LAEKEN 393 LAFAYETTE ESCADRILLE ing found in a few places in the N. of England, and is reckoned one of the most beautiful of the British orchids. The genus is remarkable for the large in- flated lip of the corolla. Several very beautiful species are natives of the colder parts of North America. Many tropical and subtropical species and also garden hybrids of these are engrossing subjects of interest to British, continental, and American connoisseurs in choice and rare orchids. C. spectabilis is a North Amer- ican species; C barbatum, a native of Java. LAEKEN (la'ken), a N. suburb of Brussels. In it is the crypt of the Bel- gian royal family in the new Gothic Church of the Virgin, and a royal palace (built in 1782), which, previous to its destruction by fire, Jan. 1, 1890, con- tained valuable works of art and his- torical documents. The palace has been rebuilt in the same style as the one destroyed. Pop. about 25,000. L-ffiLAPS, a large fossil dinosaurian reptile found in the Cretaceous forma- tion of the United States. LAERTES (la-ur'tez), according to Homer, a King of Ithaca, and the sup- posed father of Ulysses, whose real progenitor was Sisyphus. Laertes, how- ever, resigned his crown to Ulysses, and retired to a farm. After the absence of his son for 10 years at the siege of Troy, and 10 more expended in his re- turn journey, Ulysses found his old and infirm father still employed in his fields and garden ; and, having cautiously made himself known to the old king, they re- paired together to the palace of the faithful Penelope, where they discovered themselves to the delighted queen. Laertes in his youth had been one of the Argonauts. LiBSTRYGONES (les-trig'6-nez), a fabled nation mentioned in Homer. They were giants who fed on human flesh and gave themselves up to evil doing. L^VTJLOSE (lev'u-los), in chemistry, CeHiaOa, Isevo-glucose, or sucro-laevulose, a variety of sugar, isomeric with dex- trose, occurring together with dextrose in honey and in the juices of sweet fruits. It is also produced, together with an equal weight of dextrose, by the action of dilute acids, diastase, or yeast, on cane-sugar; or it may be obtained pure by heating inuline with dilute acids. LA FARGE, JOHN (la farj), an American artist; born in New York City, March 31, 1835. He studied under Couture in Paris, and became a National Academician in 1869; and a member of the Society of American Artists in 1877. He executed remarkable paintings, altar pieces, and decorations of interiors — notably of Trinity Church, Boston; and designed stained-glass windows for churches and many other buildings, in the new American manner, which is a revival of the art of making colcrea glass (instead of painting glass), of which he was the originator in associa- tion with Louis Tiffany. He was the designer of the "battle window" in Me- morial Hall, Harvard University. In 1869 he was made president of the So- ciety of American Artists. He pub- lished a volume of "Lectures on Art," and "An Artist's Letters from Japan." He died Nov. 14, 1910. LA FARINA, GIUSEPPE (la fa-re' na), an Italian historian; born in Mes- sina, July 20, 1815. A democratic leader, favoring Italian unity and inde- pendence. His principal work was "His- tory of Italy Narrated to the Italian People" (10 vols. 1846). He died in Florence, Italy, Sept. 5, 1863. LAFAYETTE, a city and county-seat of Tippecanoe co., Ind., on the Wabash river, and the Cleveland, Cincinnati, Chi- cago and St. Louis, the Lake Erie and Western, and other railroads; 64 miles N. W. of Indianapolis. It is the farm- ing and manufacturing trade center for the surrounding country; has boot and shoe factories, car works, flour and woolen mills, marble works, etc.; and is the seat of Purdue University, and the State Agricultural College. The city contains a high school, public library, several National banks; has electric light and street railroad plants, and water- works. In the public square is an arte- sian well of sulphur. Pop. (1910) 20,081; (1920) 22,486. LAFAYETTE ESCADRILLE, a squadron of American aviators fighting with the French in the Woi-ld War. It went back long before the period of the United States' entry into the war and was of gradual growth. By the fall of 1915 there were six Americans serving as full-fledged pilots in the French army, and in the summer of 1916 the list num- bered fifteen or more, with twice as many again training for their pilots' licenses in the military aviation schools. The pioneer was William Thaw of Pitts- burgh, who was the first American to hold a commission in the French Flying Corps. Lieutenant Thaw had enlisted in the Foreign Legion in August, 1914. Later Sergeants Norman Prince of Bos- ton and Elliott Cowdin of New York
