paper and transferring to stone; engraving on stone; drawing on stones with crayon or solid ink and transferring from engraved plates or woodcuts. The printing from all is nearly the same. The stones are composed of lime, clay and silicon earth, and vary in color.
Zincography, the invention of Eberhard of Bavaria, is an application of this art to zinc instead of stone. Its only advantage is in connection with large subjects, the zinc being more portable and less liable to break than stone. In chromo-lithography, by which colored pictures are produced, a large number of stones are used, one for each separate tint, sometimes as many as 20 or 30 colors being printed. Photo-lithography is used in printing plans, maps etc., which are copied from a photographic negative and then transferred to the stone.
Lith′ua′nia, the former name of a large tract of land between Poland and Prussia, which in the middle ages constituted an independent realm closely connected with that of Poland. Now it belongs to Russia, with the exception of a small part in the East Prussian district of Gumbinnen. It is a flat, low country, covered to a great extent with sand-heaths, marshes and forests. The principal rivers are the Dnieper, Duna, Beresina, Pripet and Niemen. The chief exports are grain, hemp, flax, honey, timber, cattle and horses. The inhabitants are chiefly Lithuanians, Poles, Russians, Tartars and Jews. Lithuania, because it had no natural boundaries, was frequently invaded, but, after being long tributary to various neighboring Russian principalities, it recovered its independence about the 12th century, only to become involved in a struggle with the Knight sword-bearers and the Teutonic Order who converted them to Christianity. The people had no central government until the latter part of the middle ages. Ryngold, a partly mythical chief of the early part of the 13th century, is thought to have begun a stable government. Ryngold’s son Mindog, a purely historical character, reigned over Lithuania until about 1263. Gedimen (1315–1340) made Lithuania a powerful state by the conquest of Volhynia and Kilo, which had belonged to Russia. In 1386 Jagello, grandson of Gedimen, grand prince of Lithuania, married Hedwig, the daughter of Louis the Great of Poland, and became King of Poland with which he united Lithuania; he also converted his hereditary subjects to Christianity. After Jagello, for 100 years Lithuania and Poland had separate rulers, although somewhat united politically. From 1501 they had a common ruler; in 1569 the Diet of Lublin decreed the permanent union of Poland and Lithuania into one commonwealth to be governed by an elective king. From this time the history of Lithuania is that of Poland. At its greatest power, in the 14th century, Lithuania extended from the Baltic Sea to the Black Sea and from the northern Bug River to the Don. In 1772 it consisted of the palatinates of Wilna, Troki, Novogrodek, Brzesc, Vitebsk, Polotzk and Matiolov and the duchy of Samogritia. All are included in the Russian governments of Wilna, Mohileo, Minsk and Suwalki, an area of about 100,000 square miles. Lithuanian, a branch of Lettic, is spoken in parts of East Prussia, in Samogritia and in Lithuania proper.
Lith′ium, a silvery white metal, first discovered in 1817 by Arfvedson as an oxide and first separated as an element by Brande in 1822, is the lightest of known solids, having a specific gravity of only about .585. It occurs widely, but in very small quantities. In meteors and in the sun there are traces of its presence. It is rather softer than lead. The spectrum is an easy test of its presence, as it shows a bright crimson stripe, together with a pale yellow. Commercially it is obtained chiefly from lepidolite, chiefly for use in medicine, e. g., for gout. Lithium readily forms an oxide, and will rapidly decompose water. It forms alkalies like potassium and sodium.
Lit′mus or Lacmus, a coloring matter manufactured in Holland. Lichens (Rocella tinctoria and others related to it) are reduced to a pulp with water, and potassium carbonate and ammonia are added. The mass gradually assumes a blue color, due to some attribute of the lichen. Chalk or gypsum is added to render the mass thick enough to be formed into rectangular cakes, which when dried are ready for use. Litmus is never used as a dye, but by chemists to detect free acids and free alkalies. The blue of litmus is turned to red by an acid, and the color again becomes blue by being mixed with an alkali. Litmus paper, i. e., paper infused with litmus both in its blue and red state, is the form in which litmus is generally used as a test.
Little Falls, N. Y., a picturesque city in Herkimer County, on Mohawk River and the Erie Canal, is in the north-central part of the state, 23 miles east of Utica. The West Shore and New York Central and Hudson River railroads pass through it, and it is a terminus for the Little Falls and Dolge-ville and Utica and Mohawk Valley railroads. The Mohawk falls 45 feet within the city-limits, affording an abundance of water-power for the city’s industries. The manufactures include knitgoods, paper, dairy machinery and preparations, knitting machinery, leather, bicycles, sectional bookcases, carriages and furnaces. There are many schools and churches. Population 12,273.
Little Rock, the county-seat of Pulaski County and capital of Arkansas, is on the Arkansas River, 145 miles northeast of Texarkana. It is located on a bluff about 50 feet above the river, and bears its name in contrast to Big Rock, a promontory a mile from
