Lent Association
an organization of Catholic women, established at Titusville, Pa., in 1890, having as its purpose the providing of benefits to be paid to families of members after death. Headby Louis II., Duke of Anjou, which occasioned some bloody wars. Pope John XXIII. at first espoused the cause of Louis, but afterward took the part of Ladislaus, who, however, marched against Rome, and having taken it, turned his arms on the Florentines, whom he compelled to sue for peace, in 1413. He died in Naples, it is suspected of poison, in 1414.
LADOGA largest lake of Europe; a short distance N. of Petrograd, in Russia, being crossed by the frontier line between that country in breadth; area, 6,998 square miles. (lä-dō'gä) LAKE, the and Finland; 129 miles in length; 78 There are numerous islands. The lake receives the waters of Lake Onega and Lake Ilmen in Russia and of Lake Sima and other lakes in Finland; and its own waters are carried off to the Gulf of Finland by the NEVA (q. v.).
The average depth does not exceed 300 feet, except in the N. W., where over a limited area the depth is about 730 feet.
The navigation is exceedingly dangerous etz, are founded hich are as every MARI islands Philipvere dis ho is abita 43 1944 d to the of the Carolines, pain into in conf about survi ad hiberof which includes about 40 s found of Asia Jedicated LADRONES owing to the shallows, sandbanks, and sunken rocks. In order to obviate the difficulties of navigation, canals have been constructed to connect the mouths of the rivers that reach it along the S. and S. E. shores. The principal is the Ladoga canal (70 miles long and 60 feet wide). This canal system forms the thoroughfare for a very extensive traffic between the Volga and the Baltic. Communication by water subsists between Lake Ladoga and the White Sea as well as the Caspian. Two of the islands in the N. W., Valaam and Konevetz, are each the seat of a monastery, founded in 960 and 1393 respectively, which are visited by thousands of pilgrims every year.
LADRONES (la-drōnz'), or MARI- ANNE ISLANDS, a chain of 17 islands in the North Pacific, E. of the Philippines and the Caroline Islands; area, about 500 square miles. They were discovered by Magellan in 1521, who gave them the name of "Ladrones," it is said, from the character of their inhabitants, the word meaning "thieves." GUAM (q. v.) is the principal island and embraces nearly one-half of the entire area of the group. On June 20, 1898, Captain Glass, of the United States cruiser "Charleston" took possession of the is lands in the name of the United States, and by the peace treaty signed at Paris, Dec. 18, 1898, it was provided that the island of Guam should be ceded to the United States. The remainder of the islands, together with the Carolines, passed from the possession of Spain into that of Germany, Oct. 1, 1899, in consideration of the payment of about $4,187,500.
LADYBIRD (Coccinella), a genus of pretty little beetles, generally of a brilliant red or yellow color, with black, red, white, or yellow yellow spots. Adults and larvæ feed chiefly on aphides, and are thus most useful to hop-growers and other agriculturalists. The eggs are laid under the leaves of plants, on which the larvæ afterward run about in pursuit of aphides. In late autumn the surviving adults find safe corners, and hibernate till spring. The family of which the genus is type, Coccinellidæ, includes about 1,500 species, of which about 40 British. One of the commonest are forms (C. septempunctata) is found over all Europe, and in parts of Asia and Africa.