[Lacépède, Comte de], French naturalist, born at Agen; was entrusted by Buffon to complete his Natural History on his death; wrote on his own account also the natural histories of reptiles, of fishes, and of man (1756-1825).
[Lachaise, François de], a French Jesuit, an extremely politic member of the fraternity in the reign of Louis XIV.; had a country house E. of Paris, the garden of which is now the cemetery Père la Chaise (1624-1709).
[Lachesis], the one of the three Fates that spun the thread of life and apportioned the destinies of man. See [Parcæ].
[Lachmann, Karl], a German philologist and classical scholar, born at Brunswick, professor at Berlin; besides sundry of the Latin classics, in particular Lucretius, he edited the Nibelungen Lied, and the Greek New Testament, as well as contributed important critical essays on the composition of the "Iliad," which he regarded as a collection of lays from various independent sources (1783-1851). See [Iliad].
[Lachryma Christi], a sweet wine of a red or amber colour, produced from grapes grown on Mount Vesuvius.
[Laconia], ancient name for Sparta, the inhabitants of which were noted for the brevity of their speech.
[Lacordaire, Jean Baptiste Henry], a celebrated French preacher, and one of the most brilliant orators of the century; bred for the bar; held sceptical opinions at first, but came under the influence of religion; took orders as a priest and became associated with Montalembert and Lamennais as joint-editor of the Avenir, a journal which advocated views at once Ultramontane and radical, but which, being condemned by the Pope, was discontinued; after this he took to preaching, and immense crowds gathered to hear his conferences, as they were called, in the church of Notre Dame, where, to the astonishment of all, he appeared in the pulpit in guise of a Dominican monk with the tonsure; he was afterwards elected member of the Constitutent Assembly, where he sat in his monk's attire, but he soon retired; he ended his days as head of the Military College of Sorrèze (1802-1861).
[Lacratelle], French historian, born at Metz; began life as a journalist; became professor of History in Paris University; wrote a history of the 18th century and of the French Revolution, showing very great accuracy of detail, if little historical insight (1766-1855).
[La Crosse], the national game of Canada, of Indian derivation; is played twelve a side, each armed with a long-handled racquet or crosse, the object of the game being to drive an india-rubber ball through the opponents' goal.
[Lactantius], a Christian apologist of the early part of the 14th century, who, from his eloquent advocacy of the Christian faith, was styled the Christian Cicero; he was a pagan born, and by profession a rhetorician.