LYRIC POETRY 47 LYTTON liYRIC POETRY, originally poems intended to be sung to the accompani- ment of the harp or lyre; now poems intended for musical recitation, and es- pecially poems expressing or referring to the poet's individual thoughts and emotions, as distinguished from epic or dramatic poetry, which is concerned with external circumstances and events. LYS (les), or LEYE (li'e), a tribu- tary of the Scheldt, rises in France near the little town of Lysbourg, in the de- partment of Pas-de-Calais, and flows in a N. E. direction, joining the Scheldt at Ghent in Belgium after a course of 130 miles. During the World War the Lys river was the scene of some of the most tearific fighting between the Allies and the Germans, LYSANDER, a Spartan naval and military commander; lived in the 4th century B. C. He had the command, 407 B. c, of the Spartan fleet off the coast of Asia Minor, where he defeated the Athenians under Antiochus, and gained great influence, among both the Greeks and Persians. Lysander fell at the bat- tle of Haliartus in 395. LYSIMACHIA (lis-i-ma'ki-a), loose- strife, a genus of Priviulacess, family Primulidas. The calyx is five-partite, the corolla rotate, the stamens glabrous or glandular, the capsule opening at the summit, with 5 to 10 teeth or valves. The herb grows erect or creeping. Known species, 40, chiefly from the temperate zone. Four (Lyshnachia vulgaHs, L. nemo')~um, L. nummulat'ia, and L. thyrsi- flora) are British. The first and second are the most common; they have yellow flowers. LYSIMACHUS (ll-sim'a-kus), one of the generals and successors of Alexan- der the Great; born in 361 B. C. On the death of Alexander, 323 B. c, Thrace and the neighboring countries were the share of Lysimachus, who became also King of Macedonia in 286. The murder of his son Agathocles, at the instigation of his wife Arsinoe, provoked a revolt in Asia; Seleucus took up the cause of the widow Lysandra, and Lysimachus was killed in the battle which ensued, 281 B. C. He had assumed the title of king in 306. He was founder of a city on the Hellespont, named after him Lysimachi. LYSIMETER, a water-tight box or cylinder for collecting and measuring rain water which percolates through the soil. LYSOL, a disinfectant and antiseptic preparation, consisting of alkali com- pounds of the higher phenols, mixed with fatty and resinous soaps, manu- factured by boiling a mixture of tar oils, fats, and resins with alkali. It is a brown, oily, poisonous liquid, possessing a marked odor of creosote. Specific gravity 1.042, soluble in water, alcohol, chloroform, ether, and benzene. LYTTELTON, a port of New Zealand on South Island in the province of Canter- bury. It is an important seaport, having an excellent harbor and shipping accom- modations. Pop. alx)ut 5,000. LYTTON. EDWARD, LORD LYTTON. See Bulwer-Lytton, LYTTON, EDWARD ROBERT, EARL OF, pseudonym Owen Meredith, an English poet, diplomatist, and states- man; born in London, England, Nov. 8, 1831. He was educated at Harrow and at Bonn. In 1849 he went to Washing- ton as an attache and private secretary to his uncle. Sir Henry Bulwer; and subsequently he was appointed attache, secretary of legation, consul or charge d'affaires at most of the large capitals of Europe. In 1873 he succeeded his father as second Lord Ljrtton, and in 1874 became minister at Lisbon, and in 1876 Viceroy of India. In 1880, on the fall of the Beaconsfield government, he resigned, and, returning to England, was made Earl of Lytton; in 1887 he was sent by Lord Salisbury as ambassador to Paris. His works, published mostly un- der his pseudonym, include "Clytemnes- tra" (1855), a dramatic poem; "Lucile" (1860), a novel in verse; "Orval, or the Fool of Times" (1869) ; "Fables in Song" (1874); "Glenaveril" (2 vols. 1885), an epic of modern life; and "After Para- dise, or Legends of Exile" (1887). He died in Paris, France, Nov. 24, 1891.
