LANTHANUM. 766 LAOCOON. white, fairly malleable and ductile metal of spe- cific gravity 6.163. It combines with oxj-gen to form a scsqiiioxide (LajUjJ, and it furm.s the cor- responding trichloride, nitrate, carbonate, sul- phate, and other salts, most of which are color- less, and have an astringent, sweetish taste. Neither the metal nor the salts have any impor- tant commercial uses. See Cerilm; Cerite. LANTJ'VIUM. An old and important city of Latium near the Appian Way, about si.xteeu miles south of Rome, on a hill commanding an extensive view of the sea. It was jjrobably colo- nized from Alba. It first became important in the fifth century B.C., by the part it took against Rome as one of the thirty cities of the Latin League. Afterwards in the wars between Rome and the .Equi and Volsoi it sided with Rome. In the great Latin war, 340-338 B.C., it took part against Rome, but was treated leniently by the victorious Romans, who, instead of punishing the inhabitants, made theiu Roman citizens. After the time of Cicero it was important only as the chief seat of the worsliip of .Tuno Sospita. It was the birthplace of Antoninus Pius, and of Milo, the antagonist of Clodius; and near it was born the comedian Roscius. The snuill town of C'ivit:! Lavinia occupies part of the site of the old Lanuvium. of which a few walls and pave- ments remain, LAN'ZA, Gaetako (1848—). An American mathematician, engineer, and educator, born in Boston. ^lass. He was educated at the Uni- versity of Virginia, was an instructor there for two years, in 1872-74 was an instructor in the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, was ap- pointed assistant professor, and (in 1875) pro- fessor of theoretical and applied mechanics. In 1883 he was placed in charge of the department of mechanical engineering. He was elected to the British Association for the Advancement of Science, a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and became a member of various other learned organizations. In addi- tion to his work in the Institute, he was often active as a consulting engineer. His writings in- clude numerous scientific papers presented to societies, and a volume on Applied Mechanics (1SS.5). LANZA, lan'zi, Giovanxi (1815-82). An Italian statesman, born at Vignale in Piedmont. He studied medicine at Turin, and practiced his profession at Vignale for several years: early joined the Agrarian Society; founded the Opi- ■nione; and in 1848 was elected to the Sardinian Parliament, where he was a prominent member of the Left Centre. He was Minister of Educa- tion under Cavour (1855-58), and Minister of Finance up to the resijrnation of Cavour after Villafranea, in ,Tuly, 1859. After serving as president of the House of Deputies, he acted for a year (1864-65) as Minister of the Interior. He returned to the legislative chamber, and served there (in 1867 and 1868 again as president) until 1869, when, having defeated the ilinistry of Menabrea, he became head of the Cabinet and Minister of the Interior. I'nder his administra- tion, which carried through important education- al reforms, the seat of the Government was trans- ferred to Rome. He resigned in 1873 owing to a coalition of the Left and the Right against his financial policy. He was a Deputy up to the time of his death. Consult Tavallini, Lanza ed i suoi tempi (Turin, 1887). LANZAROTE, Iantha-r0't4. One of the Ca- nary Islands ('j.v.J, the most easterly of the group. Area, 325 .square miles. Population, 16,500. It is very irregular in outline and of vol- canic origin; its surface is rough and mountain- ous. It has some agricultural products, and is famous for its grapes. The island has no good harbors; its capital, Arrecife, has a population of 3000. LANZI, lan'zd, Luigi (1732-1810). A cele- brated Italian antiquary, born at Alonte dell' Olmo, near Jiacerata, .June 14, 1732. He entered the Order of the Jesuits, and resided at Rome, and afterwards at Florence, where he became president of the Accademia della Crusca. In 1782 he ]>ublished at Florence his Dcs-crizione della gallcria di Fircnze. His great works are his hutjgio di linijua etnisca (1789), in which he maintains the inlluenee of Greece upon Etruscan civilization, and his titoria pittoriea d'ltalia, etc. (1792 and 1809). This latter work was trans- lated into English by Thomas Roseoe (1847). He is the author also of several poems, works on Etruscan vases, sculptures, etc. His posthumous works were published in two volumes at Florence in 1817. Consult Boni, Elogio dell' abate L. Lanzi (Pisa, 1816). LAOAG, la-wiig'. The capital of the Province of Iloeos Norte (q.v.), Philippines (Map: Philip- pine Islands, El). It is situated in a fertile plain, in the northwestern part of Luzon, on the right bank of the Laoag or Pagsfin River, five and one-half miles from the sea. Its houses are for the most part well built, especially the town liall and the church; it has a telegraph station, and is the projected terminus of a i-ailroad from Manila. Population, in 1898, 37,094. LAOCOON, la-6k'6-on (Lat., from Gk. Aao- Kbwv, Laokoon) . According to classic legend, a priest of Apollo in Troy, who in vain warned his countrymen against receiving within their walls the wooden horse. According to the ver- sion given by Vergil in the JEneid, two serpents then came swimming from Tenedos, attacked the two sons of Laocoon, and, when the fatlicr came to their help, destroyed him also. There are manj' traces of earlier versions; in one only the sons are killed, and the serpents are sent b.v Apollo as a warning to .Eneas; in another destruction falls on the father and one son. The story is not noticed in the Homeric poems, but was told in the later epic, and was the subject of a tragedy by Sophocles. It acquires a peculiar interest from being the subject of one of the best-known works of ancient sculpture still in existence: a group discovered in 1506 at Rome, in the .Sette Sale, on the side of the Esquiline Hill, and purchased by Pope Julius 11. for the Vatican. The whole treatment of the subject, the anatomical accuracy of the figures, and the representation both of bodily pain and of pas- sion, have secured for the group a higher place than it pronerlv merits. According to Pliny, it was the work (if the Rhodian artists Agesander, Polydorus, and Athenodorus. Archaeologists differ as to the date to be assigned. Some inter- pret the words of Pliny as indicating that it was made in the reign of Titus; the majority, how- ever, agree that it is a work of the Rhodian School, which flourished before the Christian Era,
