Page:Willich, A. F. M. - The Domestic Encyclopædia (Vol. 3, 1802).djvu/145

LOKT <lccoaion, as well as nn cxtraA from it, has been given with ad- vantage, in C'lses ot diarrhoea. LONGEVITY has ever been a desirable object among the rational part of mankind ; though the licen- tious epicure appears to measure the duration of his life by the good things he has enjoyed, rather than by the number of years he has lived. Longevity depends on a variety of circumstances, which, since the introdu6tion of manifold luxuries, rarely unite in the same person : the principal of these is an heredi- tnry disposition, which might be more regularly transmitted to chil- dren, it the frecinent abuse of solid and liquid aliment, especially the custom of giving them fermented and spirituous liquors, toaether with the indulgence ui the fashion- able enervating passions, were not alike conspicuous in the present state of society, among youth and adults. Other requisites to longevity are, a perfect birth or formation of the infant, supported by proper and rational treatment ; a gradual cul- tivation of the niindj a constitution uncontaminated by hereditary dis- ease ; and a tranquillity that is not easily disturbed by external objeds. Where these conditions preail, and stritt temperance is observed, there is a prospe(!;t of attaining to a mature old age : — from the con- trary causes, or conduct of indi- viduals, the alarming increase of deaths in large towns, mav b? easily explained ; and especially if it be contrasted with the more simple, though gross, habits of a country-life.— SeeLiFE and Dkath. LOOKING-GLASS, a plain glass mirror; which, being render- ed impervious to light, exiiibits the ienages of such objects as are placed LOO [125- before it, apparently at the same distance behind. Looking - glasses are made of plate-gla-s, which is cast and- ground in the manner described under the article Glass. When, the plates are polished^ a tine blot- ting paper is spread on tiie table, and strewed over with levigated' chalk, which is covered v.'ilh a thin leaf of tin-foil. Upon the latter is • poured the purest quicksilver, that ought to be distributed uniformly over the leaf, with cotton or other soft substance : over the mercury, ■ clean paper must be placed ; and upon this, at Imglh, the glass-plate is pressed down by the rii;ht hand, while the paper is- gei tly removed with the left. Thj: plate is now covered with a thicker paper, or cloth, and a heavy weight laid on it, so that the superHuous <juick- silver may be expressed, and the tin adhere closely to the glass : when it is sulnciently dry, the weights are taken olf, and the w ork is complete. Looking-glasses are equally or- mental and usetul in domestic life: hence they should not be expo.sed to accidents, or -placed against damp walls, or in oiber moist situations, where the quicksilver loses its te- nacity, and the beauty of the glass will, in a short time, be impaired. — Those idle or conceited persons, who waste every day a certain por- tion of time, by examining their dres,s and countenance before a looking-glass, ought to bestow aa equal. share of attention on their moral sciutiny : thus, we trust, they will easily discover how to make a m„re projer and econo- vticuL use of their leisure hours, which are literally kiii.ed before a minor, that exhibits only the sur- face of things. LOOM,