The Meta-Encyclopedia

Single-source entries: L (45)

Each of these 9 subjects appears in only one of the 6 encyclopedias on this shelf. None is long enough to carry a page by itself, so they are gathered here by letter. Anything that grows moves out to a page of its own.

Lochleven

a beautiful oval lake of Kinross-shire, Scotland, 23 miles N. N. W. of Edinburgh. Lying 353 feet above sea-level, and engirt by Benarty (1,167 feet), the West Lomond hil (1,713), and other hills, it measures 35% miles by 2; discharges by the Leven, flowing 16 miles E. to the Firth of Forth; is 10 to 90 feet deep; and has an area of 3,406 acres, drainage operations having reduced its size by one-fourth in 1826-1836. Of seven islands, the largest are sandy, treeless St. Serf's Inch, an early seat of the Culdees, and Castle Island, with the 14th-century keep of a castle which in 1567-1568 was for 10 months the prison of Mary, Queen of Scots. Since 1633 and earlier the loch has been famous for its delicate pinkfleshed trout, and since 1856 for its flyfishing.

Only in Collier's New Encyclopedia

Locke, David Ross

David Ross (1833-1888), an American satirist and humorist. He learned the printer's trade and later became owner and editor of the Toledo Blade. In 1865 he published in this paper a series of letters over the name of Petroleum Vesuvius Nasby. These letters upheld the policy of Lincoln and influenced public opinion to considerable extent during the Civil War. Later Locke made President Johnson the object of his satire. The Nasby letters were collected in book form under the title, Divers Views, Opinions, and Prophecies of Yours Truly, Ekkoes from Kentucky, and Struggles--Social, Financial, and Political--of P. V. Nasby. Locke also wrote Hannah Jane and The Moral History of America's Life Struggle.

Only in Aiton's Encyclopedia

Lockhart, John Gibson

lok'art, John Gibson (1794-1854), an Edinburgh writer. He was a frequent contributor to Blackwoods, and became editor of the Quarterly Review. He married a daughter of Sir Walter Scott. His Life of Scott ranks with Boswell's Johnson.

Only in Aiton's Encyclopedia

Locking

The amount the escape tooth overlaps the pallet at the time it leaves the impulse face. The part where the escape tooth strikes the pallet.

Only in American Watchmaker and Jeweler

Lockjaw

or Tetanus, an infectious disease prevalent among people and the lower animals. Stepping on a rusty nail, or an ugly laceration of the hand with an instrument, was formerly considered a cause of lockjaw. It has been discovered of late, however, that the disease is due to the presence of a minute plant or bacillus which multiplies with great rapidity and poisons the system. It breeds in the ground where live stock, particularly horses, stand. The rusty nail, to which reference has been made, simply introduces the germs into the foot. The disease is a most distressing one. Both people and animals die in paroxysms of pain, with the lower jaw tightly set. The bacilli multiply in the region of the wound and produce a poison which is absorbed by the blood. The skillful physician cauterizes the wound with a hot iron or nitrate of silver, that is to say, burns it out to destroy the colony, and trusts to quiet and careful nursing to bring the patient through. It is said that the germs cannot grow in air, and that opening the wound with a knife and laying it open to the air kills them. A weak solution of bichloride of mercury is a valuable germ killer. The wound may be bathed in this solution. See Bacteria; Disease

Only in Aiton's Encyclopedia

Lockport

a city and county-seat of Niagara co., N. Y., on the Erie Canal and the New York Central railroad; 25 miles N. N. E. of Buffalo. The 10 massive locks of the canal, which here makes a descent of 66 feet, give name to the town. The canal affords great waterpower, which is utilized in a large number of flour and lumber mills, machine shops, foundries, cotton and woolen mills , and other establishments some of which are of great extent. The canal here passes through a deep cut several miles in length, excavated in the solid rock . The city is the trade center for the county, with an annual trade of $5, 000; has churches , public schools, National and other banks, female seminary, and daily and weekly newspapers. Large quantities of Niagara limestone and sandstone are here quarried for building purposes. Pop. (1910 ) 17,970; (1920) 21,308. 55,000,-

Only in Collier's New Encyclopedia

Lockyer

JOSEPH NORMAN, an English astronomer; born in Rugby, England, May 17, 1836. In 1869 he was elected an F. R. S., and in 1870 was appointed secretary to the Royal Commission on Scientific Instruction, made Lecturer on Astronomy at the Normal School of Science at South Kensington, and sent out to Sicily as head of the eclipse expedition. In the following year he headed a similar expedition to India and was elected Rede lecturer at Cambridge. He had already in 1866 discovered a new method of observing the sun; and in 1874 he gained the Rumford medal of the Royal Society and was appointed editor of "Nature." He was an able popular lecturer on astronomical physics, and wrote " Elementary Lessons in Astronomy" (1868); "Studies in Spectrum Analysis" (1878); "Contributions to Solar Physics" (1873); "The Spectroscope and its Applications" (1873); a primer on "Astronomy Astronomy" (1874); "Star- Gazing" (1878); " The Chemistry of the Sun" (1887); "The Meteoritic Hypothesis" (1890); "Dawn of Astronomy" (1894); etc. He died in 1920. LOCOMOTIVE. See RAILWAYS. LOCRI. See GERACE.

Only in Collier's New Encyclopedia

Locomotive Clock

A clock adapted to be carried in the cab of a locomotive, and so constructed as to withstand the jarring and heat variations of the temperature. They are usually made with detached lever escapement, jeweled, like a watch, and compensated for temperature.

Only in American Watchmaker and Jeweler

Locoweed

lo'ko-wed, a silvery white, silky-leaved plant of the pea family, native to the great plains region from Texas northward. Botanists call it the woolly astragalus. Live stock, including cattle, sheep, and especially horses, acquire a taste for the locoweed and are unwilling to eat anything else. They lose their eyesight and go into a kind of dementia or craziness, during which they cut up all sorts of antics. Emaciation follows, and the animals perish as if from hunger. The state of Colorado has expended a quarter of a million dollars in attempts to eradicate the plant. There are several species. The specific cause of cattle dementia appears to be the presence of minute quantities of the chemical element known as borium. This element appears to accumulate in the system of the grazing animal until the mischief is done.

Only in Aiton's Encyclopedia