LAS VEGAS. 7!»6 LATERAN. priiicii)ally in farming and stock-raising. Its in- dustrial L'stablislmifiits ineludu railroad macliine- sliops, woul-.Mruuring mills, tlourniills, carriage and wagon shops, jjlaning -mills, a foundry and inacliinc-shop, tie preserving works, lumber and brick yards, candy and cigar factories, a brewery, etc. Si. miles distant is the famous Las Vegas Hot Springs, a popular health resort, 0705 feet al)ove sea-level, noted for its tine sienery and clear and eipiable climate, as well as for its medicinal S|>rings, which number some forty, with tempera- tures ranging from 75° to 140" K. The total population is estimated at about 8000; that of the city, according to the census of 1890, was 2385; of 1900, 3552. LATACUNGA, la'ta-koon'ga. The capital of the l'inime nf 1,1'on. Kcuador (Maji: Ecuador, B 4). It is situated on a plateau 9000 feet above the sea, and between the two neighboring vol- canoes of Chimborazo and Cotgjjaxi. The region is volcanic, and the city has several times been destroyed by earthciuakes; nevertheless it has been rebuilt and is now one of the handsomest towns in the country, with fine public buildings and churches, and a national eollege. A good road connects it with (^uito, 56 miles to the north ; but the city is not of great commercial impor- tance: the chief export is saltpetre. It was, how- ever, an important place before the conquest, and coiitaiM<'d a ]ialacc nf the Incas which still exists. It was occupied bv (he Sjianiards in 1534. Popu- lation, in 1891. 10.000. largely Indians. LA TAILLE, la tiV, .Jean nE (c.l540-c.l007) . A I'rench dramatist, born at I'xmdaroy. He studied law at Orleans, and fought under Henry IV. in his numerous wars. In his writing he imi- tated the ancients in the manner of .lodelle. and ))roduced tragedies, such as Saiil le furieun (1572), an<l c(miedics, such as Les corivnux (1574), in which he is one of the first to intro- duce natural dialogue. He also wrote Elcr/ics, chfiii.ions, snniirls (15741. His works were edited by de Naulde (187S-S2). — His brother, .T.CQtES HE i,A Taille (1542-02), wrote La mort d'.lJexandre (1573) and La mort de Daire (1574). tragedies. LATAKIA, la'ta-ke'a. A seaport of Syria, in the Vilaycl of Beirut, opposite the island of Cvprus, and 75 miles north of the town of Tri- poli (Map: Turkey, in Asia. F 5). It is poorly built, but has some Koman antiquities, notably a triumphal arch, generally assigned to Septimi- us Sevenis. The commercial importance of the place dejiends chiefly on the famous T.atakia tobacco, which is grown in the vicinity and ex- ported to Eg^-pt .and England. The harbor is small and shallow, and steamers usually anchor in the roadstead. Latakia is the scat of an American mission. Population, according to latest estimates, 22.000. mostly Mohammedans. LATEAU, la'tf/, LofisE (IS.-iO-SS). A Bel- gian visionary, born at Bois d'Haine. At nine- teen, after entering the Third Order of Saint Francis of Assisi. she had a vision of Christ and was thereafter thought to he stigmatized with wounds which bled each Friday. Some of the Catholic clerg^' urged the miraculous nature of the phenomenon, and the girl's home became a place of pilgrimage. A Belgian pathologist diag- nosed her disease as 'stigmatie neuropathy,' When Bishop Diimont of Toiirnay. who had seen in her case a miracle in behalf of the Catholic Church, was deposed, she sided with him and left the Komaii Catholic communion. Consult Warlo- mont, ll(ii>iiuit medical (Brussels, 1875), and Koehling's biography (Paderborn, 1874), LATEEN SAIL I Fr. laline. Latin, from Lat. Laliiuis. I.iilin; >ii called in allusion to the use of this sail in the Mediterranean). A large tri- angular sail, common in the Mediterranean. The iijiper edge is fastened to the lateen-yard, a long tapering sjiar which is held at an angle of about 45 degrees with the deck by means of a short mast crossing it at a third or a fourth of the way up from the lower or forward end. LA TENE ( la tAn ) PERIOD. The name ap- [)licd to the sc'cond e:irly Iron Age in Europe, the first being called llallstattian. It corresponds to the Marman e]iocli of .Iortillet, and the late Cel- tic period of the English archa'ologists. It lasted from the scventli century until the first century B.C. in France, liohemia. and England: but in Scandinavia it was prolonged until the tenth cen- tury A, I), LATENT FAULT, or Defect. A defect in an article which i> not discoverable upon ordinary iiis|iection, . gratuitous lender may be legally liable in damages if he fails to give the borrower notice of any latent defect in the thing lent with which he is ac(|uainted. He is not bound, how- ever, to put the thing into a safe condition for use, nor does he impliedly undertake or warrant that it is fit for use. One who hires an article to another, however, does impliedly engage that it is free from all latent faults which reasonable care and skill could detect or guard against. A caterer is held to a similar engagement as to the wholesomeness of the food he supplies to giiests. For the discussion of this topic in some of its important connections, see the articles Caveat Emptok: Cakriek. Common; Master and Seb- VANT: Xi:oi.I(.i:n( K, LATENT HEAT. See Heat. LAT'ERAN, Cihrcii of Saint John. The first in dignity of the Roman churches, styled in Roman usage 'the mother and head of all the churches of the city and of the world,' It occu- jiics the site of the palace of Plautius Lateranus, confiscated by Xero, and later an Imperial resi- dence. The i)alace was given by Constant ine to Po])e Jlelehiades in 312^ and the first basilica built here by Pope Sylvester I, in 324. of which a few fragments still remain. This was overthrown by an earthquake in 894; the second church, dedi- cated now to Saint .Tohn Baptist, was burned in 1308: and the third met a similar fate in 1300. The fourth restorafion was made by I'rban V, (1302-70). but the edifice has since been largely nuKlcrnized with unhappy effect. The solemn en- trance of the Pope into olfice is celebrated by his taking possession of this church: at Saint Peter's he is Pope, but here Bishop of Rome, Over the portico is the balcony from which, before 1870, the pontiffs gave their .solemn benediction urhi ct nrhi. Five councils regarded as ecumeni- cal by the Roman Catholic Church have been held here (see Latehan CorNClL.s) ; and it is here that tradition places the first meeting of Saint Francis and Saint Dominic, The Lateran Palace was the habitual residence of the popes until the migration to .Avignon: after their re- turn they removed to the Vatican. The ancient building was destroyed by Sixtus V.: fhe only remnants are the private chapel of the popes, and
