Leto

See Latona.

Letter Of Marque

See Privateer.

Letter Of Marque #1

See Privateer.

Leucadia

See Santa Maura.

Leucippis

Leucippis, a Greek philosopher, who probably lived in the 5th century B. C. Elea, Abdera, and Miletus alike claimed to be his birthplace. He is said to have been the disciple of Pythagoras, Melissus, and Zeno, and the teacher of Democritus, who learned from him the first principles of the atomic theory, of which he is generally recognized as the originator. No details concerning his life have been preserved, and none of his writings have come down to us, with the exception of a few fragments of a treatise "On Mind," preserved by Stobasus.

Leucothea

See Ino.

Leuctra

Leuctra, a village of Boeotia, ancient Greece, between Thespiae and Plataea, celebrated for a victory obtained in its vicinity in 371 B. C. by the Thebans over the Spartans. (See Epami-nondas.) Leuctra had ceased to exist even in the age of Strabo, but its site is still clearly marked by a tumulus which occupies an eminence S. of the Thespian vale, and which is supposed to be the place of sepulture of the 1,000 Spartans who fell in the battle.

Leuthen

Leuthen, a village of Prussian Silesia, about 10 m. W. of Breslau; pop. about 1,000. It is noteworthy as the scene of one of the great victories achieved by Frederick the Great over the Austrians in the seven years' war (Dec. 5, 1757). (See Frederick II. of Prussia.)

Leutschau

Leutschau (Hung. Locse), a royal free city of Hungary, capital of the county of Zips, 125 m. N. N. E. of Pesth; pop. in 1869, 6,887. It has an old Roman Catholic church with a celebrated organ, a Catholic and a Lutheran gymnasium, and a Franciscan convent. Leu-tschau was founded in 1245, and was formerly the richest and most flourishing town and one of the most important fortresses of Upper Hungary; but it greatly declined in consequence of the civil wars of the 17th century.

Levant

Levant, a term used by the seafaring and commercial people of the countries bordering on the Mediterranean to designate the portion of that sea which washes the shores of Asia Minor and Syria, and the ports of Smyrna, Alexandretta, Beyrout, Acre, etc, which in the local dialect are called Scale di Levante. The heterogeneous population of those marts, who speak in their intercourse with Europeans the language known as the lingua Franca, are styled Levantines. The term Levante, which in Italian signifies " the East," was first used by the Venetians and Genoese. It is sometimes used in a broader sense, and applied to all the regions east of Italy, as far as the Euphrates and the Nile.

Lever

See Mechanics.

Levi Spaulding

Levi Spaulding, an American missionary, born in Jaffrey, N. II., Aug. 22, 1791, died in Ceylon, June 18,1873. He graduated at Dartmouth college in 1815, and at Andover theological seminary in 1818, was ordained at Salem, Mass., and reached Jaffna, Ceylon, early in 1820. In addition to the usual missionary labor, much of the time he superintended the female boarding school at Oodooville, and performed a large amount of literary labor, superintending the press, preparing tracts and hymns in the Tamil language, and translating or writing books, among which are "Pilgrim's Progress," "Scripture History," a "Tamil Dictionary," "Notes on the Bible," and a revised edition of the Scriptures in Tamil. He revisited the United States in 1844.