394 LETTER OF CREDIT-LEWIS. other, requesting him to advance money | to a certain amount to the bearer, or a third party named. The granting of such a letter is generally announced in course of post to the correspondent; a duplicate of it being sent at the same time, and the signature of the party in whose favour the credit is established, or a description of him, in case the document should fall into improper hands. system of Hero of Alexandria.”—M. Letronne was appointed "inspecteur général des études" in 1819, and professor of history in the College of France in 1831. In 1832, he exchanged the former office for that of curator of the cabinet of antiquities of the royal library; in 1838, he became administrator of the College of France, and quitted the chair of history for that of archæology; and he succeeded M. Daunou in 1840 in the office of keeper of the archives of the kingdom.—Besides the works already mentioned, M. Letronne is the author of "Considérations générales sur l'évaluation des monnaies grecques et romaines, et sur la valeur de l'or et de l'argent avant la découverte de l'Amérique" (4to., 1817); "Recherches pour servir à l'histoire d'Egypte pendant la domination des Grecs et des Romains" (1823); “Observations sur l'objet des représentations zodiacales qui nous restent de l'antiquité" (1826); "Matériaux pour l'histoire du christianisme" (4to. 1833), &c. But the most remarkable of his productions is, without any doubt, the "Recueil des inscriptions grecques et latines recueillies en Égypte," now in course of publication, and to be completed in 5 volumes 4to., with an atlas in folio. LETRONNE (Jean Antoine), distinguished as a geographer, antiquarian, and philologer, and one of the most erudite of the living men of letters in France, was born at Paris on the 25th of January 1787. His father, who was an engraver, was desirous that he should likewise pursue the career of an artist, and placed him at 8 years of age in the studio of David. But it soon became apparent that to be a painter, at least one of a high order of excellence, was not his proper vocation; while, from the intelligence and activity of mind which he already exhibited, hopes came to be entertained by his friends that he might one day rise to eminence in science or literature. With a view to prepare him for entering the Polytechnic School, he attended the courses of instruction of the central schools, until the death of his father, when he had scarcely attained his 14th year. LEWIS (Major-general Morgan) was the This event again changed his destination, sun of Mr. Francis Lewis, one of the signby obliging him to seek for a speedy means ers of the declaration of independence, of supporting himself, and assisting to pro- and was born in the city of New York, vide for the wants of his mother, and of October 16th 1754. He graduated at a younger brother. Besides giving ele- Princeton College in 1773, when he enmentary lessons, he was employed by the tered upon the study of the law in the geographer Mentelle to assist him while office of Mr. Jay, afterwards Chief-Justice composing his Dictionary of Modern Geo- Jay. On the breaking out of the war of graphy. He was afterwards associated the Revolution, in 1775, he joined the with the same author in the preparation American army under General Washingof the "Géographie des quartre parties du ton, in the neighbourhood of Boston, and monde" (4 vols. 1806). In the next place, continued in active service until the peace. he accepted of an advantageous offer made During the' contest he distinguished himto him to accompany a foreigner on his self on various occasions, particularly at travels through France, Italy, Switzer- Saratoga, where, with the rank of colonel, land, and Holland. This journey occupied he held the office of quarter-master-genethe years 1810, 1811, and 1812. Shortly ral under General Gates, and subsequentafter his return to Paris, he published his ly in the operations undertaken by Genefirst work, entitled "Essai critique sur ral Clinton in the northern part of the la topographie de Syracuse." His "Re- state of New York against Sir John Johncherches géographiques sur le livre de son's mixed force of British regulars and Mensura Orbis, of the monk Dieuil," ap- savages. At the end of the war, he repeared in 1814. In 1815, he was entrust-sumed his profession of the law, and was ed by the French government with the task of completing the translation of Strabo, begun by La Porte du Theil. In March 1816 he became, by appointment of the king, a member of the Academy of Inscriptions and Belles Lettres, and in the course of the same year obtained the prize proposed by the academy on "the metrical shortly after elected a member of the State Legislature from the city of New York. He next represented in the same body the county of Dutchess, whither he had removed; and was then appointed successively a judge of the court of common pleas, attorney-general of the state, a judge of the supreme court, and (1801) chief jus LEWIS-LIBERIA. tice of the same court. In 1804, he was | elected governor of New York; in 1810, he served as a member of the Senate of that state; and in 1812, he was appointed quarter-master-general of the U. S. army, with the rank of a brigadier-general. The last-mentioned office he held, however, only for about 10 months, being promoted in March 1813 to the rank of a major-general. In the earlier part of the campaign of that year, he acted under the orders of General Dearborn on the Niagara frontier; and, in the latter part of it, he accompanied General Wilkinson in his expedition, down the river St. Lawrence, against Montreal. In 1814, he was en trusted with the command of the forces destined for the defence of the city and harbour of New York from an apprehended attack of the enemy. — From the close of the war in 1815 down to the period of his death, General Lewis lived in retirement from all public duties, with the single exception of an oration which he delivered (he being then in his 78th year), by the request of the corporation of the city of New York, on the 22d of February 1832; that day being the centennial anniversary of the birth of the "father of his country." LEYDEN.* Population in 1837, 36,110. -In 1835, the university had 33 professors, and 647 students. Of the latter, 250 were engaged in the study of law, 212 in that of divinity, 131 in that of medicine, and 54 only in the study of the various branches of literature or science taught by the faculty of philosophy. The university is well provided with the collections and apparatus required to give efficiency to the courses of instruction delivered by the professors. The museum of natural history is especially deserving of mention. It surpasses most others in Europe, being mainly indebted for its excellence to the public spirit of the Dutch naval officers and foreign agents, who take every opportunity of forwarding natural curiosities to their native country; but it also owes much to the acquisition of the valuable collection of birds by Temminck, and to the labours of travellers and collectors sent by the senatus to Africa, S. America, and other parts of the globe. LIABILITIES is a term at present applied to denote the pecuniary obligations of an individual or company. LIBERIA. In consequence of purchases of territory by the American Colonization Society from the natives during the year 1845, this colony has acquired an unbroken line of sea-coast from Digby, on the 395 North-West, to Grand Bassa Point, and from Blue Barre to Tassoo; and the means have since been supplied to the governor for making additional purchases. — The following statistical information is obtained from the annual report of the Colonization Society for 1846. The total number of emigrants from the United States, from the first attempt to establish a settlement in Liberia in 1820, down to the end of the month of September 1843, was 4454. Of these, 1687 were born free; 97 purchased their freedom; and 2290 were emancipated in view of their emigration. The deaths in the colony, during the same period, amounted to 2198, including 62 that died at Sierra Leone and Sherbro. There were, also, 520 removals from the colony; of whom 108 were to the United States, 197 to Sierra Leone, 147 to Cape Palmas, and the remaining 68 left in foreign vessels for places not mentioned. The number of persons in the colony in the autumn of 1843, who had been sent out by the American Colonization Society and its auxiliaries, was 1736, and the total population 2390. From 1820 to 1843, the number convicted of crimes were:- - for murder 7, kidnapping 11, burglary and robbery 17, grand larceny, 107, petit larceny 184, and other offences 47. In 1843, there were as many as 23 distinct places of public worship; 13 of which belonged to the Methodist, 8 to the Baptist, and 2 to the Presbyterian denomination of Christians. The total number of children attending school was 562. The number of acres in cultivation was 3482. For the 2 years ending September 30th 1843, the value of the exports was $123,695. That of the imports, for the same period, was 157,829.-There are now 11 settlements in Liberia. Ofthese, Monrovia is the largest, and the seat of government. It contains about 1000 inhabitants. On the St. Paul's river there are 3 settlements, Caldwell, Millsburg, and M'Donough; the first about 10, the second about 20, and the third about 18 miles, from Monrovia. On an arm of the St. Paul's river, called Stockton creek, is New Georgia, the settlement of recaptured Africans. At the mouth of the Junk river is the settlement of Marshall, about 35 miles by sea S. of Monrovia. On the St. John's river are the settlements of Bassa Cove, Edina, and Bexley, about 70 miles from Monrovia. Further down the coast, at the distance of about 130 miles by sea from Monrovia, at the mouth of the Sinon river, is the settlement of Greenville, and up the river about 6 miles, is the settlement of the people liberated by the late Mrs. Reed of Mississippi.-The colony has at different times been subjected to much inconvenience, in consequence of the refusal of the commanders of British vessels to pay the duties imposed on imported goods by the local government. The right of the latter to impose such duties has, indeed, been called in question, on the ground of Liberia being neither an independent state, nor the colony of such a state, but merely the creature of an association of individuals, who are themselves merely the private citizens of another country. To provide a remedy for the evils likely to ensue to the colonists from this condition of things, the Colonization Society, in January last (1846), divested itself in their favour of such authority over them as it had hitherto retained, namely, of the power of appointing the governor, and of a veto over the acts of the colonial legislature, which, however, it had not for years past exercised in a single instance. The settlers of Liberia have thus, at length, in accordance with the original design of the philanthropic individuals who founded it, and sustained it through its infant existence, been left, in all respects, to the government of themselves; and their capacity for fulfilling adequately the trust reposed in them, and by so doing to command the respect as well of the civilized nations of the earth, as of the African tribes by which they are surrounded, will, it is not improbable, be very speedily put to the test. LICHTENSTEIN* (Martin Henry Charles) was entrusted with the superintendence of the zoological museum at Berlin in 1813, which has since become one of the largest collections of the kind in Europe, and, in a scientific view, at present claims to hold the first place among them. He has contributed numerous papers on the various branches of zoology, and especially ornithology, to the transactions of learned societies, and the public journals of the day; and his 66 Travels in Southern Africa" (2 vols. 1810-11) is a work much esteemed by naturalists. being enabled to do so by the bounty of the grand-duke of Hesse-Darmstadt. A memoir on the fulminates, which he presented to the Academy of Sciences, acquired for him the patronage and friendship of Alexander de Humboldt; and, through the instrumentality of the latter, he was appointed in 1824 an "extraordinary" professor of Chemistry in the university of Giessen. In 1826 he was promoted to the rank of an "ordinary" professor. His attention has been in a great degree directed to the study of organic chemistry, and with such brilliant success as to have produced an entire revolution in this department of science. The results of his investigations were for the most part communicated to the public in the “Annalen der Pharmacie." He is the author of an "Introduction to the Analysis of Organic Bodies" (1837); a treatise on Organic Chemistry" (1839); Organic Chemistry, in its application to Agricul ture and Physiology" (1840); “Organic Chemistry, in its application to Physiology and Pathology" (1842); "On the study of the Natural Sciences, and on the condition of Chemistry in Prussia" (1840); &c. In conjunction with Poggendorf, he has also published a chemical dictionary. 66 66 LIEGE.* This city, in 1836, contained 58,000 inhabitants. It may be regarded as the Birmingham of the European continent. It owes this distinction to its situation in a district abounding with coal and iron, and which also affords zinc, lead, copper, sulphur, alum, marble, and slate. The royal cannon-foundry, instituted in 1802, produces at an average 9 pieces of ordnance weekly, partly brass and partly iron. There are numerous manufactories of fowling-pieces, muskets, pistols, &c. In 1836, the most flourishing year of the manufacture, the value of the fire-arms issued from the different factories of Liege was estimated at 7,000,000 of francs. Steam engines and machinery are also largely produced in Liege, and in the adjacent busy and populous village of Seraing, on the LIEBIG (Justus) was born at Darmstadt, opposite bank of the Meuse. As many as in Germany, in May 1803. He evinced 60 steam engines, of the aggregate power at an early age a taste for the natural sci- of 695 horses, with from 2000 to 2200 ences, which led his father, in selecting workmen, 500 of whom were miners, were for him an employment for life, to place said to have been employed, at one time, him, on his quitting the gymnasium, with in the single manufactory of the Messrs. an apothecary, rather than with any other Cockerill, established by those gentlemen man of business. This, however, was (Englishmen) in the palace of the former very far from satisfying his aspirations. prince bishops, purchased by them for the About a year afterwards (1818), he went purpose. Most of the locomotive engines to the university of Bonn, and subsequent-upon the Belgian railroads, and the engines ly to that of Erlangen. In 1822, he went for steam vessels, &c., used in Belgium, to Paris, au continued there until 1824; have been made here, and many have also LINIZ. Population in 1839, exclusive of the garrison, 23,318. Since the conclusion of the last war with France, Lintz has been fortified in a peculiar manner; no less than 32 strong detached forts having been erected at a certain distance been sent to other parts. Liege has, be- | woof is composed of wool, the warp being sides, manufactories of hardware of all thread. kinds; of watches, jewellery, bronze, and other ornaments; woollen and cotton fabrics, hats, glue, tobacco, &c.; with numerous dyeing-houses, tanneries, and distilleries. A railroad connects it with Louvain and Brussels.-The university has 46 professors, and usually from 400 to 500 stu-around it, 23 on the left and 9 on the right dents. It possesses a cabinet of mineralogy, with upwards of 5600 specimens, a cabinet of 3000 fossils, found in the vicinity, and other scientific collections. LIGNIN is the scientific designation for the woody fibre. (When, by different reagents, all the soluble matters are extracted from wood, the insoluble resitlue is lignin.) It exhibits itself in a variety of forms, constituting the different textures of hard and soft wood, and various fibrous products, such as hemp, flax, cotton, &c. When, by fine mechanical division, it is reduced to a pulpy state, it is formed into paper. The analogy that exists between the composition of sugar, gum, starch, and even vinegar, and lignin, has suggested the possibility of the conversion of those proximate elements into each other; and it has accordingly been found, that by carefully roasting pure and fine sawdust, it is rendered partially soluble in water, and that a part of it is converted into a nutritious substance, probably intermediate between sugar and starch; and which, when mixed with a little flour, yields a palatable bread, not very unlike that made by some of the inhabitants of the northern parts of Europe of the bark of trees. Mixed with sulphuric acid, lignin passes into gum; and from this, sugar may be obtained by boiling it for some hours in a very dilute sulphuric acid: this sugar, when purified, much resembles grape or honey sugar. By this process, rags may be converted into nearly their own weight of this peculiar saccharine matter. The production of vinegar by the destructive distillation of wood, originally suggested about the middle of the 17th century by Glauber, has lately become an important article of manufacture. And upon the whole, there are very few natural products equally important with lignin in their applications to the useful and ornamental arts. LINK.* Among the later works of this distinguished naturalist, may be mentioned here his "Elementa philosophiæ botan." (1824); his "Manual for the Knowledge of the most Useful Plants;" and his "Propylæa to the Science of Natural History." LINSEY, or LINSEY WOOLSEY, a kind of flannel, of which, however, only the bank of the Danube, rendering it a fortified camp, in case of necessity, for an army. Owing to the demolition of the fortifications at Ulm by the French, there was not, previously to the erection of these works any fortress to defend the valley of the Danube, between the frontier of France and Vienna.-Besides the manufacture of carpets and other woollen goods, there are manufactories of cotton and silk goods, leather, gold lace, cards, tobacco, &c. Lintz is a station for the steamers on the Danube, and the transit trade by that river is very considerable. Two railroads meet here: one goes north to Budweis, in Bohemia, 67 miles, and was the first constructed in Germany; and the other to Gmünden on the Traun, which it is intended to prolong to Grätz, by way of Leoben and Brück. LIPINSKI was at Dresden during the year 1837. He next again visited Russia, but soon returned to Germany. Since 1839, he has resided at Dresden as the director of the concerts at the court of Saxony. In 1836, he published a number of "capriccios and variations.” LISBON. * Population estimated to amount at present to 260,000. The trade of this city has greatly diminished since the separation of Portugal from Brazil. Upwards of 1000 vessels enter the port annually, of which about one-third are British. LISZT (Francis), one of the most distinguished performers on the piano forte of the present day, was born in October 1811 at Räding, near Oedenburg, in Hungary, not far from the borders of Germany. His musical powers were very early developed; and he performed in public on the piano forte when he was only nine years of age. The pecuniary assistance bestowed upon him by several Hungarian noblemen enabled his father to take him to Vienna, where he enjoyed the instructions, both theoretical and practical, of the first masters in music. He next went to Paris, with the object in view of completing his musical education at the "conservatoire,' under Cherubini. Repulsed by the latter, on account of his being a foreigner, he ventured, nevertheless, to perform, on se LIVERPOOL Contained, in 1841, 286,487 inhabitants. The port of Liverpool has continued to be improved by artificial vera occasions at the "théâtre de l'Opéra," and with the most extraordinary success. His reception in London, which he visited in the spring of 1824, was equally bril-means; as, for example, in 1839, by the liant. In the course of the following year, he produced in the French capital his opera of Don Sanchez. He has since travelled over the greater part of Europe, his progress being marked, especially at Berlin, by a series of the most unequivocal triumphs. Liszt is a man of letters, and has published some essays, and a volume of poetry. It may be added that his musical career has been several times interrupted, and at one time for so long a period as two years, by the excited condition of his mind in reference to religious subjects. opening (by dredging) of the Victoria Channel. Since then, vessels of the largest size cross the bar of the Mersey at first quarter flood; and 14,000 vessels passed this channel in 12 months from its opening. The aggregate annual value of the imports and exports does not fall much short of the extraordinary sum of £40,000,000, if they do not rather exceed that amount. Four-fifths of the trade between the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland centres at present in Liverpool, The number of British ships which entered the port of Liverpool, in 1841, was 2187, of the burden of 537,359 tons; of foreign ships, the number was 1305, of the burden of 468,873 tons. There belonged to Liverpool, on the 1st of January 1840, 1133 ships, of the registered burden of 269,176 tons, manned by 13,958 seamen. — Liverpool has, by means of canals and improved river navigation, a complete water communication, directly or indirectly, not only with the great manufacturing towns of Lancashire, Cheshire, and Yorkshire, from which it derives its chief articles of export, but likewise with the S. counties, and, in fact, with nearly every part of England. The facility of transit, however, both for passengers and goods, has been vastly increased since the opening of the railways, by which Liverpool is brought within an hour's distance of Manchester, and both are brought within 4 hours of Birmingham, and 9 hours of the metropolis. LITTROW (John Joseph, Edler v.) was born in March 1781, at Bischof-Teinitz, in Bohemia. He became a 'pupil of the gymnasium at Prague in 1793, and a student in the university of that city in 1798. In 1802, he obtained a situation as private tutor in the family of a nobleman in Austrian Silesia. Until then, his passion for the acquisition of knowledge had been universal; but shortly afterwards, from a perusal of works of science to which he had access, his attention came to be in an especial manner directed to mathematical and astronomical investigations. He was appointed professor of Astronomy at Cracow in 1807, and next at Kasan, in Russia. In 1810, he became director of the observatory at Buda, in Hungary; whence he removed in 1819 to Vienna, to take the charge of the observatory in that city, and to occupy a professorship of Astronomy there.Littrow is the author of many valuable works, such as-a treatise on "The- LIVINGSTON (Edward) was born in the oretical and Practical Astronomy" (2 vols., year 1764, at Clermont (Livingston's ma1821-27); "Elements of Algebra and Ge- nor), in Columbia county, in the state of ometry" (1823); on the "Measurement New York. He was a younger brother of of Heights by the Barometer" (1823); Mr. Robert R. Livingston, of whom a noPopular Astronomy" (1825); a work on tice was given in a previous volume of this the Calendar, entitled "Kalenderiogra-work. He went to school at Albany, and phie" (1828); "The Calculation of Annuities for Lives" (1829); "Lectures on Astronomy" (2 vols., 1830); "Dioptrics" (1830); "Gnomonics" (1831); a treatise on Life Insurance (1832); another on Weights and Measures (1832); "On the Comet of the year 1832" (1832); "On the Calculation of Probabilities" (1833); "On the Constellations and Nebula of the Heavens" (1835); "The Double Stars (1835); "The Wonders of the Heavens" 3 vols., 1836); "A Short Introduction to the Mathematics" (1838); "Atlas of the Starry Heavens" (1839); and the "Annals of the Observatory at Vienna" (18 vols 1821-39). 66 then at Esopus or Kingston, on the Hudson river. In 1779, he entered an advanced class of Princeton College, where he took his degree of A.B. two years afterwards. Having selected the law for a profession, he pursued the study of it at Albany, and upon being admitted to the bar in 1785, established himself in the city of New York. There, before he reached the age of 30, he had acquired a high reputation for his attainments as a jurist, and ability as an advocate. — Mr. Livingston was, in 1794, elected a representative in Congress, from the city of New York and some of the neighbouring counties. During the 6 years that he was a member of that body, |