in the use of the graver, and championed the use of the “white line” as well as of the black, believing with Ruskin that the former was the truer and more telling basis of aesthetic expression in the wood-block printed upon paper.
See W. J. Linton,Memories; F. G. Kitton, article on “Linton” inEnglish Illustrated Magazine(April 1891); G. S. Layard,Life of Mrs Lynn Linton(1901).
See W. J. Linton,Memories; F. G. Kitton, article on “Linton” inEnglish Illustrated Magazine(April 1891); G. S. Layard,Life of Mrs Lynn Linton(1901).
(G. S. L.)
LINTOT, BARNABY BERNARD(1675-1736), English publisher, was born at Southwater, Sussex, on the 1st of December 1675, and started business as a publisher in London about 1698. He published for many of the leading writers of the day, notably Vanbrugh, Steele, Gay and Pope. The latter’sRape of the Lockin its original form was first published inLintot’s Miscellany, and Lintot subsequently issued Pope’s translation of theIliadand the joint translation of theOdysseyby Pope, Fenton and Broome. Pope quarrelled with Lintot with regard to the supply of free copies of the latter translation to the author’s subscribers, and in 1728 satirized the publisher in theDunciad, and in 1735 in thePrologue to the Satires, though he does not appear to have had any serious grievance. Lintot died on the 3rd of February 1736.
LINUS,one of the saints of the Gregorian canon, whose festival is celebrated on the 23rd of September. All that can be said with certainty about him is that his name appears at the head of all the lists of the bishops of Rome. Irenaeus (Adv. Haer.iii. 3. 3) identifies him with the Linus mentioned by St Paul in 2 Tim. iv. 21. According to theLiber Pontificalis, Linus suffered martyrdom, and was buried in the Vatican. In the 17th century an inscription was found near the confession of St Peter, which was believed to contain the name Linus; but it is not certain that this epitaph has been read correctly or completely. The apocryphal Latin account of the death of the apostles Peter and Paul is falsely attributed to Linus.
SeeActa Sanctorum, Septembris, vi. 539-545; C. de Smedt,Dissertatione selectae in primam aetatem hist. eccl.pp. 300-312 (Ghent, 1876); L. Duchesne’s edition of theLiber Pontificalis, i. 121 (Paris, 1886); R. A. Lipsius,Die apokryphen Apostelgeschichten, ii. 85-96 (Brunswick, 1883-1890); J. B. de Rossi,Bullettino di archeologia cristiana, p. 50 (1864).
SeeActa Sanctorum, Septembris, vi. 539-545; C. de Smedt,Dissertatione selectae in primam aetatem hist. eccl.pp. 300-312 (Ghent, 1876); L. Duchesne’s edition of theLiber Pontificalis, i. 121 (Paris, 1886); R. A. Lipsius,Die apokryphen Apostelgeschichten, ii. 85-96 (Brunswick, 1883-1890); J. B. de Rossi,Bullettino di archeologia cristiana, p. 50 (1864).
(H. De.)
LINUS,one of a numerous class of heroic figures in Greek legend, of which other examples are found in Hyacinthus and Adonis. The connected legend is always of the same character: a beautiful youth, fond of hunting and rural life, the favourite of some god or goddess, suddenly perishes by a terrible death. In many cases the religious background of the legend is preserved by the annual ceremonial that commemorated it. At Argos this religious character of the Linus myth was best preserved: the secret child of Psamathe by the god Apollo, Linus is exposed, nursed by sheep and torn in pieces by sheep-dogs. Every year at the festival Arnis or Cynophontis, the women of Argos mourned for Linus and propitiated Apollo, who in revenge for his child’s death had sent a female monster (Poinē), which tore the children from their mothers’ arms. Lambs were sacrificed, all dogs found running loose were killed, and women and children raised a lament for Linus and Psamathe (Pausanias i. 43. 7; Conon,Narrat.19). In the Theban version, Linus, the son of Amphimarus and the muse Urania, was a famous musician, inventor of the Linus song, who was said to have been slain by Apollo, because he had challenged him to a contest (Pausanias ix. 29. 6). A later story makes him the teacher of Heracles, by whom he was killed because he had rebuked his pupil for stupidity (Apollodorus ii. 4. 9). On Mount Helicon there was a grotto containing his statue, to which sacrifice was offered every year before the sacrifices to the Muses. From being the inventor of musical methods, he was finally transformed by later writers into a composer of prophecies and legends. He was also said to have adapted the Phoenician letters introduced by Cadmus to the Greek language. It is generally agreed that Linus and Ailinus are of Semitic origin, derived from the wordsai lanu(woe to us), which formed the burden of the Adonis and similar songs popular in the East. The Linus song is mentioned in Homer; the tragedians often use the wordαἴλινοςas the refrain in mournful songs, and Euripides calls the custom a Phrygian one. Linus, originally the personification of the song of lamentation, becomes, like Adonis, Maneros, Narcissus, the representativeof the tender life of nature and of the vegetation destroyed by the fiery heat of the dog-star.
The chief work on the subject is H. Brugsch,Die Adonisklage und das Linoslied(1852); see also article in Roscher’sLexikon der Mythologie; J. G. Frazer,Golden Bough(ii. 224, 253), where, the identity of Linus with Adonis (possibly a corn-spirit) being assumed, the lament is explained as the lamentation of the reapers over the dead corn-spirit; W. Mannhardt,Wald- und Feldculte, ii. 281.
The chief work on the subject is H. Brugsch,Die Adonisklage und das Linoslied(1852); see also article in Roscher’sLexikon der Mythologie; J. G. Frazer,Golden Bough(ii. 224, 253), where, the identity of Linus with Adonis (possibly a corn-spirit) being assumed, the lament is explained as the lamentation of the reapers over the dead corn-spirit; W. Mannhardt,Wald- und Feldculte, ii. 281.
LINZ,capital of the Austrian duchy and crownland of Upper Austria, and see of a bishop, 117 m. W. of Vienna by rail. Pop. (1900) 58,778. It lies on the right bank of the Danube and is connected by an iron bridge, 308 yds. long, with the market-town of Urfahr (pop. 12,827) on the opposite bank. Linz possesses two cathedrals, one built in 1669-1682 in rococo style, and another in early Gothic style, begun in 1862. In the Capuchin church is the tomb of Count Raimondo Montecucculi, who died at Linz in 1680. The museum Francisco-Carolinum, founded in 1833 and reconstructed in 1895, contains several important collections relating to the history of Upper Austria. In the Franz Josef-Platz stands a marble monument, known as Trinity Column, erected by the emperor Charles VI. in 1723, commemorating the triple deliverance of Linz from war, fire, and pestilence. The principal manufactories are of tobacco, boat-building, agricultural implements, foundries and cloth factories. Being an important railway junction and a port of the Danube, Linz has a very active transit trade.
Linz is believed to stand on the site of the Roman stationLentia. The name of Linz appears in documents for the first time in 799 and it received municipal rights in 1324. In 1490 it became the capital of the province above the Enns. It successfully resisted the attacks of the insurgent peasants under Stephen Fadinger on the 21st and 22nd of July 1626, but its suburbs were laid in ashes. During the siege of Vienna in 1683, the castle of Linz was the residence of Leopold I. In 1741, during the War of the Austrian Succession, Linz was taken by the Bavarians, but was recovered by the Austrians in the following year. The bishopric was established in 1784.
See F. Krackowitzer,Die Donaustadt Linz(Linz, 1901).
See F. Krackowitzer,Die Donaustadt Linz(Linz, 1901).
LION(Lat.leo,leonis; Gr.λέων). From the earliest historic times few animals have been better known to man than the lion. Its habitat made it familiar to all the races among whom human civilization took its origin. The literature of the ancient Hebrews abounds in allusions to the lion; and the almost incredible numbers stated to have been provided for exhibition and destruction in the Roman amphitheatres (as many as six hundred on a single occasion by Pompey, for example) show how abundant these animals must have been within accessible distance of Rome.
Even within the historic period the geographical range of the lion covered the whole of Africa, the south of Asia, including Syria, Arabia, Asia Minor, Persia and the greater part of northern and central India. Professor A. B. Meyer, director of the zoological museum at Dresden, has published an article on the alleged existence of the lion in historical times in Greece, a translation of which appears in theReportof the Smithsonian Institution for 1905. Meyer is of opinion that the writer of theIliadwas probably acquainted with the lion, but this does not prove its former existence in Greece. The accounts given by Herodotus and Aristotle merely go to show that about 500B.C.lions existed in some part of eastern Europe. The Greek name for the lion is very ancient, and this suggests, although by no means demonstrates, that it refers to an animal indigenous to the country. Although the evidence is not decisive, it seems probable that lions did exist in Greece at the time of Herodotus; and it is quite possible that the representation of a lion-chase incised on a Mycenean dagger may have been taken from life. In prehistoric times the lion was spread over the greater part of Europe; and if, as is very probable, the so-calledFelis atroxbe inseparable, its range also included the greater part of North America.
At the present day the lion is found throughout Africa (save in places where it has been exterminated by man) and in Mesopotamia, Persia, and some parts of north-west India. According to Dr W. T. Blanford, lions are still numerous in the reedy swamps, bordering the Tigris and Euphrates, and also occur on the west flanks of the Zagros mountains and the oak-clad ranges near Shiraz, to which they are attracted by the herds of swine which feed on the acorns. The lion nowhere exists in the table-land of Persia, nor is it found in Balūchistān. In India it is confined to the province of Kathiawar in Gujerat, though within the 19th century it extended through the north-west parts of Hindustan, from Bahāwalpur and Sind to at least the Jumna (about Delhi) southward as far as Khāndesh, and in central India through the Sagur and Narbuda territories, Bundelkund, and as far east as Palamau. It was extirpated in Hariāna about 1824. One was killed at Rhyli, in the Dumaoh district, Sagur and Narbuda territories, so late as in the cold season of 1847-1848; and about the same time a few still remained in the valley of the Sind river in Kotah, central India.
The variations in external characters which lions present, especially in the colour and the amount of mane, as well as in the general colour of the fur, indicate local races, to which special names have been given; the Indian lion beingF. leo gujratensis. It is noteworthy, however, that, according to Mr F. C. Selous, in South Africa the black-maned lion and others with yellow scanty manes are found, not only in the same locality, but even among individuals of the same parentage.
The lion belongs to the genusFelisof Linnaeus (for the characters and position of which seeCarnivora), and differs from the tiger and leopard in its uniform colouring, and from all the otherFelidaein the hair of the top of the head, chin and neck, as far back as the shoulder, being not only much longer, but also differently disposed from the hair elsewhere, being erect or directed forwards, and so constituting the characteristic ornament called the mane. There is also a tuft of elongated hairs at the end of the tail, one upon each elbow, and in most lions a copious fringe along the middle line of the under surface of the body, wanting, however, in some examples. These characters are, however, peculiar to the adults of the male sex; and even as regards coloration young lions show indications of the darker stripes and mottlings so characteristic of the greater number of the members of the genus. The usual colour of the adult is yellowish-brown, but it may vary from a deep red or chestnut brown to an almost silvery grey. The mane, as well as the long hair of the other parts of the body, sometimes scarcely differs from the general colour, but is usually darker and notunfrequently nearly black. The mane begins to grow when the animal is about three years old, and is fully developed at five or six.
In size the lion is only equalled or exceeded by the tiger among existingFelidae; and though both species present great variations, the largest specimens of the latter appear to surpass the largest lions. A full-sized South African lion, according to Selous, measures slightly less than 10 ft. from nose to tip of tail, following the curves of the body. Sir Cornwallis Harris gives 10 ft. 6 in., of which the tail occupies 3 ft. The lioness is about a foot less.
The internal structure of the lion, except in slight details, resembles that of otherFelidae, the whole organization being that of an animal adapted for an active, predaceous existence. The teeth especially exemplify the carnivorous type in its highest condition of development. The most important function they have to perform, that of seizing and holding firmly animals of considerable size and strength, violently struggling for life, is provided for by the great, sharp-pointed and sharp-edged canines, placed wide apart at the angles of the mouth, the incisors between them being greatly reduced in size and kept back nearly to the same level, so as not to interfere with their action. The jaws are short and strong, and the width of the zygomatic arches, and great development of the bony ridges on the skull, give ample space for the attachment of the powerful muscles by which they are closed. In the cheek-teeth the sectorial or scissor-like cutting function is developed at the expense of the tubercular or grinding, there being only one rudimentary tooth of the latter form in the upper jaw, and none in the lower. They are, however, sufficiently strong to break bones of large size. The tongue is long and flat, and remarkable for the development of the papillae of the anterior part of the dorsal surface, which (except near the edge) are modified so as to resemble long, compressed, recurved, horny spines or claws, which, near the middle line, attain the length of one-fifth of an inch. They give the part of the tongue on which they occur the appearance and feel of a coarse rasp. The feet are furnished with round soft pads or cushions covered with thick, naked skin, one on the under surface of each of the principal toes, and one larger one of trilobed form, behind these, under the lower ends of the metacarpal and metatarsal bones, which are placed nearly vertically in ordinary progression. The claws are large, strongly compressed, sharp, and exhibit the retractile condition in the highest degree, being drawn backwards and upwards into a sheath by the action of an elastic ligament so long as the foot is in a state of repose, but exerted by muscular action when the animal strikes its prey.
The internal structure of the lion, except in slight details, resembles that of otherFelidae, the whole organization being that of an animal adapted for an active, predaceous existence. The teeth especially exemplify the carnivorous type in its highest condition of development. The most important function they have to perform, that of seizing and holding firmly animals of considerable size and strength, violently struggling for life, is provided for by the great, sharp-pointed and sharp-edged canines, placed wide apart at the angles of the mouth, the incisors between them being greatly reduced in size and kept back nearly to the same level, so as not to interfere with their action. The jaws are short and strong, and the width of the zygomatic arches, and great development of the bony ridges on the skull, give ample space for the attachment of the powerful muscles by which they are closed. In the cheek-teeth the sectorial or scissor-like cutting function is developed at the expense of the tubercular or grinding, there being only one rudimentary tooth of the latter form in the upper jaw, and none in the lower. They are, however, sufficiently strong to break bones of large size. The tongue is long and flat, and remarkable for the development of the papillae of the anterior part of the dorsal surface, which (except near the edge) are modified so as to resemble long, compressed, recurved, horny spines or claws, which, near the middle line, attain the length of one-fifth of an inch. They give the part of the tongue on which they occur the appearance and feel of a coarse rasp. The feet are furnished with round soft pads or cushions covered with thick, naked skin, one on the under surface of each of the principal toes, and one larger one of trilobed form, behind these, under the lower ends of the metacarpal and metatarsal bones, which are placed nearly vertically in ordinary progression. The claws are large, strongly compressed, sharp, and exhibit the retractile condition in the highest degree, being drawn backwards and upwards into a sheath by the action of an elastic ligament so long as the foot is in a state of repose, but exerted by muscular action when the animal strikes its prey.
The lion lives chiefly in sandy plains and rocky places interspersed with dense thorn-thickets, or frequents the low bushes and tall rank grass and reeds that grow along the sides of streams and near the springs where it lies in wait for the larger herbivorous animals on which it feeds. Although occasionally seen abroad during the day, especially in wild and desolate regions, where it is subject to little molestation, the night is, as in the case of so many other predaceous animals, the period of its greatest activity. It is then that its characteristic roar is chiefly heard, as thus graphically described by Gordon-Cumming:—
“One of the most striking things connected with the lion is his voice, which is extremely grand and peculiarly striking. It consists at times of a low deep moaning, repeated five or six times, ending in faintly audible sighs; at other times he startles the forest with loud, deep-toned, solemn roars, repeated in quick succession, each increasing in loudness to the third or fourth, when his voice dies away in five or six low muffled sounds very much resembling distant thunder. At times, and not unfrequently, a troop may be heard, roaring in concert, one assuming the lead, and two, three or four more regularly taking up their parts, like persons singing a catch. Like our Scottish stags at the rutting season, they roar loudest in cold frosty nights; but on no occasions are their voices to be heard in such perfection, or so intensely powerful, as when two or three troops of strange lions approach a fountain to drink at the same time. When this occurs, every member of each troop sounds a bold roar of defiance at the opposite parties; and when one roars, all roar together, and each seems to vie with his comrades in the intensity and power of his voice. The power and grandeur of these nocturnal concerts is inconceivably striking and pleasing to the hunter’s ear.”
“One of the most striking things connected with the lion is his voice, which is extremely grand and peculiarly striking. It consists at times of a low deep moaning, repeated five or six times, ending in faintly audible sighs; at other times he startles the forest with loud, deep-toned, solemn roars, repeated in quick succession, each increasing in loudness to the third or fourth, when his voice dies away in five or six low muffled sounds very much resembling distant thunder. At times, and not unfrequently, a troop may be heard, roaring in concert, one assuming the lead, and two, three or four more regularly taking up their parts, like persons singing a catch. Like our Scottish stags at the rutting season, they roar loudest in cold frosty nights; but on no occasions are their voices to be heard in such perfection, or so intensely powerful, as when two or three troops of strange lions approach a fountain to drink at the same time. When this occurs, every member of each troop sounds a bold roar of defiance at the opposite parties; and when one roars, all roar together, and each seems to vie with his comrades in the intensity and power of his voice. The power and grandeur of these nocturnal concerts is inconceivably striking and pleasing to the hunter’s ear.”
“The usual pace of a lion,” C. J. Andersson says, “is a walk, and, though apparently rather slow, yet, from the great length of his body, he is able to get over a good deal of ground in a short time. Occasionally he trots, when his speed is not inconsiderable. His gallop—or rather succession of bounds—is, for a short distance, very fast—nearly or quite equal to that of a horse.”
“The lion, as with other members of the feline family,” the same writer says, “seldom attacks his prey openly, unless compelled by extreme hunger. For the most part he steals upon it in the manner of a cat, or ambushes himself near to the water or a pathway frequented by game. At such times he lies crouched upon his belly in a thicket until the animal approaches sufficiently near, when, with one prodigious bound, he pounces upon it. In most cases he is successful, but should his intended victim escape, as at times happens, from his having miscalculated the distance, he may make a second or even a third bound, which, however, usually prove fruitless, or he returns disconcerted to his hiding-place, there to wait for another opportunity.” His food consists of all the larger herbivorous animals of the country in which he resides—buffaloes, antelopes, zebras, giraffes or even young elephants or rhinoceroses. In cultivated districts cattle, sheep, and even human inhabitants are never safe from his nocturnal ravages. He appears, however, as a general rule, only to kill when hungry or attacked, and not for the mere pleasure of killing, as with some other carnivorous animals. He, moreover, by no means limits himself to animals of his own killing, but, according to Selous, often prefers eating game that has been killed by man, even when not very fresh, to taking the trouble to catch an animal himself.
The lion appears to be monogamous, a single male and female continuing attached to each other irrespectively of the pairing season. At all events the lion remains with the lioness while the cubs are young and helpless, and assists in providing her and them with food, and in educating them in the art of providing for themselves. The number of cubs at a birth is from two to four, usually three. They are said to remain with their parents till they are about three years old.
Though not strictly gregarious, lions appear to be sociable towards their own species, and often are found in small troops sometimes consisting of a pair of old ones with their nearly full-grown cubs, but occasionally of adults of the same sex; and there seems to be evidence that several lions will associate for the purpose of hunting upon a preconcerted plan. Their natural ferocity and powerful armature are sometimes turned upon one another; combats, often mortal, occur among male lions under the influence of jealousy; and Andersson relates an instance of a quarrel between a hungry lion and lioness over the carcase of an antelope which they had just killed, and which did not seem sufficient for the appetite of both, ending in the lion not only killing, but devouring his mate. Old lions, whose teeth have become injured with constant wear, become “man-eaters,” finding their easiest means of obtaining a subsistence in lurking in the neighbourhood of villages, and dashing into the tents at night and carrying off one of the sleeping inmates. Lions never climb.
With regard to the character of the lion, those who have hadopportunities of observing it in its native haunts differ greatly. The accounts of early writers as to its courage, nobility and magnanimity have led to a reaction, causing some modern authors to accuse it of cowardice and meanness. Livingstone goes so far as to say, “nothing that I ever learned of the lion could lead me to attribute to it either the ferocious or noble character ascribed to it elsewhere,” and he adds that its roar is not distinguishable from that of the ostrich. These different estimates depend to a great extent upon the particular standard of the writer, and also upon the circumstance that lions, like other animals, show considerable individual differences in character, and behave differently under varying circumstances.
(W. H. F.; R. L.*)
LIONNE, HUGUES DE(1611-1671), French statesman, was born at Grenoble on the 11th of October 1611, of an old family of Dauphiné. Early trained for diplomacy, his remarkable abilities attracted the notice of Cardinal Mazarin, who sent him as secretary of the French embassy to the congress of Münster, and, in 1642, on a mission to the pope. In 1646 he became secretary to the queen regent; in 1653 obtained high office in the king’s household; and in 1654 was ambassador extraordinary at the election of Pope Alexander VII. He was instrumental in forming the league of the Rhine, by which Austria was cut off from the Spanish Netherlands, and, as minister of state, was associated with Mazarin in the Peace of the Pyrenees (1659), which secured the marriage of Louis XIV. to the infanta Maria Theresa. At the cardinal’s dying request he was appointed his successor in foreign affairs, and, for the next ten years, continued to direct French foreign policy. Among his most important diplomatic successes were the treaty of Breda (1667), the treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle (1668) and the sale of Dunkirk. He died in Paris on the 1st of September 1671, leaving memoirs. He was a man of pleasure, but his natural indolence gave place to an unflagging energy when the occasion demanded it; and, in an age of great ministers, his consummate statesmanship placed him in the front rank.