The New Student's Reference Work/Lotteries
Lot'teries are a species of gambling wherein the holders of certain numbers have prizes apportioned to them by a drawing of chance. In the United States the largest scheme of this kind was the Louisiana lottery, which was supported by the constitution of that state on the payment of a certain amount annually into the state's treasury, but in 1891 the constitution was amended prohibiting the existence of the lottery after 1895. The postal laws of the United States prohibit the passage of any lottery matter through the mails.