LARCIUS (less accurately Lartius), TITUS, probably surnamed Flavus, a member of an Etruscan family (cf. Lars Tolumnius, Lars Porsena) early settled in Rome. When consul in 501 B.C. he was chosen dictator (the title and office being then introduced for the first time) to command against the thirty Latin cities, which had sworn to reinstate Tarquin in Rome. Other authorities put the appointment three years later, when the plebeians refused to serve against the Latins until they had been released from the burden of their debts. He opposed harsh measures against the Latins, and also interested himself in the improvement of the lot of the plebeians. His brother, Spurius, is associated with Horatius Cocles in the defence of the Sublician bridge against the Etruscans.
See Livy ii. 10, 18, 21, 29; Dion. Halic. v. 50-77, vi. 37; Cicero, De Re Publica, ii. 32.
LARD (Fr. lard, from Lat. laridum, bacon fat, related to Gr. λαρινός fat, λαρός dainty or sweet), the melted and strained fat of the common hog. Properly it is prepared from the “leaf” or fat of the bowel and kidneys, but in commerce the term as applied to products which include fat obtained from other parts of the animal and sometimes containing no “leaf” at all. Lard of various grades is made in enormous quantities by the great pork-packing houses at Chicago and elsewhere in America. “Neutral lard” is prepared at a temperature of 40°-50° C. from freshly killed hogs; the finest quality, used for making oleomargarine, is got from the leaf, while the second, employed by biscuit and pastry bakers, is obtained from the fat of the back. Steam heat is utilized in extracting inferior qualities, such as “choice lard” and “prime steam lard,” the source of the latter being any fat portion of the animal. Lard is a pure white fat of a butter-like consistence; its specific gravity is about 0.93, its solidifying point about 27°-30° C., and its melting point 35°-45° C. It contains about 60% of olein and 40% of palmitin and stearin. Adulteration is common, the substances used including “stearin” both of beef and of mutton, and vegetable oils such as cotton seed oil: indeed, mixtures have been sold as lard that contain nothing but such adulterants. In the pharmacopoeia lard figures as adeps and is employed as a basis for ointments. Benzoated lard, used for the same purpose, is prepared by heating lard with 3% of powdered benzoin for two hours; it keeps better than ordinary lard, but has slightly irritant properties.
Lard oil is the limpid, clear, colourless oil expressed by hydraulic pressure and gentle heat from lard; it is employed for burning and for lubrication. Of the solid residue, lard “stearine,” the best qualities are utilized for making oleomargarine, the inferior ones in the manufacture of candles.
See J. Lewkowitsch, Oils, Fats and Waxes (London, 1909).
LARDNER, DIONYSIUS (1793-1859), Irish scientific writer, was born at Dublin on the 3rd of April 1793. His father, a solicitor, wished his son to follow the same calling. After some years of uncongenial desk work, Lardner entered Trinity College, Dublin, and graduated B.A. in 1817. In 1828 he became professor of natural philosophy and astronomy at University College, London, a position he held till 1840, when he eloped with a married lady, and had to leave the country. After a lecturing tour through the principal cities of the United States, which realized £40,000, he returned to Europe in 1845. He settled at Paris, and resided there till within a few months of his death, which took place at Naples on the 29th of April 1859.
Though lacking in originality or brilliancy, Lardner showed himself to be a successful popularizer of science. He was the author of numerous mathematical and physical treatises on such subjects as algebraic geometry (1823), the differential and integral calculus (1825), the steam engine (1828), besides hand-books on various departments of natural philosophy (1854-1856); but it is as the editor of Lardner’s Cabinet Cyclopaedia (1830-1844) that he is best remembered. To this scientific library of 134 volumes many of the ablest savants of the day contributed, Lardner himself being the author of the treatises on arithmetic, geometry, heat, hydrostatics and pneumatics, mechanics (in conjunction with Henry Kater) and electricity (in conjunction with C. V. Walker). The Cabinet Library (12 vols., 1830-1832) and the Museum of Science and Art (12 vols., 1854-1856) are his other chief undertakings. A few original papers appear in the Royal Irish Academy’s Transactions (1824), in the Royal Society’s Proceedings (1831-1836) and in the Astronomical Society’s Monthly Notices (1852-1853); and two Reports to the British Association on railway constants (1838, 1841) are from his pen.