in 1614. The dullness of these lengthy collections of episodes without plan, thread or ideas, is relieved by charming and ingenious pastoral songs named serranilhas. His eclogues in endecasyllables are an echo of those of Camoens, but like his other verses they are inferior to his redondilhas, which show the traditional fount of his inspiration. In his Corte na Aldeia (1619), a man of letters, a young nobleman, a student and an old man of easy means, beguile the winter evenings at Cintra by a series of philosophic and literary discussions in dialogue which may still be read with pleasure. Lobo is also the author of an insipid epic in twenty cantos in ottava rima on the Constable D. Nuno Alvares Pereira, the hero of the war of independence against Spain at the end of the 14th century. The characteristics of his prose style are harmony, purity and elegance, and he ranks as one of Portugal’s leading writers. A disciple of the Italian school, his verses are yet free from imitations of classical models, his descriptions of natural scenery are unsurpassed in the Portuguese language, and generally his writings strike a true note and show a sincerity that was rare at the time. Their popularity may be seen by the fact that the Primavera went through seven editions in the 17th century and nine in all, a large number for so limited a market as that of Portugal, while six editions exist of the Pastor Peregrino and four of the epic poem. An edition of his collected works was published in one volume in Lisbon in 1723, and another in four volumes, but less complete, appeared there in 1774.
See Costa e Silva, Ensaio biographico critico, v. 5-112, for a critical examination of Lobo’s writings; also Bouterwek’s History of Portuguese Literature. (E. Pr.)
LOBO, JERONIMO (1593–1678), Jesuit missionary, was born
in Lisbon, and entered the Order of Jesus at the age of sixteen.
In 1621 he was ordered as a missionary to India, and in 1622
he arrived at Goa. With the intention of proceeding to Abyssinia,
whose Negus (emperor) Segued had been converted to Roman
Catholicism by Pedro Paez, he left India in 1624. He disembarked
on the coast of Mombasa, and attempted to reach his destination
through the Galla country, but was forced to return. In 1625
he set out again, accompanied by Mendez, the patriarch of
Ethiopia, and eight missionaries. The party landed on the
coast of the Red Sea, and Lobo settled in Abyssinia as superintendent
of the missions in Tigré. He remained there until
death deprived the Catholics of their protector, the emperor
Segued. Forced by persecution to leave the kingdom, in 1634
Lobo and his companions fell into the hands of the Turks at
Massawa, who sent him to India to procure a ransom for his
imprisoned fellow-missionaries. In this he was successful,
but could not induce the Portuguese viceroy to send an armament
against Abyssinia. Intent upon accomplishing this cherished
project, he embarked for Portugal, and after he had been shipwrecked
on the coast of Natal, and captured by pirates, arrived
at Lisbon. Neither at this city, however, nor at Madrid and
Rome, was any countenance given to Lobo’s plan. He accordingly
returned to India in 1640, and was elected rector, and afterwards
provincial, of the Jesuits at Goa. After some years he returned
to his native city, and died there on the 29th of January 1678.
Lobo wrote an account of his travels in Portuguese, which appears never to have been printed, but is deposited in the monastery of St Roque, Lisbon. Balthazar Telles made large use of the information therein in his Historia geral da Ethiopia a Alta (Coimbra, 1660), often erroneously attributed to Lobo (see Machado’s Bibliotheca Lusitana). Lobo’s own narrative was translated from a MS. copy into French in 1728 by the Abbé Joachim le Grand, under the title of Voyage historique d’Abissinie. In 1669 a translation by Sir Peter Wyche of several passages from a MS. account of Lobo’s travels was published by the Royal Society (translated in M. Thévenot’s Relation des voyages in 1673). An English abridgment of Le Grand’s edition by Dr Johnson was published in 1735 (reprinted 1789). In a Mémoire justificatif en réhabilitation des pères Pierre Paez et Jérôme Lobo, Dr C. T. Beke maintains against Bruce the accuracy of Lobo’s statements as to the source of the Abai branch of the Nile. See A. de Backer, Bibliothèque de la Compagnie de Jésus (ed. C. Sommervogel, iv., 1893).
LOBSTER (O.E. lopustre, lopystre, a corruption of Lat. locusta, lobster or other marine shell-fish; also a locust), an edible crustacean found on the coasts of the North Atlantic and Mediterranean. The name is sometimes loosely applied to any of the larger Crustacea of the order Macrura, especially to such as are used for food.
The true lobsters, forming the family Homaridae, are distinguished from the other Macrura by having the first three pairs of legs terminating in chelae or pincers. The first pair are large and massive and are composed of six segments, while the remaining legs are each composed of seven segments. The sternum of the last thoracic somite is immovably united with the preceding. This last character, together with some peculiarities of the branchial system, distinguish the lobsters from the freshwater crayfishes. The common lobster (Homarus gammarus or vulgaris) is found on the European coasts from Norway to the Mediterranean. The American lobster (Homarus americanus), which should perhaps be ranked as a variety rather than as a distinct species, is found on the Atlantic coast of North America from Labrador to Cape Hatteras. A third species, found at the Cape of Good Hope, is of small size and of no economic importance.
Both in Europe and in America the lobster is the object of an important fishery. It lives in shallow water, in rocky places, and is usually captured in traps known as lobster-pots, or creels, made of wickerwork or of hoops covered with netting, and having funnel-shaped openings permitting entrance but preventing escape. These traps are baited with pieces of fish, preferably stale, and are sunk on ground frequented by lobsters, the place of each being marked by a buoy. In Europe the lobsters are generally sent to market in the fresh state, but in America, especially in the northern New England states and in the maritime provinces of Canada, the canning of lobsters is an important industry. The European lobster rarely reaches 10 pounds in weight, though individuals of 14 pounds have been found, and in America there are authentic records of lobsters weighing 20 to 23 pounds.
The effects of over-fishing have become apparent, especially in America, rather in the reduced average size of the lobsters caught than in any diminution of the total yield. The imposition of a close time to protect the spawning lobsters has been often tried, but as the female carries the spawn attached to her body for nearly twelve months after spawning it is impossible to give any effective protection by this means. The prohibition of the capture of females carrying spawn, or, as it is termed, “in berry,” is difficult to enforce. A minimum size, below which it is illegal to sell lobsters, is fixed by law in most lobster-fishing districts, but the value of the protection so given has also been questioned.
The Norway lobster (Nephrops norvegicus) is found, like the common lobster, from Norway to the Mediterranean. It is a smaller species, with long and slender claws and is of an orange colour, often beautifully marked with red and blue. It is found in deeper water and is generally captured by trawling. It is a curious and unexplained fact that nearly all the individuals so captured are males. It is less esteemed for food than the common species. In London it is sold under the name of “Dublin prawn.”
The rock lobster, spiny lobster, or sea-crawfish (Palinurus vulgaris) belongs to the family Palinuridae, distinguished from the Homaridae by the fact that the first legs are not provided with chelae or pincers, and that all the legs possess only six segments. The antennae are very long and thick. It is found on the southern and western coasts of the British, Islands and extends to the Mediterranean. It is highly esteemed for the table, especially in France, where it goes by the name of Langouste. Other species of the same family are used for food in various parts of the world, especially on the Pacific coast of North America and in Australia and New Zealand.
In Melbourne and Sydney the name of “Murray lobster” is given to a large species of crayfish (Astacopsis spinifer, formerly known as Astacus, or Potamobius serratus) which is much used for food. (W. T. Ca.)
LOCAL GOVERNMENT, a phrase specially adopted in English
usage for the decentralized or deconcentrated administration,
within a state or national and central government, of local
affairs by local authorities. It is restricted not only in respect
