Page:Willich, A. F. M. - The Domestic Encyclopædia (Vol. 3, 1802).djvu/74

56] labour, are compellable to serve, by the day, during the season of making hay, and the corn-harvest; but those labourers, who have obtained proper testimonials, are permitted to go into other counties. It is farther provided, that such labourers, from the middle of March to the middle of September, ought to work from 5 o'clock in the morning till 7 or 8 at night; being allowed two hours for breakfast and dinner, and half an hour for repose during the three hottest months: in the other six months of the year, they are obliged to work from twilight to twilight, excepting one hour and a half for breakfast and dinner, on the penalty of forfeiting one penny (at present it should be two-pence) for every hour's absence.  LABURNUM, the, Cytisus laburnum, L. a valuable exotic tree, introduced from the Alps, into the Highlands of Scotland.

This plant is very hardy, and will thrive on poor shallow lands, and in exposed situations: it is propagated by seeds, which should be deposited in March, in a light and rather moist soil, where the tree is intended to remain; and, in the succeeding month, young shoots will appear. But, if sown in autumn, the seeds do not germinate till the following spring.

The broad-leaved laburnum forms an agreeable ornament for parks and gardens; as it grows rapidly, with a straight stem, and, in the course of four years, is generally twelve feet high.—Its wood is frequently employed on the Continent, and in the Highlands, for making chairs, tables, and other articles of household furniture, which are said to resemble the finest mahogany.— remarks, that a decoction of the fresh branches and leaves of this tree, imparted an excellent dark-brown colour to cloth prepared in a solution of green vitriol.  . See.  LAC, or, a species of wax, with which the Lac-insect, or Coccus Lacca, L. that frequents several species of the fig-tree, forms cells resembling the honey-combs of bees.

Gum-lac has received various names, according to the different states in which it is obtained. The stick-lac is the wax adhering to the smaller branches of the tree, and which is unprepared. This is first separated from the twigs to which it is attached; and after being grossly powdered, and divested of its colour, by digesting it in certain liquors, is called seed-lac. When the stick-lac is melted over a moderate fire, then freed from its impurities, and formed into cakes, it is denominated lump-lac. The last species is termed shell-lac, and is prepared by liquefying, straining, and reducing the cells into thin transparent plates, in a manner peculiar to the natives of India.

Lac is applied to various purposes of ornament and utility.—Considerable quantities are used in the making of sealing-wax; in japanning; for varnish; and in painting. It also imparts a fine red colour to silk and cotton, when these have previously been immersed in a weak decoction of the bark, known among dyers by the name of load.

Lac is likewise of service as a medicine: for which purpose the stick-lac is in great esteem on the Continent, especially for relaxed and spongy gums, arising from cold,