See Costa e Silva,Ensaio biographico critico, v. 5-112, for a critical examination of Lobo’s writings; also Bouterwek’sHistory of Portuguese Literature.
See Costa e Silva,Ensaio biographico critico, v. 5-112, for a critical examination of Lobo’s writings; also Bouterwek’sHistory of Portuguese Literature.
(E. Pr.)
LOBO, JERONIMO(1593-1678), Jesuit missionary, was born in Lisbon, and entered the Order of Jesus at the age of sixteen. In 1621 he was ordered as a missionary to India, and in 1622 he arrived at Goa. With the intention of proceeding to Abyssinia, whose Negus (emperor) Segued had been converted to Roman Catholicism by Pedro Paez, he left India in 1624. He disembarked on the coast of Mombasa, and attempted to reach his destination through the Galla country, but was forced to return. In 1625 he set out again, accompanied by Mendez, the patriarch of Ethiopia, and eight missionaries. The party landed on the coast of the Red Sea, and Lobo settled in Abyssinia as superintendent of the missions in Tigré. He remained there until death deprived the Catholics of their protector, the emperor Segued. Forced by persecution to leave the kingdom, in 1634 Lobo and his companions fell into the hands of the Turks at Massawa, who sent him to India to procure a ransom for his imprisoned fellow-missionaries. In this he was successful, but could not induce the Portuguese viceroy to send an armament against Abyssinia. Intent upon accomplishing this cherished project, he embarked for Portugal, and after he had been shipwrecked on the coast of Natal, and captured by pirates, arrived at Lisbon. Neither at this city, however, nor at Madrid and Rome, was any countenance given to Lobo’s plan. He accordingly returned to India in 1640, and was elected rector, and afterwards provincial, of the Jesuits at Goa. After some years he returned to his native city, and died there on the 29th of January 1678.
Lobo wrote an account of his travels in Portuguese, which appears never to have been printed, but is deposited in the monastery of St Roque, Lisbon. Balthazar Telles made large use of the information therein in hisHistoria geral da Ethiopia a Alta(Coimbra, 1660), often erroneously attributed to Lobo (see Machado’sBibliotheca Lusitana). Lobo’s own narrative was translated from a MS. copy into French in 1728 by the Abbé Joachim le Grand, under the title ofVoyage historique d’Abissinie. In 1669 a translation by Sir Peter Wyche of several passages from a MS. account of Lobo’s travels was published by the Royal Society (translated in M. Thévenot’sRelation des voyagesin 1673). An English abridgment of Le Grand’s edition by Dr Johnson was published in 1735 (reprinted 1789). In aMémoire justificatif en réhabilitation des pères Pierre Paez et Jérôme Lobo, Dr C. T. Beke maintains against Bruce the accuracy of Lobo’s statements as to the source of the Abai branch of the Nile. See A. de Backer,Bibliothèque de la Compagnie de Jésus(ed. C. Sommervogel, iv., 1893).
Lobo wrote an account of his travels in Portuguese, which appears never to have been printed, but is deposited in the monastery of St Roque, Lisbon. Balthazar Telles made large use of the information therein in hisHistoria geral da Ethiopia a Alta(Coimbra, 1660), often erroneously attributed to Lobo (see Machado’sBibliotheca Lusitana). Lobo’s own narrative was translated from a MS. copy into French in 1728 by the Abbé Joachim le Grand, under the title ofVoyage historique d’Abissinie. In 1669 a translation by Sir Peter Wyche of several passages from a MS. account of Lobo’s travels was published by the Royal Society (translated in M. Thévenot’sRelation des voyagesin 1673). An English abridgment of Le Grand’s edition by Dr Johnson was published in 1735 (reprinted 1789). In aMémoire justificatif en réhabilitation des pères Pierre Paez et Jérôme Lobo, Dr C. T. Beke maintains against Bruce the accuracy of Lobo’s statements as to the source of the Abai branch of the Nile. See A. de Backer,Bibliothèque de la Compagnie de Jésus(ed. C. Sommervogel, iv., 1893).
LOBSTER(O.E.lopustre,lopystre, a corruption of Lat.locusta, lobster or other marine shell-fish; also a locust), an edible crustacean found on the coasts of the North Atlantic and Mediterranean. The name is sometimes loosely applied to any of the larger Crustacea of the order Macrura, especially to such as are used for food.
The true lobsters, forming the familyHomaridae, are distinguished from the other Macrura by having the first three pairs of legs terminating in chelae or pincers. The first pair are large and massive and are composed of six segments, while the remaining legs are each composed of seven segments. The sternum of the last thoracic somite is immovably united with the preceding. This last character, together with some peculiarities of the branchial system, distinguish the lobsters from the freshwater crayfishes. The common lobster (Homarus gammarusorvulgaris) is found on the European coasts from Norway to the Mediterranean. The American lobster (Homarus americanus), which should perhaps be ranked as a variety rather than as a distinct species, is found on the Atlantic coast of North America from Labrador to Cape Hatteras. A third species, found at the Cape of Good Hope, is of small size and of no economic importance.
Both in Europe and in America the lobster is the object of an important fishery. It lives in shallow water, in rocky places, and is usually captured in traps known as lobster-pots, or creels, made of wickerwork or of hoops covered with netting, and having funnel-shaped openings permitting entrance but preventing escape. These traps are baited with pieces of fish, preferably stale, and are sunk on ground frequented by lobsters, the place of each being marked by a buoy. In Europe the lobsters are generally sent to market in the fresh state, but in America, especially in the northern New England states and in the maritime provinces of Canada, the canning of lobsters is an important industry. The European lobster rarely reaches 10 pounds in weight, though individuals of 14 pounds have been found, and in America there are authentic records of lobsters weighing 20 to 23 pounds.
The effects of over-fishing have become apparent, especially in America, rather in the reduced average size of the lobsters caught than in any diminution of the total yield. The imposition of a close time to protect the spawning lobsters has been often tried, but as the female carries the spawn attached to her body for nearly twelve months after spawning it is impossible to give any effective protection by this means. The prohibition of the capture of females carrying spawn, or, as it is termed, “in berry,” is difficult to enforce. A minimum size, below which it is illegal to sell lobsters, is fixed by law in most lobster-fishing districts, but the value of the protection so given has also been questioned.
The Norway lobster (Nephrops norvegicus) is found, like the common lobster, from Norway to the Mediterranean. It is a smaller species, with long and slender claws and is of an orange colour, often beautifully marked with red and blue. It is found in deeper water and is generally captured by trawling. It is a curious and unexplained fact that nearly all the individuals so captured are males. It is less esteemed for food than the common species. In London it is sold under the name of “Dublin prawn.”
The rock lobster, spiny lobster, or sea-crawfish (Palinurus vulgaris) belongs to the familyPalinuridae, distinguished from theHomaridaeby the fact that the first legs are not provided with chelae or pincers, and that all the legs possess only six segments. The antennae are very long and thick. It is found on the southern and western coasts of the British, Islands and extends to the Mediterranean. It is highly esteemed for the table, especially in France, where it goes by the name ofLangouste. Other species of the same family are used for food in various parts of the world, especially on the Pacific coast of North America and in Australia and New Zealand.
In Melbourne and Sydney the name of “Murray lobster” is given to a large species of crayfish (Astacopsis spinifer, formerly known asAstacus, orPotamobius serratus) which is much used for food.
(W. T. Ca.)
LOCAL GOVERNMENT,a phrase specially adopted in English usage for the decentralized or deconcentrated administration, within a state or national and central government, of local affairs by local authorities. It is restricted not only in respectof area but also in respect of the character and extent of the duties assigned to them. It is not to be confused with local self-government in the wider sense in which the words are sometimes employed,e.g.for the granting by the crown of self-government to a colony; the expression, in a general way, may mean this, but “local government” as technically used in England refers more narrowly to the system of county or municipal administration, and English usage transfers it to denote the similar institutions in other countries. The growth and persistence of this kind of subordinate government is due practically to the need of relieving the central authority in the state, and to experience of the failure of a completely centralized bureaucracy. The degree to which local government is adopted varies considerably in different countries, and those which are the best examples of it in modern times—the United Kingdom, the United States, France and Germany—differ very much in their local institutions, partly through historical, partly through temperamental, causes. A certain shifting of ideas from time to time, as to what is local and what is central, is inevitable, and the same view is not possible in countries of different configuration, history or political system. The history and present state of the local government in the various countries are dealt with in the separate articles on them (England,Germany, &c.), in the sections dealing with government and administration, or political institutions.
The best recent comparative study of local government is Percy Ashley’sLocal and Central Government(Murray, 1906), an admirable account of the evolution and working of the systems in England, France, Prussia and United States. Other important works, in addition to general works on constitutional law, are J. A. Fairlie’sMunicipal Administration, Shaw’sMunicipal Government in Continental Europe, Redlich and Hirst’sLocal Government in England, Mr and Mrs Sidney Webb’s elaborate historical inquiry into English local government (1906), and for Germany, Bornhak’sGeschichte des preussischen Verwaltungsrechts.
The best recent comparative study of local government is Percy Ashley’sLocal and Central Government(Murray, 1906), an admirable account of the evolution and working of the systems in England, France, Prussia and United States. Other important works, in addition to general works on constitutional law, are J. A. Fairlie’sMunicipal Administration, Shaw’sMunicipal Government in Continental Europe, Redlich and Hirst’sLocal Government in England, Mr and Mrs Sidney Webb’s elaborate historical inquiry into English local government (1906), and for Germany, Bornhak’sGeschichte des preussischen Verwaltungsrechts.
LOCAL GOVERNMENT BOARD,a department of the administration of the United Kingdom, constituted in 1871. It is the successor of the General Board of Health, established in 1848 pursuant to the Public Health Act of that year. The General Board of Health continued in existence until 1854, when it was reconstituted. Its existence under its new constitution was originally limited to one year, but was extended from year to year until 1858, when it was allowed to expire, its powers under the various acts for the prevention of diseases being transferred to the privy council, while those which related to the control of local authorities passed to the secretary of state for the home department, to whose department the staff of officers and clerks belonging to the board was transferred. This state of affairs continued until 1871, when the Local Government Board was created by the Local Government Board Act 1871. It consists of the lord president of the council, the five principal secretaries of state, the lord privy seal, the chancellor of the exchequer and a president appointed by the sovereign. The board itself seldom meets, and the duties of the department are discharged by the president assisted by a parliamentary and a permanent secretary and a permanent staff. The president and one of the secretaries usually have seats in parliament, and the president is generally a member of the cabinet. The salary of the president, formerly £2000, was raised in 1910 to £5000 a year. The board has all the powers of the secretary of state under the Public Health Act 1848, and the numerous subsequent acts relating to sanitary matters and the government of sanitary districts; together with all the powers and duties of the privy council under the acts relating to the prevention of epidemic disease and to vaccination. The powers and duties of the board have been largely added to by legislation since its creation; it may be said that the board exercises a general supervision over the numerous authorities to whom local government has been entrusted (seeEngland:Local Government). A committee presided over by Lord Jersey in 1904 inquired into the constitution and duties of the board, but made no recommendation as to any change therein. It recommended, however, an increase in the salaries of the president and of the parliamentary and permanent secretaries.
LOCARNO(Ger.Luggarus), a small town of Italian appearance in the Swiss canton of Tessin or Ticino, of which till 1881 it was one of the three capitals (the others being Bellinzona,q.v., and Lugano,q.v.). It is built at the north or Swiss end of the Lago Maggiore, not far from the point at which the Maggia enters that lake, and is by rail 14 m. S.W. of Bellinzona. Its height above the sea-level is only 682 ft., so that it is said to be the lowest spot in Switzerland. In 1900 its population was 3603, mainly Italian-speaking and Romanists. It was taken from the Milanese in 1512 by the Swiss who ruled it till 1798, when it became part of the canton of Lugano in the Helvetic Republic, and in 1803 part of that of Tessin or Ticino, then first erected. In 1555 a number of Protestant inhabitants were expelled for religious reasons, and going to Zürich founded the silk industry there. Above Locarno is the romantically situated sanctuary of the Madonna del Sasso (now rendered easily accessible by a funicular railway) that commands a glorious view over the lake and the surrounding country.
(W. A. B. C.)
LOCH, HENRY BROUGHAM LOCH,1st Baron(1827-1900), British colonial administrator, son of James Loch, M.P., of Drylaw, Midlothian, was born on the 23rd of May 1827. He entered the navy, but at the end of two years quitted it for the East India Company’s military service, and in 1842 obtained a commission in the Bengal Light Cavalry. In the Sikh war in 1845 he was given an appointment on the staff of Sir Hugh Gough, and served throughout the Sutlej campaign. In 1852 he became second in command of Skinner’s Horse. At the outbreak of the Crimean war in 1854, Loch severed his connexion with India, and obtained leave to raise a body of irregular Bulgarian cavalry, which he commanded throughout the war. In 1857 he was appointed attaché to Lord Elgin’s mission to the East, was present at the taking of Canton, and in 1858 brought home the treaty of Yedo. In April 1860 he again accompanied Lord Elgin to China, as secretary of the new embassy sent to secure the execution by China of her treaty engagements. The embassy was backed up by an allied Anglo-French force. With Harry S. Parkes he negotiated the surrender of the Taku forts. During the advance on Peking Loch was chosen with Parkes to complete the preliminary negotiations for peace at Tungchow. They were accompanied by a small party of officers and Sikhs. It having been discovered that the Chinese were planning a treacherous attack on the British force, Loch rode back and warned the outposts. He then returned to Parkes and his party under a flag of truce hoping to secure their safety. They were all, however, made prisoners and taken to Peking, where the majority died from torture or disease. Parkes and Loch, after enduring irons and all the horrors of a Chinese prison, were afterwards more leniently treated. After three weeks’ time the negotiations for their release were successful, but they had only been liberated ten minutes when orders were received from the Chinese emperor, then a fugitive in Mongolia, for their immediate execution. Loch never entirely recovered his health after this experience in a Chinese dungeon. Returning home he was made C.B., and for a while was private secretary to Sir George Grey, then at the Home Office. In 1863 he was appointed lieutenant-governor of the Isle of Man. During his governorship the House of Keys was transformed into an elective assembly, the first line of railway was opened, and the influx of tourists began to bring fresh prosperity to the island. In 1882 Loch, who had become K.C.B. in 1880, accepted a commissionership of woods and forests, and two years later was made governor of Victoria, where he won the esteem of all classes. In June 1889 he succeeded Sir Hercules Robinson as governor of Cape Colony and high commissioner of South Africa.
As high commissioner his duties called for the exercise of great judgment and firmness. The Boers were at the same time striving to frustrate Cecil Rhodes’s schemes of northern expansion and planning to occupy Mashonaland, to secure control of Swaziland and Zululand and to acquire the adjacent lands up to the ocean. Loch firmly supported Rhodes, and, by informing President Kruger that troops would be sent to prevent any invasion of territory under British protection, he effectuallycrushed the “Banyailand trek” across the Limpopo (1890-91). Loch, however, with the approval of the imperial government, concluded in July-August 1890 a convention with President Kruger respecting Swaziland, by which, while the Boers withdrew all claims to territory north of the Transvaal, they were granted an outlet to the sea at Kosi Bay on condition that the republic entered the South African Customs Union. This convention was concluded after negotiations conducted with President Kruger by J. H. Hofmeyr on behalf of the high commissioner, and was made at a time when the British and Bond parties in Cape Colony were working in harmony. The Transvaal did not, however, fulfil the necessary condition, and in view of the increasingly hostile attitude of the Pretoria administration to Great Britain Loch became a strong advocate of the annexation by Britain of the territory east of Swaziland, through which the Boer railway to the sea would have passed. He at length induced the British government to adopt his view and on the 15th of March 1895 it was announced that these territories (Amatongaland, &c.), would be annexed by Britain, an announcement received by Mr Kruger “with the greatest astonishment and regret.” Meantime Loch had been forced to intervene in another matter. When the commandeering difficulty of 1894 had roused the Uitlanders in the Transvaal to a dangerous pitch of excitement, he travelled to Pretoria to use his personal influence with President Kruger, and obtained the withdrawal of the obnoxious commandeering regulations. In the following year he entered a strong protest against the new Transvaal franchise law. Meanwhile, however, the general situation in South Africa was assuming year by year a more threatening aspect. Cecil Rhodes, then prime minister of Cape Colony, was strongly in favour of a more energetic policy than was supported by the Imperial government, and at the end of March 1895 the high commissioner, finding himself, it is believed, out of touch with his ministers, returned home a few months before the expiry of his term of office. In the same year he was raised to the peerage. When the Anglo-Boer war broke out in 1899 Loch took a leading part in raising and equipping a body of mounted men, named after him “Loch’s Horse.” He died in London on the 20th of June 1900, and was succeeded as 2nd baron by his son Edward (b. 1873).
LOCHABER, a district of southern Inverness-shire, Scotland, bounded W. by Loch Linnhe, the river and loch Lochy, N. by the Corryarrick range and adjoining hills, N.E. and E. by the district of Badenoch, S.E. by the district of Rannoch and S. by the river and loch Leven. It measures 32 m. from N.E. to S.W. and 25 m. from E. to W., and is remarkable for wild and romantic scenery, Ben Nevis being the chief mountain. The district has given its name to a celebrated type of axe, consisting of a long shaft with a blade like a scythe and a large hook behind it, which, according to Sir Walter Scott, was introduced into the Highlands and Ireland from Scandinavia. It was the weapon of the old City Guard of Edinburgh. The pathetic song of “Lochaber no more” was written by Allan Ramsay.
LOCHES, a town in France, capital of an arrondissement in the department of Indre-et-Loire, 29 m. S.E. of Tours by rail, on the left bank of the Indre. Pop. (1906) 3751. The town, one of the most picturesque in central France, lies at the foot of the rocky eminence on which stands the castle of the Anjou family, surrounded by an outer wall 1¼ m. in circumference, and consisting of the old collegiate church of St Ours, the royal lodge and the donjon. The church of St Ours dates from the 10th to the 12th centuries; among its distinguishing features are the huge stone pyramids surmounting the nave and the beautiful carving of the west door. The royal lodge, built by Charles VII. and used as the subprefecture, contains the tomb of Agnes Sorel and the oratory of Anne of Brittany. The donjon includes, besides the ruined keep (12th century), the Martelet, celebrated as the prison of Lodovico Sforza, duke of Milan, who died there in 1508, and the Tour Ronde, built by Louis XI. and containing the famous iron cages in which state prisoners, including—according to a story now discredited—their inventor Cardinal Balue, were confined. Loches has an hôtel-de-ville and several houses of the Renaissance period. It has a tribunal of first instance, a communal college and a training college. Liqueur-distilling and tanning are carried on together with trade in farm-produce, wine, wood and live-stock.
On the right bank of the Loire, opposite the town and practically its suburb, is the village of Beaulieu-lès-Loches, once the seat of a barony. Besides the parish church of St Laurent, a beautiful specimen of 12th-century architecture, it contains the remains of the great abbey church of the Holy Sepulchre founded in the 11th century by Fulk Nerra, count of Anjou, who is buried in the chancel. This chancel, which with one of the older transepts now constitutes the church, dates from the 15th century. The Romanesque nave is in ruins, but of the two towers one survives intact; it is square, crowned with an octagonal steeple of stone, and is one of the finest extant monuments of Romanesque architecture.
Loches (the RomanLeucae) grew up round a monastery founded about 500 by St Ours and belonged to the counts of Anjou from 886 till 1205. In the latter year it was seized from King John of England by Philip Augustus, and from the middle of the 13th century till after the time of Charles IX. the castle was a residence of the kings of France.
LOCHGELLY,a police burgh of Fifeshire, Scotland, 7½ m. N.E. of Dunfermline by the North British railway. Pop. (1901) 5472. The town is modern and owes its prosperity to the iron-works and collieries in its immediate vicinity. Loch Gelly, from which the town takes its name, situated ½ m. S.E., measures ½ m. in length by ¾ m. in breadth, contains some trout and pike, and has on its west banks Lochgelly House, a seat of the earl of Minto. The Romans are said to have had a station at Loch Ore in the parish of Ballingry, 2¼ m. N. by W., which was drained about the end of the 18th century and then cultivated. To the N.E. rises the hill of Benarty (1131 ft.). Hallyards, about 2 m. S.E. of Lochgelly, is a ruined house that once belonged to Sir William Kirkaldy of Grange, who held Edinburgh Castle for Queen Mary. Here James V. was received after his defeat at Solway Moss in 1542, and here a few Jacobites used to meet in 1715.
LOCHGILPHEAD,a municipal and police burgh of Argyllshire, Scotland, at the head of Loch Gilp, a small arm on the western side of Loch Fyne. Pop. (1901) 1313. The herring-fishery is the chief industry, but there is some weaving of woollens and, in summer, a considerable influx of visitors. Ardrishaig (pop. 1285), a seaport on the west of the mouth of Loch Gilp, is the east terminus of the Crinan Canal. It is the place of transhipment from the large Glasgow passenger steamers to the small craft built for the navigation of the canal. It is an important harbour in connexion with the Loch Fyne herring-fishery, and there is also a distillery. During the summer there is a coach service to Ford at the lower end of Loch Awe.
LOCHMABEN,a royal and police burgh of Dumfriesshire, Scotland, 8 m. N.E. of Dumfries, with a station on the Caledonian railway company’s branch from Dumfries to Locherbie. Pop. (1901) 1328. It is delightfully situated, there being eight lakes in the immediate neighbourhood, while the river Annan, and the Waters of Ae, Kinnel and Dryfe are in the vicinity. The town hall is a handsome edifice with clock tower. At the south end of Castle Loch, the chief lake, stand the ruins, a mere shell, of Lochmaben Castle, dating from the 13th century, where local tradition declares that Robert Bruce was born—an honour which is also claimed, however, for Turnberry Castle on the coast of Ayrshire. In the parish church is a bell said to have been presented to King Robert by the pope after reconciliation with him. A statue of the king stands in front of the town hall. Whether it were his birthplace or not, the associations of Bruce with Lochmaben were intimate. He exempted his followers in the district from feudal service and their descendants—the “kindly tenants of Lochmaben”—were confirmed in their tenure by the court of session in 1824. The Castle Loch is the only fresh water in Scotland, and possibly in the British Isles, where the vendace (coregonus vandesius) occurs. This fish, which is believed to be growing scarcer, is alleged on doubtful authority to have beenintroduced by Queen Mary. It is captured by the sweep-net in August, and is esteemed as a delicacy. The lakes adjoining the town afford the inhabitants exceptional advantages for the game of curling. There was once a team of Lochmaben Curlers entirely composed of shoemakers (souters) who held their own against all comers, and their prowess added the phrase “to souter” to the vocabulary of the sport, the word indicating a match in which the winners scored “game” to their opponents’ “love.” Lochmaben unites with Annan, Dumfries, Kirkcudbright and Sanquhar (the Dumfries burghs) in returning one member to parliament.
LOCK, MATTHIAS, English 18th-century furniture designer and cabinet-maker. The dates of his birth and death are unknown; but he was a disciple of Chippendale, and subsequently of the Adams, and was possibly in partnership with Henry Copeland (q.v.). During the greater part of his life he belonged to that flamboyant school which derived its inspiration from Louis XV. models; but when he fell under the influence of Robert Adam he absorbed his manner so completely that it is often difficult to distinguish between them, just as it is sometimes easy to confound Lock’s work with the weaker efforts of Chippendale. Thus from being extravagantly rococo he progressed to a simple ordered classicism. His published designs are not equal to his original drawings, many of which are preserved in the Victoria and Albert Museum, South Kensington, while the pieces themselves are often bolder and more solid than is suggested by the author’s representations of them. He was a clever craftsman and holds a distinct place among the minor furniture designers of the second half of the 18th century.
Among his works, some of which were issued in conjunction with Copeland, are:A New Drawing Book of Ornaments(n. d.);A New Book of Ornaments(1768);A New Book of Pier Frames, Ovals, Girandoles, Tables, &c.(1769); andA New Book of Foliage(1769).
Among his works, some of which were issued in conjunction with Copeland, are:A New Drawing Book of Ornaments(n. d.);A New Book of Ornaments(1768);A New Book of Pier Frames, Ovals, Girandoles, Tables, &c.(1769); andA New Book of Foliage(1769).
LOCK(from the O. Eng.loc.; the word appears, in different forms, in many Teutonic languages, but with such various meanings as “hole,” Ger.Loch, “lid,” Swed.lock, &c.; probably the original was a root meaning “to enclose”), a fastening, particularly one which consists of a bolt held in a certain position by one or more movable parts which require to be placed in definite positions by the aid of a key or of a secret arrangement of letters, figures or signs, before the bolt can be moved. It is with such fastenings that the present article chiefly deals.
The word is also used, in the original sense of an enclosure or barrier, for a length of water in a river or canal, or at the entrance of a dock, enclosed at both ends by gates, the “lock-gates,” and fitted with sluices, to enable vessels to be raised from a lower to a higher level or vice versa (seeCanalandDock). In guns and rifles the lock is the mechanism which effects the firing of the charge; it thus appears in the names of old types of weapons, such as wheel-lock, match-lock, flint-lock (seeArms and Armour, §Firearms; alsoGunandRifle). Lock (Ger.Locke) in the sense of a curl or tuft of hair, the separate groups in which the hair naturally grows, may be, in ultimate origin, connected with the root of the main word. Lockjaw is the popular name of the disease known as tetanus (q.v.). The name “Lock Hospital” is frequently used in English for a hospital for patients suffering from venereal diseases. According to theNew English Dictionarythere was in Southwark as early as 1453 a leper-hospital, known as the Lock Lazar House, which later was used for the treatment of venereal diseases. The name appears to have become used in the present sense as early as the end of the 17th century. Lock hospitals were established in London in 1745-1747 and in Dublin in 1754-1755.
The word is also used, in the original sense of an enclosure or barrier, for a length of water in a river or canal, or at the entrance of a dock, enclosed at both ends by gates, the “lock-gates,” and fitted with sluices, to enable vessels to be raised from a lower to a higher level or vice versa (seeCanalandDock). In guns and rifles the lock is the mechanism which effects the firing of the charge; it thus appears in the names of old types of weapons, such as wheel-lock, match-lock, flint-lock (seeArms and Armour, §Firearms; alsoGunandRifle). Lock (Ger.Locke) in the sense of a curl or tuft of hair, the separate groups in which the hair naturally grows, may be, in ultimate origin, connected with the root of the main word. Lockjaw is the popular name of the disease known as tetanus (q.v.). The name “Lock Hospital” is frequently used in English for a hospital for patients suffering from venereal diseases. According to theNew English Dictionarythere was in Southwark as early as 1453 a leper-hospital, known as the Lock Lazar House, which later was used for the treatment of venereal diseases. The name appears to have become used in the present sense as early as the end of the 17th century. Lock hospitals were established in London in 1745-1747 and in Dublin in 1754-1755.
The forms in which locks are manufactured, such as padlock, rim-lock, mortise-lock, one-sided or two-sided, &c., are necessarily extremely numerous; and the variations in the details of construction of any one of these forms are still more numerous, so that it is impossible to do more here than describe the main types which have been or are in common use. Probably the earliest locks were of Chinese origin. Specimens of these still extant are quite as secure as any locks manufactured in Europe up to the 18th century, but it is impossible to ascertain the date of their manufacture. With the exception, in all probability, of these Chinese examples, the earliest lock of which the construction is known is the Egyptian, which was used four thousand years ago. In fig. 1,aais the body of the lock,bbthe bolt andccthe key. The three pinsp, p, pdrop into three holes in the bolt when it is pushed in, and so hold it fast; and they are raised again by putting in the key through the large hole in the bolt and raising it a little, so that the pins in the key push the locking pins up out of the way of the bolt. It was evidently to locks and keys of this nature that the prophet alluded: “And the key of the house of David will I lay upon his shoulder” (Isaiah xxii. 22), the wordmuftahused in this passage being the common word for key to this day.
In the 18th century the European lock was nothing better than a mere bolt, held in its place, either shut or open, by a springb(fig. 2), which pressed it down, and so held it at either one end or the other of the convex notchaa; and the only impediment to opening it was the wards which the key had to pass before it could turn in the keyhole. But it was always possible to find the shape of the wards by merely putting in a blank key covered with wax, and pressing it against them; and when this had been done it was unnecessary to cut out the key into the complicated form of the wards (such as fig. 3), because no part of that key does any work except the edgebcfarthest from the pipea; and so a key of the form fig. 4 would do just as well. Thus a small collection of skeleton keys, as they are called, of a few different patterns, was all the stock in trade that a lock-picker required.
The common single-tumbler lock (fig. 5) requires two operations instead of one to open it. The tumbleratturns on a pivot att, and has a square pin ata, which drops into a notch in the boltbb, when it is either quite open or quite shut, and the tumblerLever locks.must be lifted by the key before the bolt can be moved again. The tumbler offered little resistance to picking, as the height to which it might be lifted was not limited and the bolt would operate provided only that this height was sufficient; the improvement which formed the foundation of the modern key lock was the substitution of what is known as the “lever” for the tumbler, the difference being that the lever must be lifted toexactlythe right height to allow the bolt to pass. This improvement, together with the obvious one of using more than one lever, was introduced in 1778 by Robert Barron, and is illustrated in figs. 6 and 7. Unless the square pina(fig. 6) is lifted by the key to the proper height and no higher, the bolt cannot move. Fig. 8 illustrates the key of such a lock with four levers, the different distances between the centre of the key barrel and the edge of the bit being adapted to lift the levers to the respective heights required. This lock differs from themodern lever lock only in the fact that Barron made his gating in the bolt and carried stumps on his levers, instead of having the main stump riveted into the bolt and the gatings in the levers as is the modern practice.
A lock operating on exactly the same principle but entirely different in construction (fig. 9) was invented by Joseph Bramah in 1784. It consists of an outer barrelaaaa, within which is a revolving barrel,cccc, held in place by a steel disk,dd, and provided with a pinbfixed eccentrically for operating the bolt; the barrel is prevented from turning by sheet metal slidersss, which slide axially in radial grooves in the barrel and project into slots cut into the steel disk which is fastened to the case of the lock. Each slider has a gating cut in its outer edge sufficiently deep to allow it to embrace the inwardly projecting steel plate and turn on it with the barrel. The key is of tubular form having slots cut in its end, each of a depth corresponding to the position of the gating in one of the sliders; so that, on inserting the key, each slider is pushed in—against a spring—exactly far enough to bring its slot opposite the steel disk; in this position the barrel carrying the sliders is turned by the key and actuates the bolt.
Up to 1851 it was generally believed that well-made lever locks of all types were practically unpickable, but at this time Alfred Charles Hobbs—an American—demonstrated, by picking the locks of Barron, Chubb, Bramah and others, that this belief was a fallacy. The method of Hobbs became widely known as the “tickling” or “tentative” method. In the modern lever lock the bolt carries a projecting piece—the “main stump”—which, when the levers are all raised to the proper height, enters the slots—“gatings”—in their faces. If, when the levers are not in this position, pressure is applied to the bolt, the main stump will press against the face of the levers; but owing to inaccuracies of workmanship and other causes the pressure will not be equal on all the levers. If now, the pressure on the bolt being maintained, each lever in turn is carefully raised a little, one will be found on which the pressure of the stump is greatest; this one is lifted till it becomes easy and then carefully lowered till it is sustained by the pressure of the stump in a new position. Another lever now bears the greatest pressure, and this in its turn is similarly treated. By this gradual or “tentative” process the levers will in time all be raised to the correct height and the bolt will slip back without, if sufficient care has been exercised, any of the levers having been raised above its correct position. Although this method of picking only became generally known in 1851, it is evident that it was not novel, since in 1817 one of Bramah’s workmen, named Russell, invented the use of false notches or gatings, which were slots similar to the true gating but of small depth cut in the face of the levers. Similar false gatings were used in Anthony Radford Strutt’s lock in 1819. The only possible object of these gatings—two of which are shown in each of the sliders of Bramah’s lock—was to prevent the tentative method of picking. They are, however, not efficient for their purpose although they render the operation more difficult and tedious.
The best-known locks up to 1851 were those of Jeremiah Chubb, their popularity being due to their superior workmanship and probably still more to their title “detector.” His lock, patented in 1818, contained a device intended to frustrate attempts at picking, and further to detect if such an attempt had been made. This device, at any rate as far as detecting was concerned, had been anticipated by the patent of Thomas Ruxton in 1816. Since the device only comes into operation when any lever is raised too high, it is not effective against a skilful application of the tentative method. The original form of this lock is shown in fig. 10, when the lever DT, which turns on a pin in the middle, is acted upon at its end T by a spring S, which will evidently allow some play to the lever on either side of the corner X; but the moment it is pushed past that point the spring will carry it farther in the same direction, like what is called in clock-work a jumper. In its proper position that end always remains above the turning-point; but, if any one of the tumblers is raised too high, the other end D of the detector, which reaches over all the levers, is lifted so far that the end T is sent down below the corner, and the tooth T then falls into a notch in the bolt, and so prevents it from being drawn back, even though all the levers are raised properly by the right key. It thus at once becomes obvious that somebody has been trying to pick the lock. The way to open it, then, is to turn the key the other way, as if to overlock the bolt; a short piece of gating near the end of the levers allows the bolt to advance just far enough to push the tooth of the detector up again by means of its inclination there, and then the lock can be opened as usual. To render the mechanism of locks more inaccessible for picking purposes, two devices, the “curtain” and the “barrel,” were in use; these devices were simply the one a disk and the other a cylinder carrying a keyhole which revolved with the key and so closed the fixed keyhole in the case.
It is to Hobbs himself that we are indebted for the invention of the movable stump, since called the safety lever, the only device introduced rendering the tentative method of picking inoperative. This invention was incorporated in the “protector” locks of Hobbs, Hart & Co.; it consists in the employment of a movable main stump which is not riveted into the bolt as usual, but is set on the endbof a bent leverabc(fig. 11) which lies in a hollow of the bolt A behind it, turning on a pivot in the bolt itself, and kept steady by a small friction-springe. The stump comes through a hole in the bolt large enough to let it have a little play; and the long endaof the lever stands just above the edge of a square pind, which is fixed in the back plate of the lock. When the lock is locked, if the bolt be pushedback, no sensible pressure on the levers is produced, but only just enough to turn this protector lever, as Hobbs called it, on its pivotc, and so bring down its endain front of the square pin, and then the bolt can no more be pushed back than when held by Chubb’s detector. The protector is set free again by merely pushing the bolt forward with the key, without reference to the levers. However, the protector could be prevented from acting by a method used by the inventor himself for another purpose, viz., by pushing a piece of watch-spring through the keyhole, and up behind the bolt, so as to reach the protector ata, and keep it up while the bolt was pushed back, or, again, by pushing up the watch-spring between any two of the levers, and holding the endbof the protector with it, so as to press the stump against the levers. Both these devices, however, are prevented now by letting in a feather FF in a groove between the bolt and the back of the lock, which no watch-spring can pass, and also bringing a piece of the feather forward through the front gating of the levers just under the stump. In this form the lock is safe against any mode of picking known. A lock possessing valuable features was invented in 1852 by Sir Edmund Beckett—afterwards Lord Grimthorpe—but did not come into general use for commercial reasons.All the locks containing many levers so far described have a common defect in that the levers are moved in one direction by the key and in the other by springs. But it not infrequently happens that dirt or grease gets between the levers and causes two or more to stick together, in which case one of them is lifted too high and the bolt is prevented from operating. To overcome this difficulty locks, especially those intended for safes, have been made so that alternate levers move in opposite directions, the key having two bits on opposite sides. This construction entails that the key enter the body of the levers instead of passing below them, an arrangement that had previously been in use to reduce the space into which gunpowder could be packed through the keyhole.Fig. 12.The key locks chiefly used in English safes have been the ordinary lever lock with 6-8 or 10 levers, Chubb’s “detector,” Hobbs’s “protector” or variants of these. In the Yale lock, which reverts in some degree to the idea of the ancient EgyptianKey locks.lock, America has produced one key lock which has come into almost universal use in that country and is certainly worthy of note. The key of this lock, shown full size atkain fig. 12, is remarkably small, being stamped from a piece of flat steel and weighing only a small fraction of an ounce. The barrelabchas to turn, as in the Bramah lock, in order to move the bolt, which is not shown in the figure. That may be done either as in Bramah locks or by a tongue or bit attached to the endabof the barrel as in several other locks. The barrel is prevented from being turned, except by the proper key, thus. The (apparently) five plugs with spiral springs over them in fig. 12 are really all divided at the cross linebc, being all now lifted to the proper height by the key. Consequently the barrelabccan turn round, as there is no plug either projecting from it or projecting into it. But when the key is out, all the plugs are pushed down by the springs, and so the upper ones descend into the barrel and hold it fast. And again, if any of the steps of a false key are too high, some of the lower plugs will be pushed up beyond the barrel into the holes above them, and so the barrel cannot turn. The bevelled end of the key nearaenables it to be pushed in under the plugs, though with some friction and resistance.It is frequently convenient to have a number of different locks so arranged that, whilst each has its own individual key, yet one special or “master” key will operate any of the series. In warded locks this is done by “differing” the wards of the individual locks so that each key will only pass its own lock, and then filing away the bit of an extra key so that it will pass all the wards; the objection to this method is that any of the individual keys can easily be filed away and so form a master key. A better method, which meets this objection, consists in making all the levers except one—or if need be two—of each lock alike and cutting another gating or widening the gating in the differing levers, so as to pass the master key which has one—or two—special steps.
It is to Hobbs himself that we are indebted for the invention of the movable stump, since called the safety lever, the only device introduced rendering the tentative method of picking inoperative. This invention was incorporated in the “protector” locks of Hobbs, Hart & Co.; it consists in the employment of a movable main stump which is not riveted into the bolt as usual, but is set on the endbof a bent leverabc(fig. 11) which lies in a hollow of the bolt A behind it, turning on a pivot in the bolt itself, and kept steady by a small friction-springe. The stump comes through a hole in the bolt large enough to let it have a little play; and the long endaof the lever stands just above the edge of a square pind, which is fixed in the back plate of the lock. When the lock is locked, if the bolt be pushedback, no sensible pressure on the levers is produced, but only just enough to turn this protector lever, as Hobbs called it, on its pivotc, and so bring down its endain front of the square pin, and then the bolt can no more be pushed back than when held by Chubb’s detector. The protector is set free again by merely pushing the bolt forward with the key, without reference to the levers. However, the protector could be prevented from acting by a method used by the inventor himself for another purpose, viz., by pushing a piece of watch-spring through the keyhole, and up behind the bolt, so as to reach the protector ata, and keep it up while the bolt was pushed back, or, again, by pushing up the watch-spring between any two of the levers, and holding the endbof the protector with it, so as to press the stump against the levers. Both these devices, however, are prevented now by letting in a feather FF in a groove between the bolt and the back of the lock, which no watch-spring can pass, and also bringing a piece of the feather forward through the front gating of the levers just under the stump. In this form the lock is safe against any mode of picking known. A lock possessing valuable features was invented in 1852 by Sir Edmund Beckett—afterwards Lord Grimthorpe—but did not come into general use for commercial reasons.
All the locks containing many levers so far described have a common defect in that the levers are moved in one direction by the key and in the other by springs. But it not infrequently happens that dirt or grease gets between the levers and causes two or more to stick together, in which case one of them is lifted too high and the bolt is prevented from operating. To overcome this difficulty locks, especially those intended for safes, have been made so that alternate levers move in opposite directions, the key having two bits on opposite sides. This construction entails that the key enter the body of the levers instead of passing below them, an arrangement that had previously been in use to reduce the space into which gunpowder could be packed through the keyhole.
The key locks chiefly used in English safes have been the ordinary lever lock with 6-8 or 10 levers, Chubb’s “detector,” Hobbs’s “protector” or variants of these. In the Yale lock, which reverts in some degree to the idea of the ancient EgyptianKey locks.lock, America has produced one key lock which has come into almost universal use in that country and is certainly worthy of note. The key of this lock, shown full size atkain fig. 12, is remarkably small, being stamped from a piece of flat steel and weighing only a small fraction of an ounce. The barrelabchas to turn, as in the Bramah lock, in order to move the bolt, which is not shown in the figure. That may be done either as in Bramah locks or by a tongue or bit attached to the endabof the barrel as in several other locks. The barrel is prevented from being turned, except by the proper key, thus. The (apparently) five plugs with spiral springs over them in fig. 12 are really all divided at the cross linebc, being all now lifted to the proper height by the key. Consequently the barrelabccan turn round, as there is no plug either projecting from it or projecting into it. But when the key is out, all the plugs are pushed down by the springs, and so the upper ones descend into the barrel and hold it fast. And again, if any of the steps of a false key are too high, some of the lower plugs will be pushed up beyond the barrel into the holes above them, and so the barrel cannot turn. The bevelled end of the key nearaenables it to be pushed in under the plugs, though with some friction and resistance.
It is frequently convenient to have a number of different locks so arranged that, whilst each has its own individual key, yet one special or “master” key will operate any of the series. In warded locks this is done by “differing” the wards of the individual locks so that each key will only pass its own lock, and then filing away the bit of an extra key so that it will pass all the wards; the objection to this method is that any of the individual keys can easily be filed away and so form a master key. A better method, which meets this objection, consists in making all the levers except one—or if need be two—of each lock alike and cutting another gating or widening the gating in the differing levers, so as to pass the master key which has one—or two—special steps.
The growth of safe deposits has called for special locks so that when a box changes tenants the outgoing tenant’s key shall be useless. In some cases the lock has been taken off and another substituted, but this is a clumsy makeshift now rarely employed, and has been superseded by the use of changeable key locks.