pery. For purposes where a lubricant is desired it is a useful antiseptic for the hands in a 1 to 2 per cent, solution. Its chief value is found in obstetrical work.
LYSONS, li'sonz, Daniel (1702-18.34). An
English topographer and anticjuary. lie gra<l-
uated at Saint JIary's Hall, look orders, was
appointed curate of Mortlake in 1784, and in 1700
curate of Putney, Surrey. He is best knmvn for
his Environs of London (4 vols., 1792-00). lui-
dertaken through the encouragement of Horace
Walpole, to whom it w'as dedicated. He also
began the prejiaration of a work entitled Magna
Uriiantiia, being a Concise Topographical Ac-
count of the Several Counties of (Ireat Britniii
(1800-22), of which only six volumes were pub-
lislied. His further publications include Select
I'salms (1700) and A Vieic of the Hecenues> of
the I'tirochial Clergy of Thin Kingdom (1824).
LYSONS, Samuel (1703-1819). An English
anliquary, lirother of Daniel Lysons (q.v. ), born
at Kodmarton. Although educated for the bar,
lie relinquished the law for antiquarian pur.suils.
He was made Keeper of the Records of the
Tower of London in 1803, and of the Society of
Antiquaries in 1812. He published Roman An-ti<iuitics Discovered at WoodcJicster (1707), and
I'liiijuiw Britunnico-Jtomanw (1801-17). Ho
wrote also for the Archwologia. and assisted his
blot her Daniel in the preparation of the Magna
ISrilannia in 1800-22.
LYSSA, LYSSOPHOBIA. See Hydrophobia.
LYSTRA, lis'tra (Lat., from Gk. Awrpa). A city of Lycaonia, in Asia Minor. It is worthy of note in sacred history as the birtliplacc of Tim- othy, and the place -where Paul had divine honors oll'ored him and soon after was .stoned (Acts xiv. 0-20). It was in the western part of the great plain of Lycaonia, eight hours from Iconiuni, the modern Konieh (q.v.), and is now known as Kliatiin Serai, as was discovered by an American exploring party in 1886. Some had sought to identify it with the ruins of Bin-bir-Kilisseh.
LYTE, Henry Francis (1793-1847). A Scot-
tisli hymn-writer, born at Ednam, near Kelso.
He graduated from Trinity College, Dublin,
where he became scholar (1813), took orders,
and was a curate for twenty-five years at Brix-
ham, Devonshire. Lyte died at Nice, Xovember
20, 1847. He was the author of many favorite
hymns, as "Jesus, I my cross have taken," and
"Abide with me, fast falls the eventide." His
Miscellaneous Poems were published with a me-
moir l)y his daughter (London, 1868).
LYTHBA'CE.Æ (Xeo-Lat. nom. pi., frcmi
Lythrum. from Gk. MSpov, lythron, gore), TiiE
Loo.SESTRiFE FAMILY. A natural order of di-
cotyledonous herbs and a few shrubs, with fre-
qiently four-cornered branches, generally oppo-
.site entire and sessile leaves, solitary or clustered,
reguhir or irregular flowers, either axillary, race-
mose, or in spikes; tubular calyx, into which the
very deciduous petals, when present, are inserted.
The stamens are inserted into the tube of the
calyx below the petals, sometimes equal to them
in nimber, sometimes two or three times as many.
The generally two to six celled superior ovary
ripens into a membranous capsule with numer-
ous seeds. There are about 300 known sj)ecies,
embraced in 20 genera, natives of tropical and
temperate or even of cold climates. The henna
(q.v.) of Egypt is produced by Lawsonia alba, a
plant of this order. The leaves of another (I'em-
phis acidula) are said to be a common pot-herb
on the coasts of the tropical parts of Asia. The
leaves of Animania haccifera, an East Indian
aquatic plant, are very acrid and are sometimes
used as blisters. The principal genera are
Peplis, Lythrum, Cuphca, and Lagerslncmia. By
Benthani and Hooker the pomegranate ( I'unica
(Irunalum) is included in this order, while Eng-
ler makes the genus the type of a separate order
Punicaeese. See Po.megha.nate.
LYTHRUM (Nco-Lat., from Gk. /.vOi,ov, ly-
thron, gurc ; so called from the crimson or pur-
ple color of the flowers ) . A genus of herbaceous
jjlants, called also loosestrife in common with
Lysimachia (q.v.), although belonging to an-
other order, Primulacea;. The herb is slender,
with opposite or scattered, mostly sessile leaves,
and large purple llowers. The Lythrum Hala-
cariu, or spiked loosestrife, is a European peren-
nial, but is found in wet meadows, particularly
in New England and eastern New York, where
it is frequently cultivated; leaves lanceolate,
heart-shaped at the base, sometimes whorled in
threes; stamens 12 — twice the number of i»tals —
long and 6 short. It is a line, tall, rather
downy plant, with laige llowers, from crimson lo
purple. By growing in dry places the plant be-
comes more downy and hoary, and considerably
dwarfed. It Jias a mucilaginous, astringent
taste. The blackish-brown, branching, and (ibrous
root is also astringent, mucilage and tannin be-
ing its principal constituents. It is mentioned in
some pharmacopoeias. The principal species indi-
genous to the United Stales are Lythrum Ilys-
sopifoUa, a low annual, from to 10 inches high,
the petals pale purple, found in marshes on the
coast of New England and Xew Jersey. Lythrum
alatum, a tall and wandlike perennial, with
leaves from oblong-ovate to lanceolate, and deep
purple llowers, grows from Jlichigan and Wis-
consin southward. Lythrum lincare, a slender
species, from 3 to 4 feet tall, bushy at the top,
with short, linear, chiefly opposite leaves, whit-
ish petals, grows in brackish marshes in New-
Jersey and southward. Under cultivation these
plants improve greatly, and a luimber of kinds
are ofTcred by florists'. They are of easy culti-
vation, growing readily and flowering freely in
moist soil.
LYTLE, lifl, William Haines (I82C-C3>.
An American soldier and poet. He was born in
Cincinnati. Ohio, graduated at Cincinnati Col-
lege, studied law and began practice, but. having
soldierly antecedents, he volunteered for the Mex-
ican War, was chosen captain of the Second Ohio
Regiment, and soon after the war was elected to
the State Legislature. Before the Civil War
he had become major-general of militia, and in
1801 was commissioneil colonel of the Tenth
Ohio. He was severely wounded in September,
1801, and soon after resuming active serviif was
again wounded and taken prisoner October 8,
lS(i2, Imt was soon exchanged and ma<ie briga-
dier-general of volunteers, November 29, 1802.
He was then actively engaged with the Army of
the West till he wa"s killed leading a charge of
his brigade at Chickamauga. Lytic is also well
remembered through his poem. Address of An-
lonii lo Cleopatra, beginning "1 am dying. Egypt,
dying; ebbs the crimson life-tide fast." His I'oems
