(1927).
Little St. Bernard Pass Mountain pass, Savoy Alps. Situated south¬ west of the Italian border in southeastern France, it connects Bourg-St.- Maurice, France, with La Thuile, Italy. Hannibal probably led the Carthaginian army over the pass on his way toward Rome in 218 bc. It was the principal route across the Alps into Gallia Comata, a province of Gaul, until Montgenevre Pass was opened in 77 bc. Beside the pass is a hospice founded in the 11th century by St. Bernard of Menthon.
little theatre Movement in U.S. theatre to free dramatic forms and methods of production from the limitations of the large commercial the¬ atres by establishing small experimental centres of drama. Young drama¬ tists, stage designers, and actors influenced by the vital European theatre of the late 19th century, especially by the theories of Max Reinhardt, estab¬ lished community playhouses such as the Little Theatre, New York City (1912), the Little Theatre, Chicago (1912), and the Toy Theatre, Boston (1912). A few became important commercial producers; the Washington Square Players (1915), for example, later became the Theatre Guild (1918). Playwrights such as Eugene O'Neill, George S. Kaufman, and Max¬ well Anderson found their early opportunities in the little theatres.
Little Turtle (b. c. 1752, near Fort Wayne, Ind.—d. July 14, 1812, Fort Wayne, Ind., U.S.) American Indian leader. Chief of the Miami tribe, he led raids on settlements in the Northwest Territory in the early 1790s. Defeated by Gen. Anthony Wayne at the Battle of Fallen Timbers (1794), he was obliged to sign the Treaty of Greenville (1795), which ceded to the U.S. much of Ohio and parts of Illinois, Indiana, and Michigan. He then advocated peace and prevented the Miami from joining the Shaw¬ nee confederacy of Tecumseh.
Littleton, Sir Thomas (b. 1422, probably at Frankley, Worcestershire, Eng.—d. Aug. 23, 1481, Frankley) British jurist. In a turbulent period he held several high offices, including judge of the Court of Common Pleas (from 1466). His Littleton on Tenures (1481 or 1482) was the earliest treatise on English law ever printed. It long remained the principal author¬ ity on English real property law.
liturgical drama Play acted in or near the church in the Middle Ages. The form probably dated from the 10th century, when the “Quern quaeri- tis” (“Whom do you seek”) section of the Easter mass was performed as a small scene in the service. The plays gradually increased in length, with themes derived from biblical stories (particularly those of Easter and Christmas), and they flourished in the 12th—13th centuries. Their Latin dialogue was frequently chanted to simple melodies. They continued to be written into the 16th century, but the connection with the church even¬ tually ended as the plays came under secular sponsorship and were acted in the vernacular. See also miracle play; morality play; mystery play.
Liturgical movement 19th- and 20th-century effort to encourage the active participation of the laity in the liturgy of the Christian churches by creating simpler rites more attuned to early Christian traditions and more relevant to modern life. The movement began in the Roman Catholic church in the mid-19th century and spread to other Christian churches in Europe and the U.S. The Second Vatican Council (1962-65) called for
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Litvinov ► Livingston I 1125
translation of Latin liturgies into the vernaculars of individual countries and the reform of all sacramental rites. The Lutheran Church revised the Lutheran Book of Worship in 1978, and the Episcopal Church adopted a revised Book of Common Prayer in 1979.
Litvinov \lyit-'ve-nof\, Maksim (Maksimovich) orig. Meir Walach (b. July 17, 1876, Bialystok, Pol.—d. Dec. 31, 1951, Moscow, Russia, U.S.S.R.) Soviet diplomat and commissar of foreign affairs (1930-39). He joined the Russian Social-Democratic Workers' Party (1898), was arrested for revolutionary activity (1901), and fled to Britain. In 1917-18 he represented the Soviet government in London, then returned to Russia, where he joined the Commissariat for Foreign Affairs and led Soviet delegations to disarmament conferences. As commissar for foreign affairs, he established diplomatic relations with the U.S. (1934), negotiated anti-German treaties with France and Czechoslovakia (1935), and urged the League of Nations to resist Germany (1934-38). He was dismissed before the signing of the German-Soviet Nonaggression Pact (1939). He served as ambassador to the U.S. (1941-43).
Liu Bang See Gaozu
Liu Shaoqi Ue-'ii-'shau-'cheN or Liu Shao-ch'i (b. Nov. 24, 1898, Ningxiang district, Hunan province, China—d. Nov. 12, 1969, Kaifeng, Henan province) Chairman of the People’s Republic of China (1959-68) and chief theoretician of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). An activist communist background from the 1920s helped Liu’s rise within the CCP in the 1930s and ’40s, while his excellent education and studies in the Soviet Union made him an effective spokesman for the new government in China. When Mao resigned as chairman after the failure of his Great Leap Forward, Liu assumed the title. His policies for revitalizing agricul¬ ture by permitting peasants to cultivate private plots and giving them monetary incentives were ones to which Mao later strongly objected. In
1968 Liu was purged from power for being a “capitalist roader” and Lin Biao was appointed Mao’s successor. Not until 1974 was Liu’s death in
1969 made public.
Liu Songnian or Liu Sung-nien (b. 1174—d. 1224, Qiantang, Zhe¬ jiang province, China) Chinese figure and landscape painter. Liu entered the Southern Song Painting Academy as a student in the Chunxi period (1174-89) and went on to become a daizhao (“painter-in-attendance”) in the Shaoxi period (1190-94). During the reign of the emperor Ningzong (1195-1224) he was awarded the prestigious Golden Belt. Liu followed the tradition of Li Tang. Typically his works featured relatively large fig¬ ures executed in a detailed manner and placed close to the spectator in the picture plane. The facial expressions of his figures are vivid, and the patterns in which their clothing drapes are very intricate. His most impor¬ tant landscape paintings depict a human in harmony with nature. Liu paved the way for an academic style that would be further developed by his contemporaries Ma Yuan and Xia Gui.
live oak Any of several North American ornamental and timber trees in the red-oak group of the genus Quercus in the beech family. The south¬ ern live oak ( Q. virginiana ) is a massive (50 ft, or 15 m, tall), durable evergreen tree. The trunk divides near the ground into several limbs that extend horizontally as much as two to three times the height of the tree. The elliptical leaves are dark green and glossy above, whitish and hairy below. A valuable timber tree, the southern live oak is also planted as a shade and avenue tree in the southern U.S. The oldest trees are 200-300 years old.
liver Largest gland in the body, with several lobes. It secretes bile; metabolizes proteins, carbohydrates, and fats; stores glycogen, vitamins, and other substances; synthesizes coagulation factors; removes wastes and toxic matter from the blood; regulates blood volume; and destroys old red blood cells. The portal vein carries blood from the gastrointestinal tract, gallbladder, pancreas, and spleen to the liver to be processed. A duct sys¬ tem carries bile from the liver to the duodenum and the gallbladder. Liver tissue consists of a mass of cells tunneled with bile ducts and blood ves¬ sels. About 60% are hepatic cells, which have more metabolic functions than any other cells. A second type, Kupffer cells, play a role in blood¬ cell formation, antibody production, and ingestion of foreign particles and cell debris. The liver manufactures plasma proteins, including albumin and clotting factors, and synthesizes enzymes that modify substances such as nutrients and toxins, filtered from the blood. Liver disorders include jaun¬ dice, hepatitis, cirrhosis, tumours, vascular obstruction, abscess, and