Chapter VI: The Language as Recorded (17)

Basic dyes are salts of organic colour bases with hydrochloric or some
other suitable acid. Basic colours precipitate the tannins, and thus,
because of their affinity for them, dye very rapidly, tending to
produce uneven shades, especially if the tannin on the skin is
unevenly distributed. They are much more intense in colour than the
acid dyes, have a strong tendency to bronze, and accentuate weak and
defective grain. They are also precipitated by hard waters, so that
the hardness should be first neutralized by the addition of acetic
acid, else the precipitated colour lake may produce streakily dyed
leather. To prevent rapid dyeing, acetic acid or sodium bisulphate
should always be added in small quantity to the dye-bath, preferably
the latter, as it prevents bronzing. The most important point about
the application of basic dyes to leather is the previous fixation of
the tannin on the surface of the leather to prevent its bleeding into
the dye-bath and precipitating the dye. All soluble salts of the heavy
metals will fix the tannin, but few are applicable, as they form
colour lakes, which are generally undesirable. Antimony and titanium
salts are generally used, the forms being tartar emetic (antimony
potassium tartrate), antimonine (antimony lactate), potassium titanium
oxalate, and titanium lactate. The titanium salts are economically
used when dyeing browns, as they produce a yellowish-brown shade; it
is therefore not necessary to use so much dye. About 2 oz. of tartar
emetic and 8 oz. of salt is a convenient quantity for 1 dozen goat
skins. The bath is used at 30° to 40° C., and the goods are immersed
for about 15 minutes, having been thoroughly washed before being dyed.
Iron salts are sometimes used by leather-stainers for saddening
(dulling) the shade of colour produced, iron tannate, a black salt,
being formed. It is often found economical to "bottom" goods with
acid, direct, or other colours, and then finish with basic colours;
this procedure forms a colour lake, and colour lakes are always faster
to light and rubbing than the colours themselves.

Direct cotton dyes produce shades of great delicacy, and are used for
the dyeing of pale and "art" shades. They are applied in neutral or
very slightly acid baths, formic and acetic acids being most suitable
with the addition of a quantity of sodium chloride or sulphate. After
dyeing, the goods are well washed to free from excess of salt. The
eosine colours, including erythrosine, phloxine, rose Bengal, &c., are
applied in a similar manner, and are specially used for the beautiful
fluorescent pink shades they produce; acid and basic colours and
mineral acids precipitate them.

The mordant colours, which include the alizarine and anthracene
colours, are extremely fast to light, and require a mordant to develop
the colour. They are specially applicable to chamois leather, although
a few may be used for chrome and alum leathers, and one or two are
successfully applied to vegetable-tanned leather without a mordant.

Sulphur or sulphide colours, the first of which to appear were the
famous Vidal colours, are applied in sodium sulphide solution, and are
most successfully used on chrome leather, as they produce a colour
lake with chrome salts, the resulting colour being very fast to light
and rubbing. A very serious disadvantage in connexion with them is
that they must necessarily be applied in alkaline solution, and the
alkali has a disintegrating effect upon the fibre of the leather,
which cannot be satisfactorily overcome, although formaldehyde and
glycerin mixtures have been patented for the purpose.

The Janus colours are perhaps worth mentioning as possessing both acid
and basic characteristics; they precipitate tannin, and are best
regarded as basic dyes from a leather-dyer's standpoint.

The goods after dyeing are washed up, slicked out on an inclined glass table, nailed on boards, or hung up by the hind shanks to dry out.

Coal-tar dyes are not much used for the production of blacks, as they do not give such a satisfactory result as logwood with an iron mordant. In the dyeing of blacks the preliminary operation of souring is always omitted and that of sumaching sometimes, but if much tan has been removed it will be found necessary to use sumach, although cutch may be advantageously and cheaply substituted. After shaving, the goods, if to be dressed for "blue backs" (blue-coloured flesh), are dyed as already described, with methyl violet or some other suitable dye; they are then folded down the back and drawn through a hot solution of logwood and fustic extracts, and then rapidly through a weak, cold iron sulphate and copper acetate solution. Immediately afterwards they are rinsed up and either drummed in a little neatsfoot oil or oiled over with a pad, flesh and grain, and dried. When dry the goods are damped back and staked, dried out and re-staked.

After dry-staking, the goods are "seasoned," i.e. some suitable mixture is applied to the grain to enable it to take the glaze. The following is typical: 3 quarts logwood liquor, ½ pint bullock's blood, ½ pint milk, ½ gill ammonia, ½ gill orchil and 3 quarts water. This season is brushed well into the grain, and the goods are dried in a warm stove and glazed by machine. The skins are glazed under considerable pressure, a polished glass slab or roller being forced over the surface of the leather in a series of rapid strokes, after which the goods are re-seasoned, re-staked, fluffed, re-glazed, oiled over with a pad, dipped in linseed oil and dried. They are now ready for market. If the goods are to be finished dull they are seasoned with linseed mucilage, casein or milk (many other materials are also used), and rolled, glassed with a polished slab by hand, or ironed with a warm iron.

Coloured glacés are finished in a similar manner to black glacés, dye (instead of logwood and iron) being added to the season, which usually consists of a simple mixture of dye, albumen and milk.

Moroccos and grain leathers are boarded on the flesh side before and after glazing, often being "tooth rolled" between the several operations. Tooth rolling consists of forcing, under pressure, a toothed roller over the grain; this cuts into the leather and helps to produce many grains, which could not be produced naturally by boarding, besides fixing them.

Many artificial grains and patterns are also given to leather by printing and embossing, these processes being carried out by passing the leather between two rollers, the top one upon which the pattern is engraved being generally steam heated. This impresses the pattern upon the grain of the leather.

The above methods will give a very general idea of the processes in vogue for the dressing of goods for fancy work. The dressing of chrome leathers for uppers is different in important particulars.

_Chrome Box and Willow Calf._--Willow calf is coloured calf, box calf
is dressed black and grained with a "box" grain. A large quantity of
kips is now dressed as box calf; these goods are the hides of yearling
Indian cattle, and are dressed in an exactly similar manner as calf.
After tanning and boraxing to neutralize the acidity of the chrome
liquor, the goods are washed up, sammied, shaved, and are ready for
mordanting previous to dyeing. Very few dyes will dye chrome leather
direct, i.e. without mordanting. Sulphide colours are not yet in great
demand, nor are the alizarines used as much as they might be. The
ordinary acid and basic dyes are more generally employed, and the
goods consequently require to be first mordanted. The mordanting is
carried out by drumming the goods in a solution containing tannin,
and, except for pale shades, some dyewood extract is used; for reds
peachwood extract, for browns fustic or gambier, and for dark browns a
little logwood is added. For all pale shades sumach is exclusively
used. After drumming in the warm tannin infusion for half an hour, if
the goods are to be dyed with basic colours the tannin is first fixed
by drumming in tartar emetic and salt, or titanium, as previously
described; the dyeing is also carried out as described for persians,
except that a slightly higher temperature may be maintained. If the
goods are to be dyed black they are passed through logwood and iron
solutions.

After dyeing and washing up, &c., the goods are fatliquored by placing
them in a previously heated drum and drumming them with a mixture
known as a "fatliquor," of which the following recipe is typical:
Dissolve 3 lb. of soft soap by boiling with 3 gallons of water, then
add 9 lb. of neatsfoot oil and boil for some minutes; now place the
mixture in an emulsifier and emulsify until cooled to 35° C., then add
the yolks of 5 fresh eggs and emulsify for a further half hour. The
fatliquor is added to the drum at 55° C., and the goods are drummed
for half an hour, when all the fatliquor should be absorbed; they are
then slicked out and dried. After drying, they are damped back,
staked, dried, re-staked and seasoned with materials similar to those
used for persians; when dry they are glazed, boarded on the flesh
("grained") from neck to butt and belly to belly to give them the box
grain, fluffed, reseasoned, reglazed and regrained.

_Finishing of Bag Hides._--The goods are first soaked back, piled to
samm, split or shaved, scoured by machine, finished off by hand,
washed up and retanned by drumming in warm sumach and extract, after
which they are washed up, struck out, hung up to samm, and "set."
"Setting" consists of laying the grain flat and smooth by striking out
with a steel or sharp brass slicker. They are then dried out, topped
with linseed mucilage, and again dried. This brushing over with
linseed mucilage prevents the dye from sinking too far into the
leather; gelatine, Irish moss, starch and gums are also used for the
same purpose. These materials are also added to the staining solution
to thicken it and further prevent its sinking in.

When dry, the goods are stained by applying a ½% (usually) solution of
a suitable basic dye, thickened with linseed, with a brush. Two men
are usually employed on this work; one starts at the right-hand flank
and the other at the left-hand shank, and they work towards each
other, staining in sections; much skill is needed to obviate markings
where the sections overlap. The goods may advantageously be bottomed
with an acid dye or a dye-wood extract, and then finished with basic
dyes. Whichever method is used, two to three coats are given, drying
between each. After the last coat of stain, and while the goods are
still in a sammied condition, a mixture of linseed mucilage and French
chalk is applied to the flesh and glassed off wet, to give it a white
appearance, and then the goods are printed with any of the usual bag
grains by machine or hand, and dried out. For a bright finish the
season may consist of a solution of 15 parts carnauba wax, 10 parts
curd soap and 100 parts water boiled together; this is sponged into
the grain, dried and the hides are finished by either glassing or
brushing. For a duller finish the grain is simply rubbed over with
buck tallow and brushed. Hide bellies for small work are treated in
much the same manner.

_Glove Leathers._--As these goods were tanned in alum, salt, flour and
egg, any undue immersion in water removes the tannage; for this reason
they are generally stained like bag hides, one man only being employed
on the same skin. The skins are first thoroughly soaked in warm water
and then drummed for some minutes in a fresh supply, when they are
re-egged to replace that which has been lost. This is best done by
drumming them for about 1½ hours in 40 to 50 egg yolks and 5 lb. of
salt for every hundred skins; they are then allowed to be in pile for
24 hours, and are set out on the table ready for mordanting. The
mordants universally used are ammonia or alkaline soft soap; 1 in 1000
of the former or a 1% solution of the latter. When the goods have
partially dried in, bottoming follows, and usually the natural wood
dyestuffs are used for this operation, such as fustic, Brazil wood,
peachwood, logwood and turmeric. After application of these colours
the goods are sammied and topped with a 1% solution of an acid dye, to
which has been added 20% of methylated spirit to prevent frothing with
the egg yolk; they are then dried out slowly, staked, pulled in shape,
fluffed and brushed by machine. The season, which is sponged on, may
consist of 1 part dye, 1 part albumen, 2 parts dextrine and ¼ part
glycerine, made up to 100 parts with water; when it has been applied,
the goods are sammied, brushed and ironed with a warm flat iron such
as is used in laundry work.

_Bookbinding Leathers._--A committee of the Society of Arts (London)
has investigated the question of leather for bookbinding, attention
having been drawn to this subject by the rotten and decayed condition
often observed in bindings less than fifty years old. This committee
engaged in research work extending over several years, and the report
in which its results were given was edited for the Society of Arts and
the Leathersellers' Company (which also did much important work in
connexion with it) by Lord Cobham, chairman of the committee, and Sir
Henry Trueman Wood, secretary of the society. The essence of the
report, so far as leather manufacture is concerned, is as follows: The
goods should be soaked and limed in fresh liquors, and bating and
puering should be avoided, weak organic acids or erodine being used;
they should also be tanned with pyrogallol tanning materials, and
preferably with sumach. In shaving, they should only be necked and
backed, i.e. only irregularities should be removed, as further shaving
has a considerable weakening effect on the fibre. The striking out
should not be heavy enough to lay the fibre. In dyeing, acid dyes and
a few direct colours only are permissible, and in connexion with the
former the use of sulphuric acid is strongly condemned, as it
absolutely disintegrates the fibre; the use of formic, acetic and
lactic acids is permitted. The use of salts of mineral acids is to be
avoided, and in finishing, tight setting out and damp glazing is not
to be recommended; oil may be advantageously used.

BIBLIOGRAPHY.--H. G. Bennett, _The Manufacture of Leather_ (1909); S.
R. Trotman, _Leather Trades Chemistry_ (1908); M. C. Lamb, _Leather
Dressing_ (1907); A. Watt, _Leather Manufacture_ (1906); H. R.
Procter, _Principles of Leather Manufacture_ (1903), and _Leather
Industries Laboratory Book_ (1908); L. A. Flemming, _Practical
Tanning_ (1910); A. M. Villon, _Practical Treatise on the Leather
Industry_ (1901); C. T. Davis, _Manufacture of Leather_ (1897). German
works include J. Borgman, _Die Rotlederfabrikation_ (Berlin,
1904-1905), and _Feinlederfabrikation_ (1901); J. Jettmar, _Handbuch
der Chromgerbung_ (Leipzig, 1900); J. von Schroeder, _Gerbereichemie_
(Berlin, 1898). (J. G. P.*)

FOOTNOTE:

[1] See LYE.

LEATHER, ARTIFICIAL. Under the name of artificial leather, or of American leather cloth, large quantities of a material having, more or less, a leather-like surface are used, principally for upholstery purposes, such as the covering of chairs, lining the tops of writing desks and tables, &c. There is considerable diversity in the preparation of such materials. A common variety consists of a web of calico coated with boiled linseed oil mixed with dryers and lampblack or other pigment. Several coats of this mixture are uniformly spread, smoothed and compressed on the cotton surface by passing it between metal rollers, and when the surface is required to possess a glossy enamel-like appearance, it receives a finishing coat of copal varnish. A grained morocco surface is given to the material by passing it between suitably embossed rollers. Preparations of this kind have a close affinity to cloth waterproofed with indiarubber, and to such manufactures as ordinary waxcloth. An artificial leather which has been patented and proposed for use as soles for boots, &c., is composed of powdered scraps and cuttings of leather mixed with solution of guttapercha dried and compressed. In place of the guttapercha solution, oxidized linseed oil or dissolved resin may be used as the binding medium for the leather powder.

LEATHERHEAD, an urban district in the Epsom parliamentary division of Surrey, England, 18 m. S.S.W. of London, on the London, Brighton & South Coast and the London & South-Western railways. Pop. (1901) 4694. It lies at the foot of the North Downs in the pleasant valley of the river Mole. The church of St Mary and St Nicholas dates from the 14th century. St John's Foundation School, opened in London in 1852, is devoted to the education of sons of poor clergymen. Leatherhead has brick-making and brewing industries, and the district is largely residential.

LEATHES, STANLEY (1830-1900), English divine and Orientalist, was born at Ellesborough, Bucks, on the 21st of March 1830, and was educated at Jesus College, Cambridge, where he graduated B.A. in 1852, M.A. 1853. In 1853 he was the first Tyrwhitt's Hebrew scholar. He was ordained priest in 1857, and after serving several curacies was appointed professor of Hebrew at King's College, London, in 1863. In 1868-1870 he was Boyle lecturer (_The Witness of the Old Testament to Christ_), in 1873 Hulsean lecturer (_The Gospel its Own Witness_), in 1874 Bampton Lecturer (_The Religion of the Christ_) and from 1876 to 1880 Warburtonian lecturer. He was a member of the Old Testament revision committee from 1870 to 1885. In 1876 he was elected prebendary of St Paul's Cathedral, and he was rector of Cliffe-at-Hoo near Gravesend (1880-1889) and of Much Hadham, Hertfordshire (1889-1900). The university of Edinburgh gave him the honorary degree of D.D. in 1878, and his own college made him an honorary fellow in 1885. Besides the lectures noted he published _Studies in Genesis_ (1880), _The Foundations of Morality_ (1882) and some volumes of sermons. He died in May 1900.

His son, Stanley Mordaunt Leathes (b. 1861), became a fellow of Trinity, Cambridge, and lecturer on history, and was one of the editors of the _Cambridge Modern History_; he was secretary to the Civil Service Commission from 1903 to 1907, when he was appointed a Civil Service Commissioner.

LEAVEN (in Mid. Eng. _levain_, adapted from Fr. _levain_, in same sense, from Lat. _levamen_, which is only found in the sense of alleviation, comfort, _levare_, to lift up), a substance which produces fermentation, particularly in the making of bread, properly a portion of already fermented dough added to other dough for this purpose (see BREAD). The word is used figuratively of any element, influence or agency which effects a subtle or secret change. These figurative usages are mainly due to the comparison of the kingdom of Heaven to leaven in Matt. xiii. 33, and to the warning against the leaven of the Pharisees in Matt. xvi. 6. In the first example the word is used of a good influence, but the more usual significance is that of an evil agency. There was among the Hebrews an association of the idea of fermentation and corruption, which may have been one source of the prohibition of the use of leavened bread in sacrificial offerings. For the usage of unleavened bread at the feasts of the Passover and of Massôth, and the connexion of the two, see PASSOVER.

LEAVENWORTH, a city and the county-seat of Leavenworth county, Kansas, U.S.A., on the W. bank of the Missouri river. Pop. (1900) 20,738, of whom 3402 were foreign-born and 2925 were negroes; (1910 census) 19,363. It is one of the most important railway centres west of the Missouri river, being served by the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fé, the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy, the Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific, the Chicago Great Western, the Missouri Pacific, the Union Pacific and the Leavenworth & Topeka railways. The city is laid out regularly in the bottom-lands of the river, and its streets are named after Indian tribes. Rolling hills surround it on three sides. The city has many handsome public buildings, and contains the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception, Leavenworth being the see of a Roman Catholic bishop. The public institutions include the Kansas State Protective Home (1889) for negroes, an Old Ladies' Rest (1892), St Vincent's Orphans' Asylum (1886, open to all sects) and a Guardian Angels' Home (1889), for negroes--all private charities aided by the state; also St John's Hospital (1879), Cushing Hospital (1893) and Leavenworth Hospital (1900), which are training schools for nurses. There is also a branch of the National Home for Disabled Volunteer Soldiers. In the suburbs there are state and United States penitentiaries. Leavenworth is a trading centre and has various manufactures, the most important being foundry and machine shop and flouring and grist-mill products, and furniture. The city's factory products increased in value from $3,251,460 in 1900 to $4,151,767 in 1905, or 27.7%. There are valuable coal mines in Leavenworth and the immediate vicinity. About 3 m. N. of the city, on a reservation of about 6000 acres, is Fort Leavenworth, an important United States military post, associated with which are a National Cemetery and Service Schools of the U.S. Army (founded in 1881 as the U.S. Infantry and Cavalry School and in 1901 developed into a General Service and Staff College). In 1907 there were three general divisions of these schools: the Army School of the Line, for officers (not below the grade of captain) of the regular army and for militia officers recommended by the governors of their respective states or territories, offering courses in military art, engineering, law and languages; the Army Signal School, also open to regular and militia officers, and having departments of field signalling, signal engineering, topography and languages; and the Army Staff College, in which the students are the highest graduates from the Army School of the Line, and the courses of instruction are included in the departments of military art, engineering, law, languages and care of troops. The course is one year in each school. At Fort Leavenworth there is a colossal bronze statue of General U. S. Grant erected in 1889. A military prison was established at Fort Leavenworth in 1875; it was used as a civil prison from 1895 to 1906, when it was re-established as a military prison. Its inmates were formerly taught various trades, but owing to the opposition of labour organizations this system was discontinued, and the prisoners are now employed in work on the military reservation.

The fort, from which the city took its name, was built in 1827, in the
Indian country, by Colonel Henry Leavenworth (1783-1834) of the 3rd
Infantry, for the protection of traders plying between the Missouri
river and Santa Fé. The town site was claimed by Missourians from
Weston in June 1854, Leavenworth thus being the oldest permanent
settlement in Kansas; and during the contest in Kansas between the
anti-slavery and pro-slavery settlers, it was known as a pro-slavery
town. It was first incorporated by the Territorial legislature in
1855; a new charter was obtained in 1881; and in 1908 the city adopted
the commission plan of government. On the 3rd of April 1858 a
free-state convention adopted the Leavenworth Constitution here; this
constitution, which was as radically anti-slavery as the Lecompton
Constitution was pro-slavery, was nominally approved by popular vote
in May 1858, and was later submitted to Congress, but never came into
effect. During the Civil War Leavenworth enjoyed great prosperity, at
the expense of more inland towns, partly owing to the proximity of the
fort, which gave it immunity from border raids from Missouri and was
an important depôt of supplies and a place for mustering troops into
and out of the service. Leavenworth was, in Territorial days and until
after 1880, the largest and most thriving commercial city of the
state, and rivalled Kansas City, Missouri, which, however, finally got
the better of it in the struggle for railway facilities.

LEBANON (from Semitic _laban_, "to be white," or "whitish," probably referring not to snow, but to the bare white walls of chalk or limestone which form the characteristic feature of the whole range), in its widest sense is the central mountain mass of Syria, extending for about 100 m. from N.N.E. to S.S.W. It is bounded W. by the sea, N. by the plain Jun Akkar, beyond which rise the mountains of the Ansarieh, and E. by the inland plateau of Syria, mainly steppe-land. To the south Lebanon ends about the point where the river Litany bends westward, and at Banias. A valley narrowing towards its southern end, and now called the Buka'a, divides the mountainous mass into two great parts. That lying to the west is still called Jebel Libnan; the greater part of the eastern mass now bears the name of the Eastern Mountain (Jebel el-Sharki). In Greek the western range was called Libanos, the eastern Antilibanos. The southern extension of the latter, Mount Hermon (q.v.), may in many respects be treated as a separate mountain.

Lebanon and Anti-Lebanon have many features in common; in both the southern portion is less arid and barren than the northern, the western valleys better wooded and more fertile than the eastern. In general the main elevations of the two ranges form pairs lying opposite one another; the forms of both ranges are monotonous, but the colouring is splendid, especially when viewed from a distance; when seen close at hand only a few valleys with perennial streams offer pictures of landscape beauty, their rich green contrasting pleasantly with the bare brown and yellow mountain sides. The finest scenery is found in N. Lebanon, in the Maronite districts of Kesrawan and Bsherreh, where the gorges are veritable canyons, and the villages are often very picturesquely situated. The south of the chain is more open and undulating. Anti-Lebanon is the barest and most inhospitable part of the system.

The district west of Lebanon, averaging about 20 m. in breadth, slopes
in an intricate series of plateaus and terraces to the Mediterranean.
The coast is for the most part abrupt and rocky, often leaving room
for only a narrow path along the shore, and when viewed from the sea
it does not suggest the extent of country lying between its cliffs and
the lofty summits behind. Most of the mountain spurs run from east to
west, but in northern Lebanon the prevailing direction of the valleys
is north-westerly, and in the south some ridges run parallel with the
principal chain. The valleys have for the most part been deeply
excavated by mountain streams; the apparently inaccessible heights are
crowned by numerous villages, castles or cloisters embosomed among
trees. The chief perennial streams, beginning from the north, are the
Nahr Akkar, N. Arka, N. el-Barid, N. Kadisha, "the holy river" (the
valley of which begins in the immediate neighbourhood of the highest
summits, and rapidly descends in a series of great bends till the
river reaches the sea at Tripoli), Wadi el-Joz (falling into the sea
at Batrun), Wadi Fidar, Nahr Ibrahim (the ancient Adonis, having its
source in a recess of the great mountain amphitheatre where the famous
sanctuary Apheca, the modern Afka, lay), Nahr el-Kelb (the ancient
Lycus), Nahr Beirut (the ancient Magoras, entering the sea at Beirut),
Nahr Damur (ancient Tamyras), Nahr el-'Auwali (the ancient Bostrenus,
which in the upper part of its course is joined by the Nahr el-Baruk).
The 'Auwali and the Nahr el-Zaherani, the only other considerable
streams before we reach the Litany, flow north-east to south-west, in
consequence of the interposition of a ridge subordinate and parallel
to the central chain. On the north, where the mountain bears the
special name of Jebel Akkar, the main ridge of Lebanon rises gradually
from the plain. A number of valleys run to the north and north-east,
among them that of the Nahr el-Kebir, the Eleutherus of the ancients,
which rises in the Jebel el-Abiad on the eastern slope of Lebanon, and
afterwards, skirting the district, flows westward to the sea. South of
Jebel el-Abiad, beneath the main ridge, which as a rule falls away
suddenly towards the east, occur several small elevated terraces
having a southward slope; among these are the Wadi en-Nusur ("vale of
eagles"), and the basin of the lake Yammuna, with its intermittent
spring Neb'a el-Arba'in. Of the streams which descend into the Buka'a,
the Berdani rises in Jebel Sunnin, and enters the plain by a deep and
picturesque mountain cleft at Zahleh.

The most elevated summits occur in the north, but even these are of
very gentle gradient. The "Cedar block" consists of a double line of
four and three summits respectively, ranged from north to south, with
a deviation of about 35°. Those to the east are 'Uyun Urghush, Makmal,
Muskiyya (or Naba' esh-Shemaila) and Ras Zahr el-Kazib; fronting the
sea are Kam Sauda or Timarun, Fumm el-Mizab and Zahr el-Kandil. The
height of Zahr el-Kazib, by barometric measurement, is 10,018 ft.;
that of the others does not reach 10,000 ft. South from them is the
pass (8351 ft.) which leads from Baalbek to Tripoli; the great
mountain amphitheatre on the west side of its summit is remarkable.
Farther south is a second group of lofty summits--the snow-capped
Sunnin, visible from Beirut; its height is 8482 ft. Between this
group and the more southerly Jebel Keniseh (about 6700 ft.) lies the
pass (4700 ft.) traversed by the French post road between Beirut and
Damascus. Among the bare summits still farther south are the long
ridge of Jebel el-Baruk (about 7000 ft.), the Jebel Niha, with the
Tau'amat Niha (about 6100 ft.), near which is a pass to Sidon, and the
Jebel Rihan (about 5400 ft.).

The Buka'a, the broad valley which separates Lebanon from
Anti-Lebanon, is watered by two rivers having their watershed near
Baalbek, at an elevation of about 3600 ft., and separated only by a
short mile at their sources. That flowing northwards, El-'Asi, is the
ancient Orontes (q.v.); the other is the Litany. In the lower part of
its course the latter has scooped out a deep and narrow rocky bed; at
Burghuz it is spanned by a great natural bridge. Not far from the
point where it suddenly trends to the west lie, immediately above the
romantic valley, at an elevation of 1500 ft., the imposing ruins of
the old castle Kal'at esh-Shakif, near one of the passes to Sidon. In
its lower part the Litany bears the name of Nahr el-Kasimiya. Neither
the Orontes nor the Litany has any important affluent.

The Buka'a used to be known as Coelesyria (Strabo. xvi. 2, 21); but
that word as employed by the ancients had a much more extensive
application. At present its full name is Buka'a el-'Aziz (the dear
Buka'a), and its northern portion is known as Sahlet Ba'albek (the
plain of Baalbek). The valley is from 4 to 6 m. broad, with an
undulating surface.

The Anti-Lebanon chain has been less fully explored than that of
Lebanon. Apart from its southern offshoots it is 67 m. long, while its
width varies from 16 to 13½ m. It rises from the plain of Hasya-Homs,
and in its northern portion is very arid. The range has not so many
offshoots as occur on the west side of Lebanon; under its precipitous
slopes stretch table-lands and broad plateaus, which, especially on
the east side looking towards the steppe, steadily increase in width.
Along the western side of northern Anti-Lebanon stretches the
Khasha'a, a rough red region lined with juniper trees, a succession of
the hardest limestone crests and ridges, bristling with bare rock and
crag that shelter tufts of vegetation, and are divided by a succession
of grassy ravines. On the eastern side the parallel valley of 'Asal
el-Ward deserves special mention; the descent towards the plain
eastwards, as seen for example at Ma'lula, is singular--first a
spacious amphitheatre and then two deep very narrow gorges. Few
perennial streams take their rise in Anti-Lebanon; one of the finest
and best watered valleys is that of Helbun, the ancient Chalybon, the
Helbon of Ezek. xxvii. 18. The highest points of the range, reckoning
from the north, are Halimat el-Kabu (8257 ft.), which has a splendid
view; the Fatli block, including Tal'at Musa (8721 ft.) and the
adjoining Jebel Nebi Baruh (7900 ft.); and a third group near Bludan,
in which the most prominent names are Shakif, Akhyar and Abu'l-Hin
(8330 ft.); Of the valleys descending westward the first to claim
mention is the Wadi Yafufa; a little farther south, lying north and
south, is the rich upland valley of Zebedani, where the Barada has its
highest sources. Pursuing an easterly course, this stream receives the
waters of the romantic 'Ain Fije (which doubles its volume), and
bursts out by a rocky gateway upon the plain of Damascus, in the
irrigation of which it is the chief agent. It is the Abana of 2 Kings
v. 12; the portion of Anti-Lebanon traversed by it was also called by
the same name (Canticles iv. 8). From the point where the southerly
continuation of Anti-Lebanon begins to take a more westerly direction,
a low ridge shoots out towards the south-west, trending farther and
farther away from the eastern chain and narrowing the Buka'a; upon the
eastern side of this ridge lies the elevated valley or hilly stretch
known as Wadi et-Teim. In the north, beside 'Ain Faluj, it is
connected by a low watershed with the Buka'a; from the gorge of the
Litany it is separated by the ridge of Jebel ed-Dahr. At its southern
end it contracts and merges into the plain of Banias, thus enclosing
Mount Hermon on its north-west and west sides; eastward from the
Hasbany branch of the Jordan lies the meadow-land Merj 'Iyun, the
ancient Ijon (1 Kings xv. 20).

_Vegetation._--The western slope of Lebanon has the common
characteristics of the flora of the Mediterranean coast, but the
Anti-Lebanon belongs to the poorer region of the steppes, and the
Mediterranean species are met with only sporadically along the
water-courses. Forest and pasture land do not properly exist: the
place of the first is for the most part taken by a low brushwood;
grass is not plentiful, and the higher ridges maintain alpine plants
only so long as patches of snow continue to lie. The rock walls
harbour some rock plants, but many absolutely barren wildernesses of
stone occur. (1) On the western slope, to a height of 1600 ft., is the
coast region, similar to that of Syria in general and of the south of
Asia Minor. Characteristic trees are the locust tree and the stone
pine; in _Melia Azedarach_ and _Ficus Sycomorus_ (Beirut) is an
admixture of foreign and partially subtropical elements. The great
mass of the vegetation, however is of the low-growing type (_maquis_
or _garrigue_ of the western Mediterranean), with small and stiff
leaves, and frequently thorny and aromatic, as for example the ilex
(_Quercus coccifera_), _Smilax_, _Cistus_, _Lentiscus_, _Calycotome_,
&c. (2) Next comes, from 1600 to 6500 ft., the mountain region, which
may also be called the forest region, still exhibiting sparse woods
and isolated trees wherever shelter, moisture and the inhabitants
have permitted their growth. From 1600 to 3200 ft. is a zone of dwarf
hard-leaved oaks, amongst which occur the Oriental forms _Fontanesia
phillyraeoides_, _Acer syriacum_ and the beautiful red-stemmed
_Arbutus Andrachne_. Higher up, between 3700 and 4200 ft., a tall
pine, _Pinus Brutia_, is characteristic. Between 4200 and 6200 ft. is
the region of the two most interesting forest trees of Lebanon, the
cypress and the cedar. The former still grows thickly, especially in
the valley of the Kadisha; the horizontal is the prevailing variety.
In the upper Kadisha valley there is a cedar grove of about three
hundred trees, amongst which five are of gigantic size. (See also
CEDAR.) The cypress and cedar zone exhibits a variety of other
leaf-bearing and coniferous trees; of the first may be mentioned
several oaks--_Quercus subalpina_ (Kotschy), _Q. Cerris_ and the
hop-hornbeam (_Ostrya_); of the second class the rare Cilician silver
fir (_Abies cilicica_) may be noticed. Next come the junipers,
sometimes attaining the size of trees (_Juniperus excelsa_, _J.
rufescens_ and, with fruit as large as plums, _J. drupacea_). But the
chief ornament of Lebanon is the _Rhododendron ponticum_, with its
brilliant purple flower clusters; a peculiar evergreen, _Vinca
libanotica_, also adds beauty to this zone. (3) Into the alpine region
(6200 to 10,400 ft.) penetrate a few very stunted oaks (_Quercus
subalpina_), the junipers already mentioned and a barberry (_Berberis
cretica_), which sometimes spreads into close thickets. Then follow
the low, dense, prone, pillow-like dwarf bushes, thorny and grey,
common to the Oriental highlands--_Astragalus_ and the peculiar
_Acantholimon_. They are found to within 300 ft. of the highest
summits.

Upon the exposed mountain slopes a species of rhubarb (_Rheum Ribes_)
is noticeable, and also a vetch (_Vicia canescens_) excellent for
sheep. The spring vegetation, which lasts until July, appears to be
rich, especially as regards showy plants, such as _Corydalis_,
_Gagea_, _Colchicum_, _Puschkinia_, _Geranium_, _Ornithogalum_, &c.
The flora of the highest ridges, along the edges of the snow patches,
exhibits no forms related to the northern alpine flora, but
suggestions of it are found in a _Draba_, an _Androsace_, an _Alsine_
and a violet, occurring, however, only in local species. Upon the
highest summits are found _Saponaria Pumilio_ (resembling our _Silene
acaulis_) and varieties of _Galium_, _Euphorbia_, _Astragalus_,
_Veronica_, _Jurinea_, _Festuca_, _Scrophularia_, _Geranium_,
_Asphodeline_, _Allium_, _Asperula_; and, on the margins of the snow
fields, a _Taraxacum_ and _Ranunculus demissus_. The alpine flora of
Lebanon thus connects itself directly with the Oriental flora of lower
altitudes, and is unrelated to the glacial flora of Europe and
northern Asia.

_Zoology._--There is nothing of special interest about the fauna of
Lebanon. Bears are no longer numerous; the panther and the ounce are
met with; the wild hog, hyaena, wolf and fox are by no means rare;
jackals and gazelles are very common. The polecat and hedgehog also
occur. As a rule there are not many birds, but the eagle and the
vulture may occasionally be seen; of eatable kinds partridges and wild
pigeons are the most abundant.

_Population._--In the following sections the Lebanon proper will alone be considered, without reference to Anti-Lebanon, because the peculiar political status of the former range since 1864 has effectually differentiated it; whereas the Anti-Lebanon still forms an integral part of the Ottoman province of Syria (q.v.), and neither its population nor its history is readily distinguishable from those of the surrounding districts.

The total population in the Lebanon proper is about 400,000, and is increasing faster than the development of the province will admit. There is consequently much emigration, the Christian surplus going mainly to Egypt, and to America, the Druses to the latter country and to the Hauran. The emigrants to America, however, usually return after making money, build new houses and settle down. The singularly complex population is composed of Christians, Maronites, and Orthodox Eastern and Uniate; of Moslems, both Sunni and Shiah (Metawali); and of Druses.

(a) _Maronites_ (q.v.) form about three-fifths of the whole and have
the north of the Mountain almost to themselves, while even in the
south, the old Druse stronghold, they are now numerous. Feudalism is
practically extinct among them and with the decline of the Druses, and
the great stake they have acquired in agriculture, they have laid
aside much of their warlike habit together with their arms. Even their
instinct of nationality is being sensibly impaired by their gradual
assimilation to the Papal Church, whose agents exercise from Beirut an
increasing influence on their ecclesiastical elections and church
government. They are strong also in the Buka'a, and have colonies in
most of the Syrian cities.

(b) _Orthodox_ Eastern form a little more than one-eighth of the
whole, and are strongest in S. Lebanon (Metn and Kurah districts).
Syrians by race and Arab-speaking, they are descendants of those
"Melkites" who took the side of the Byzantine church in the time of
Justinian II. against the Moslems and eventually the Maronites. They
are among the most progressive of the Lebanon elements.

(c) _Greek Uniate_ are less numerous, forming little more than
one-twelfth, but are equally progressive. Their headquarters is
Zahleh; but they are found also in strength in Metn and Jezzin, where
they help to counterbalance Druses. They sympathize with the Maronites
against the Orthodox Eastern, and, like both, are of Syrian race, and
Arab speech.

(d) _Sunnite Moslems_ are a weak element, strongest in Shuf and Kurah,
and composed largely of Druse renegades and "Druse" families, which,
like the Shehab, were of Arab extraction and never conformed to the
creed of Hamza.

(e) _Shiite Moslems_ outnumber the Sunni, and make about one
twenty-fifth of the whole. They are called _Metawali_ and are
strongest in North Lebanon (Kesrawan and Batrun), but found also in
the south, in Buka'a and in the coast-towns from Beirut to Acre. They
are said to be descendants of Persian tribes; but the fact is very
doubtful, and they may be at least as aboriginal as the Maronites, and
a remnant of an old Incarnationist population which did not accept
Christianity, and kept its heretical Islam free from those influences
which modified Druse creed. They own a chief sheikh, resident at
Jeba'a, and have the reputation, like most heretical communities in
the Sunni part of the Moslem world, of being exceedingly fanatical and
inhospitable. It is undoubtedly the case that they are suspicious of
strangers and defiant of interference. Another small body of Shiites,
the _Ismailites_ (Assassins (q.v.) of the crusading chronicles), also
said to be of Persian origin, live about Kadmus at the extreme N. of
Lebanon, but outside the limits of the privileged province. They are
about 9000 strong.

(f) _Druses_ (q.v.), now barely an eighth of the whole and confined to
Shuf and Metn in S. Lebanon, are tending to emigrate or conform to
Sunni Islam. Since the establishment of the privileged province they
have lost the Ottoman support which used to compensate for their
numerical inferiority as compared with the Christians; and they are
fast losing also their old habits and distinctiveness. No longer armed
or wearing their former singular dress, the remnant of them in Lebanon
seems likely ere long to be assimilated to the "Osmanli" Moslems.
Their feud with the Maronites, whose accentuation in the middle of the
19th century was largely due to the tergiversations of the ruling
Shehab family, now reduced to low estate, is dying away, but they
retain something of their old clan feeling and feudal organization,
especially in Shuf.

The mixed population, as a whole, displays the usual characteristics of mountaineers, fine physique and vigorous independent spirit; but its ancient truculence has given way before strong government action since the middle 19th century, and the great increase of agricultural pursuits, to which the purely pastoral are now quite secondary. The culture of the mulberry and silk, of tobacco, of the olive and vine, of many kinds of fruits and cereals, has expanded enormously, and the Lebanon is now probably the most productive region in Asiatic Turkey in proportion to its area. It exports largely through Beirut and Saida, using both the French railway which crosses S. Lebanon on its way to Damascus, and the excellent roads and mule-paths made since 1883. Lebanon has thick deposits of lignite coal, but of inferior quality owing to the presence of iron pyrites. The abundant iron is little worked. Manufactures are of small account, the raw material going mostly to the coast; but olive-oil is made, together with various wines, of which the most famous is the _vino d'oro_, a sweet liqueur-like beverage. This wine is not exported in any quantity, as it will not bear a voyage well and is not made to keep. Bee-keeping is general, and there is an export of eggs to Egypt.

_History._--The inhabitants of Lebanon have at no time played a conspicuous part in history. There are remains of prehistoric occupation, but we do not even know what races dwelt there in the historical period of antiquity. Probably they belonged chiefly to the Aramaean group of nationalities; the Bible mentions Hivites (Judges iii. 3) and Giblites (Joshua xiii. 5). Lebanon was included within the ideal boundaries of the land of Israel, and the whole region was well known to the Hebrews, by whose poets its many excellences are often praised. How far the Phoenicians had any effective control over it is unknown; the absence of their monuments does not argue much real jurisdiction. Nor apparently did the Greek Seleucid kingdom have much to do with the Mountain. In the Roman period the district of _Phoenice_ extended to Lebanon. In the 2nd century, with the inland districts, it constituted a subdivision of the province of Syria, having Emesa (Homs) for its capital. From the time of Diocletian there was a _Phoenice ad Libanum_, with Emesa as capital, as well as a _Phoenice Maritima_ of which Tyre was the chief city. Remains of the Roman period occur throughout Lebanon. By the 6th century it was evidently virtually independent again; its Christianization had begun with the immigration of Monothelite sectaries, flying from persecution in the Antioch district and Orontes valley. At all times Lebanon has been a place of refuge for unpopular creeds. Large part of the mountaineers took up Monothelism and initiated the national distinction of the Maronites, which begins to emerge in the history of the 7th century. The sectaries, after helping Justinian II. against the caliph Abdalmalik, turned on the emperor and his Orthodox allies, and were named Mardaites (rebels). Islam now began to penetrate S. Lebanon, chiefly by the immigration of various more or less heretical elements, Kurd, Turkoman, Persian and especially Arab, the latter largely after the break-up of the kingdom of Hira; and early in the 11th century these coalesced into a nationality (see Druses) under the congenial influence of the Incarnationist creed brought from Cairo by Ismael Darazi and other emissaries of the caliph Hakim and his vizier Hamza. The subsequent history of Lebanon to the middle of the 19th century will be found under Druses and Maronites, and it need only be stated here that Latin influence began to be felt in N. Lebanon during the Frank period of Antioch and Palestine, the Maronites being inclined to take the part of the crusading princes against the Druses and Moslems; but they were still regarded as heretic Monothelites by Abulfaragius (Bar-Hebraeus) at the end of the 13th century; nor is their effectual reconciliation to Rome much older than 1736, the date of the mission sent by the pope Clement XII., which fixed the actual status of their church. An informal French protection had, however, been exercised over them for some time previously, and with it began the feud of Maronites and Druses, the latter incited and spasmodically supported by Ottoman pashas. The feudal organization of both, the one under the house of Khazin, the other under those of Maan and Shehab successively, was in full force during the 17th and 18th centuries; and it was the break-up of this in the first part of the 19th century which produced the anarchy that culminated after 1840 in the civil war. The Druses renounced their Shehab amirs when Beshir al-Kassim openly joined the Maronites in 1841, and the Maronites definitely revolted from the Khazin in 1858. The events of 1860 led to the formation of the privileged Lebanon province, finally constituted in 1864. It should be added, however, that among the Druses of Shuf, feudalism has tended to re-establish itself, and the power is now divided between the Jumblat and Yezbeki families, a leading member of one of which is almost always Ottoman _kaimakam_ of the Druses, and locally called _amir_.

The Lebanon has now been constituted a _sanjak_ or _mutessariflik_,
dependent directly on the Porte, which acts in this case in
consultation with the six great powers. This province extends about 93
m. from N. to S. (from the boundary of the _sanjak_ of Tripoli to that
of the _caza_ of Saida), and has a mean breadth of about 28 m. from
one foot of the chain to the other, beginning at the edge of the
littoral plain behind Beirut and ending at the W. edge of the Buka'a;
but the boundaries are ill-defined, especially on the E. where the
original line drawn along the crest of the ridge has not been adhered
to, and the mountaineers have encroached on the Buka'a. The Lebanon is
under a military governor (_mushir_) who must be a Christian in the
service of the sultan, approved by the powers, and has, so far, been
chosen from the Roman Catholics owing to the great preponderance of
Latin Christians in the province. He resides at Deir al-Kamar, an old
seat of the Druse amirs. At first appointed for three years, then for
ten, his term has been fixed since 1892 at five years, the longer term
having aroused the fear of the Porte, lest a personal domination
should become established. Under the governor are seven _kaimakams_,
all Christians except a Druse in Shuf, and forty-seven _mudirs_, who
all depend on the kaimakams except one in the home district of Deir
al-Kamar. A central _mejliss_ or Council of twelve members is composed
of four Maronites, three Druses, one Turk, two Greeks (Orthodox), one
Greek Uniate and one Metawali. This was the original proportion, and
it has not been altered in spite of the decline of the Druses and
increase of the Maronites. The members are elected by the seven cazas.
In each _mudirieh_ there is also a local _mejliss_. The old feudal and
_mukataji_ (see DRUSES) jurisdictions are abolished, i.e. they often
persist under Ottoman forms, and three courts of First Instance, under
the _mejliss_, and superior to the petty courts of the _mudirs_ and
the village _sheikhs_, administer justice. Judges are appointed by the
governor, but sheikhs by the villages. Commercial cases, and
litigation in which strangers are concerned, are carried to Beirut.
The police is recruited locally, and no regular troops appear in the
province except on special requisition. The taxes are collected
directly, and must meet the needs of the province, before any sum is
remitted to the Imperial Treasury. The latter has to make deficits
good. Ecclesiastical jurisdiction is exercised only over the clergy,
and all rights of asylum are abolished.

This constitution has worked well on the whole, the only serious
hitches having been due to the tendency of governors-general and
_kaimakams_ to attempt to supersede the _mejliss_ by autocratic
action, and to impair the freedom of elections. The attention of the
porte was called to these tendencies in 1892 and again in 1902, on the
appointments of new governors. Since the last date there has been no
complaint. Nothing now remains of the former French predominance in
the Lebanon, except a certain influence exerted by the fact that the
railway is French, and by the precedence in ecclesiastical functions
still accorded by the Maronites to official representatives of France.
In the Lebanon, as in N. Albania, the traditional claim of France to
protect Roman Catholics in the Ottoman Empire has been greatly
impaired by the non-religious character of the Republic. Like Italy,
she is now regarded by Eastern Catholics with distrust as an enemy of
the Holy Father.

See DRUSES. Also V. Cuinet, _Syrie, Liban et Palestine_ (1896); N.
Verney and G. Dambmann, _Puissances étrangères en Syrie_, &c. (1900);
G. Young, _Corps de droit ottoman_, vol. i. (1905); G. E. Post, _Flora
of Syria_, &c. (1896); M. von Oppenheim, _Vom Mittelmeer_, &c. (1899).
(A. So.; D. G. H.)

LEBANON, a city of Saint Clair county, Illinois, U.S.A., on Silver Creek, about 24 m. E. of Saint Louis, Missouri. Pop. (1910) 1907. It is served by the Baltimore & Ohio South-Western railroad and by the East Saint Louis & Suburban Electric line. It is situated on a high tableland. Lebanon is the seat of McKendree College, founded by Methodists in 1828 and one of the oldest colleges in the Mississippi valley. It was called Lebanon Seminary until 1830, when the present name was adopted in honour of William McKendree (1757-1835), known as the "Father of Western Methodism," a great preacher, and a bishop of the Methodist Church in 1808-1835, who had endowed the college with 480 acres of land. In 1835 the college was chartered as the "McKendreean College," but in 1839 the present name was again adopted. There are coal mines and excellent farming lands in the vicinity of Lebanon. Among the city's manufactures are flour, planing-mill products, malt liquors, soda and farming implements. The municipality owns and operates its electric-lighting plant. Lebanon was chartered as a city in 1874.