Laozi was the first philosopher of Chinese Daoism and the alleged author of the Daodejing, a primary Daoist writing. Modern scholars discount the possibility that the Daodejing was written by only one person but readily acknowledge the influence of Daoism on the development of Buddhism. Laozi is

China: The Shandong Hills: …(900 meters); the highest point, Mount Lao, reaches 3,714 feet (1,132 meters). The western part is slightly higher, rising to 5,000 feet (1,524 meters) at Mount Tai, one of China’s most sacred mountains. The Shandong Hills meet the sea along a rocky and indented shoreline.

Laohekou, city, northern Hubei sheng (province), China. It is situated on the east bank of the middle Han River, some 30 miles (50 km) northwest of Xiangfan. Historically, it was a town under the administration of Guanhua county. It was established as a city first in 1948 and again in 1951, but

Laoag, city, northwestern Luzon, Philippines. It lies on the north bank of the nonnavigable Laoag River, a few miles above the latter’s mouth on the South China Sea. Laoag was first occupied by the Spaniards in 1572 and is now the largest city in northern Luzon. A trade centre for an agricultural

Chinese literature: 19th-century native prose and poetry: …E, whose Laocan youji (1904–07; The Travels of Lao Can ), a fictional account of contemporary life, pointed to the problems confronting the tottering Qing dynasty.

El Greco: Later life and works of El Greco: …most Renaissance artists, is the Laocoon (1610–14). For ancient Troy he substituted a view of Toledo, similar to the one just discussed, and he displayed little regard for classical tradition in painting the highly expressive but great, sprawling body of the priest.

Laocoön, in Greek legend, a seer and a priest of the god Apollo; he was the son of Agenor of Troy or, according to some, the brother of Anchises (the father of the hero Aeneas). Laocoön offended Apollo by breaking his oath of celibacy and begetting children or by having sexual intercourse with his

Gotthold Ephraim Lessing: Rising reputation as dramatist and critic.: One is the great treatise Laokoon: oder über die Grenzen der Malerei und Poesie (1766; “Laocoon; or, On the Limits of Painting and Poetry”). Here he took issue with the contemporary art historian Johann Winckelmann, specifically over his interpretation of the “Laocoon,” a famous sculpture of Hellenistic times (c. 1st…

Hellenistic age: The arts: Laocoön, a portrayal of anguish, shows the figure of the priest Laocoön and his two sons in the grip of two snakes. The sculpture, in immobile stone, is bursting with dynamism and energy.

Gotthold Ephraim Lessing: Rising reputation as dramatist and critic.: One is the great treatise Laokoon: oder über die Grenzen der Malerei und Poesie (1766; “Laocoon; or, On the Limits of Painting and Poetry”). Here he took issue with the contemporary art historian Johann Winckelmann, specifically over his interpretation of the “Laocoon,” a famous sculpture of Hellenistic times (c. 1st…

Protesilaus: His bride, Laodameia, was so grief stricken that the gods granted her request that Protesilaus be allowed to return from the dead for three hours. At the expiration of the time she accompanied him to the underworld, either by taking her own life or by immolating herself…

Ptolemy II Philadelphus: Life: …to dismiss his former wife, Laodice. Thus freed for the moment from Seleucid opposition and sustained by the considerable financial means provided by the Egyptian economy, Ptolemy II devoted himself again to Greece and aroused new adversaries to Antigonid Macedonia. While the Macedonian forces were bogged down in Greece, Ptolemy…

Laodicea, the ancient name of several cities of western Asia, mostly founded or rebuilt in the 3rd century bce by rulers of the Seleucid dynasty and named for Laodice, the mother of Seleucus I Nicator, or for Laodice, daughter (or possibly niece) of Antiochus I Soter and wife of Antiochus II Theos.

Denizli: …the economic position of ancient Laodicea ad Lycum, 4 miles (6 km) away, when that town was deserted during wars between the Byzantines and the Seljuq Turks in the 12th century. By the 14th century, as Lâdik (Lādīq), Denizli had emerged as an important Turkish town noted for its woven…

church year: Sunday: 300), but a synod of Laodicea (c. 381) enjoined Christians not to “Judaize” but to work on the sabbath and rest, if possible, on the Lord’s Day. The Old Testament commandment of sabbath rest received a spiritual interpretation from the Church Fathers when they applied it to Sunday—e.g.,…

Laut Island, island off the southeastern coast of Borneo, Kalimantan Selatan provinsi (“province”), Indonesia. Laut Island lies in the Makassar Strait, 105 miles (169 km) east of Banjarmasin city. It is 60 miles (100 km) long north to south and 20 miles (30 km) wide east to west, and it covers an

Harry Hongda Wu: …assumed personal responsibility for exposing laogai (“reform through labour”), “a vast prison machine that crushes all vestiges of humanity—not only flesh and blood but spirit and ideals as well.” He founded the Laogai Research Foundation in 1992 and served as its executive director.

China: 6th millennium bce: …be identified in the northwest: Laoguantai, in eastern and southern Shaanxi and northwestern Henan, and Dadiwan I—a development of Laoguantai culture—in eastern Gansu and western Shaanxi. The pots in both cultures were low-fired, sand-tempered, and mainly red in color, and bowls with three stubby feet or ring feet were common.…

Laohekou, city, northern Hubei sheng (province), China. It is situated on the east bank of the middle Han River, some 30 miles (50 km) northwest of Xiangfan. Historically, it was a town under the administration of Guanhua county. It was established as a city first in 1948 and again in 1951, but

Laoighis, county in the province of Leinster, east-central Ireland, formerly called Queen’s county. The county town (seat) is Port Laoise (Portlaoise), in central Laoighis. Laoighis is bounded by Counties Offaly (north and west), Kildare (east), Carlow and Kilkenny (south), and Tipperary

Laoighis, county in the province of Leinster, east-central Ireland, formerly called Queen’s county. The county town (seat) is Port Laoise (Portlaoise), in central Laoighis. Laoighis is bounded by Counties Offaly (north and west), Kildare (east), Carlow and Kilkenny (south), and Tipperary

Gotthold Ephraim Lessing: Rising reputation as dramatist and critic.: One is the great treatise Laokoon: oder über die Grenzen der Malerei und Poesie (1766; “Laocoon; or, On the Limits of Painting and Poetry”). Here he took issue with the contemporary art historian Johann Winckelmann, specifically over his interpretation of the “Laocoon,” a famous sculpture of Hellenistic times (c. 1st…

Laomedon, legendary king of Troy, son of Ilus and Eurydice and father of Podarces (later famous as King Priam of Troy). He brought about his own destruction by not keeping his word. When Laomedon refused to give the gods Apollo and Poseidon a promised reward for building the walls of Troy, they

Laon, town, capital of Aisne département, Hauts-de-France région, northern France. It lies northwest of Reims and northeast of Paris. The picturesque old town, situated on the summit of a scarped hill, stands high above the new town, which spreads out over the surrounding plain about 330 feet (100

Percy Bysshe Shelley: …Shelley wrote his twelve-canto romance-epic Laon and Cythna; or, The Revolution of the Golden City and Mary Shelley finished Frankenstein. They compiled History of a Six Weeks’ Tour jointly from the letters and journals of their trips to Switzerland, concluding with “Mont Blanc.” In November, Laon and Cythna was suppressed…

stained glass: France: 1200–05) of Laon Cathedral is stylistically related to the contemporary sculptures of the facade and to manuscript painting such as the Ingeborg Psalter (Musée Condé, Chantilly). The work of this atelier is extremely distinguished, with an elegance and purity of style and a knowledge of Classical art…

Laos, landlocked country of northeast-central mainland Southeast Asia. It consists of an irregularly round portion in the north that narrows into a peninsula-like region stretching to the southeast. Overall, the country extends about 650 miles (1,050 km) from northwest to southeast. The capital is

gymnure: …long-eared, or Laos, gymnure (H. megalotis) is restricted to limestone karst in the central part of Laos. The Hainan gymnure (Neohylomys hainanensis) is endemic to Hainan Island off the coast of southern China.

horizontally striped red-blue-red national flag with a central white disk. The width-to-length ratio of the flag is 2 to 3.In 1353 King Fa Ngum proclaimed the “Kingdom of the Million Elephants and White Parasol,” basing the name on those traditional symbols of the Lao people. The mythical first

history of Laos, a survey of the important events and people in the history of Laos. The country, located in northeast-central mainland Southeast Asia, consists of an irregularly round portion in the north that narrows into a peninsula-like region stretching to the southeast. Overall, the country

Lao language, one of the Tai languages of Southeast Asia, and the official language of Laos. Lao occurs in various dialects, which differ among themselves at least as much as Lao as a group differs from the Tai dialects of northeastern Thailand. The latter are usually called Northeastern Thai, but

stringed instrument: The production of sound: …the guitar and the Greek laouto (a type of lute with moveable frets), for example—operate according to a combination of ear and rule of thumb when they insert or adjust frets (note-position markers—e.g., of gut or wire) in the fingerboard. Such instruments are fretted according to the “rule of the…

Tao-te Ching, classic of Chinese philosophical literature. The name was first used during the Han dynasty (206 bce–220 ce). It had previously been called Laozi in the belief that it was written by Laozi, identified by the historian Sima Qian as a 6th-century-bce curator of the imperial Chinese

Laozi was the first philosopher of Chinese Daoism and the alleged author of the Daodejing, a primary Daoist writing. Modern scholars discount the possibility that the Daodejing was written by only one person but readily acknowledge the influence of Daoism on the development of Buddhism. Laozi is

Taoism: Texts on the cult of Laozi: …the Transformations of Laozi (Laozi bianhuajing), shows him in cosmic perspective, omnipresent and omnipotent, the origin of all life. His human manifestations are listed, followed by his successive roles in legendary history, as the sage counsellor of emperors. Next, five of his more recent appearances are mentioned, dated 132–155…

Laozi: Hagiographical legends: This book, the Laozi huhuajing (“Laozi’s Conversion of the Barbarians”), in which Buddhism was presented as an inferior kind of Daoism, was often condemned by the Chinese imperial authorities.

metallurgy: Metallurgy: Laps are another type of flaw in which part of a metal piece is inadvertently folded over on itself but the two sides of the fold are not completely welded together. If a force tending to open this fold is applied during the forming operation,…

clapboard, type of board bevelled toward one edge, used to clad the exterior of a frame building. Clapboards are attached horizontally, each one overlapping the next one down. They are six to eight inches in width, diminishing from about a 58 inch thickness at the lower edge to a fine upper edge

Oceanic music and dance: Hawaii: The Hawaiian, or steel, guitar is a metal-stringed adaptation of the European instrument that is played by stopping the strings with a metal bar.

African architecture: The 20th century: …and Pedi, with their decorated lapa (courtyard) walls and facades and their ziggurat details, have a colourful vitality. Although these decorations are mistakenly often thought to represent “traditional” architecture, such adornment emerged after the resettlement of populations during the apartheid era. Elsewhere, notably in Maputo, in Mozambique, and in Johannesburg,…

Lapai, town and traditional emirate, southeastern Niger state, west-central Nigeria. It lies near the Gurara River, which is a tributary to the Niger River. It was originally inhabited by the Gbari (Gwari) people, who were subject to the Hausa kingdom of Zazzau and, after 1804, to the Fulani

laparoscopy: …an optical instrument called a laparoscope, which is inserted through a small incision made in the abdominal wall. The term comes from the Greek words laparo, meaning “flank,” and skopein, meaning “to examine.”

laparoscopy, procedure that permits visual examination of the abdominal cavity with an optical instrument called a laparoscope, which is inserted through a small incision made in the abdominal wall. The term comes from the Greek words laparo, meaning “flank,” and skopein, meaning “to examine.” The

laparoscopy, procedure that permits visual examination of the abdominal cavity with an optical instrument called a laparoscope, which is inserted through a small incision made in the abdominal wall. The term comes from the Greek words laparo, meaning “flank,” and skopein, meaning “to examine.” The

laparotomy, opening of the abdominal (or peritoneal) cavity. After laparotomy became reasonably safe, the whole field of abdominal surgery unfolded. Laparotomy requires (1) a safe cutting into the abdominal cavity through the skin, fat, muscles, muscular aponeuroses, and peritoneum in that order

Joe Lapchick was an American professional and collegiate basketball player and coach who was a major influence in both professional and collegiate basketball. Lapchick left high school in Yonkers in 1914 and played semiprofessional and professional basketball so successfully that at one point he

Joe Lapchick was an American professional and collegiate basketball player and coach who was a major influence in both professional and collegiate basketball. Lapchick left high school in Yonkers in 1914 and played semiprofessional and professional basketball so successfully that at one point he

Los Angeles: Municipal services: The Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) was, until about 1965, considered one of the most highly professional and best-run law agencies in the country. In the 1950s and early ’60s the department prided itself on its ability “to protect and to serve” the sprawling metropolis and…

Harper’s Magazine: Under the editorship of Lewis Lapham, the magazine changed its format during the 1980s, adding a “Readings” section that featured an eclectic collection of reprints of interesting documents. It continued to publish original essays and fiction by prominent authors and maintained a generally liberal political philosophy. “Harper’s Index,” a…

Silas Lapham, fictional character, the self-made protagonist of William Dean Howells’s novel The Rise of Silas Lapham

Lapland, region of northern Europe largely within the Arctic Circle, stretching across northern Norway, Sweden, and Finland and into the Kola Peninsula of Russia. It is bounded by the Norwegian Sea on the west, the Barents Sea on the north, and the White Sea on the east. Lapland, the conventional

lapiés, weathered limestone surface found in karst regions and consisting of etched, fluted, and pitted rock pinnacles separated by deep grooves. This rugged surface is formed by the solution of rock along joints and areas of greater solubility by water containing carbonic and humic acids. It is

Yair Lapid: …a writer, and his father, Yosef (Tommy) Lapid, was a journalist and commentator known for his outspoken support of secularism and his criticism of Israel’s ultra-Orthodox political parties; Yosef later entered politics as the head of the centrist party Shinui (“Change”) and served as minister of justice and deputy prime…

Yair Lapid is an Israeli journalist, television personality, and politician who served briefly as prime minister (July–December 2022). He also served as minister of finance (2013–14) and minister of foreign affairs (2021–22). Lapid was raised in Tel Aviv. His mother, Shulamit Lapid, was a writer,

Yair Lapid: …a writer, and his father, Yosef (Tommy) Lapid, was a journalist and commentator known for his outspoken support of secularism and his criticism of Israel’s ultra-Orthodox political parties; Yosef later entered politics as the head of the centrist party Shinui (“Change”) and served as minister of justice and deputy prime…

lapidary style, in calligraphy, style of lettering characteristically used for inscription in marble or other stone by chisel strokes, as, for example, on Trajan’s Column in the Forum at Rome. The words of the inscription may be painted upon the stone slab first as a guide for the stonecutter, and

Morris Lapidus was a Ukrainian-born U.S. architect. He went to the U.S. as a child and grew up in New York City. After earning an architectural degree, he worked in New York architectural firms from 1928 to 1942. In 1942 Lapidus moved to Miami Beach, where he ran his own firm until 1986. He

Oliver North: …struggle with NRA chief executive Wayne LaPierre as regulators investigated the organization’s tax-exempt status amid allegations of financial improprieties. In 2019 North announced that he was resigning as president, noting that the NRA was in the midst of a “clear crisis.”

lapiés, weathered limestone surface found in karst regions and consisting of etched, fluted, and pitted rock pinnacles separated by deep grooves. This rugged surface is formed by the solution of rock along joints and areas of greater solubility by water containing carbonic and humic acids. It is

lapillus, unconsolidated volcanic fragment with a diameter between 4 and 32 mm (0.16 and 1.26 inches) that was ejected during a volcanic explosion. Lapilli may consist of fresh magma, solid magma from a prior eruption, or basement rocks through which the eruption passed. Accretionary lapilli are

igneous rock: Important textural types: …lapilli and the rock is lapillistone; fragments greater than 64 millimetres are called bombs if rounded or blocks if angular, and the corresponding rock is termed agglomerate or pyroclastic breccia, respectively. Commonly, many of these pyroclastic rocks have been formed by dense hot clouds that hug the ground and behave…

lapillus, unconsolidated volcanic fragment with a diameter between 4 and 32 mm (0.16 and 1.26 inches) that was ejected during a volcanic explosion. Lapilli may consist of fresh magma, solid magma from a prior eruption, or basement rocks through which the eruption passed. Accretionary lapilli are

rabbit hair, animal fibre obtained from the Angora rabbit and the various species of the common rabbit. Rabbits have coats consisting of both long, protective guard hairs and a fine insulating undercoat. The fibre of the Angora rabbit (so named for the resemblance of its pelt to that of the Angora

Stephen Sondheim: James Lapine to create Sunday in the Park with George (1984), a musical inspired by the painting Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte by pointillist Georges Seurat. Sondheim and Lapine paired again for Into the Woods (1987; film 2014), which deconstructs and…

lapis lazuli, semiprecious stone valued for its deep blue colour. The source of the pigment ultramarine (q.v.), it is not a mineral but a rock coloured by lazurite (see sodalite). In addition to the sodalite minerals in lapis lazuli, small amounts of white calcite and of pyrite crystals are usually

Lapita culture, cultural complex of what were presumably the original human settlers of Melanesia, much of Polynesia, and parts of Micronesia, and dating between 1600 and 500 bce. It is named for a type of fired pottery that was first extensively investigated at the site of Lapita in New Caledonia.

Fiji: History of Fiji: …style of pottery known as Lapita ware. That pottery is generally associated with peoples who had well-developed skills in navigation and canoe building and were horticulturists. From Fiji the Lapita culture was carried to Tonga and Samoa, where the first distinctively Polynesian cultures evolved. Archaeological evidence suggests that two other…

Pirithous: Pirithous originally belonged to the Lapiths, a northern mountain tribe, and probably his earliest legend was that of his marriage to Hippodamia (daughter of Butes the beemaster). The Centaurs, who had come to the wedding as guests, in drunken fury tried to violate the bride and her attendants; this led…

Cyprus: Greek immigration: Soli (Greek: Soloi), Lapithos, and Salamis. About 800 bce a Phoenician colony was founded at Citium (Greek: Kition), near modern Larnaca, as a dependency of the mother city, Tyre. A seventh kingdom, Amathus, remained for some time under the control of the earlier indigenous

Navier-Stokes equation: …viscosity, and ∇2 is the Laplacian operator (see Laplace’s equation).

Laplace transform, in mathematics, a particular integral transform invented by the French mathematician Pierre-Simon Laplace (1749–1827), and systematically developed by the British physicist Oliver Heaviside (1850–1925), to simplify the solution of many differential equations that describe

Laplace’s equation, second-order partial differential equation widely useful in physics because its solutions R (known as harmonic functions) occur in problems of electrical, magnetic, and gravitational potentials, of steady-state temperatures, and of hydrodynamics. The equation was discovered by

Pierre-Simon, marquis de Laplace was a French mathematician, astronomer, and physicist who was best known for his investigations into the stability of the solar system. Laplace successfully accounted for all the observed deviations of the planets from their theoretical orbits by applying Sir Isaac

Navier-Stokes equation: …viscosity, and ∇2 is the Laplacian operator (see Laplace’s equation).

Lapland, region of northern Europe largely within the Arctic Circle, stretching across northern Norway, Sweden, and Finland and into the Kola Peninsula of Russia. It is bounded by the Norwegian Sea on the west, the Barents Sea on the north, and the White Sea on the east. Lapland, the conventional

beard lichen: Major species: florida) and the Lapland beard lichen (U. lapponica), as well as that of several other species, is contentious, and the lichens may have a broad or more-limited geographic range depending on the source.

Lapland Nature Reserve, natural area set aside for research in the natural sciences in the western part of the Kola Peninsula, northwestern Russia. It lies west of Lake Imandra and has an area of 1,075 square miles (2,784 square km). The reserve was established (1930) mainly to protect the natural

Finland: Cooperation with Germany: …the country, and, in the series of clashes that followed, it devastated great areas of northern Finland in its retreat. The final peace treaty, signed in Paris on February 10, 1947, reiterated the conditions of the armistice agreement.

Sami, any member of a people speaking the Sami language and inhabiting Lapland and adjacent areas of northern Norway, Sweden, and Finland, as well as the Kola Peninsula of Russia, a region they call Sápmi. Although a number of Sami languages exist, many Sami no longer speak their native language,

Lapland Nature Reserve, natural area set aside for research in the natural sciences in the western part of the Kola Peninsula, northwestern Russia. It lies west of Lake Imandra and has an area of 1,075 square miles (2,784 square km). The reserve was established (1930) mainly to protect the natural

Canada: Quebec separatism: …Cross, and Quebec’s labour minister, Pierre Laporte, who was subsequently murdered. Quebec’s government asked for federal intervention, prompting enactment of the War Measures Act, which suspended the usual civil liberties. Subsequently some 500 people were arrested, and troops were moved into Quebec. The Canadian public generally approved of the act,…

Urticaceae: Major genera and species: … dioica), the wood nettles (Laportea), and the Australian stinging trees (Dendrocnide). Stinging nettle is common in herbal medicine, and its young leaves can be cooked and eaten as a nutritious potherb.

Sami, any member of a people speaking the Sami language and inhabiting Lapland and adjacent areas of northern Norway, Sweden, and Finland, as well as the Kola Peninsula of Russia, a region they call Sápmi. Although a number of Sami languages exist, many Sami no longer speak their native language,

Sami language, any of three members of the Finno-Ugric group of the Uralic language family, spoken by the Sami (Lapp) people in northern Finland, Sweden, and Norway and on the Kola Peninsula in Russia. The Sami languages, which are mutually unintelligible, are sometimes considered dialects of one

Lappeenranta, city, southeastern Finland. Lappeenranta lies at the southern end of Lake Saimaa, northeast of Kotka. It was a major trade centre during the Middle Ages, with a municipal charter granted by Per Brahe, the Swedish governor-general of Finland, in 1649. A border fortress and the

Johann Martin Lappenberg was a German archivist who was also a prolific scholar of German and English history. Lappenberg was intended for his father’s profession, medicine, and studied in Edinburgh and London, where he conceived the ambition of entering British politics or serving in that

lappet, any member of the insect genus Tolype of the Lasiocampidae family of moths (order Lepidoptera). The genus includes the eggars, named for their egg-shaped cocoons, and the tent caterpillars, which spin huge, tent-shaped communal webs in trees. Lappets in the larval stage have lateral lobes,

textile: Inlaid weave: Lappet weaving is generally confined to coarse pattern yarns and can be distinguished from swivel by its interlacing with weft rather than with warp yarns.

vulture: Old World vultures: The lappet-faced vulture (Torgos tracheliotus), sometimes called the eared, or Nubian, vulture, is a huge Old World vulture of arid Africa. Being 1 metre (3.3 feet) tall, with a 2.7-metre (8.9-foot) wingspan, it dominates all other vultures when feeding. It is black and brown above and…

Lapland, region of northern Europe largely within the Arctic Circle, stretching across northern Norway, Sweden, and Finland and into the Kola Peninsula of Russia. It is bounded by the Norwegian Sea on the west, the Barents Sea on the north, and the White Sea on the east. Lapland, the conventional

abrasive: Other abrasive products: …more suitable for use as lapping abrasive or perhaps as sandblasting grain. For use in lapping and polishing, the abrasive is usually mixed with a vehicle such as mineral or seal oil. Polishing sticks consist of waxes or greases impregnated with various-sized abrasive grains, depending on the particular requirements of…

machine tool: Lapping and honing machines: Lapping and honing operations are classified under the basic art of grinding. Lapping is a process in which a soft cloth impregnated with abrasive pastes or compounds is rubbed against the surface of a workpiece. Lapping is used to produce a high-quality…

Sami language, any of three members of the Finno-Ugric group of the Uralic language family, spoken by the Sami (Lapp) people in northern Finland, Sweden, and Norway and on the Kola Peninsula in Russia. The Sami languages, which are mutually unintelligible, are sometimes considered dialects of one

Lapland, region of northern Europe largely within the Arctic Circle, stretching across northern Norway, Sweden, and Finland and into the Kola Peninsula of Russia. It is bounded by the Norwegian Sea on the west, the Barents Sea on the north, and the White Sea on the east. Lapland, the conventional

Lappland, landskap (province) of northern Sweden. Lappland is bounded on the west by Norway, on the north by Finland, on the east by the landskap (provinces) of Norrbotten and Västerbotten, and on the south by those of Ångermanland and Jämtland. Administratively it lies within the län (counties) of

Lappland: Territorial subdivisions called lappmark were established for the regulation and taxation of the fur trade. As Swedish cultivators settled the coastal provinces (Västerbotten and Norrbotten) and began to move up the rivers into the interior, conflicts arose with the indigenous Sami. Twice, “limits of cultivation” were established by…

Lapua Movement, (1929–32), fascist movement in Finland that threatened the young state’s democratic institutions and for a time dictated the policies of the government. It was named for the parish of Lapua, where a fascist group disrupted a meeting of communists late in 1929. The movement,

lapse rate, rate of change in temperature observed while moving upward through the Earth’s atmosphere. The lapse rate is considered positive when the temperature decreases with elevation, zero when the temperature is constant with elevation, and negative when the temperature increases with

doctrine of lapse, in Indian history, formula devised by Lord Dalhousie, governor-general of India (1848–56), to deal with questions of succession to Hindu Indian states. It was a corollary to the doctrine of paramountcy, by which Great Britain, as the ruling power of the Indian subcontinent,

Laptev Sea, marginal sea of the Arctic Ocean off the coast of Northern Siberia (Russia), bounded by the Taymyr Peninsula (Poluostrov) and the islands of Severnaya Zemlya on the west and by the New Siberian Islands and Kotelny Island on the east. It is connected in the west with the Kara Sea and in