may become once more the pleasure of a small caste. But the desire for the one just form which always inspires the literary artist visits most men sometimes, and it cannot be doubted that literature will continue to accommodate itself to new conditions. (J. F.-K.)
LITERNUM, an ancient town of Campania, Italy, on the
low sandy coast between Cumae and the mouth of the Volturnus.
It was probably once dependent on Cumae. In 194 B.C. it
became a Roman colony. It is mainly famous as the residence
of the elder Scipio, who withdrew from Rome and died here.
His tomb and villa are described by Seneca. Augustus is said
to have conducted here a colony of veterans,[1] but the place never
had any great importance, and the lagoons behind it made it
unhealthy, though the construction of the Via Domitiana
through it must have made it a posting station. It ceased to
exist in the 8th century. No remains are visible.
See J. Beloch, Campanien, ed. ii. (Breslau, 1890), 377.
LITHGOW, WILLIAM (1582–? 1650), Scottish traveller and
writer, was born and educated in Lanark. He was caught in
a love-adventure, mutilated of his ears by the brothers of the
lady (hence the sobriquet “Cut-lugged Willie”), and forced
to leave Scotland. For nineteen years he travelled, mostly on
foot, through Europe, the Levant, Egypt and northern Africa,
covering, according to his estimate, over 36,000 m. The story
of his adventures may be drawn from The Totall Discourse of
the Rare Adventures and painfull Peregrinations of long nineteene
Yeares (London, 1614; fuller edition, 1632, &c.); A True
and Experimentall Discourse upon the last siege of Breda (London,
1637); and a similar book giving an account of the siege of
Newcastle and the battle of Marston Moor (Edinburgh, 1645).
He is the author of a Present Surveigh of London (London, 1643).
He left six poems, written between 1618 and 1640 (reprinted
by Maidment, Edinburgh, 1863). Of these “Scotland’s Welcome
to King Charles, 1633” has considerable antiquarian interest.
His writing has no literary merit; but its excessively aureate
style deserves notice.
The best account of Lithgow and his works is by F. Hindes Groome in the Dict. Nat. Biog. The piece entitled Scotland’s Paraenesis to King Charles II. (1660), ascribed to him in the catalogue of the Advocates’ Library, Edinburgh, cannot, from internal evidence, be his.
LITHGOW, a town of Cook county, New South Wales, Australia,
96 m. W.N.W. of Sydney by rail. Pop. (1901) 5268. The
town is situated at an altitude of 3000 ft., in a valley of the
Blue Mountains. It has pottery and terra-cotta works, breweries,
a tweed factory, iron-works, saw-mills, soap-works and brickfields.
Coal, kerosene shale, iron ore and building stone are
found in the district.
LITHIUM [symbol Li, atomic weight 7.00 (O = 16)], an alkali
metal, discovered in 1817 by J. A. Arfvedson (Ann. chim. phys.
10, p. 82). It is only found in combination, and is a constituent
of the minerals petalite, triphyline, spodumene and lepidolite
or lithia mica. It occurs in small quantities in sea, river and
spring water, and is also widely but very sparingly distributed
throughout the vegetable kingdom. It may be obtained (in
the form of its chloride) by fusing lepidolite with a mixture of
barium carbonate and sulphate, and potassium sulphate (L.
Troost, Comptes rendus, 1856, 43, p. 921). The fused mass
separates into two layers, the upper of which contains a mixture
of potassium and lithium sulphates; this is lixiviated with
water and converted into the mixed chlorides by adding barium
chloride, the solution evaporated and the lithium chloride
extracted by a mixture of dry alcohol and ether. The metal
may be obtained by heating dry lithium hydroxide with magnesium
(H. N. Warren, Chem. News, 1896, 74, p. 6). L. Kahlenberg
(Jour. phys. Chem., 3, p. 601) obtained it by electrolysing
the chloride in pyridine solution, a carbon anode and an iron
or platinum cathode being used. O. Ruff and O. Johannsen
(Zeit. elektrochem., 1906, 55, p. 537) electrolyse a mixture of
bromide and chloride which melts at 520°. It is a soft, silvery-white
metal, which readily tarnishes on exposure. Its specific
gravity is 0.59, and it melts at 180° C. It burns on ignition in
air, and when strongly heated in an atmosphere of nitrogen
it forms lithium nitride, Li3N. It decomposes water at
ordinary temperature, liberating hydrogen and forming lithium
hydroxide.
Lithium hydride, LiH, obtained by heating the metal in a current of hydrogen at a red heat, or by heating the metal with ethylene to 700° C. (M. Guntz, Comptes rendus, 1896, 122, p. 244; 123, p. 1273), is a white solid which inflames when heated in chlorine. With alcohol it forms lithium ethylate, LiOC2H5, with liberation of hydrogen. Lithium oxide, Li2O, is obtained by burning the metal in oxygen, or by ignition of the nitrate. It is a white powder which readily dissolves in water to form the hydroxide, LiOH, which is also obtained by boiling the carbonate with milk of lime. It forms a white caustic mass, resembling sodium hydroxide in appearance. It absorbs carbon dioxide, but is not deliquescent. Lithium chloride LiCl, prepared by heating the metal in chlorine, or by dissolving the oxide or carbonate in hydrochloric acid, is exceedingly deliquescent, melts below a red heat, and is very soluble in alcohol. Lithium carbonate, Li2CO3, obtained as a white amorphous precipitate by adding sodium carbonate to a solution of lithium chloride, is sparingly soluble in water. Lithium phosphate, Li3PO4, obtained by the addition of sodium phosphate to a soluble lithium salt in the presence of sodium hydroxide, is almost insoluble in water. Lithium ammonium, LiNH3, is obtained by passing ammonia gas over lithium, the product being heated to 70° C. in order to expel any excess of ammonia. It turns brown-red on exposure to air, and is inflammable. It is decomposed by water evolving hydrogen, and when heated in vacuo at 50°–60° C. it gives lithium and ammonia. With ammonia solution it gives hydrogen and lithiamide, LiNH2 (H. Moissan, ibid., 1898, 127, p. 685). Lithium carbide, Li2C2, obtained by heating lithium carbonate and carbon in the electric furnace, forms a transparent crystalline mass of specific gravity 1.65, and is readily decomposed by cold water giving acetylene (H. Moissan, ibid., 1896, 122, p. 362).
Lithium is detected by the faint yellow line of wave-length 6104, and the bright red line of wave-length 6708, shown in its flame spectrum. It may be distinguished from sodium and potassium by the sparing solubility of its carbonate and phosphate. The atomic weight of lithium was determined by J. S. Stas from the analysis of the chloride, and also by conversion of the chloride into the nitrate, the value obtained being 7.03 (O = 16).
The preparations of lithium used in medicine are: Lithii Carbonis, dose 2 to 5 grs.; Lithii Citras, dose 5 to 10 grs.; and Lithii Citras effervescens, a mixture of citric acid, lithium citrate, tartaric acid and sodium bicarbonate, dose 60 to 120 grs. Lithium salts render the urine alkaline and are in virtue of their action diuretic. They are much prescribed for acute or chronic gout, and as a solvent to uric acid calculi or gravel, but their action as a solvent of uric acid has been certainly overrated, as it has been shown that the addition of medicinal doses of lithium to the blood serum does not increase the solubility of uric acid in it. In concentrated or large doses lithium salts cause vomiting and diarrhoea, due to a gastro-enteritis set up by their action. In medicinal use they should therefore be always freely diluted.
LITHOGRAPHY (Gr. λίθος, a stone, and γράφειν, to write),
the process of drawing or laying down a design or transfer,
on a specially prepared stone or other suitable surface, in such
a way that impressions may be taken therefrom. The principle
on which lithography is based is the antagonism of grease and
water. A chemically pure surface having been secured on some
substance that has an equal affinity for both grease and water,
in a method hereafter to be described, the parts intended to
print are covered with an unctuous composition and the rest
of the surface is moistened, so that when a greasy roller is applied,
the portion that is wet resists the grease and that in which an
affinity for grease has been set up readily accepts it; and from
the surface thus treated it will be seen that it is an easy thing
to secure an impression on paper or other material by applying
suitable pressure.
The inventor of lithography was Alois Senefelder (1771–1834); and it is remarkable what a grip he at once seemed to get of his invention, for whereas the invention of printing seems almost a matter of evolution, lithography seems to come upon the scene fully equipped for the battle of life, so that it would be a bold craftsman at the present day who would affirm that he knew more of the principles underlying his trade than Senefelder (q.v.) did within thirty years of its invention. Of course practice has led to dexterity, and the great volume of trade has induced many mechanical improvements and facilities, but the principles have not been taken any further, while some valuable methods
- ↑ Mommsen in C.I.L. x. 343 does not accept this statement, but an inscription found in 1885 confirms it.
