three to four inches long; having stripped off the lower leaves, plant them in a shady border, four inches apart. If occasionally watered in dry weather, they may be transplanted early in autumn; removing them, if possible, with balls of earth.—When they are intended for a crop, it will be requisite to set them in rows two or three feet separate, and at the distance of two feet from each other; but, if destined for the shrubbery, they should be planted singly, at proper distances.
Lavender is employed both for medicinal and domestic purposes. The flowers should be gathered in July, when the spikes being cut off close to the stem, in a dry day, and tied up in bundles, are much esteemed, not only for their grateful odour, when deposited in chests, or boxes, among linen; but chiefly for preventing the depredations of moths and other insects.—By distilling these flowers, they yield a compound spirit, which is of considerable service in palsies, vertigoes, lethargies, tremors, &c. The distilled oil possesses the power of destroying the pediculi inguinales, and other cutaneous vermin. If soft, spongy paper be dipped in this oil, and applied at night to the parts infested with the insects, they will, according to Geoffroy, be found dead in the morning.
LAVENDER-THRIFT, or Sea Lavender, Statice Limonium, L. an indigenous perennial plant, growing on the sea-shore; in salt-marshes; and the fissures or clefts of rocks, near the sea-coast: it is in flower from July to September.
This vegetable deserves the attention of tanners, on account of its red, astringent root, called, by the Russians, Kermek; and from which they prepare that valuable kind of leather distinguished by its peculiarly strong, though not ungrateful odour, and on the Continent termed Juften.—Guldenstaedt, in his Travels through Russia, observes, that on the coast near Azof, he met with a tan-work in which the root of the Sea-Lavender was employed in dressing the hides of oxen, both for the celebrated Russia, and common sole-leather. The roots are previously dried in the sun, and finely pulverized: next, the hides are cleaned with ashes obtained from the roots of the oak, and suffered to lie a month in this preparatory lixivium; after which they are immersed into the liquor made of the pounded roots before mentioned. He adds, that there is not the least doubt ot this root proving a complete substitute for the more expensive oak-bark.
LAUGHTER, a sudden and convulsive expression of mirth, peculiar to the countenance of man; and which is occasioned by some object that surprizes the fancy.
This emotion, however, more frequently arises from an unexpected disappointment of the mind, while its attention is arrested by an object apparently of great importance; but suddenly terminating in ridicule, or insignificance.—With respect to its influence on the body, moderate laughter is very beneficial; for it contributes to promote the circulation of the blood through the lungs, and has frequently removed colics, pains in the stomach, and similar complaints. Various instances have likewise occurred, in which deep-seated ulcers of the lungs and liver, that could not be relieved by any remedies, bursted, and were perfectly cured by a fit of
