LARCHER

larcher, pierre henri (1726-1812), french classical scholar and archaeologist, was born at dijon on the 12th of october 1726. originally intended for the law, he abandoned it for the classics. his (anonymous) translation of chariton's _chaereas and callirrhoe_ (1763) marked him as an excellent greek scholar. his attack upon voltaire's _philosophie de l'historie_ (published under the name of l'abbe bazin) created considerable interest at the time. his archaeological and mythological _memoire sur venus_ (1775), which has been ranked with similar works of heyne and winckelmann, gained him admission to the academie des inscriptions (1778). after the imperial university was founded, he was appointed professor of greek literature (1809) with boissonade as his assistant. he died on the 22nd of december 1812. larcher's best work was his translation of herodotus (1786, new ed. by l. humbert, 1880) on the preparation of which he had spent fifteen years. the translation itself, though correct, is dull, but the commentary (translated into english, london, 1829, new ed. 1844, by w. d. cooley) dealing with historical, geographical and chronological questions, and enriched by a wealth of illustration from ancient and modern authors, is not without value. see j. f. boissonade, _notice sur la vie et les ecrits de p. l._ (1813); f. a. wolf, _literarische analecten_, i. 205; d. a. wyttenbach, _philomathia_, iii. (1817). larcius (less accurately lartius), titus, probably surnamed flavus, a member of an etruscan family (cf. lars tolumnius, lars porsena) early settled in rome. when consul in 501 b.c. he was chosen dictator (the title and office being then introduced for the first time) to command against the thirty latin cities, which had sworn to reinstate tarquin in rome. other authorities put the appointment three years later, when the plebeians refused to serve against the latins until they had been released from the burden of their debts. he opposed harsh measures against the latins, and also interested himself in the improvement of the lot of the plebeians. his brother, spurius, is associated with horatius cocles in the defence of the sublician bridge against the etruscans. see livy ii. 10, 18, 21, 29; dion. halic. v. 50-77, vi. 37; cicero, _de re publica_, ii. 32. lard (fr. _lard_, from lat. _laridum_, bacon fat, related to gr. [greek: larinos] fat, [greek: laros] dainty or sweet), the melted and strained fat of the common hog. properly it is prepared from the "leaf" or fat of the bowel and kidneys, but in commerce the term as applied to products which include fat obtained from other parts of the animal and sometimes containing no "leaf" at all. lard of various grades is made in enormous quantities by the great pork-packing houses at chicago and elsewhere in america. "neutral lard" is prepared at a temperature of 40°-50° c. from freshly killed hogs; the finest quality, used for making oleomargarine, is got from the leaf, while the second, employed by biscuit and pastry bakers, is obtained from the fat of the back. steam heat is utilized in extracting inferior qualities, such as "choice lard" and "prime steam lard," the source of the latter being any fat portion of the animal. lard is a pure white fat of a butter-like consistence; its specific gravity is about 0.93, its solidifying point about 27°-30° c., and its melting point 35°-45° c. it contains about 60% of olein and 40% of palmitin and stearin. adulteration is common, the substances used including "stearin" both of beef and of mutton, and vegetable oils such as cotton seed oil: indeed, mixtures have been sold as lard that contain nothing but such adulterants. in the pharmacopoeia lard figures as _adeps_ and is employed as a basis for ointments. benzoated lard, used for the same purpose, is prepared by heating lard with 3% of powdered benzoin for two hours; it keeps better than ordinary lard, but has slightly irritant properties. lard oil is the limpid, clear, colourless oil expressed by hydraulic pressure and gentle heat from lard; it is employed for burning and for lubrication. of the solid residue, lard "stearine," the best qualities are utilized for making oleomargarine, the inferior ones in the manufacture of candles. see j. lewkowitsch, _oils, fats and waxes_ (london, 1909).