Light

[AS. leohty liht] The agent which pro¬ of of to lights are on the United States coasts. panies a sudden discharge of atmospheric elec¬ tricity. It occurs in three distinct forms— namely, forked lightning, sheet lightning, and ball-lightning. In forked lightning the path of taken by the electricity is that which gives the is least resistance, and is distinctly seen to be made of up of straight lines and sudden bends. Sheet¬ lightning appears as a diffused glare of reddish color, spread over a considerable extent of the is sky, and is sometimes called summer lightning, as it is of frequent occurrence in warm weather. Ball-lightning is a very destructive and danger¬ ous form of lightning, but happily of rare occur¬ rence. life.] The name of the wood of the guaiacum tree which grows in the West Indies and South Amer¬ ica. The wood is very heavy, hard, close-grained, and tough, and is used for making pulleys, wheels in ships’ blocks, pestles, rulers, and other articles which require to be of a tough material. The resinous juice of the tree is used in medicine in cases of rheumatism and skin diseases. flowering shrub, a native of Persia, brought to Vienna about three hundred years ago, and now cultivated as a familiar garden ornament through¬ out Europe and North America. The wood^ is fine-grained, and is used for turning, inlaying, and making small articles. A fragrant oil can be obtained from the leaves by distillation. of plants of many species, producing flowers of great beauty and variety of colors. The root is a scaly bulb, the stem herbaceous and simple, sometimes several feet high, and bearing ele¬ gantly-formed flowers near the summit. The Ling. white lily is a native of the Levaut, and is now extensively cultivated in gardens, its large white Lin/net. flowers being as much prized for their fragrance as for their beauty. The orange lily and the martagon or Turk’s cap lily are natives of the south of Europe, and now form very showy ornaments of the flower-garden. The tiger lily is a native of China; and among the many species in North America the finest is the super bum (L-), which grows in marshes to the Linoleum. height of from 6 to 8 feet, bearing reflexed orange flowers spotted with black. carbonate in chalk, marble and limestone. Quick¬ Lin's eed. lime is obtained by heating pure carbonate of lime to full redne in lime-kilns, when the car¬ bonic acid is expelled and lime is left. When lime is moistened with water it swells up, gives off much heat and steam, and changes into a soft white powder, commonly called slaked lime {calcium hydrate'). In this form it is used for purifying coal gas, in making mortar and plaster for building purposes, for removing the hair from skins in tanning, making paper pulp, and as a manure for land. When slaked lime is put in cold water and allowed to settle, the clear water Lint. is lime-water. In addition to the uses already mentioned, lime is used in the manufacture of washing-soda, bleaching-powder, and ammonia water in refining sugar, and also in iron fur¬ naces, lead-smelting, and gla -making. Bleach¬ ing-powder, commonly called chloride of lime, is a dry white powder, with a slight acid smell. It is largely used as a disinfectant. Carbonate of lime exists in great abundance in nature, and when crystallized is known as Iceland spar. called Drummond light, from its inventor. It consists of a burning jet of oxygen and hydrogen directed upon a cylinder of lime. This becomes white hot and yields an intense white light which has been seen at a distance of 112 miles. It is much used in the magic lantern and the reflect¬ ing microscope. forms a vacuum under its shell, and adheres to rocks, being pre ed by the weight of the atmos¬ phere.