LAFONTAINE 396 LAGEELOF and founded a school which in its day was regarded with high favor at the court of Prussia for its tone of illiberal moralizing sentimentality. Among his novels may be named: "Picture of the Human Heart" (1792); "Descriptions of the Life of Man" (1811) ; "The Parson- age on the Lake Side" (1816). He died in Halle, April 20, 1831. LAFONTAINE, HENRI, a Belgian law authority. He was born in Brus- sels in 1854 and received his education mainly in his native city, entering the profession of law. In course of time he became professor of international law and senator and director of the Inter- national Bibliographical Institute, Brus- sels. In 1913 he won the Nobel Peace Prize. His works include: "Les droits et les obligations des entrepreneurs des travaux publics"; "Traite de la Contre- fagon"; "Pasicrasse Internationale"; "Bibliographie de la Paix et de L' Arbi- trage." LA FONTAINE, JEAN DE, one of the classics of French literature; born in Chateau-Thierry, Champagne, France, July 8, 1621. He was about 22 years old when his literary ambition was awakened by the odes of Malherbe. A niece of Cardinal Mazarin admired his verses, and carried him to Paris; and LA FONTAINE there, speedily welcomed into the best literary and aristocratic circles, he spent the last 35 years of his life. The first volume of his "Tales" appeared in 1664; a second was added in 1671. The 12 books of his "Fables" were published in equal parts in 1668 and 1678. It is through them that La Fontaine is uni- versally known. He is an inimitable teller of small stories. His personal character, strange mixture of childish simplicity and finesse which is percept- ible in his poems, made him at once the pet and the laughing-stock of his friends and patrons. During the last two years of his life the religious sentiments of his early youth revived. He was admitted to the French Academy in 1684, con- jointly with his friend Boileau, and died in Paris, April 13, 1695. LA rOURCHE (la forsh), a bayou in Southeastern Louisiana, an outlet of the Mississippi, which begins at Donald- sonville, on the right bank and flows S. E. to the Gulf of Mexico, with a total length of 150 miles. It is navigable by steamboats 100 miles from its mouth. LAGAN (la'gan), or LIGAN (1!'-), in maritime law, goods found at such a distance from shore that it is uncertain what coast they would be carried to, and therefore belonging to the finder. LAGENARIA (laj-e-na'ri-a) , in bot- any, a genus of Cucurhitacese, containing but one species, the bottle, club, or trum- pet gourd (L. vulgaris). It is wild in India, the Moluccas and Abyssinia. In that state it is poisonous, but when cul- tivated its deleterious properties disap- pear. Anglo-Indians boil the fruit when young and use it as vegetable marrow. Natives of India slice and eat it as a curry. The young shoots and leaves are also eaten. The seeds yield an oil which is used as an application in headaches. The flesh of the fruit is deemed to be diuretic, refrigerant and anti-bilious. It is cultivated in the warmer parts of the Eastern Hemisphere. LAGENORHYNCHTJS (la-je-no-ring' kus) , a genus of Delphinidas. The beak of the upper jaw keeled on each side, the lower jaw with two or three small, coni- cal, rudimentary teeth in the middle of each side. L. leucopleurus, the Delph- inus tursio of Knox, occurs in Orkney and the Northern Ocean generally. L. alhirostris is the white-beaked bottlenose. It has been taken on the coast of Nor- folk, England. LAGERLOF (OTTILIA LOVISA) SELMA, a Swedish novelist, born in 1858. Her first novel, "Gosta Berling's Saga," published in 1891, created a pro- found sensation in Sweden and its repu- tation quickly spread throughout Europe and to America. It was followed by other novels, bearing the mark of great talent. A year of travel in Egypt, Palestine, and Greece was followed by the publication of two volumes, entitled "Jerusalem," 1901-1902. Other notable novels she produced are "Miracles of
