Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 14.djvu/677

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L I N L I N 653 reputation which he enjoyed among the scholars of his time. His Latin style was so much admired that, according to the flattering eulogium of Erasmus, Galen spoke better Latin in the version of Linacre than lie had before spoken Greek ; and even Aristotle dis played a grace which lie hardly attained to in his native tongue. Erasmus praises also Linacre s critical judgment (vir non exacti tantum sed severi judicii). According to others it was hard to say whether he were more distinguished as a grammarian or a rheto rician. Of Greek he was regarded as a consummate master ; and he was equally eminent as a " philosopher," that is, as learned in the works of the ancient philosophers and naturalists. In this there may have been, as the custom of the day was, some exaggeration ; but all have acknowledged the elevation of Linacre s character, and the fine moral qualities summed up in the epitaph written by John Caius : " Fraudes dolosque mire perosus ; fidus amicis : omnibus ordinibus juxta cams." The materials for Linacre s biography are to a large extent contained in the older biographical collections of George Lilly (in Paulus Jovius, Descriptio Jiritanniie), Bale, Leland, and Pits, in Wood s Atfienx Oxonienses, and in the liiographia Britannica; but all are completely collected in the Life of Thomas Linacre, by Pr Xoble Johnson, London, 1835. Reference may also be made to Dr Munk s Roll cf the Royal College of Physicians, 2d ed., London, 1878 ; and the Introduction, by Dr Payne, to a facsimile reproduction of Linacre s version of Oqlen. de Temperamentis, published by Messrs Macmillan, Cambridge, 1881. With the exception of this treatise, none of Linacre s works or translations have been reprinted in modern times. (J. ! . P.) LINARES, an important mining town in the province of Jaen, Spain, is situated in an arid plain, near the foot of the Sierra Morena, 24 miles north-north-east from the town of Jaen, 1 2 north-east from that of Baeza, and half an hour by rail from the Yadollano station of the Madrid and Cordova line. The streets are ill paved, irregular, and ugly, and, apart from a fine fountain of Roman origin, the town presents no architectural features of interest. There is some trade in the oil and wine of the neighbourhood, which are excellent and plentiful ; wool is exported to Catalonia and Valencia ; and cattle-breeding, especially of animals for the bull-ring, is also carried on. But the population, which in 1877 numbered 36,630, and includes some 120 English, with a consul and a chaplain, is chiefly engaged in the working of the extensive lead-mines to the north-west of the town, and in various concomitant industries, such as the manufacture of gunpowder, dynamite, match for blasting purposes, rope, and the like. The mining plant is entirely imported, principally from England. In respect of the quantity and uniform excellence of their productions the lead-mines of the province of Jaen are un surpassed. For the year 1876-77 the joint output of those of Linares, Yilches, Bailen, Carboneros, Santa Helena, and (in part) La Carolina was stated at 1,620,000 cwts. of ore, worth upwards of 800,000, -the proportion of silver to lead varying from 20 to 60 grammes of the former to every 50 kilogrammes of the latter. The best class of ore is exported, chiefly to France and Belgium ; the inferior classes are smelted for the most part in Spain. About 2 miles to the south of Linares is the village of Cazlona, which still shows some remains of the ancient Castulo ; and the ancient mines some 5 miles to the north, which are now known a.s " Los Pozos de Anibal," may with some proba bility be assigned to the Carthaginian period. LINCOLN, one of the four eastern maritime counties of England, lies between 52 39 and 53 43 N. lat., and 22 E. and 56 W. long. It is bounded on the N. by the Huniber, E. by the German Ocean and the Wash, S.E. for 3 miles by Norfolk, S. by Cambridge and North ampton, S.W. by Rutland, W. by Leicestershire and Notts, and N.W. by Yorkshire. Its greatest length north and south, from Barton-on-Humber to Market Deeping, is 75 miles, its greatest breadth, from Wroot on the west to Salt- fleet on the east, is 50 miles, its circuit about 260 miles. Its area is 1,767,962 acres, or about 2762 square miles, making it the second largest county in England. Coast-Line. The coast-line, about 110 miles in length, is low and marshy, and artificial banks for guarding against the inroads of the sea are to be found, in places, all along the coast. From Grimsby to Skegness traces of a sub marine forest are visible ; but while the sea is encroaching upon some parts of the coast it is receding from others, as shown by Holbeach, which is now 6 miles from the sea. Several thousand acres have been reclaimed from this part of the Wash, and round the mouth of the Nene on the south east. The deep bay between the coasts of Lincolnshire and Norfolk, called the Wash, is full of dangerous sandbanks and silt ; the navigable portion, off the Lincolnshire coast, is known as the Boston deeps. The rapidity of the tides in this inlet, and the lowness of its shores, which are generally indistinct on account of mist from a moderate offing, render this the most difficult portion of the naviga tion of the east coast of England. Surface and Geology. The surface of Lincolnshire is generally a large plain, some portions of which are below the level of the sea. The south-east parts are perfectly flat ; and about one-third of the county consists of fens and marshes, intersected in all directions by artificial drains, called locally dykes, delphs, drains, becks, learns, and eaux. This flat surface is, however, broken by two ranges of cal careous hills running north and south through the county, and known as the Cliff and the Wolds. The former range, on the west, runs nearly due north fromGrantham to Lincoln, and thence to the Humber, traversing the Heaths of Lin colnshire, which were formerly open moors, rabbit warrens, and sheep walks, but are now enclosed and brought into high cultivation. Parallel with this range on the east side of it runs the old Roman Ermine Street, sometimes called the Cliff Row Road. The Wolds form a ridge of bold hills extending from Spilsby to Barton-on-Humber for about 40 miles, with an average breadth of about 8 miles. Between the Wolds and the sea lie the Marshes, a level tract of rich alluvial soil extending from Barton-on-Humber to Wain- fleet, varying in breadth from 5 to 10 miles. Between the Welland and the Nene in the south-east of the county are Gedney Marsh, Holbeach Marsh, Moulton Marsh, and Sutton Marsh. The Fens, the soil of which has been formed partly by tidal action and partly by the decay of forests, occupy the Isle of Axholme on the north-west, the vale of Ancholme on the north, and most of the country south-east of Lincoln. The chief of these are the Holland, Wildmore, West, and East Fens draining into the Witham ; and the Deeping, Bourn, Great Porsand, and Whaplode Fens draining into the Welland. Owing to the dead level of these districts there is perhaps more artificial drainage in Lincolnshire than in any other English county; and this part of the country resembles in many respects, especially in embank ments and dykes, the continental Holland. The drainage of the Fens appears to have early occupied attention. Shortly after the Norman Conquest Richard de Rulos, lord of Brunn, and chamberlain to William I., enclosed and drained a large part of Deeping Fen in so complete a manner that the work would not be disgraced by a comparison with the more scientific efforts of modern times. Excluding the Welland by a bank, he changed "deep lakes and impassable fens into most fruitful fields and pastures, and the most humid and moorish parts thereof into a garden of pleasure." The drainage of the remaining levels of Lincolnshire was chiefly commenced in the reigns of James I. and Charles I. The East, West, and Wildmore Fens were contracted for in the 7th Charles I. The earl of Lindsey undertook all the fens in Holland and Kesteven, north of the river Glen up to Lincoln, on the completion of which 24,000 acres were awarded to him. In the 13th of the same reign, the king declared himself the " Undertaker" of the Holland Fen, containing 22,000 acres, out of which he was to have 8000 for his share. Sir John Monson with other freeholders drained the Ancholme level in the north, and had 5827 acres assigned to them. In the same reign the Isle of Axholme was undertaken by Cornells Yermuijden and his Dutch and Flemish followers. These operations were interrupted during the civil wars, and many of the works destroyed by the "stilt-walkers," so curiously described by Camden. Little was done towards restoring the works thus destroyed till the middle of the 18th century, when several townships, having a right of common over particular fens, began to join in procuring Acts of