Lambert, suggestion that the direction of the wind be compared with the height of the barometer, alterations of temperature, humidity, etc., 315.
Lamont, mass of Uranus, 93; satellites of Saturn, 96.
Language and thought, their mutual alliance, 56; author's praise of his native language, 56.
Languages, importance of their study, 357, 359.
Laplace, his "Systeme du Monde," 48, 62, 92, 141; mass of the comet of 1770, 107; on the required velocity of masses projected from the Moon, 121, 122; on the altitude of the boundaries of the atmosphere of cosmical bodies, 141; zodiacal light, 141; lunar inequalities, 166; the Earth's form and size inferred from lunar inequalities, 168, 169; his estimate of the mean height of mountains, 301; density of the ocean required to be less than the earth's for the stability of its equilibrium, 305; results of his perfect theory of tides, 306.
Latin writers, their use of the term "Mundus," 70, 71.
Latitudes, Northern, obstacles they present to a discovery of the laws of Nature, 36; earliest acquaintance with the governing forces of the physical world, there displayed, 36; spread from thence of the germs of civilization, 36.
Latitudes, tropical, their advantages for the contemplation of nature, 33; powerful impressions, from their organic richness and fertility, 34; facilities they present for a knowledge of the laws of nature, 35; brilliant display of shooting stars, 113.
Laugier, his calculations to prove Halley's comet identical with the comet of 1378, described in Chinese tables, 109.
Lava, its mineral composition, 234.