water 2. This species often occurs massive, and intermingled with earth and metallic oxides, and is sometimes tarnished and blackened, so as to be with difficulty recognised. It occurs in veins in primitive and secondary countries, accompanying galena and other ores of lead. It is pretty abundant in European countries, but has been found very sparingly in the U. States. 3. Sulphate of Lead. Its principal crystallizations are an oblique four-sided prism, variously bevelled or truncated,and a broad, rectangular, four-sided pyramid. It admits of cleavage parallel to the planes of a right rhombic prism of 103° 42′ and 76° 18', its primitive form; lustre shining, adamantine; fracture conchoidal; translucent; hardness that of calcareous spar; streak white; brittle; specific gravity, 6.3. It.decrepitates before the blow-pipe, then melts, and is soon reduced to the metallic state. Its constituents are, oxide of lead 70.5, sulphuric acid 25,75,water 2.25. It occurs, not very plentifully, in the Hartz, Spain, England and Scotland. 4. Mr. Brooke has described, within the few last years, three other varieties of lead ore; one of which consists of 46.9 of carbonate and 53.1 of sulphate of lead; another of 55.8 of sulphate, 32.8 of carbonate of lead, and 11.4 of carbonate of copper; the remaining one of 74.4 sulphate of lead, 18. oxide of copper, and 4.7 of water. These will, doubtless, constitute distinct species. 5. Chromate of Lead is of a deep orange-red color; when pulverized, orange-yellow. It occurs crystallized and massive; cleaves parallel to all the planes of an oblique rhombic prism of about 93° 30′ and 86° 30. The cross fracture is uneven, passing into conchoidal, with a splendent lustre. It is sometimes translucent; brittle; specific gravity, 6. When exposed to the blow-pipe, it crackles and melts into a grayish slug. It consists of oxide of lead 63.93, chromic acid 36.40. It has hitherto been found only in Siberia, where it occurs in a vein traversing gneiss and mica slate in the gold mine of Beresof, and in a sand-stone near the same place. 6. Molybdate of Lead occurs crystallized in obtuse octahedrons, variously modified, and in tabular crystals. It cleaves parallel to the sides of a right square prism, its primary form; color wax or honey-yellow; lustre resinous; translucent; hardness below that of calcareous spar; brittle; fracture uneven, passing into conchoidal; specific gravity, 5.09. Before the blow-pipe, it decrepitates; on charcoal, it fuses into a dark-gray mass, in which globules of reduced lead are visible. It consists of 58.4 oxide of lead, 38

molybdic acid, and 2.08 oxide of iron. It occurs principally at Bleiberg in Carinthia, with other ores of lead. It has also been found, in very small quantity, in the U. States, at Southampton, in Massachusetts. 7. Phosphate of Lead occurs crystallized in the form of a six-sided prism, generally modified on the edges; and, as it cleaves parallel to the sides of the hexagonal prism, the figure is regarded as its primary form; color, shades of green and yellow; translucent; lustre resinous; fracture imperfect, conchoidal, uneven; brittle; hardness equal to that of calcareous spar. Besides occurring in distinct crystals, it assumes globular, reniform, botryoidal and fruticose shapes. Before the blow-pipe, it melts by itself upon charcoal, and the bead exhibits, in cooling, crys talline facets. It consists of oxide of lead 78.58, phosphoric acid 19.73. In some varieties of this species, arsenic acid is substituted for phosphoric acid. Phosphate of lead is found accompanying the common ores of lead, though rarely in any considerable quantity. Finely crystallized varieties are found at Przibram in Bohemia, at Huelgoet in Brittany, at Lead-hills in Scotland, and at Cornwall in England. In the U. States, it occurs at the lead mine near Freyberg in Maine. Such are the ores of lead, all of which, with the exception of the chromate, are more or less employed in furnishing the lead of commerce; but the salts, as has been remarked above, in very limited quantity, compared with the sulphuret. As the principal thing in the metallurgic treatment of these ores, is to expel the sulphur, after picking and pulverization, they are roasted either in the open air, or in reverberatory furnaces. During this operation, the sulphur volatilizes, and the lead, reduced to the metallic state, or to that of an oxide, runs into the basin, or crucible of the furnace, where it is deoxidized by being maintained in contact with ignited charcoal. Thus, by this method, which is that generally adopted, the sulphuret passes at first to the state of an oxide in the reverberatory furnace, afterwards is converted principally into the metallic state, and the remainder is passed into other furnaces, where a renewed heating with charcoal compels it to give up its oxygen, and to assume the condition of perfectly metallic lead. There is another mode of treatment practised in Germany and France to a considerable extent. It consists in presenting to the sulphur of the ore a substance with which it has a more powerful affinity than with the lead; this substance

is iron.

The workmen commence by melting the ore in a reverberatory furnace of small size, and when the bath is full, they throw in 28 per cent. of old iron. In a little time, the sulphur passes from the lead to the iron, leaving the former metal free, which occupies the bottom of the basin. By this means, the same quantity of ore is reduced as in the first de-, scribed process, with the advantage, too, of a considerable saving of time, and with one half of the labor; but it is attended with the complete loss of the iron, which, in some districts, however, is so cheap as to be of no consideration. England produces about half the lead of Europe; the Hartz, Austria, Prussia and their dependencies nearly all the remainder. The lead mine of Galena, in Illinois, yielded, in 1829, about 6000 tons of lead.-It is pretty certain that both lead and tin were employed, in extremely remote ages, in the fabrication of arms, and, above all, in the ornamental parts of, them. Homer also alludes to the practice of putting leaden balls at the end of fishing-lines. The custom of writing on lead mounts also into very great antiquity. Frontinus and Dio Cassius assure us that the consul Hirtius, besieged in Modena, wrote upon a leaf of lead, respecting his situation, to Decius Brutus, who replied by the same means. Pausanias speaks of certain books of Hesiod written upon sheets of lead; and, if we may believe Pliny, even public acts were consigned to volumes or leaves of the same material. The poets make frequent allusion to leaden coins. Ficorini, in his Piombi Antichi, has collected and represented a vast number of monuments of this kind. Caylus conceived them to be all Roman; and thus, according to that writer, those even which represent Egyptian divinities, or are inscribed with Greek characters, are yet to be referred to the times of the Roman emperors. Statues of lead are very rare.

Lead; an instrument for discovering the depth of water. It is composed of a large piece of lead, from seven to eleven pounds in weight, and is attached, by means of a strap, to a long line, called the lead-line, which is marked at certain distances, to ascertain the fathoms.To heave the lead, is to throw it into the sea in a manner calculated to produce the desired effect.-Deep-sea lead; a lead of a larger size, being from 25 to 30 pounds weight, and attached to a much longer line than the former, which is

called a hand-lead.

LEENA; an Athenian hetara (q. v.), mis

tress of Aristogiton. Being privy to the conspiracy of Harmodius and Aristogiton against the Pisistratidæ, when examined on the subject, she hit off her tongue, that she might not be able to speak. A statue was erected by the side of those of the tyrannicides, in honor of her, representing a lioness without a tongue, by the side of which was an image of Venus, whose priestess she was.

LEAF. As it is impossible to give an entirely satisfactory definition of what is meant by the word plant, or animal, so it has equally defied the exertions of naturalists to give a distinct definition of leaf. Leaves are the part of the vegetable world in which vegetable life manifests itself most strongly. Light and air, which so essentially influence the vegetable kingdom, act chiefly on the leaves; and, in relation to the air, leaves have been compared to the animal organs of respirationto lungs placed externally. They are also organs of nutrition, particularly on the lower surface. The same formation which prevails in the trunk, branches and roots, has been recognised in leaves, only that what in the former is annular and concentric, in the latter is spread out over an extended plane surface. The spiral vessels and sap vessels, which are observable in the leaf-stalk, are also partly to be traced in the leaf, and form the nerves and veins, which may be considered as the skeleton of the leaf. The spaces between them are filled with a cellular substance, covered by a soft, yet firm cuticle. The cellular substance and the cuticle are different on the upper and the lower surfaces; and, however various the form of the leaves, much conformity always exists in this respect, and is intimately connected with the life of the plant. The cellular substance is particularly filled with sap, generally of a green color. The cells of the upper surface are commonly disposed lengthwise; those of the lower surface, breadthwise; both commonly destitute of sap. The pores, which are generally only on the lower surface (except in plants whose leaves lie on the water, or close on the ground), serve to transmit the air to the internal parts of the plant; but in some plants they are not discernible, even in some of the more perfect kinds, particularly if the sap is not green. The leaf changes whatever passes through it into the plant from without, or from the plant; and so essential is the influence of light upon vegetable life, that the gaseous substances given out by plants, in the sun, or in the shade,

according to the different usages and customs of countries. A sea league contains 3000 geometrical paces, or three English miles. The French league sometimes contains the same measure, and, in some parts of France, it consists of 3500 paces. The mean or common league consists of 2400 paces, and the little league of 2000. Twenty common Spanish leagues make a degree, or 69 English statute miles. The German league (meile) contains four English geographical miles. The Per sian league is also equal to four such miles, pretty near to what Herodotus calls the length of the Persian parasang, which contains 30 stadia, eight of which make a mile. (See Mile.)

LEAGUE. Those political connexions which have been called alliances, since the French language has become the fashionable language of Europe, were denoted, during the prevalence of Spanish and Italian influence, from 1500 to 1650, by the term league (from the Spanish word liga). To some alliances this term is more distinctly applied. Among these are the league of Cambrai, formed, in 1508, between Louis XII, king of France, the German emperor Maximilian, and Ferdinand of Spain, for the purpose of humbling the republic of Venice, and which was joined, in 1509, by pope Julius II. This league was dissolved in 1510, as many similar ones have been, in consequence of mutual distrust, and was succeeded by the liga santa, or holy league, between the pope, Maximilian, Ferdinand and Venice. The object of this was to compel Louis XII, whose allies had now become his enemies, to renounce his conquests in Italy ; which object was gained. This was the first example of a holy league, which name was derived from the participation of the pope. Thirty years afterwards, a holy league was formed in Germany. For when the principal Protestant princes in Germany united, in 1536, to form the union of Smalkalden, in order to protect their common faith, and withstand the emperor Charles V, the Catholic princes assembled at Nuremberg, in 1538, to take measures for the support of their own faith, and to oppose the designs of the Protestant princes; and, as their league had the protection of the Catholic church for its object, they termed it the holy league. A fourth league, also, called the Catholic, was formed by Henry, duke of Guise, in 1576, against Henry III of France. Its ostensible object was the support of the Catholic religion; but the duke of Guise had further views of his own. As Henry

III was without male heirs, the throne, at his death, would pass to the Protestant prince Henry of Navarre; to exclude whom, and to obtain the throne for himself, were the real objects of the duke of Guise. His great popularity seemed to render the accomplishment of his design easy. The example given by Paris in his favor was followed by all the provinces. The league was sanctioned by the pope and the king of Spain. In 1588, the duke of Guise was murdered at Blois, with his brother Louis, the cardinal, at the king's instigation. The league then declared the throne vacant, and named the third brother, Charles, duke of Mayenne, governor-general of the kingdom. Henry III now sought relief in the camp of his former enemy, Henry of Navarre. He was there assassinated in 1589. The war was then pursued by the league against Henry of Navarre, till it was ended, in 1594, by his uniting himself to the Catholic church: and the next year the league was dissolved. We find a fifth league, in Germany, in the seventeenth century, also termed Catholic. The peace of 1555 had not sufficiently restrained the Protestants, and had taken too much from the Catholics. Both parties regarded each other with distrust. The one was accused of encroachments; the other, of unreasonable pretensions. As Henry IV of France was ready to support the Protestant princes in any manner, for the purpose of humbling the house of Austria, these princes, excited by the injuries inflicted upon the Protestant town of Donauwerth, assembled in 1608, to form a union for their protection. The Catholic princes now took the same steps as after the union of Smalkalden: their associa tion (1610) was also hastened by the dis putes respecting the succession of JuliersCleves. The principal German princes laid claim to the possessions of John William, duke of Juliers-Cleves-Berg, &c., who had died, in 1609, without heirs. Henry IV supported the Protestant princes: a league was therefore formed, by the Catholic princes, at Wurtzburg, in 1610, at the head of which was Maximilian, duke of Bavaria. The unexpected death of Henry IV prevented their coming at once to action; but the union and the league kept up a vigilant opposition to each other till the breaking out of the 30 years' war. The head of the union, Frederic, elector-palatine, became king of Bohemia; and then the two parties took the field. An accommodation was at last effected at Ulm, July 3, 1620, by means of the united French, Spanish, Austrian

and Bavarian influence, in which the union gave up the Bohemian cause, and, after the imperial arms had become victorious in Bohemia, the union was wholly dissolved in 1621. The designs of the Catholics were so well supported by the duke of Bavaria, and his general Tilly, at the head of the troops of the league, that nothing but the interference of Gustavus Adolphus saved the Protestant princes.

LEAGUE OF THE PRINCES. (See Confederation of the. Princes.)

LEANDER. (See Hero.) ·

LEASE. A lease is a demise of lands or tenements, or permission to occupy them for life, or a certain number of years, or during the pleasure of the parties making the contract. The party letting the lands or tenements is called the lessor; the party to whom they are let, the lessee; and the compensation or consideration for the lease, the rent. There is a great difference in the habits and usages of different communities, as to the modes of occupying lands, and the usual interest and title of the occupants. A great part of the cultivated territory of Europe is occupied by lessees, and rents constitute an immense proportion of the income of persons living upon profits, as distinguished from those who depend partly or wholly upon the fruits of their own labor; so that, in all economical speculations in Europe, in regard to agriculture and the profits of lands and tenements, as distinguished from other species of property and income, the lands are always spoken of as being occupied by lease-holders; whereas, in the U. States, though the tenements in the large towns are usually occupied by lease, and, in the country, many farms are cultivated by those who have only a temporary interest in the soil, yet a great part of the territory is in the possession and occupancy of the proprietors. The general habit and prejudice is in favor of the occupant possessing the fee, and if his capital is not adequate to an independent and unincumbered ownership, he generally prefers to purchase, though he mortgages the land as security for the purchasemoney, rather than to hire. This mode of occupying would seem to excite a much more general disposition towards permanent improvements, since the person making them has not only in view the immediate advantage of the increase of products, but also the remote advantage of the increase of the value of the estate. Where leases prevail, however, it is the policy of the proprietors, as well as tenants, to extend the terms to long periods,

and thus to give the parties a joint interest in improvements. The state of agriculture, in many parts of Europe, where the system of leases prevails, shows that this system is not so unfriendly to improvements in cultivation as to prevent agricul ture from being brought to great perfection under it. But still, all things else being equal, it is quite evident that the proprietor himself will have the strongest motives to a mode of cultivation which adds to the permanent value and productiveness of the soil. It does not, however, follow, that occupancy and cultivation by proprietors are, on the whole, to be preferred, in all possible states of the arts, population and wealth of a community. The prevailing occupancy by proprietors has the necessary effect of dividing the territory into small farms; the preference of one system or the other will, therefore, depend partly upon the kind of production carried on; for there is no doubt that some species of cultivation can be conducted more effectually, and so as to yield the greatest aggregate of products, if they are conducted on a large scale. In all kinds of industry, whether agricultural, commercial or manufacturing, a great saving may be made, and greater results produced by the same labor, by combining the operatives in a large system. This is undoubtedly promoted by the system of leaseholds, since the wealthy are thereby induced to invest their capital in lands, as the safest property, and yielding the most secure income. The result will be, that the territory will be owned and leased in large tracts. This is the reason why the leasehold system, instead of checking the progress of agriculture, probably, on the whole, contributes to it, notwithstanding the fact that a lessee, though for a long term, has less interest in increasing the permanent productiveness and value of the soil, than the proprietor himself. There is, however, one disadvantage in the leasehold system, and a corresponding advantage in small proprietaries, as the former creates a population of mere laborers, called cottagers in England, and peasants in the rest of Europe, who, in general, depend wholly upon their wages for subsistence, and who naturally become very numerous, in proportion to the demand for their labor, so that, by their competition for employment, their wages become reduced to the means of a bare subsistence. The labor in which they are employed is the rudest, and requires the least skill and previous instruction of all the different species, excepting, perhaps,