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LITMUS. 338 LITTLEDALE. coloring matter of vegetable origin, indispensable in chemical laboratory work. It [RTiiiits tiie chem- ist readily to ascertain wlietlicr a substance sul)- mitted to him for examination is acid or alkaline, and is therefore employed in every step of ana- lytic determinations. Acids turn blue litmus red; alkaline solutions, on the contrary, turn red litmus blue. In laboratories litmus is used either in the form of a solution, or in the form of test- paper impregnated with it. Litmus is manufac- tured principally in Holland, from Lecunont iar- tarca and other lichens. The process emplojed is similar to that used in the manufacture of archil (q.v. ) ; the lichens are ground into a pulp with water, and potassium carbonate and ammonia are added. Under the action of these substances and of atmospheric air, the mass gradually assumes a blue color, owing to the formation of the color- ing principles of litmus. Chalk or gypsum is then added, to render the mass thick enough to be formed into rectangular cakes, which are dried and brought into the market. The chemistry of litmus is but little known; the following, how- ever, have been shown to be its chief coloring principles, viz. azolitmin, whose brownish-red color is turned blue by ammonia ; purplish-red erythrolein, which, by the action of alkalies, is turned purple; and erythrolitmin, whose red color is changed by alkalies to blue. These coloring substances e.xist ' in commercial litnnis in the form of lakes, i.e. combined with metallic hydrox- ides. LIT'OLFF, Heney (1818-91). A European pianist and composer. He was born in London, studied the piano under Moscheles for several years, and in 1832 made his professional debut in London. He went to France and then wandered around Europe giving concerts until 1851, when he settled in Brunswick and married the widow of the music publisher Meyer, of whose business he took charge. In 1800 he transferred the busi- ness to his adopted son Thcodor, who in the fol- lowing year started the cheap edition of classical music, called •Collection Litfilff.' As a pianist LitolfT was brilliant, passionate, but uneven. His compositions were melodious and his piano pieces (for example "Spinnlied") were popular. Of his other works the most noteworthy are : The sym- phony concertos Nos. 3, 4, and 5 ; the oratorio Huth et Boaz (1869) ; a funeral march for Mey- erbeer; the operas Die Braul vom Kynast (1847) and Les Templicrs (1886); and the operetta Heloise et Abtlard. He died in Paris. lilT'TA, PoMPEO, Count (1781-1852). An Italian historian. In 1804 he entered the French army, and participated in the campaigns in Ger- many. In the Italian revolutionary epoch of 1848" he was for a short time Secretary of War for the Provisional Government of Milan. His fame, however, rests on the aiithnrship of a superb work on the celebrated families of Italy, FamifiUe celehri d'ltalia ( 1819-38) , which is com- mended equally for the fullness and accuracy of its biographies and the elegance of its style. At the time of his deatli it embraced fifty-three his- tories, to which others have since been added by various writers, including Odorici and Passerini. LIT'TELL, Eliaktm (1797-1870). An Ameri- can editor and publisher, born in Burlington, N. J. He began in 1819 to edit and publish in Philadelphia the yatiotwl Recorder, which, changed in 1821 to the Saturday Magazine, first published in America De Quincey's Confessions vf ail English Opinm-Euter. In 1822 he estab- lished the Museum of Foreign Literature, Science, and Art, and in 1844 founded in Boston LilleU's Living Age. LIT'TLE, Cii.Ri£s Coffin (1799-1869). An American publisher, born at Kennebunk, Me. In 1837 he founded the firm of Charles C. Little & Co., later Little, Brown & Co. The nom-de-plume of .louN Knox. See Knox- The constellation Ursa LITTLE, Thomas. Thomas Moore. LITTLE, William Little. LITTLE BEAR. Minor. LITTLEBOROUGH, lit't'1-bur-o. A manu- facturing town of Lancasliire, England, 3 miles northeast of Rochdale ( Map : England, D 3 ) . Population, in 1891. 11,000; in 1901, 11,160. LITTLE BRITAIN. A small neighborhood in the centre of London, during the time of the Stuarts a famous quarter for booksellers. Its name was derived from the former residence there of the dukes of Brittany. LITTLE CHIEF HARE. A book name, de- rived from the Indians, for the pika of the Kocky Mountains. See Pika. LITTLE COLORADO. One of the principal tributaries of the Colorado River. It rises in western New Mexico and flows northwestward through Arizona in an arid valley, parts of which have been irrigated by the Zuiii Indians. In the diy season it is sometimes reduced to a string of ponds. Near its mouth it plunges into a deep canon which runs into the Grand Caiion of the Colorado near its deepest point. The length of the Little Colorado is about 225 miles. LITTLE CORPORAL. An affectionate nick- name given to Napoleon after the battle of Lodi on account of his youthfulness and small size. LITTLE CROW (?-1803). A Sioux Indian chief. In 1851 the Sioux or Dakota Indians ceded most of their lands in the present State of Minnesota to the National Government and re- moved farther north to lands which jiroveil un- satisfactory. Though Little Crow had been in- fluential in bringing about the transfer, he took advantage of every opiiortunity to create dis- satisfaction. Some young men of the tribe mur- dered some settlers in 1862, and Little Crow urged a general massacre, claiming that the South would win in the Civil War then being waged, and that the Government could not punish them. On August 18, 1802, the whites at two agencies were massacred and it is estimated that a thou- sand settlers were killed. Ex-Governor Sibley was appointed to the command of a military expedi- tion and completely defeated the Indians at Wood Lake. Two thousand Indians and many whites held as j)risoners were taken and 303 Sioux were con- demned to death by a military court, but Presi- dent Lincoln intervened, and only 38 were exe- cuted. Little Crow fled, but was shot by a settler the next year. INIuch information on this raid may be found in Collections of the Minnesota Historical Society, o.'n. (Saint Paul, 1887-94). LIT'TLEDALE, Riciiarb Frederick (1833- 90). A controversial . glican writer. He was born in Dublin; was graduated at Trinity Col- lege, Dublin, 1854; was ordained in the Church