Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume X.djvu/342

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336 LEMOIKE LEMON According to Pliny, Lemnos once contained a labyrinth sustained by 150 columns, and the gates of which could be opened by a child. This island has been famous from remote anti- quity for a species of earth termed terra Lem- nia, thought by the ancients to possess extra- ordinary medicinal virtues. In antiquity Lem- nos was sacred to Vulcan, whose workshop is placed there by some of the poets. The most ancient inhabitants are said to have been Thra- cians, who were succeeded by the fabulous Hinyse, and subsequently by Pelasgia'ns. It was conquered by Darius, but delivered by Miltiades, and made an Athenian dependency. LEMOINE. See LE MOYNE. LEMOINE, Gnstave, a French dramatist, born in Paris, Oct. 29, 1786. He succeeded his father as a music dealer, and published several works for the piano, and in 1836 the libretto of the comic opera Le mauvais ceil, and many ballads, which were set to music by Mme. Loisa Puget, whom he married. He is the author of several dramas, the most popular being La grdce de Dieu (1841), which has been per- formed more than 500 times at the Gait6 the- atre, and which became the text of Donizetti's Linda di Chamounix. An operetta by his wife, La veilleuse, was given in 1869. LEJUOINNE, John Emile, a French journalist, born in London, of French parents, in 1814. He completed his studies in Paris, and became one of the editors of the Journal des Debate. It was mainly due to his influence that this journal opposed the royalist schemes in 1872, which led to the secession of St. Marc Girardin and other editors from that journal. Thiers appointed Lemoinne librarian of the palace of Fontainebleau. He is one of the regular writers for the Revue des Deux Mondes, and the author of many works relating to Eng- land, Ireland, and the East, chiefly in con- nection with British and Russian conflicts. Among his other writings are : La vie de Brummel (1844) ; La cour de Berlin, La cour de Saint- Petersbourg, and Caroline de Bruns- wick (1846). In 1862 he collected a number of his biographical and critical essays under the title of Etudes biographiques et critiques. LEMON (citrus limonium). The species of the genus citrus are not very clearly defined, and some botanists have regarded the citron, orange, shaddock, lime, and lemon, usually considered distinct, as forms derived from one

species, the citron (C. medico)] but whatever

may be the difficulties presented to the bota- nist, horticulturally and commercially they are sufficiently distinct in the form and sensible properties of their fruit. The lemon grows wild in the north of India, and has long been in cultivation among the Arabs, who intro- duced it in various parts of Asia and Africa ; its introduction into Europe is accredited to the crusaders, but the precise date is unknown ; it is now naturalized in the West Indies and other parts of America. The botanical charac- ters of the genus will be given under OEANGE, from which the lemon differs in but few par- ticulars except the fruit; the petiole of the orange leaf has a broad wing upon each side, while in the lemon this is very small or want- ing; the flowers, usually smaller than those of the orange, have the exterior tinged with purple ; the usually elongated fruit has a pro- jection or nipple at the end opposite the stem. The oil, with which the rind abounds, has a different odor from that of the orange, and the juice, rich in citric acid, is intensely sour ; to this, however, the variety known as the sweet lemon is an exception. The lemon succeeds in the same climates as the orange, and the culture of the two is the same. Over 30 varieties are enumerated, some of which, as the horned and the fingered lemons, are only known in the collections of amateurs as curious monstrosi- ties. Those in cultivation for profit differ in size, shape, thickness, and roughness of skin, and the size and form of the nipple at the end. In a horticultural classification they are grouped as round, pear-shaped, cylindrical, gourd- shaped, wax, &c., with several varieties under each head ; in commerce they are known by the names of the ports from which they are shipped, as Messina, Lisbon, &c. Very fine lemons are produced in Florida and in the southern part of California, but much less attention has been given to their cultivation than to that of the orange ; as the orange is more difficult to transport than the lemon, it always brings a higher price, and the growers find it more profitable. The lemon tree is frequently cultivated in conservatories, and is a favorite as a house plant, as it is ornamental in its foliage, flower, and fruit ; if not exposed to too low a temperature, the tree will survive a great deal of bad treatment, and those seen in house culture are usually in a poor condi- tion. The tree should have a good open soil, and when not in a growing state during the winter needs but little water; new growth begins late in winter or early in spring, when it should be watered freely, and when the young wood has hardened the plant set out of doors where it will be sheltered from violent winds. The fruit, which sets in spring, re- mains upon the tree all winter, gradually coloring. The foliage must be washed occa- sionally to remove dust, and a smutty fungus which sometimes appears ; and if a scale insect is found, it must be removed by the use of strong solution of soap applied with a stiff brush. The lemon is valued for its acid juice and its aromatic rind, and its domestic uses in making cooling drinks and for flavoring are well known. The juice contains nearly two per cent, of citric acid with mucilage and bitter extractive matter. (See CITRIC ACID.) The oil of lemons is contained in receptacles in th( outer portion of the rind ; it is a volatile oil, and was formerly obtained by distillation, but the oil prepared in this manner has a less pleasant flavor than that by expression. The outer portion of the rind, or flavedo as it is