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Jackson
City (pop., 1996 est.: 193,000) and capital, Mississippi. It lies along the Pearl River in the W central part of the state. Settled in 1792 by Louis Le Fleur, a French-Canadian trader, it was a trading post called Le Fleur's Bluff until settlers began arriving in 1820. It was made the state capital in 1822 and was named for A. Jackson. During the Amer. Civil War it was burned by Union forces (1863). The state's largest city, it is a railroad and distribution center. It is the seat of Jackson State Univ. (1877) and other educational institutions.


Laclos
French writer. He chose an army career, but soon left it to become a writer. He is chiefly remembered for Les liaisons dangereuses (1782; Dangerous Liaisons), one of the earliest psychological novels. The epistolary novel of a noble seducer and his female accomplice who take unscrupulous delight in their victims' misery, it caused an immediate sensation and was banned for years. Laclos later returned to the army and ultimately rose to the rank of general under Napoleon.


lacrosse
(Canadian French la crosse, "the crosier") Outdoor team sport in which players use a long-handled stick that has a triangular head with a mesh pouch for catching, carrying, and throwing a hard rubber ball with the object of slinging it into an opponent's goal (for one point). French settlers in Canada adapted the modern game from an ancient Amer. Indian event (baggataway) that was at once sport, combat training, and mystical ceremony. It became an organized sport in the late 19th cent. Modern teams have 10 players. The game is divided into four periods of 15 minutes each. Lacrosse is especially popular as a collegiate sport and is played by both men and women.


lactose
Slightly sweet sugar (disaccharide) composed of two monosaccharides, glucose and galactose, linked together. Lactose-intolerant adults, and more rarely infants, cannot digest lactose because they lack the enzyme (lactase) that splits it into simpler sugars and suffer diarrhea and bloating when they eat foods containing it. Lactose, which makes up 2-8% of the milk of mammals, is the only common sugar of animal origin. Commercial lactose is obtained from whey, a liquid by-product of cheese. It is used in foods, in pharmaceuticals, and in nutrient broths used to produce penicillin, yeast, and riboflavin, and other products.


Waco
City (pop., 1996 est.: 108,000), N central Texas. Located on the Brazos River, it was founded in 1849 on the site of an Indian village. After 1865 it became a river-bridge crossing on cattle trails; later its economy was based on cotton. Its diversified economy now includes manufacturing and tourism. A tornado devastated Waco in 1953, killing 114 persons. On April 19, 1993, after a 51-day standoff with federal agents, more than 70 members of the Branch Davidians perished in a fire at their compound near Waco.

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