Jump to content

Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 12.djvu/634

From Wikisource
This page has been proofread, but needs to be validated.
LUZAN.
562
LUZON.

writers who adopted the methods of French Classicism. Consult the edition of the Poética (Madrid, 1789); his poems in vol. i. of the Poetas líricos del siglo XVIII., contained in the Biblioteca de autores españoles; Cueto, Bosquejo histórico-crítico de la poesía castellana en el siglo XVIII., prefixed to vol. lxi. of the Biblioteca de autores españoles.

LUZ-CABALLERO, lo͞os′ kä′Bȧ-lyā′rō̇, José de la (1800-62). A Cuban educator, born in Havana, he received his education in Havana, and was made professor in the Seminary of San Carlos there in 1824. In 1832 he was appointed president of the College of Carraguao, and afterwards held the chair of philosophy in the College of San Francisco, Havana. He established the College of San Salvador at Havana, in 1848, and taught there until his death. He wrote: Impugnación al examen de Cousin (1840), and translations of Volney's Travels in Egypt and Syria, with notes and additions (1829), and of Siegling's Public Prisons and Their Reforms (1837). Consult the Life, by Rodriguez (New York, 1874).

LUZENBERG, lo͞o′zen-bẽrg, Charles Aloysius (1805-48). An American physician, born in Verona, Italy. He emigrated to the United States in 1810; attended lectures in the Jefferson Medical College in Philadelphia; in 1829 removed to New Orleans, where he was attached for a time to the Charity Hospital, and afterwards established the New Orleans Medical School, and performed many difficult surgical operations. He was in Europe in 1832-34, and was elected a corresponding member of the Paris Academy. He returned to Louisiana in 1834; founded the Society of Natural History in 1839, and the Louisiana Medico-Chirurgical Society in 1843, and was the first president of both. It is asserted that he was the first practitioner in the United States to prevent pitting in cases of smallpox, by the exclusion of light.

LUZERN, lo͞o-tsĕrn′. The German name for Lucerne (q.v.).

LUZERNE, lū-zẽrn′. A town, including a village of the same name, in Warren County, N. Y., 22 miles north of Saratoga Springs, on the east bank of the Hudson River, beautifully situated at the edge of the foothills of the Adirondack Mountains and on Lake Luzerne (Map: New York, G 2). It is connected by a bridge with Hadley Station on the Adirondack Railroad, a branch of the Delaware and Hudson, and is a well-known summer resort. Population, in 1890, 1679; in 1900, 1341.

LUZERNE, lụzârn′, Anne César de la (1741-91), A French diplomat. He was born in Paris, the brother of Cardinal Luzerne; entered the army at an early age, saw considerable active service, and for some time was an aide on the staff of Marshal Broglie, returning to civil life after reaching the rank of colonel of grenadiers. His diplomatic career began with his appointment in 1776 to the post of Envoy Extraordinary to Bavaria, where he conducted with great tact the negotiations connected with the succession of Maximilian Joseph to the electorate. His success on this mission led in 1779 to his being appointed to succeed Gérard (q.v.) as Minister to the United States. He arrived in Philadelphia in September. His method of treating with the Congress of the Federation was not that usually employed by diplomats. He understood from the start that body's lack of real power, and therefore dealt with the members individually, some of whom he is said to have had in his pay. He soon gained considerable influence, particularly with Robert R. Livingston, the Secretary for Foreign Affairs, and his intrigues while negotiations for peace were pending resulted in Congress sending instructions to its commissioners at Paris to be guided in their actions by the desires of the French Court. He returned to France in 1783, and from 1788 until his death represented France as Ambassador at London.

LUZON′, Sp. pron. lo͞o-thō̇n′. The most important, and with the exception of a few islets the most northern, of the Philippine Islands.

Location and Boundaries. Luzon is situated between latitudes 12° 32′ and 18° 39′ N., and between longitudes 119° 42′ and 124° 8′ E. Its northern extremity, Punta Mayraira, is 217 miles due south of Formosa, and 520 miles southeast of Hong Kong. The Pacific Ocean proper and the China Sea meet on its northern coast. The southern coast is washed by a number of channels and seas separating Luzon from the rest of the archipelago, the chief of these being the Strait of San Bernardino, 10½ miles wide, between Luzon and the island of Samar on the southeast, and the channel, 7½ miles wide, separating Mindoro from the southwest coast.

Area and Configuration. The area of Luzon has been variously estimated at from 37,000 to 47,000 square miles. The official estimate of 1902 is probably the most nearly correct, and gives 43,075 square miles for the mainland and 1160 for the 311 small dependent islands, giving a total of 44,235 square miles, which is nearly the total for the State of Pennsylvania. Its area is according to this estimate somewhat less than that of Mindanao (q.v.). The shape of the island is extremely irregular. It may be divided into three parts, connected by narrow isthmuses: Northern Luzon, the main body, with a length from north to south of 270 miles and a width of 130 to 140 miles; Central Luzon, 56 by 90 miles, connected with the first by two isthmuses, one on each side of the Laguna de Bay; and Southern Luzon, a long, narrow, and irregular body stretching 160 miles to the southeast. The coast is very much indented, with numerous large bays, some of which form excellent harbors. The chief bays are, on the west coast, the Gulf of Lingayén and Manila Bay; on the south coast, the bays of Tayabas and Ragay, and the port of Sorsogón; and on the east coast, the bays of Albay, Lagonoy, San Miguel, and Lamón.

The principal dependent islands belonging to Luzon are, with their areas in square miles, the Batanes (81) and the Babuyanes (179), two groups of small islands lying north of Luzon, the former being the extreme northern group of the archipelago; Polillo Island (203), near the centre of the eastern coast; Alabat (60), at the mouth of the Bay of Lamón; Catanduanes (704), off the southeast coast; and a number of smaller groups and islets, chiefly off the east coast.

Geology and Topography. Our knowledge of the geological structure of Luzon is meagre, owing to the natural difficulty arising from the dense vegetation, which leaves the rocks exposed in very few places. The geological formations, however, include the following: Gneiss and dia-