Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume X.djvu/592

586 LOISON LOLA MONTEZ are grain, wood, wine, and saffron. . Mineral springs abound. It is divided into the arron- dissements of Orleans, Gien, Montargis, and Pithiviers. Capital, Orleans. LOISON, Pierre, a French sculptor, born at Mer, Loir-et-Cher, in 1821. He studied under David d' Angers, and exhibited his first works in 1845. In 1853 he exhibited his statues of " Hero " and " Spring," and in 1855 a " Nymph " which was purchased by government, as was subsequently his " Pandora." Among his other works are statues of "Penelope," "Sappho," and a " Maid of Honor of the Court of Francis I.," the last exhibited in 1869. He has also executed various works for the new Louvre, the Tuileries, and for churches. LOJi, an inland city of Ecuador, capital of a province of the same name, 250 m. S. by TV. of Quito; pop. about 10,000. It is situated in a delightful valley nearly 7,000 ft. above the sea, near the southern frontier of the republic. The streets are very regular, and the houses, though of adobes, present a neat and cheerful appearance. The public buildings comprise a church, three convents, a hospital, a college for Latin, philosophy, and Spanish, and a number of other schools. In the vicinity of Loja are found gold, quicksilver in a state of compara- tive purity, coal, and a species of beautifully veined marble; but the chief product of the region is cinchona, of which Loja is the ori- ginal home, and which is extensively exported. LOJA, a town of Spain, in the province and 25 m. S. W. of the city of Granada, in a valley between two mountain ranges, on the shores of the Genii; pop. about 16,000. It contains five squares of respectable appearance, but most of the streets are irregular and steep. There are about 20 woollen factories, and various other industrial establishments. The prosperity of the town has been much in- creased by the completion of the railway to Granada. Various relics found here evince that Loja was of some importance under the Romans. The Moorish castle, ruins of which still exist, was taken by Ferdinand III. in 1226. As the key to Granada the town pos- sesses great strategical importance. In 1486 Ferdinand and Isabella besieged and captured it after about a month's investment, during which the English archers under Lord Rivers greatly distinguished themselves. LOKEREN, a manufacturing town of Bel- gium, in the province of East Flanders, on the Durme, 12 m. N. E. of Ghent; pop. in 1866, 16,912. The most important among its numerous manufactures are linen fabrics, flan- nels, serges, lace, cloths, hats, and cotton goods. A brisk trade is carried on in manufactured goods, hemp, cattle, and agricultural produce. LOKMAJV, an Arabian fabulist, represented in the Koran as a contemporary of David, and by other traditions as a descendant of the Arab tribe of Ad ; and again as an Ethiopian slave, deformed and witty, like ^Esop, with whom he has been identified. The earliest traditions of the Arabs, and all subsequent accounts of him, however conflicting in other respects, agree in ascribing to him extraordinary wisdom and longevity. A small collection of Arabic fables which bears his name is supposed to be of Greek origin, and to have become known to the Arabs through a Syriac version. They were first published at Leyden in 1615, with a Latin translation of the Arabic by Erpenius. They have since been translated into French, Dutch, and German, and despite their medioc- rity in respect to wit and syntax, they continue to be used as an elementary text book of the Arabic language. The more recent editions are by Caussin de Perceval (Paris, 1818), Frey- tag (Bonn, 1823), Schier (Dresden, 1831), Cherbonneau (Paris, 1846; new ed., 1863), Leon and Henri Helot, in French and Arabic, with illustrations of the provincialisms (Paris, 1847), and Dernburg (Berlin, 1850). LOLA MONTEZ, a favorite of Louis I. of Bavaria, born in 1824, died at Astoria, N. Y., June 30, 1861. According to some authorities she was a native of Montrose, Scotland, and the illegitimate daughter of a Scottish officer named Gilbert, and according to others she was born in Limerick of an Irish father. Her mother was a Creole who successively lived with or was married to natives of Spain and Great Britain, whence the conflicting accounts of Lola's origin. She received a good educa- tion in England, and married an officer named James, whom she accompanied to India. She left him after several years and led an ad- venturous life in Paris and other capitals. In 1846 she appeared in Munich as a Spanish ballet dancer, and captivated the heart of the Bavarian king by her beauty and accomplish- ments. Her influence became so great that the ultramontane administration of Abel was dismissed because that minister objected to her being made Countess Landsfeld. The stu- dents of the university were divided in their sympathies, and conflicts arose shortly before the outbreak of the revolution of 1848, which led the king at Lola's instigation to close the university. But a more violent outbreak early in March obliged the king to reopen that in- stitution, and to discard Lola, who fled. Al- though her first husband was still alive, she contracted in 1849 a second marriage with an English officer named Heald. Prosecuted for bigamy, she went with him to Madrid, but soon deserted him. The two husbands died not long afterward. In 1852 she gave per- formances in New York, New Orleans, and San Francisco, and succeeded best in dramatic entertainments setting forth her own adven- tures. In California she married a Mr. Hull, but he did not live with her long. In 1855 she appeared at Melbourne, Australia, and subsequently lectured in the United States and England. She returned to New York in 1859, reformed her life, and died in poverty in a sanitary asylum. See "The Story of a Penitent" (24mo, New York, 1867).