LASSEN, CHRISTIAN, eminent Orientalist, born at Bergen; studied Pali with Burnouf in Paris; became professor of Indian Languages and Literature in Bonn; contributed largely to our knowledge of cuneiform inscriptions, and wrote, among other works, an epoch-making work entitled “Indische Alterthumskunde.”

LASSO, a well-plaited strip of hide, with a noose, to catch wild horses or cattle with.

LATAKIA (10), a seaport on the coast of Syria; exports a tobacco of a fine quality, to which it gives name.

LATEEN SAIL, a triangular sail common on the Mediterranean.

LATERAN, the palace, originally a basilica, built by Constantine in Rome about 333, the residence of the Pope till 1308, and from which no fewer than five Ecumenical Councils receive their names as held in it, namely, those of 1123, 1139, 1179, 1215, and 1518; the church, called the Church of St. John Lateran, is the cathedral church of Rome.

LATHAM, ROBERT GORDON, ethnologist and philologist, born at Billingborough Vicarage, Lincolnshire, graduated at Cambridge 1832. and became Fellow of King’s College; qualifying in medicine he held appointments in the London hospitals, but meanwhile was attracted to philology and ethnology, appointed professor of English Language and Literature in University College, London, 1839, and director of the ethnological department of the Crystal Palace, 1852; in 1862 he affirmed, against the most weighty authorities, that the Aryan stock is originally European, not Asian, a view which has since found favour; he published his “English Language” in 1841, and “The Natural History of the Varieties of Mankind” in 1850, and was pensioned in 1863 (1812-1888).

LATIMER, HUGH, Bishop of Worcester, born near Leicester; studied at Cambridge, and entered the Church, but soon adopted the Reformed doctrines, gained the favour of Henry VIII. by approving of his divorce, and was appointed bishop; by his labours in Worcester as a preacher of the Reformed faith he lost the royal favour, and was twice committed to the Tower for his obstinacy, he the while resigning his appointment; under Edward VI. his zeal as a preacher had full scope, but under Mary his mouth was gagged, and he was burnt at the stake along with Ridley, opposite Balliol College, Oxford (1490-1545).

LATIN UNION, a convention in 1865, between France, Italy, Belgium, Switzerland, and Greece, to establish an international monetary standard.

LATITUDINARIANS, the name given to a body of theologians belonging to the Church of England who, at the end of the 17th century, sought, in the interest of religion, to affiliate the dogmas of the Church, with the principles of philosophy as grounded on reason; they were mostly of the school of Plato, and among their leaders were Cudworth and Henry More.

LATONA, the Latin name for Greek LETO (q. v.).

LATOUR D’AUVERGNE, CORRET DE, a French grenadier, born in Brittany; celebrated for his intrepidity and his self-sacrificing patriotism; distinguished himself in the wars of the Revolution; would accept no promotion, and declined even the title of “First Grenadier of the Republic” which Bonaparte wished to confer on him, but by which he is known to posterity (1743-1800).