LOSSING. 465 LOTHAIR. (1881) ; History of .Ycif York City (1881) ; fol- lowed by The Empire State (1887). LOSSINI, los-se'ne. An island in the Adriatic Sea. See LrssiN. LOST CAUSE. A term used of the Southern issues at stake in the Civil War, State sovereign- ty and the institution of slavery. It owes its origin to E. A. Pollard's history of the war bear- ing that title (1866). LOST CHORD. A short poem by Adelaide A. Proeti'V, which appeared in Household Words, and again in Legends and Lyrics, a collection of her ])oems, in 1858. It was set to music by Sir Arthur Sillivan. LOST PLEIAD, TirE. ( 1 ) One of the seven stars composing the constellation into which the Pleiades were changed, and of which only six are visible. The missing star was explained as Merope, who concealed herself in shame at hav- ing married a mortal, or as Electra, who aban- doned her place in order that she might not witness the overthrow of Troy. (2) A poem by Letitia E. Landon (1829). "(3) A well-known painting bv T. B. Read. LOST PROPERTY. See Finding. LOST RIVER. A river of West Virginia, which in one part of its course disappears into underground channels. LOST TRIBES OF ISRAEL. See Babylon- l.sii Captivity; Jews. LOT, lot. A southwest department of France, formerly part of the Province of Guienne (Map: France, H 7). Area, 2012 square miles. It is watered by the Dordogne and the Lot, with ita tributary, the Selle. A range of hills, broad, but not high, and containing some iron, runs through the centre of the department from east to west in the form of a semicircle. The valleys yield corn. hemp, tobacco, and fruits, and the hillsides are clothed with grapevines. Flax- mills ai'e numerous. Capital. Cahors (q.v.). Population, in 1896, 240,403; in 1901, 226,720. LOT (Lat. Oltis). A river of Southern France, one of the largest tributaries of the Garonne (Map: France. J 7l. It rises in the Cevennes at an altitude of nearly 5000 feet, and flows in a westerly direction through the depart- ments of Loz6re. Aveyron, Lot, and Lot-et- Garonne. joining the Garonne at Aiguillon. after a winding course of 300 miles. It is navigable for 194 miles and slack-water navigation is made possible by a system of locks. LOT. According to the Book of Genesis, the son of Haran and nephew of Abraham, and, through his daughters, ancestor of the Moabites and .Ammonites. He is said to have emigrated with Tevah and Abraham from Ur of the Chal- dees to Haran, and with the latter to Caanan (Gen. xi. 27-xii. 5). There Abraham and Lot separated, and Lot chose to dwell in the 'circle of the .lordan,' i.e. the plain between .Jericho and Zoar, near the Dead Sea : he made his abode in Sodom (xiii. 5-12). He was captured in a raid upon Sodom and rescued by Abra- ham (ch. xiv.). Dwelling in Sodom, he is brought into connection with the destruction of the city, which is described with many details (xix. 1-29). Lot is often mentioned in the Koran, and is regarded as a teacher of righteousness (e.g. sura vii. 78-82; x.xvi. 160-174), and the Arabs still call the Dead .Sea Bahr Lut, or Sea of Lot. Many modern scholars regard the nar- rative of Ijot as a combination of tribal traditions with legendary and perhaps mythical admixtures. As the nephew of Abraham he is thought to rep- resent a minor .Aramaic clan, once in close aflilia- tion with a Hebrew clan and afterwards sepa- rated from it. The separation can hardly have been an amicable one, for othi^rwisc tradition would hardly have represented Lot as the ances- tor of two tribes so hateful to Hebrews as Moabites and Ammonites. The rescue by Abra- ham, if it has any historical basis, belongs to the period when the relations were still friendly. The story of Lot's incest with his daughters re- minds of passages in early Arabic poetrj', where it is often sought to bring a rival (or a hostile clan) into disrepute by easting suspicion upon his descent. The destruction of Sodom and Gomor- rah is also paralleled by various tales circulated among the Arabs. It is not impossible that Lot is identical with Lotan, the eponyni of a Horite clan (Gen. xxxvi. 20, 22, 29). The sojourn of Lot in a cave (Heb. hor, cave) would then find a natural explanation. See Sodom and Gomob- RAH. LOT. (1) The King of Norway, husband of King Arthur's sister Anne, and father of Walgan and Modred, in Geoffrey of Monmouth. (2) The King of Orkney, in Malory's Mortc d'Arlhur. He is the husband of ilargawse. King Arthur's sister, and the father of Gawain, Agravain, Gaheris, and CJareth. In Tennyson's Crowning of Arthur, his wife is Bellicent. LOT-ET-GARONNE, lo'ta-ga'ron'. A south- west department of France, formerly part of the Province of Guienne (Map: Fiance. G 7). Area, 2067 square miles. The department is level, ex- cept in the south, where spurs of the Pyrenees make their appearance, and extremely fertile in the basins of the Garonne and I^ot, its chief rivers; the east is chielly composed of barren wastes, and the southwest of sandy and marshy tracts termed layulcs. The chief mineral is iron. The principal products are corn, wine, hemp, fruits, tobacco, anise, and coriander. There are pine, cork, and chestnut woods ; poultry are reared in great numbers for exportation. Capi- tal, -Agen. Population, in 1896, 286.377: in 1901, 278,740, among whom are a considerable number of French Protestants. LOTHAIR (16-th;-ir') I. (c.795-855). A Fraiiki>li ruler, Roman Emperor from 840 to 855. He was the eldest son of Louis the Pious ((|.v.). He was associated with his father in the Empire in 817. and was crowned by the Pope in 823. After the jiartition of 829 he revolted against his father, deposed him, and was sole Emperor until 831, when Louis the Pious was liberated from prison. In 833 there was a new revolt of the sons of Louis the Pious, and the Em- peror was defeated by treachery on the field of Lies. But in 834 Loiiis again assumed the gov- ernment, and Lothair received as his portion merclv the Kingdom of Italy, which he ruled until by the division of 839 he received the eastern p:irt of the Emjiire in addition to Italy. After the death of Louis the Pious, Lothair attempted to assert his power, as overlord, over his brothers, but was conquered at F.mtenoy. .Tune 25. 841 By the Treaty of Verdun, in 843. the title of Emperor was"giu""antecd to him. together with
