LAPLAND
797
LAPLAND
Monde", in which the results are presented without
mathematical deductions, sliowed sui-li Unguis! ic ex-
cellence that it secured him a seat amotif; thi' Forty of
the French Academy (ISI(i) and for a time the presi-
dency of that body (1817). The five volumes of the
"Mecanique Celeste" made him the Newton of
France. He was admitted to the French Academy of
Sciences, first as associate (177.'i) and then as member
(1785), and took a prominent place in the Institute,
into which the Academy developed (1796). He was
one of the founders of the Bureau of Longitudes and
for a while its president. The Royal Society of Lon-
don and the principal academies of Europe honoured
him with memliership. Great scientists, like Ber-
thollet, Cuvier, Humljoldt, dedicated their works to
him. The coilecteil works of Laplace were printed
twice: l)y the Government in seven volumes (184.'5-
47), the Chamber granting forty thousand francs; and
again, at the expense of General Laplace (who left
seventy thousand francs for the purpose) and his
niece the Marquise of Colbert, in thirteen volumes
(1878-1904), under the auspices of the Academy of
Sciences. An English translation of the "M(5canique
C^l^ste" by Dr. Bowditeh appeared in Boston (1829-
39) in four volumes.
Laplace was born and died a Catholic. It has been asserted that to Laplace the Creator was an hypoth- esis. The origin of this assertion lies in the misinter- pretation of a passage of the "Systeme du Monde" (Oeuvres, VI, 1835, p. 480), where it is evident that by "vain hypotheses" Laplace meant the Derts ex ma- china of Newton and the " perpetual miracle" of Leib- niz's Harmony. It is true that Laplace indulges in a frivolous remark against Callistus III both in the "Theory of Probabilities" (Introduction, also sepa- rately as " Essai Philosophique") and in the " System of the World" (IV, iv). He partly atoned for it by omitting the remark in his fourth edition of the "Es- sai ". Death prevented him from doing the same in the sixth edition of the "Systerae du Monde", the correcting of which he had commenced during his last illness. He died at his home in Paris, Rue du Bac, attended by the cur6 of the Foreign Missions, in whose parish he was to te buried, and the cure of Arcueil, whom he had called to administer the last comforts of religion (de Joannis, p. 27).
PoissoN. Discours prononce aux Obsfques de M, le Marquis de Laplace in Connaissance des Temps pour Van ISSO; Faye, Sur I'Origine du Monde (Paris, 1884); de Joannis, Formation Mi- canique du Systeme du Monde (Amiens, 1897), reprinted from Etudes, LXXI (Paris, 1897); Fourier, Ehge historique de La- placeia Memoires de V Academic des Sciences (Paris, 1831).
John G. Hagen.
Lapland and Lapps. — About 150,000 square miles of the most northerly regions of Europe, from the Atlantic Ocean to the White Sea, from the Pole and the Arctic Ocean to the 62° N. lat., are occupied by a partly stationary, partly nomadic people of Mongo- lian race, usually designated as "Lapps", while their neighbours call the territory over which they migrate "Samelads" and the people themselves "Same", though many prefer the term Fjelman (mountaineers). The country is rich and varied. Radiant days and mid- night sun alternate with months of night and twilight, contrasts that can scarcely be found elsewhere on earth. Deep obscure forests surround bright sheets of water; majestic rivers hurry over mighty cataracts to the sea; here ice-capped mountain peaks tower skyward ; there innumerable herds of reindeer pasture in the grassy river valleys. The earth conceals all kinds of treasure, thus the inexhaustible iron mines at Gellivare are well known (in 1901 output 1 ,200.000 tons) as among the richest in the world. The total number of Lapps (the nation as such has exerted no influence on the develop- ment of mankind and therefore has no individual history) is about 30,000, of whom 2000 live on Russo- Finnish, 8000 on Swedish, and 20,000 on Norwegian territory.
This singular race is divided into three different
groups: mountain, forest, and fisher Lapps. The
first two are nomadic and almost entirely dependent
uiKjii reindeer. Nearly all the nci'ds ol ihe i.,apps are
supplied by this useful cn'atuiv. win, I, clo.sely resem-
bles a stag. The flesh pnixi.l.- Iii> Inod; from its
milk he obtains cheese; from the hide, clothes, leather,
foot and tent covering, while the antlers yield material
for knife blades, vc^sscls, etc. During the winter the
mountain Lapj)s move down from their storm driven
heights to the sheltering valU'Vs. Here they linger
until spring and while hcTe slaughter superfluous ani-
mals. They conceal their provisions in storehouse's
(njallas) to save them from depredation. Into the
part of the cuiyptes (that is sheds resting on piles) not
used to dry meat, they bring tools and sledges for the
summer. On the approach of spring they return to
the green mountain meadows where the reindeer calve
and then, having abundant food, supply milk for
nourishment and for making cheese. The dwellings
of these Lapps consist of an easily movable kata, or
conical hut, with skins fastened over the poles and
ceilings and in winter roofed over with turf. These
huts are fifteen to sixteen feet in diameter at the base
and from six to fifteen feet in height. They have two
entrances but no windows. The smoke from the fire-
place in the middle escapes through an opening above.
Around the hearth men and dogs, parents, with chil-
dren and servants, lie on fir or birch twigs covered
with skins. Less laborious than the lives of the
mountain Lapps are those of the forest Lapps who
have fixed places of abode and dwell in log-houses.
Twice a year, in spring and autumn, they leave their
hearths and devote themselves to hunting and fishing.
The rest of the time they are employed, like the moun-
tain Lapps, in breeding reindeer. The forest Lapp is
in every respect more favoured than the rest of his
race, and enjoys such luxuries of civilization. as salt,
meal, coffee, and tobacco. The fisher Lapps have
few resources, and at the best have only a few reindeer
to dispose of. They are industrious and depend solely
on the often insufficient results of their toil. Absolute
pauperism is frequent among them. As to physical
traits, the Lapps are usually small and slight in figure
like the Scandinavians and Russians; their heads are
broad, the profile sharp and the expression somewhat
sad. Their complexion is yellowish and the long jaw
and pointed chin develop only a scanty beard. They
love gay coloured clothes adorned with rude ornaments
of silver or tin and make them with much skill. They
are not lacking in mental capacity and few Lapps are
totally illiterate. Education is provided by means of
a few established schools and the aid of travelling
teachers. Kindness and gentleness form the bright
side of the Lapps' character. Thieving is rare. It is
natural that an isolated people, but too frequently the
victim of natural forces, should be given over to
superstition.
Formerly the Lapps were polytheists. Ibmel ap- pears to have been invested with a sort of leading role among the gods, and his name is still used figuratively. To-day most of the people profess, at least outwardly, the Confession of Augsburg. There are several par- ishes, e. g. Kautokeins and Karajok in Norwaj', Kare- suandaand Jukkejarin in Sweden, where religious serv- ice is held in both the Scandinavian and Lapp lan- guages, or only in the latter. It is abridged and the attendance is slack. About four times a year, how- ever (at the so-called Helgdagar), the contrary is true. The multitudes who assemble at that time combine business and pleasure, markets and popular sports with religious celebrations. A few thousand Lapps were Christianized in the sixteenth century by monks from the Russian island-monastery of Solo wet zkoij and were enrolled as memljers of the Orthodox Church. Their new "religion" was no more seriously taken than the Protestant Christianity of the Southern Lapp.
