LEMNOS (30), an island plateau in the AEgean Sea, 30 m.  SW. of the Dardanelles, Turkish since 1657; produces corn, wine, and tobacco, and is a place of exile for Turkish prisoners; the population is mostly Greek; chief town Kastro (3), on the W. coast.

LEMON, MARK, editor of Punch from 1843 to his death, born in London; began his career as a dramatist, story-teller, and song-writer, writing 60 pieces for the stage and 100 songs (1809-1870).

LEM`URES, a name given by the Romans to the spirits of the dead, and who, such of them as are ghosts of the wicked, wander about at night as spectres, and tormented themselves, torment and frighten the living.

LENCLOS, NINON DE, a woman celebrated for wit and beauty, born in Paris, whose salon in the city was frequented by all the notable personages of the period; she was a woman of superior mental endowments as well as polished manners, but of loose morality and want of heart (1616-1705).

LENNEP, JACOB VAN, a Dutch dramatist and novelist, born at Amsterdam; bred to the bar and practised as a lawyer; was a devoted student of English literature, and executed translations from English poets; was called by his countrymen the Walter Scott of Holland (1802-1868).

LENNOX, an ancient district of Scotland that included Dumbartonshire and part of Stirlingshire.

LENORE, the heroine of a celebrated ballad by Buerger, the German lyric poet, a maiden whose lover dies and whose spectre appears to her on horseback and carries her off mounted behind him.

LENORMANT, FRANCOIS, a distinguished archaeologist, born at Paris, a man of genius and of vast learning; his chief works “Manuel d’Histoire Ancienne de l’Orient,” “Lettres Assyriologues,” “Les Premieres Civilisations,” and “Les Sciences Occultes en Asie” (1837-1883).

LENS, a piece of glass adapted as convex or concave so as to change the direction of the rays of light passing through it and magnify or diminish the apparent size of an object.

LENT, a period of fasting previous to Easter, at first lasting only 40 hours, was gradually extended to three, four, or six days, then different Churches extended it to three and six:  weeks; in the 6th century Gregory the Great fixed it for the West at 40 days from Ash Wednesday to Easter, excluding Sundays; in the Eastern Church it begins on the Monday after quinquagesima and excludes both Saturdays and Sundays; in the Anglican Church the season is marked by special services, but the fast is not rigidly kept.

LENTHALL, WILLIAM, Speaker of the Long Parliament; is famous for his answer to the demand of Charles to point out to him five members he had come to arrest, “May it please your Majesty,” said he, failing on his knees, “I have neither eyes to see nor tongue to speak but as the House directs me” (1591-1662).

LEO, the fifth sign of the zodiac, which the sun enters on July 22.

LEO, the name of six emperors of the East, of which the chief was Leo III., surnamed the Isaurian, born in Isauria; raised to the imperial throne by the army, defeated by sea and land the Saracens who threatened Constantinople; ruled peacefully for nine years, when he headed the ICONOCLAST MOVEMENT (Q.  V.), which provoked hostility and led to the revolt of Italy from the Greek empire; d. 741.