with two cups fitted to the two ends of a straight pipe, an inch in diameter, and four feet long. The water communicates from one cup to the other; and this pipe being movable on its stand by a ball and socket, when the two cups are seen to be equally full of water, their two surfaces mark the line of level. This instrument, instead of cups, may also be made with two short cylinders of glass, three or four inches long, fastened to each extremity of the pipe with wax or mastich. The pipe, filled with colored water, shows itself through the cylinders, by means of which the line of level is determined; the height of the water, with respect to the centre of the earth, being always the same in both cylinders. This level, though very simple, is yet very commodious for levelling small distances. 3. The spirit or air level shows the exact level, by means of a bubble of air, enclosed, with some fluid, in a glass tube of an indeterminate length and thickness, and having its two ends hermetically sealed. When the bubble fixes itself at a mark in the middle of the tube, the case in which it is fixed is then level. When it is not level, the bubble will rise to one end. This glass tube may be set in another of brass, having an aperture in the middle, where the bubble may be observed. The liquor with which the tube is filled, is oil of tartar, or aqua secunda, those not being liable to freeze, as common water, nor to rarefaction and condensation, as spirit of wine is. These instances will explain the principle of the different kinds of levels. Their varieties are too numerous to be described here. LEVEN, LOCH; a lake of Scotland, about 12 miles in circumference, in the county of Kinross. It contains four islands, on one of which was formerly a priory, and on another stand the remains of the castle of Loch Leven, once a royal residence, which was granted by Robert III to Douglas. In this castle Mary Stuart was confined, after her separation from Bothwell, and her capture by the confederate lords, at the battle of Carberry Hill. After several unsuccessful attempts, she made her escape, by the aid of George Douglas, her keeper's brother. LEVER, in mechanics; an inflexible right line, rod, or beam, supported, in a single point, on a fulcrum or prop, and used for the raising of weights, being either void of weight itself, or, at least, having such a weight as may be commodiously counterbalanced. The lever is the first of those called mechanical powers, or simple machines, as being, of all others, the most simple; and is chiefly applied for raising weights to small heights. (See Mechanics.) LEVESQUE, Peter Charles; a French writer on history and general literature, born at Paris, in 1736, and, when young, apprenticed to an engraver. Displaying a strong inclination for learning, he was removed to the collège Mazarin, where he studied with great success. His family having retired into the country, he, for some time, supported himself at Paris, by working as an engraver, In 1773, he went to St. Petersburg, with a recommendation from Diderot to the empress of Russia, who appointed him professor of belles-lettres at the school of noble cadets. Here he formed the design of writing the history of Russia, and, having completed the work, in 1780 he returned to Paris to publish it. He was admitted into the academy of inscriptions, and, some years after, was appointed professor at the royal college. He was subsequently made a member of the national institute; and, in 1812, closed a long life devoted to literary pursuits. Besides hisRussian history(4th ed., with notes by Malte-Brun and Depping, 8 vols., 1812, a standard work on Russia), he produced a translation of Thucydides; a History of France, under the five first Kings of the House of Valois; a Critical History of the Roman Republic (3 vols.); Studies in ancient History, and in the History of Greece, and many other translations and valuable works. LEVI; the third son of Jacob and Leah. The prince of the Sichemites having ravished his sister Dinah, he, with his brother Simeon, attacked their city while they were suffering the consequences of circumcision, to which they had submitted, and murdered all the males. Jacob reproaches them with this act of cruelty, on his death-bed, and threatens them with the dispersion of their descendants. Moses and Aaron were of this tribe. The Levites were set apart, by Moses, for the service of religion, thus forming a hereditary caste of priests, or religious ministers, who received territories scattered about in the lands of the other tribes. The third book of Moses is called Leviticus, as it relates principally to the organization of the ministry. The Mosaic law is sometimes also called the Levitical law. (See Moses.) LEVIATHAN (Hebrew) is compounded of two words, meaning a great fish, and fas tened; hence it probably means a huge fish covered with close scales. The Septuagist renders it paxon (a dragon), and whale). From the description given of it a in the book of Job (xli.), it is usually con- LEWIS; one of the largest and most LEWIS, Francis, one of the signers of the declaration of American independence, was born in 1715, in South Wales, and educated at Westminster school, England. 527 He chose, however, mercantile pursuits; converted his patrimony into merchandise at the age of 21, and sailed for New York, whence he proceeded to Philadelphia. Here he remained for two years, and then between the mother country and the coloreturned to New York. In the disputes nies, he sided zealously with the latter. In 1775, he was unanimously elected to the continental congress, from New York. His commercial knowledge and habits rendered him particularly serviceable to that body. He suffered much, in the devastation of his estate, and by percourse of the revolutionary war, by the sonal imprisonment, having fallen into the hands of the British. Through the influence of Washington, he was exchanged before the end of the contest. Mr. Lewis died Dec. 30, 1803, in his 89th year. His latter days were passed in comparative poverty, the fortune which he had acquired by trade having been, in great purt, sacrificed on the altar of patriotism. plorer, was born near the town of CharLEWIS, Meriwether, a celebrated exlottesville, in Virginia, August 18, 1774. His father, a man of independent fortune, died when he was yet a child. He very early gave proofs of that bold and enterprising disposition for which he was subsequently so distinguished. At the age of 18, he relinquished academic studies, and engaged in the pursuits of a farmer, with which he continued to occupy himself until he was 20. General Washington having called out a body of militia, in consequence of the disturbances in the by discontent at the excise taxes, young western parts of the country, produced Lewis enrolled himself in it as a volunteer, and from that situation was removed to the regular service. In 1803, president Jefferson proposed to congress to send some competent person on an exploring expedition to the western part of our northern continent, who might ascend the Missouri, cross the Stony mountains, and descend the nearest river to the Pacific. Congress having approved the proposition, and voted a sum of money for carrying it into execution, captain Lewis, who had then been nearly two years with Mr. Jefferson as his private secretary, was chosen for that purpose. The following testimony of Mr. Jefferson gives an idea of his fitness for the task: "Of courage undaunted; of purpose which nothing but impossibilipossessing a firmness and perseverance ties could divert from its direction; careful as a father of those committed to his charge, yet steady in the maintenance of order and discipline; intimate with the Indian character, customs and principles; habituated to the hunting life; guarded, by exact observation of the vegetables and animals of his own country, against losing time in the description of objects already possessed; honest, disinterested, liberal, of sound understanding, and a fidelity to truth so scrupulous, that whatever he should report would be as certain as if seen by ourselves: with all these qualifications, as if selected and implanted by nature, in one body, for this express purpose, I could have no hesitation in confiding the enterprise to him." That there might be some person with him to assume the conduct of the expedition in case of accident to himself, William Clarke was appointed, at Lewis's request, to accompany him, and received a commission of captain. (For the particulars of this expedition, see the account which has been published of it-Expedition, &c.-Philadelphia, 1814, 2 vols.). It was highly successful, and occupied three years, the party engaged in it having set out in the summer of 1803, and returned in the autumn of 1806. Lewis was soon afterwards made governor of the territory of Louisiana, and Clarke a general of its militia, and agent of the U. States for Indian affairs. On the new governor's arrival at St. Louis, the seat of administration, he found the country torn by dissensions; but his moderation, impartiality and firmness soon brought matters into a regular train. He was subject to constitutional hypochondria, and, while under the influence of a severe attack of this disorder, put an end to his life, in 1809, at the age of 36. LEWIS'S RIVER; a river of North America, which rises in the Rocky mountains, and runs north-west into the Columbia, 413 miles from its mouth; length, about 900 miles. LEXINGTON; one of the principal towns of Kentucky, capital of Fayette county, on a branch of the Elkhorn, 22 miles S. E. of Frankfort, 85 S. of Cincinnati; lon. 84° 18 W.; lat. 38° 6′ N. The place derived its name from the circumstance that some hunters were engaged on the spot in laying out a town (1775), when a messenger arrived with the news of the battle of Lexington, and they immediately decided to commemorate that event by giving the name to the place. Population, in 1830, 5699. The town is regularly laid out, some of the streets are paved, and the buildings are, many of them, large and handsome. The environs are beautiful, and highly cultivated. The manufactures of woollen, paper and cotton are numerous and important; but the staple manufactures of the place are cordage and bagging. Among the public buildings are the court-house, bank, market-house, lunatic asylum, and eight churches, of which the Presbyterians have three, the Methodists, Episcopalians, Baptists, Seceders and Roman Catholics, one each. The U. States bank has an office of discount and deposit there. Transylvania university, at Lexington, was incorporated in 1798, and organized anew in 1818. In 1830, it had 143 under-graduates, 62 in the preparatory department, 200 medical students, and 19 law students. LEXINGTON, a small town in Massachusetts, about twelve miles north-west of Boston, and six south-east of Concord, is remarkable, in the history of the American revolution, as the place where the first British blood was shed in armed resistance to the mother country. On the evening of April 18, 1775, a detachment of British troops was sent from Boston, by general Gage, for the purpose of seizing some provincial stores at Concord. Notice of this movement having been communicated to the inhabitants on the route, the militia of Lexington, about 70 men in number, were hastily drawn up on the common, by which the road to Concord passes. The English commander, colonel Smith, having commanded them to disperse without effect, ordered his men to fire. Seven Americans were killed, and three wounded, and the company dispersed, several of the militia discharging their muskets as they retreated. The British troops then pushed on to Concord, the Americans retiring beyond the river which flows by the village. One hundred men were detached to destroy the bridge, across which the colonists had retired; they were, however, repulsed by the latter, and, at noon, the whole detachment took up the march for Boston. The militia of the neighboring towns had meanwhile been collected, and began to hang upon the rear of the British with an irregular but destructive fire from every favorable position. At Lexington, the enemy was relieved by a reinforcement of 1000 men, but was still pursued in the same galling manner till their arrival at Charlestown, in the evening. (See Phinney's History of the Battle at Lerington, Boston, 1825.) A simple monument of granite, bearing the names of those who fell, was erected at Lexington by the commonwealth of Massachusetts, in 1799. LEX LOCI CONTRACTUS (conflict of laws). It is a general doctrine, that every government has jurisdiction of persons within its territories, and also of acts done within them. It follows, that all contracts made, and obligations assumed, have an implied reference to the laws of the place of the transaction, unless it appear otherwise on the face of the contract. Some contracts, however, have reference to different places for their execution, as a bill of lading for a foreign voyage, a foreign bill of exchange, and many others. Such contracts necessarily refer to the laws of other countries than that in which the contract is made, in respect to the acts contemplated to be done abroad. The manner of execution of the contract must, in this respect, be governed by the foreign laws. But, for the purpose of ascertaining the meaning of the parties, regard is necessarily had to the language, laws and customs of the place where it is made. In neighboring territories subject to different jurisdictions, where there is much business and intercourse between the inhabitants of the different territories, as is, or, at least, formerly was, the case in the different provinces of Holland and the Netherlands, and the territories bordering upon them, questions frequently arise as to the code of laws which is applicable to particular acts of the parties, or provisions of contracts. Many questions have arisen in those countries, for instance, respecting the obligations and rights arising on the marriage contract, where the partics were married in one province or country, and afterwards removed to another. As to rights of property, consequent immediately upon a marriage, the laws of the place of marriage prevail; but it will often happen that these laws clash with those of the quarter to which the parties remove, and, in such cases, the general rule is, to give the laws of the place of the contract the preference, as far as is practicable. But it will sometimes happen that it is quite impossible to give them entire effect. The French law, for instance, makes the law of marriage, to many purposes, a pecuniary copartnership, and its provisions and remedies are adapted to this construction, and there is no difficulty in enforcing the rights of the wife under it. But in England and the U. States, it is quite otherwise, as the wife's personal property, and the use of her real estate, go to the husband, and her legal rights are in a great degree suspended during the marriage. If, therefore, parties, married in France, remove to England or the U. States, whatever respect might be paid to the French law, and the rights and obligations, as to property, arising on the marriage contract under that law, the laws of England, or of the U. States, supply no forms of proceeding, and remedies adapted to such a construction of the contract. As to the acts done and the management of their property after their removal, therefore, they must be governed by the laws of the country of their residence. This question, as to the code of laws which is applicable, arises in relation to the adjustment of general average losses on vessels and their cargoes, it being a rule that such losses are to be adjusted at the port of delivery of the goods; and, where this is a foreign port, the adjustment is necessarily made according to the laws there prevailing. The implied contract between the parties to a bill of lading, to contribute to such average, where the contribution aecrues abroad, has reference to the laws of the foreign port as to the proportion of the contribution. LEY, or LEES; a term usually applied to any alkaline solution made by levigating ashes that contain an alkali. Soaplees is an alkali used by soap-boilers, or potash or sodu in solution, and made caustic by lime. Lees of wine are the refuse, or sediment, deposited from wine standing quiet. LEYDEN (Lugdunum Balavorum); a large and beautiful city in the government of South Holland, in the province of Holland, kingdom of the Netherlands, situated on a branch of the Rhine, with 3000 houses and 28,600 inhabitants; lon. 4° 29 E.; lat. 52° 9 N. It has wide streets (the one called Broad street is among the finest in Europe) and numerous canals. The university of Leyden, formerly very celebrated, was founded in 1575, and is distinguished for its botanical garden, anatomical theatre, observatory, and valuable library with 60,000 volumes, and 14,000 manuscripts. The number of students, in 1827, was 323. The Annales Acad. Lugd. Bat. are still continued. Cabinets of philosophical, surgical, chemical instruments, and one for natural history, belong to the university. Among the buildings, the principal are St. Peter's church, with the tombs of Boerhaave, Peter Camper and Meermann, and the stadthouse, which contains Luke of Leyden's excellent picture of the last judgment. A fine view of the whole city is enjoyed from the ancient castle, considered, traditionally, a Roman work. The printing establishments formerly constituted an important branch of the industry of Ley den, but are much less extensive at present. The city has woollen manufactures and considerable inland trade. The manufactures have much declined, but the saltworks are important. Leyden suffered much in January, 1807, from the explosion of a ship containing 40,000 pounds of gunpowder. The houses on the side of the canal were overturned, and many persons killed. Natives of Leyden are John of Ley den (q. v.), known as the leader of the Anabaptists, the celebrated Peter Muschenbroek, Rembrandt, Luke of Leyden, &c. It is connected with Haarlem, Hague and Delft by canals. Leyden was called by the Romans Lugdunum Batavorum (see Batavians), from which the present name was formed in the middle ages. Even in Ptolemy's time, Leyden was a considerable city. It suffered much during the war with Spain (1574). LEYDEN, JAN or JOHN OF. (See John of Leyden.) LEYDEN, LUKE OF. (See Luke of Ley den.) LEYDEN, John; a poet, antiquary and Orientalist, was born at Denholm, Scotland, in 1775, of parents in humble circumstances, and bred up to such country labor as suited his condition. In his earliest youth, he displayed the greatest eagerness for the acquisition of knowledge, but enjoyed few opportunities of gratifying it. His predominant desire for learning, however, determined his parents to prepare him for the church, and he was entered at the college of Edinburgh, in 1790, for the purpose of commencing his professional studies. Here, besides attending to theology, he cultivated medical studies, and, in addition to the learned languages, acquired French, Spanish, Italian, German, the ancient Icelandic, Arabic and Persian. After remaining five or six years in Edinburgh, he became private tutor to two young gentlemen, whom he accompanied to St. Andrew's, and, in 1799, published his History of African Discoveries, which has since been continued and enlarged by Hugh Murray (3 vols., 8vo., 1820). At this time, he was also the author of many poetical effusions in different departments, which appeared in the Edinburgh Magazine, and which, by rendering him known to the lovers of literature, introduced him into the best society in the Scotch capital. In company, he displayed the rudeness and independence, which his early life and education were fitted to produce in a man of strong feelings and vigorous genius, united with personal boldness, and much bodily power and activity. In 1800, he began to preach, and, although popular as a pulpit orator, he was not satisfied with his own discourses. In 1801 and 1802, he assisted Walter Scott in procuring materials and illustrations for his Minstrelsy of the Scottish Border, and republished the Complaynt of Scotland, with a learned preliminary Dissertation, Notes and a Glossary. Having manifested a strong desire to set out on an expedition to explore the unknown regions of Africa, his friends, to prevent the execution of this project, procured him an appointment in India, which, however, could only be held by a person who had taken a surgical degree, and this he actually obtained, after six months' unremitting application. While in India, he devoted himself to the study of Oriental literature, but did not long survive the influence of the climate and his over-exertions in his studies. He died in 1806. His poetical Remains, with a Memoir of his Life, were published in 1821, and, in 1826, the Commentaries of Baber, translated by him from the Turkish language. An animated sketch of doctor Leyden's life is contained in the 4th volume (American edition) of the Miscellaneous prose Works of sir W. Scott. LEYDEN PHIAL, in electricity, is a glass phial or jar, coated both within and without with tin-foil, or some other conducting substance, which may be charged, and employed in a variety of useful and entertaining experiments. Glass of any other shape, so coated and used, has also receiv ed the same denomination. A vacuum produced in such a jar, &c., has been named the Leyden vacuum. (See Electricity.) LI (called also cara); the common copper coin, in China, with a square hole in the middle, and an inscription on one side. The copper is alloyed with lead, and the coin, which is cast, is very brittle. 10 lis make one candareen, 100 ̊ a mas, 1000 a liang or tale, about $1,50. LIAS, in geology; the name of a peculiar formation, consisting of thick, argillaceous deposits, which constitutes the base on which the oölitic series reposes. The word lias is of English origin, and is said to be derived from a provincial pronunciation of the word layers. The upper portion of these deposits, including about two thirds of their total depth, consists of beds of a deep-blue marle, containing only a few irregular limestone beds. In the lower portion, the limestone beds increase in frequency, and assume the peculiar aspect which characterizes the lias, presenting a series of thin, stony beds, separated |