Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 11.djvu/731

* LABYRINTH. 665 LAC. the largest temple of ancient Egj-pt. The descrip- tions of the classical writers are very contra- dictory and give no clear idea of the con- stniction; they agree, however, in describing tlie main building as a series of chambers (about twenty), each roofed with a single stone slab of immense size. In front of the chambers were covered passages, with large monolithic columns, and adjoining them large courts filled with other buildings. The fondness of the Egj'ptians for I. sing immense stones is said to have been spe- cially manifest in this temple. According to a rude" sketch in a hieroglyphic papyrus of Koman times, it was dedicated to Souchos (Sobk), the god of C'roeodilopolis. though all the principal gods of the other Egyptian nomes were also worshiped in it. It is not improbable that Herodotus was right in saying that sacred croco- diles and some favored men were buried in the crypts of the temple; but this was not the principal purpose of the temple. A large ceme- tery of crocodiles existed northwest of the struc- ture, and the founder had his tomb in a brick pyramid at the north side of the building. The name of this builder is variously given by clas- sical w Titers : the best tradition being that of Manetho, that the fourth (better the sixth) King of the Twelfth Dynasty. AmenemOs. or Amenem- hat III., built the labyrinth as a tomb for him- nelf. His name is given in Manetho as Lamares (i.e. liiemsrlyphic Xe-maiD-re. the ofTicial name of the King), which to the ear of the Greeks sounded like labyrinth, and which was cor- rupted by later writers to !Menes, Mendes, Is- mandes. etc. The Moeris of Herodotus is the same King. The temple, however, was not his burial-place, although it probably served for the cult of the founder, who must have been associat- ed with the gods worshiped there. (See IICERIS.) Later, the Queen Sebk-uefni (Skeniiophris) seems to have built on the temple. This immense build- ing, which was still standing in the first century ..i).. has disappeared so completely that Pctrie could find little more than traces of the founda- tions. Lep^ius erroneously considered as rem- nants of it a few miserable ruins of brick houses erected there in late Roman times. The lime- stones of the temple must have been used as building material for the numerous cities and villages of the Fayum. or else burned to lime. The Cretan labyrinth, famous in Greek mythol- ogy as the abode of the ^Minotaur whom Theseus slew, was reputed to have been built by D.-cdalus. It is probable, however, that no such structure ever existed, and that the myth referred to the natural fissures in the rocks near Cnossus. unless indeed, it refers to the royal palace recently ex- cavated in this bx'ality. The Lemnian labyrinth was an ancient structure in the Isle of Samos, partly due to nature. Pliny used the term Ital- ian Labyrinth to designate the gigantic tomb of Porscnna near Clusium. The classical quotations in regard to the Egyptian labyrinth have been collected in Wiedemann. Herodots znritrx Buck (Leipzig. ISDO) : for the ruins, consult Petrie, Hatcnrn. TUnhimi n>ul Arsitioc (London. 1S80). LABYRIN'THODONT (from Gk. Xa^Optfeo^, InhtirinlliDX. labyrinUi + Woi/s, odoiiis. tooth). An extinct reptile found in rock« of Carhonifer- on«. Permian, and Iriassic age. having peculiar labyrinllilne structure of the teeth. See Stego- CEPUALI.. LAC (Pers. lak, Hind, lukh, from Skt. lukfS, lac-insect, from lakm, hundred thousand; so called from the great numbers of the insect in a single nest). The general name under which the various products of the lac-insect ( Coccus lacca ) are known. The insects live upon the twigs of certain trees, and soon become covered with a secretion, from certain pores, which increases in thickness protecting the body and the eggs and which constitutes the lac of commerce. It is said that to each of the males there are at least 5000 females, and the winged males ore at least twice as large as the females. When a colony, consisting of a few adult females and one or two males, find their way to a new branch, they attach themselves to the bark, and having pierced it with holes, through which they draw up the resinous juices upon which thej' feed, they become fixed or glued by the superfluous excre- tion, and after a time die, forming by their dead bodies little domes or tents over the myriads of minute eggs which they have laid. In a short time the eggs burst into life, and the young, which are very minute, swarm all over the twig or small young branch of the tree in such count- less numbers as to give it the appearance of being covered with a blood-red dust. They soon spread to all parts of the tree where the bark is tender enough to afford them food, and genera- tion after generation dwells upon the .same twig until it is enveloped in a coating, often half an inch in thickness, of the resinous exudation, which is very cellular throughout, the cells Icing the casts of the bodies of the dead females. During their lifetime they secrete a beautiful purple coloring matter, which does not perish V. ith them, but remains shut up in the cells with the other results of decomposition. In districts like the Province of Assam, in Xorthern India, where the gathering of lac is an important industry, the natives do not depend U])on the natural crop, but regulate and increase the amount by cultivation. Two crops are gath- ered each year, one in May or .Tune and the other six months later. The first is gathered principally for seed purposes, and the second for commerce. The twigs gathered at the first liarvest from the tree covered with live insects still in the larval stage, and called flick lac, .-re tied onto the fresh trees; or the stick lac is placed in little bamboo baskets, which are fas- toned to the trees. Soon the insects crawl out of the twigs, fasten onto the branches, and the resinous formati'in begins. It is stated that usually a tree, after furnishing food for the lac- insect for three or four years, requires a rest, althousjh some trees will produce lac for twelve years and continue to thrive. The trees best suited to the insects are such as are only mod- er.itely vigorous. The principal lac-producing trees are several species of Ficus. including the Ficus reliniona, or 'religious tree' of the Hindus: the Cajnniis iiidicits. Palas. TTiisi/m. and some other trees which are natives of India. China, and .Tapan. The u*ual method of separating the re<inons matter from the dye and other contents of the stick lac is as follows: The covered twigs are broken up or coarsely pulverized, and placed in hot water, which melts the resinous matter, lib- erates the pieces of wood and the remains of the in-ects. and also dissolves the coloring matter. This is facilitated by kneading the melted resin