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LAVA

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Originally appearing in Volume V16, Page 290 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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LAVA , an See also:

Italian word (from See also:Lat. lavare, to See also:wash) applied to the liquid products of volcanic activity. Streams of See also:rain-See also:water, formed by condensation of exhaled See also:steam often mingled with volcanic ashes so as to produce mud, are known as lava d'acqua, whilst the streams of molten See also:matter are called lava di fuoco. The See also:term lava is applied by geologists to all matter of volcanic origin, which is, or has been, in a molten See also:state. The magma, or molten lava in the interior of the See also:earth, may be regarded as a mutual See also:solution of various See also:mineral silicates, charged with highly-heated vapour, sometimes to the extent of super-saturation. According to the proportion of See also:silica, the lava is distinguished as " See also:acid " or " basic." The basic lavas are II See also:des See also:Cordeliers, which See also:dates from the end of the Toth See also:century or the beginning of the 15th, has some See also:fine See also:marble altars. See also:Half-a-mile below the See also:Pont Vieux is the beautiful 12th-century See also:church of Avenieres, with an ornamental See also:spire of 1534. The finest remaining relic of the See also:ancient fortifications is the Beucheresse See also:gate near the See also:cathedral. The narrow streets around the See also:castle are bordered by many old houses of the 15th and 16th century, See also:chief among which is that known as the " Maison du See also:Grand Veneur." There are an See also:art-museum, a museum of natural See also:history and See also:archaeology and a library. The See also:town is embellished by fine promenades, at the entrance of one of which, facing the mairie, stands the statue of the celebrated surgeon Ambroise See also:Pare (1517-1590). See also:Laval is the seat of a See also:prefect, a bishopric created in 1855, and a See also:court of assizes, and has tribunals of first instance and of See also:commerce, a chamber of commerce, a See also:board of See also:trade-arbitrators, training colleges, an ecclesiastical See also:seminary and a lycee for boys. The See also:principal See also:industry of the town is the See also:cloth manufacture, introduced from See also:Flanders in the 14th century. The See also:production of fabrics of See also:linen, of See also:cotton or of mixtures of both, occupies some Io,000 hands in the town and suburbs.

Among the numerous other See also:

industries are See also:metal-See also:founding, See also:flour-milling, tanning, See also:dyeing, the making of boots and shoes, and the sawing of the marble quarried in the vicinity. There is trade in See also:grain. Laval is not known to have existed before the 9th century. It was taken by See also:John See also:Talbot, See also:earl of See also:Shrewsbury, in 1428, changed hands several times during the See also:wars of the See also:League, and played an important See also:part at the end of the 18th century in the See also:war of La See also:Vendee.

End of Article: LAVA

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