Page:Cyclopaedia, Chambers - Volume 2.djvu/69

 LAB

(42*)

LAG

LEI is the Name of the Eleventh Letter of the Alphabet ; it has a fweet Sound, and is pro- y nounced by applying the Tongue to the Palate. PaJJerat obferves, that I has been frequently ufcd for b, as ciUtbz for cibilU ; for d, as alipe for adipe, r alius, rallum, from radens ; for c, as mutila for mutica ; for n, as arvilla for arvina, belle for ierce, coffigo for conlizo j for r, as fratellus of frater, balatrones for baratrones ; for/, as «;/c>*(Mi.t falio, tfcMo; alius, zv».ov folmm 5 and r into two //, as hirct hilla, faturare faturlare, &c. and / into x or xill, as <j/a axifti, M a/s maxilla, velum vexillum. d was alfo ufcd for /, n for two //, and r for one /. / is fre- quently ufed inflead of d, as in Vhffes from the Greek 'OJW,-, in the JEolic Dialeft 'TAW Thus alfo for Dautta we fay Lantia ; for dacruma, lactams, Sic.

There are feveral People, for inflance, the Cbinefe in Afia, the Hindis in America, g?c. who cannot pronounce the r but always change it into I. Thus when any of 'em have been baptiz'd by the Name of Fetrus, Francifcus, &c. they always pronounce it Talus, Flancifcus, &c. The Spaniards and Wetfi ufually double the / at the beginning of a Word, which founds nearly the fame with our hi or ft.

The Figure of our L we borrow'd from the Latins, they from the Greeks, and they again from the Hebrews, whofe Lamed is perfectly lite ours, excepting that the Angle is fomewhat more acute.

L was alfo a numeral Letter among the Antients, and is flill fo in the Roman Cyphering, fignifying fifty ; accor- ding to the Verfe,

Quinquies L denos numero dejigtiat babendos.

When a Dafh was added at top L, it flood for fifty thou- fand. L was ufed for fifty as being half a C, which fig- nified a hundred, and was formerly written thus C, which according to Pafquier makes two L L, the one upright, the other inverted.

The French Louis d'Ors have a Crofs on 'em, confifling of eight L's interwoven and difpofed in form of a Crofs.

The Epocha's on Greek Medals are ufually written with the antient LambdaL ; which, according to the Tradition of the Antiquaries, {lands for Ai/u^irloi, a Poetical Word, unknown in common Speech, fignifying Anno, and which 'tis probable was more ufed in Bgyft than Greece.

LABARUM, an Enfign or Standard bore before the Roman Emperors in the Wars : It confifted of a long Lance, with a Staff at top, croffing it at right Angles ; from which hung a rich Streamer, of a purple Colour, adorn 'd with precious Stones. Till the Time of Conftan- tine it had an Eagle painted on it, but that Emperor, in lieu thereof, added a Crofs with a Cypher expreffing the name of Jefus. He chofe fifty of the braveft Men in his Guards to bear it on their moulders, each in his turn. Eufebius tells us, that in the Battel againft Maxentius, the Perfon who bore it being fatigued gave it to another, and that he had no fooner parted with it but he was kill'd ; all the Strokes he receiv'd while the Labarum was in his charge, not being able to wound him. The Author adds, he had this Miracle from the Emperor's mouth. This Standard the Romans took from the Germans, Dacce, Sar- matx, Tannonians, Sec. whom they had overcome.

The Name Labarum was not known before the Time of Conflannne, but the Standard itfelf, in the form we have defctibed it, abating the Symbols of Chriilianity, was ufed by all the preceding Emperors. Some derive the word from Labor, as if this finilhcd their Labours ; feme from ii/Aag.™, Piety ; others from >>«u3A', to take ; and others from tufeieWi Spoils. The Labarum has afforded ample matter for Criticifm, and has been difcourfed of by Fuller, Meatus, Qijas, Gyraldus, Liffuts, Meurfius, VoKus, Hoffman, Valois, VuCanie &c.

LABEL, is a long thinBrafs Ruler, with a fmall Sight at one end, and a Centre Hole at the other; commonly ufed with a Tangent Line on the Edge of a Circumferen- ter, to take Altitudes, &c.

Label in the Law is a narrow Slip of Paper or Parchment affixed to aDeed or Writing, in order to hold theappending Seal. So any Paper annexed by way of Addition, or Explica- tion, to any Will orTeftament, is called a Label or Codicil.

Label, in Heraldry, a kind of Addition to the Arms of a younger Brother, to ditlinguilh him from the elder. It IS efleem'd the moil honourable of all others, and is formed by a Fillet ufually placed in the middle, and along the Chief of the Coat without touching its Extre-

mities. Its Breadth ought to be a ninth part of the Chief It is adorn d with Pendants fomewhat like the Drops' under the Triglyphs in the Doric Freeze. When there are above three Pendants, the Number muft be fpeci- fied in Blazoning : There are fometimes fix in the Coats ot younger Brothers.

LABIAL, a Term in Law ufed In the fame fenfe with

/»;, 0ffers are fuch as are on 'y made by Word

of Mouth or even by Writing, where there is no valua- ble Consideration : In Courts of Equity thefe are not re- garded. The Grammarians, and efpecially the Orientals apply the Terms Labial, Dental, Guttural, to fuch Letters as are pronounced with the Lips, the Teeth, or the Throat

LABIATE FLOWERS, from the word Labium a Lip, is a Term applied by Herbalifls to fuch Flowers,' as have one or two Lips, fome of which reprefent a kind of Helmet or Monk's Hood. See Flower.

LABORATORY, or Elaboratwy, in Chymiilry, the Place where the Chymifts perform their Operations, where their Furnaces are built, their Veffels kept, l$c. In ge- neral, the Term Laboratory is applied to any Place, where Phyfical Experiments and Operations in Pharmacy, Chy- miilry, i$c. are performed. The Laboratory of an Hofpi- tal is the Place where the Remedies are made up.

LABYRINTH, among the Antients was a large intri- cate Edifice cut out into various Ifles and Meanders run- ning into each other, fo as to render it difficult to get out of it. There is mention made of four celebrated Laby- rinths of Antiquity. That of Crete is the moll famed ; it was built by D*dalus, and it was hence that Tbefeus made his Eicape by means of Ariadne's Clue. That of Egypt according to Pliny, was the oldefl of all, and was fub- fillmg in his Time, after having flood 3<Too Years. He fays it was built by King Petefucus or Tithoes, but Herodo- tus makes it the Work of feveral Kings : it flood on the Banks of the Lake Myris, and confided of 12 Palaces and 1500 Apartments: Mela fays, rer milk domes. That of Lemnos was fupported by Columns of wonderful Beauty, there were fome Remains of it at the Time when Pliny wrote. That of Italy was built by Forfenna King of He- truria, for his Tomb.

_ Labyrinth, in Anatomy, is the Name of the fecond Ca- vity of the Internal Ear, which is hollowed out of the Os Petrofum, and is fo call'd as having feveral Windings in it. This Cavity is divided into three Parts ; the firft is that call'd the Vejlibuhm of the Labyrinth, becaufe it leads in to the other two. The fecond comprehends three Canals crooked femicirculariy, and thence call'd Semicircular Canals, placed on one fide of the Vejtibulum, towards the back of the Head ; and the other call'd the Cochlea, fituate on the other fide. See Ear. Dr. I'ieulfem obferves, that the Bone out of which the Labyrinth is dug, is white, hard, and very compact, that the Ethereal Matter of Sounds laden with Impreflions flriking againft its fide, may lofe little or nothing of its Motion, but com- municate it entire to the Nerves of the Ear.

LACCA, a Gum, or rather Wax, hard, red, brittle, clear and tranfparent, brought from Malabar, Bengali, and Pegu, and ufed in dying of Scarlet, £gc. Authors differ as to the Production of this curious Wax. F. Tachard, who was on the fpot, tells us that a kind of little Ants fixing themfelves to the Branches of feveral Trees, leave behind them a reddifh Moifture, which lying expofed to the Air and Sun, hardens in five or fix days time. Some imagine this is not the Production of the Ants, but a Juice which they draw out of the Tree, by making little Inci- fions in it ; and in effect, the Trees where the Lacca is found, do yield a Gum : but then 'tis of a very different Nature from the Lacca. The Ants are, as it were, a kind of Bees, and the Lacca is their Honey. They work at it eight Months in the Year, and the reft of the time lie by, becaufe of the Rains.

To prepare the Lacca, they firft feparate it from the Branches to which it adheres, pound it in a Mortar, and throw it into boiling Water ; and when the Water is well dyed, they pour on freih, till fuch time as it will tinge no more. Part of the Water thus tinged is evaporated in the Sun ; after which, the thicken'd Tincture is flrain'd through a Linnen Cloth.

M. Gcojfroy examining the Gum Lacca, found it to be a kind of Comb, fuch as the Bees and fome other Infects are accuflomed to make. Upon breaking it into pieces, it appears divided into a great number of /Iheoli or little Cells of an uniform figure, and which plainly Ihew that it never ouz'd from Trees. Thefe Cells are not mere Excrements, as fome imagine, but are intended for fome- thing to be depofited in 'em. And accordingly are found to contain little Bodies, which the firft Obfervers took Qjllll for