above account of Ignatius is taken in most places directly from this,
which is not only the best of all sources but also a valuable corrective
of the later and more imaginative works. Next to the Acta quaedam
comes in value Polanco’s Vita Ignatii Loiolae, which is published in
the Monumenta historica Societatis Jesu now in progress. Polanco
was the saint’s secretary towards the end of his life. Ribadeneira,
who as a youth had been associated with the founder, wrote his
Vida del S. Ignacio de Loyola (Madrid, 1594), based on an early
Latin work (Naples, 1572). Bartole, the official biographer, wrote
his Della vita e dell’ instituto di S. Ignatio (Rome, 1650, 1659);
Genelli wrote Das Leben des heiligen Ignatius von Loyola (Innsbruck,
1848); Nicolas Orlandinus gives a life in the first volume of the
Historiae Societatis Jesu (Rome, 1615). It would be impossible to
give a list even of the other lives, most of which are without value as
histories, being written mainly for edification. But the student may
be referred to the modern books Henri Joli’s St Ignace de Loyola
(Paris, 1899), which is based on the best authorities, and to H.
Müller’s curious Les Origines de la Compagnie de Jésus (Paris, 1898),
in which the author tries to establish a Mahommedan origin for
many of the ideas adopted by the saint.
The literature connected with the Spiritual Exercises is also large. It will be sufficient here to mention: A Book of Spiritual Exercises, written by Garcias de Cisneros (London, 1876); the official Latin text in the third volume of the Avignon edition of the Constitutions (1830); Roothaan’s Exercitia spiritualia S. P. Ignatii de Loyola, cum versione litterali ex autographo Hispanico, notis illustrata (Namur, 1841); Diertino, Historia exercitiorum S. P. Ignatii de Loyola (1887). Especially worthy of notice is P. Watrigant’s La Genèse des exercices de Saint Ignace de Loyola, republished from Les Études (20th May, 20th July, 20th October 1897). (E. Tn.)
LOZENGE (from the Fr. losenge, or losange; the word also appears in Span. losanje, and Ital. losanga; perhaps derived from a word meaning a stone slab laid on a grave, which appears in forms such as Provençal lousa, Span. losa, the ultimate origin of which is unknown, the Lat. lapis, stone, or laus, praise, in the sense of epitaph, have been suggested), properly a four equal-sided figure, having two acute and two obtuse angles, a rhomb or “diamond.” The figure is frequently used as a bearing in heraldry and especially as a shield so shaped on which the arms of a widow or spinster are emblazoned. It is used also to denote the diamond-shaped facets of a precious stone when cut, also the diamond panes of a casement window. In the 14th century the “lozenge pattern” was a favourite design for decoration. The word is also applied to a small tablet of sugar, originally diamond shaped, containing either medical drugs or some simple flavouring, or to a tablet of any concentrated substance, such as a meat-lozenge. In the reign of James I. of Scotland (1406–1437) a Scotch gold coin having a lozenge-shaped shield with the arms of Scotland on the obverse side was called a “lozenge-lion.”
LOZÈRE, a department of south-eastern France belonging to the central plateau, composed of almost the whole of Gévaudan and of some portions of the old dioceses of Uzès and Alais, districts all formerly included in the province of Languedoc. Pop. (1906) 128,016. Area, 1999 sq. m. It is bounded N. by Cantal and Haute-Loire, E. by Ardèche and Gard, S. by Gard and Aveyron and W. by Aveyron and Cantal. Lozère is mountainous throughout and in average elevation is the highest of all the French departments. It has three distinct regions—the Cévennes proper to the south-east, the causses to the south-west and the mountain tracts which occupy the rest of its area. The Cévennes begin (within Lozère) with Mont Aigoual, which rises to a height of more than 5100 ft.; parallel to this are the mountains of Bougès, bold and bare on their southern face, but falling gently with wooded slopes towards the Tarn which roughly limits the Cévennes on the north. To the north of the Tarn is the range of Lozère, including the peak of Finiels, the highest point of the department (5584 ft.). Farther on occurs the broad marshy plateau of Montbel, which drains southward to the Lot, northwards to the Allier, eastward by the Chassezac to the Ardèche. From this plateau extend the mountains of La Margeride, undulating granitic tablelands partly clothed with woods of oak, beech and fir, and partly covered with pastures, to which flocks are brought from lower Languedoc in summer. The highest point (Truc de Randon) reaches 5098 ft. Adjoining the Margeride hills on the west is the volcanic range of Aubrac, a pastoral district where horned cattle take the place of sheep; the highest point is 4826 ft. The causses of Lozère, having an area of about 564 sq. m., are calcareous, fissured and arid, but separated from each other by deep and well-watered gorges, contrasting with the desolate aspect of the plateaus. The causse of Sauveterre, between the Lot and the Tarn, ranges from 3000 to 3300 ft. in height; that of Méjan has nearly the same average altitude, but has peaks some 1000 ft. higher. Between these two causses the Tarn valley is among the most picturesque in France. Lozère is watered entirely by rivers rising within its own boundaries, being in this respect unique. The climate of Lozère varies greatly with the locality. The mean temperature of Mende (50° F.) is below that of Paris; that of the mountains is always low, but on the causses the summer is scorching and the winter severe; in the Cévennes the climate becomes mild enough at their base (656 ft.) to permit the growth of the olive. Rain falls in violent storms, causing disastrous floods. On the Mediterranean versant there are 76 in., in the Garonne basin 46 and in that of the Loire only 28. Sheep and cattle-rearing and cheese-making are the chief occupations. Bees are kept, and, among the Cévennes, silkworms. Large quantities of chestnuts are exported from the Cévennes, where they form an important article of diet. In the valley of the Lot wheat and fruit are the chief products; elsewhere rye is the chief cereal, and oats, barley, meslin and potatoes are also grown. Fruit trees and leguminous plants are irrigated by small canals (béals) on terraces made and maintained with much labour. Lead, zinc and antimony are found. Saw-milling, the manufacture of wooden shoes and wool-spinning are carried on; otherwise industries are few and unimportant. Of mineral springs, those of Bagnols-les-Bains are most frequented. The line of the Paris-Lyon company from Paris to Nîmes traverses the eastern border of the department, which is also served by the Midi railway with the line from Neussargues to Béziers via Marvéjols. The arrondissements are Mende, Florac and Marvéjols; the cantons number 24, the communes 198. Lozère forms the diocese of Mende and part of the ecclesiastical province of Albi. It falls within the region of the XVI. army corps, the circumscriptions of the académie (educational division) of Montpellier and the appeal court of Nîmes. Mende (q.v.) is its most important town.
LUANG-PRABANG, a town of French Indo-China, capital of the Lao state of that name, on the left bank of the Me Kong river. It lies at the foot of the pagoda hill which rises about 200 ft. above the plain on the promontory of land round which the Nam Kan winds to the main river. It has a population of about 9000 and contains the “palace” of the king of the state and several pagodas. In 1887 it was taken and sacked by the Haw or Black Flags, robber bands of Chinese soldiery, many of them survivors of the Taiping rebellion. In 1893 Siam was compelled to renounce her claims to the left bank of the Me Kong, including Luang-Prabang and the magnificent highlands of Chieng Kwang. That portion of the state which was on the right bank of the Me Kong was not affected by the treaty, except in so far as a portion of it fell within the sixteen miles’ zone within which Siam agreed not to keep troops. Trade is in the hands of Chinese or Shan traders; hill rice and other jungle products are imported from the surrounding districts by the Kha or hill people. The exports, which include rubber, gum benjamin, silk, wax, sticklac, cutch, cardamon, a little ebony, cinnamon, indigo, rhinoceros and deer horns, ivory and fish roe, formerly all passed by way of Paklai to the Me Nam, and so to Bangkok, but have now almost entirely ceased to follow that route, the object of the French government being to deflect the trade through French territory. Luang-Prabang is the terminus of navigation on the upper Me Kong and the centre of trade thereon.
LUBAO, a town in the south-western part of the province of Pampanga, Luzon, Philippine Islands, about 30 m. N.W. of Manila. Pop. (1903) 19,063. Lubao is served by the Manila & Dagupan railway, and has water communication with Manila by tidal streams and Manila Bay. Its products are, therefore, readily marketed. It lies in a low, fertile plain, suited to the growing of rice and sugar. Many of the inhabitants occupy
