Lottery

Scheme by which, in return for a small payment, a chance is secured of winning a prize; popular and demoralizing in many countries; now often prohibited by statute as against public policy. The La. Lottery Co. was chartered 1868 and suppre ed 1893. The origin of the lottery may be directly traced to the ceremonial communal gambling of certain primitive peoples, and its mechanism has come down to our own times from remote antiquity. It flourishes under government protection at the present day in Spain and Italy, and in China, where it is forbidden by law. The game of POLICY (q.v.) is a modification of the Italian lottery, introduced by Italian laborers into the U. S.