satisfactory machine was ready, and a new series of troubles had to be faced, for it had to be launched at a certain initial speed, and in the face of any wind that might be blowing. To enable these conditions to be fulfilled, as well as to ensure that the machine, when it fell, should fall on water, the experiments were carried out on the Potomac river, some 30 m. below Washington. It was not till the autumn of 1894 that an efficient launching apparatus was devised, and then the wings were found not to be strong enough to bear the pressures to which they were subjected. Various other delays and mishaps followed, but ultimately, on the 6th of May 1896, a successful flight was made. On that day an aerodrome, weighing about 30 ℔ and about 16 ft. in length, with wings measuring between 12 and 13 ft. from tip to tip, twice sustained itself in the air for 112 minutes (the full time for which it was supplied with fuel and water), and traversed on each occasion a distance of over half a mile, falling gently into the water when the engines stopped. Later in the same year, on the 28th of November, a similar aerodrome flew about three-quarters of a mile, attaining a speed of 30 m. an hour. In 1903 he experimented with an aerodrome capable of carrying a man, but repeated accidents prevented it from being launched, and finally through lack of funds the experiments had to be abandoned without the machine ever having been free in the air (see also Flight and Flying). Langley died on the 27th of February 1906.
LANGLOIS, HIPPOLYTE (1839– ), French general, was born at Besançon in 1839, and, after passing through the École
Polytechnique, was appointed to the artillery as sub-lieutenant in 1858, attaining the rank of captain in 1866. He served in the army of Metz in the war of 1870. Eight years later he became major, in 1887 lieutenant-colonel and in 1888 colonel. At this time he was appointed professor of artillery at the École de Guerre, and in this post he devoted himself to working out the tactical principles of the employment of field artillery under the new conditions of armament of which he foresaw the advent. The public result of his work was the great treatise L’Artillerie de campagne (1891–1892), which may still be regarded as the classic of the arm. In 1894 he became general of brigade, and in 1898 general of division. For two years after this he was the commandant of the École de Guerre at the time that the modern French strategical and tactical “doctrine” was being developed and taught. He was, however, regarded as a leader as well as a theorist, and in 1901 he was selected to command the XX. Army Corps on the German frontier, popularly called the “iron” corps. In 1902 he became a member of the Conseil supérieur de la Guerre, consisting of senior generals marked out for the higher commands in war. He retired from the active list in 1904 on reaching the age limit, and devoted himself with the greatest energy to critical military literature. In 1907 he began the publication of a monthly journal of military art and history, the Revue militaire générale. The most important of his other works are Enseignements de deux guerres récentes and Conséquences tactiques du progrès de l’armement.
LANGPORT, a market town in the eastern parliamentary division of Somersetshire, England, 1312 m. E. of Taunton by the Great Western railway. Pop. (1901) 890. It lies on the right (east) bank of the river Parret, near the point where that river debouches from the hills on to the plain through which it flows to the Bristol Channel. The main street leads up a slope
from the river to the fine Perpendicular church of All Saints.
Close to this an archway crosses the road, bearing a Perpendicular building known as the hanging chapel. After serving this
purpose it housed first the grammar-school (founded 1675), then the Quekett museum, named after John Thomas Quekett (1815–1861) the histologist, a native of the town, whose father was master of the school. The hanging chapel afterwards became a masonic hall. Not far distant is the church of Huish Episcopi, with one of the finest of the Perpendicular towers for which Somersetshire is noted. Langport has a considerable general and agricultural trade.
Langport (Llongborth, Langeberga, Langeport) owed its origin to its defensible position on a hill, and its growth to its facilities for trade on the chief river of Somerset. It occupies the site of the British town of Llongborth, and was important during the Roman occupation. It was a royal borough in Saxon times, and in 1086 had 34 resident burgesses. The first charter, given by Elizabeth in 1562, recognized that Langport was a borough of great antiquity, which had enjoyed considerable privileges, being governed by a portreve. It was incorporated by James I. in 1617, but the corporation was abolished in 1883. Langport was represented in parliament in 1304 and 1306. The charter of 1562 granted three annual fairs to Langport, on the 28th of June, the 11th of November and the second Monday in Lent. One fair only is now held, on the 3rd of September, which is a horse and cattle fair. A Saturday market was held under the grant of 1562, but in the 19th century the market day was changed to Tuesday.
LANGREO, a town of northern Spain, in the province of Oviedo, in very hilly country, on the left bank of the river Nalon, and on a branch railway from Oviedo to Labiana. Pop. (1900) 18,714. In the neighbourhood large quantities of wheat, hemp, fruit and cider are produced; and there are important coal and iron mines, foundries, and factories for the manufacture of coarse cloth.
LANGRES, a town of eastern France, capital of an arrondissement in the department of Haute-Marne, 22 m. S.S.E. of Chaumont on the eastern railway to Belfort. Pop. (1906) town, 6663; commune, 9803. Langres stands at a height of some
1550 ft. on a jutting promontory of the tableland known as the plateau de Langres, and overlooks eastward and westward
respectively the valleys of the Marne and its tributary the Bonnelle. From the cathedral tower and the ramparts which
surround the town there is an extensive view over the valley of the Marne, the Vosges and the Côte d’Or, and in clear weather Mt Blanc (160 m. distant) is visible. The cathedral of St Mammès,
for the most part in the Transitional style of the 12th century, has a west front in the Graeco-Roman style of the 18th century and a fine Renaissance chapel. The church of St Martin (13th,
15th and 18th centuries) possesses a figure of Christ of the 16th century, one of the finest wood carvings known. The ramparts are protected by several towers, most of which date from the 16th century. The Gallo-Roman gate, one of four entrances
in the Roman period, is preserved, but is walled up. The Porte des Moulins (17th century) is the most interesting of the
other gates. The town possesses a museum rich in Gallo-Roman antiquities, a picture gallery and an important library. The
birth of Denis Diderot here is commemorated by a statue. Langres is the seat of a bishop and a sub-prefect, and has tribunals of first instance and of commerce, a higher ecclesiastical seminary
and communal colleges for both sexes. It manufactures well-known cutlery and grind-stones. Trade is in grain and
other farm-produce, live stock, wine, &c.
Langres, the ancient Andematunum, was capital of the Lingones. Under Roman rule it was at first to some extent autonomous, but was reduced to the rank of colony after the revolt of the chief Sabinus in A.D. 71. The bishopric was founded about 200 and in the middle ages its holders became peers of the realm and enjoyed the temporal power in the town. In 301 the Alemanni were defeated at Langres by the Romans, but in the next century it was burnt by the Vandals and by Attila.
The “plateau of Langres” appears frequently in the military history of the 18th and 19th centuries as a dominant strategic point, though its importance as such has appealed chiefly to the advocates of wars of positions and passive defence. The modern fortifications of Langres, which serves as a second line fortress, consist of (a) Fort St Menge or Ligniville on high ground above the confluence of the Marne and the Neuilly brook, about 5 m. N. by W. of the town; (b) the west front, comprising Humes battery (214 m. N.W. of Langres), Fort de la Pointe de Diamant, and the redoubts of Perrancey, Le Fays and Noidant (the last 4 m. S.W. of the town), overlooking the deep valley of the Mouche brook (this front was attacked in the mock siege of August 1907); (c) the south front, comprising Fort de la Bonnelle or Décrès (2 m. S.S.W. of the town), a small work commanding the Chalon-Langres road, Le Mont and Le Pailly batteries, Fort Vercingetorix, the last, 5 m. S.W. of the place, standing on a steep and narrow spur of the main plateau, and in second line the old fort de la Marnotte, and the large bastioned citadel (the town enceinte is “déclassée”); (d) the east front, marked by Forts Montlandon and Plesnoy at the north and south ends respectively of a long steep ridge, 6 m. E. of Langres, the bridges over the Marne leading to these works being commanded by Fort Peigney,
