GLOSSARY.

1309
LoNGiMETRY.
A term used to denote the operation of trigonometry for measuring lengths,
whether accessible or inaccessible.
LooKUM, or Leucomb. A word used for the projection on the upper floor of a warehouse
or mill, to cover a wheel and fall, or a crane, and has a trap-floor to it. It may, pro-
bably, be derived from the French term lucarne.
Loop. (Fr.) A small narrow window. A loophole is a term applied to the vertical
series of doors in a warehouse, through which the goods in craning are delivered.
Loophole. A narrow aperture formed in walls, and sometimes in the merlon of a battle-
ment, through which the defenders discharged their bows or firearms. See Balistearia.
Lotus. A plant of the water-lily specii s much used in the architeetural ornaments of
the early nations, and especially in the capitals of Egyptian columns. See fig. 54.
LouvKE. A turret or lantern over a hall or other apartment with openings for ventila-
tion and to allow the escape of smoke or steam.
Louvre, Luffer, or Lever Boarding. (Fr. Lou\Te.) Boarding, with intervals between
the boards, nailed horizontally in an inclined direction, on the sides of buildings or
lanterns, so as to admit a free current of air, and at the same time to exclude the rain.
They are used for air-drying lofts. Each set, if required, is made to open and shut
hy the action of a lever.
Low Side Window. A small opening like a window, usually placed in the south chancel
wall, and lower than the other windows, for what purpose is not strictly known. It has
been called a Lychnoscope.
Lozenge. A quadrilateral figure of four equal sides, with oblique angles.
Lozenge Moulding. An ornament used in Norman architecture, presenting the appear-
ance of diamond-shaped lozenges laid in the hollow of the moulding.
Lucarne. The same as Dormer.
Lumber. Timber sawn ready for use. It is a term used chiefly in America.
LuNE or Lunula. The space between two equal arcs of a circle.
Lunette. (Fr.) A cylindric, cylindroidic, or spherical aperture in a ceiling. As an
example of the term, we may refer to the upper lights in the nave of St. Paul's
Cathedral.
LuniBRN. The same as Dormer.
Lych-Gate, or Corpse-Gate (from the Anglo-Saxon Leich, a dead body). A gate at the
entrance of a churchyard, where the coffin was set down for a few minutes before burial.
It is generally of wood, and often thatched. Lych-gates are not of frequent occurrence
in England. In Wales many of them may be seen.
Lychnoscope. See Low Side Window.
Lying Panels. Those wherein the fibres of the wood, or the grain of it, lie in a hori-
zontal direction.
Lysis. (Gr.) A plinth or step above the cornice of the podium of ancient temples, which
surrounded or embraced the stylobate ; an example of it may be seen in llio temple
of Fortuna Virilis at Eome.
M
M Roof. A roof formed by the junction of two common roofs with a valley between
them. The letter
}^
inverted represents this species of covering.
Machicolations. (Fr. Machicoulis.) lu castellated architecture are, according to Grose,
the projections, supported by brackets or corbels, through which melted lead and stones
were dropped on the heads of assailants. They were not probably, however, projecting
works, but sometimes were considered as the series of square holes in the vaultings of
the portals used for the same purpose.
Machine. (Gr. Moxch"?.) In a general sense, anything which serves to increase or regu-
late the effect of a given force. Machines are simple or compound. The former are tlie
simple mechanical power.^, six in number ; viz. the lever, the wheel and axle, the pulh'y,
the wedge, the screw, and the funicular machine. The latter are formed by the cond)i-
nation of two or more simple machines, and are classed according to the forces by
which they are put in motion, as hydraulic machines, pneumatic machines, eld trie
machines, &c., or the purposes they are intended to serve, as military machines,
architectural
machines, &c.
Mabnhir, or Menhir. A long upright stone in Celtic works, called \ry the Norman
writers peulvan, and by country people hoarstone.
Magnesian
Limestone. An extensive series of beds lying in geological position imme-
diately above the coal measures ; so called because the limestone, which is the principal
member of the series, contains magnesia.
Magnitude.
(Lat.) A term by which size, extent, or quantity is designated. It was
originally applied to the space occupied by any figure
;
or, in other words, it was apjilicd
to objects strictly termed geometrical, and of throe dimensions, length, breadth, and
thickness, but it has gradually become enlarged in its signification, so as to be given to