• LAB
LAB
L/«
LA, in the Italian mufic, a. fyllable by which Gut do de- nominated the Iaft found in each hexachord, if it be- gins ill C it anfwers to our a, if in G to e, if in F tod.
LABADISTS, a feci of religionifts, followers of the opini- on of Jean de Labadie, who lived in the laft century, and was cotemporary with Mad" e Bourignon. Some of his tenets were, that i. God could and did deceive men. 2. That in reading the fcriptures greater attention fhould be given to the internal infpiration of the holy Spirit than to the words of the text. 3. That baptifm ought to be de- ferred till mature age. 4. That the good and the wicked entered equally into the old alliance, providing they defcended from Abraham, but that the new admitted only fpiritual men. 5. That the obfervation of Sunday was a matter of indifference. 6. That Chrift would come and reign a thoufand years on earth. 7. That the eucharift was only a commemoration of the death of Chrift, and that tho' the fym- bols were nothing in themfelves, yet that Chrift was fpiri- tually received by thofe who partook of them in a due man- ner. 8. That a contemplative life was a ftate of grace, and of divine union during this life, the fummit of perfec- tion, &c. 9. That the man whofe heart was perfectly con- tent and calm, half enjoys God, has familiar entertainments with him, and fees all things in him. 10. That this ftate was to be come at by an entire felf- abnegation, by the mor- tification of the fenfesand their objects, and by the cxercile of mental prayer. See Journ. des Scavans for Oil. 1727, where we have fome account of Labadie and his followers, which were moftly women j and with fome of which, it has been faid, he took criminal liberties. See Bafnage, Annales des Provinces Unies, Tom. 2. cited in Journ. des Scav. I, c.
LABARIFERI, among the Romans, ftandard- bearers, who car- ried the labarum. Danet, in voc. Signs. See Labarum, Cycl.
LABDACISM Aa.Qtx.x.K?t*.l<;, in rhetoric, the too frequent re- petition of the letter L, as fol et lima luce lucebani, and alba kvi lafica. Vojf. Rhet. 1. 4. p. 45.
LABDANUM, in the materia medica. See Ladanum, Cycl.
LABELLED Km, in heraldry, a term ufed by fome to ex- prefs the line in certain old arms, called more ufually urdee or champagne. Others apply the fame word to exprefs the patee or dovetail line, called alfo the inclave line by Mor- gan. It fomewhat rcfembles the joint called a dovetail by our joiners, and its points, as they proceed from the ordinary, whether chief or fefs, refemble the ends of labels. See Urdee and Patee.
LABEO, in ichthyology, a name given by the old Latin wri- ters to the ftfh, ufually called che'ilon and chdon. See the article Chelon.
LASER, a word found in Serapion, and ufed there as the name of an aromatic drug. The commentators have been much perplexed, to find the reafon or etymology of the word, as it appears no where elfe in the writings of the an- tients. It feems to be no other than a wrong fpelling of the v/otdfaber or febar, fometimes alfo written by the Arabians cebar, which is a name of the lignum aloes.
LABERINTH. See Labyrinth.
LABIATEDjfouwj, in botany, a term for a very large feries of flowers ; the diftinilions of which are, that they are mo- nopetalous, and are in their lower part formed into a pipe or narrow tube, and in their upper become widened into one
. or two lips. The cup of thefe flowers confifts of one leaf, and is ufually tubular, and rcfembles a paper cone ; and their piftil is furrounded with four embryos, which ripen into a fruit, compofed ot four feeds, and kept inclofed in the cup ; by this they are diftinguifhed from the perfonated flowers, whofe fruit is an oblong capfule ; and they differ from the rotated flowers of borrage, and the like, in that they have fome fort of rcfembiance to the opening of a mouth of fome animal. See Tab. 1. of Botany, Clais 1. Tourn. Inft. p. 177. a biated leaf. See Leaf.
LABINiE, in natural hiftory, a term ufed by the authors, who have written of Swiflerland, and other mountainous countries, to exprefs thofe vaft maifes of fnow, which fome- times fall from the hills, and bury houfes, or even whole towns ; and when hardened by the frofts, as is often the cafe, into folid fubftances, they overthrow woods, villages, and whatever ftands in the way of their courfe, as they roll down the fteep fides of the precipices in their way. Some authors have alfo extended the word to a larger fenfe, and made it exprefs the falling of vaft rocks, or parts of moun- tains, and their rolling down in the fame manner into the flat country : this is a mifchief very frequent in the fame places, after frofts, and often very fatal. Wagner 's Hift. Helvet.
LABIUM fupertus attollem, in anatomy, a name given by Spigelius to the mufcle, called by AlbinuSj Winflow, and others, zygomaticus major, Suppi., Vol. I.
LABORANT, in chemiftry, the perfon that attends on and works under a chemift, while he is about any procefs or experiment.
LABORATORY (Cycl.)— Dr. Shaw, who has taken great pains to bring the ftudy of chemiftry more into ufe in Eng- land, than it has hitherto been, has explained the eafy- nefs of its operations in general, and attempted a means of making its practice lefs expenfive, by introducing in the place of that vaft number of furnaces, and other contri- vances, figured and defcribed by the generality of writers on the fubjeil, ^portable laboratory, by means of which alone all the chemical operations may be commodioully performed. This laboratory, fitted for its feveral purpofes, is figured in the plate of chemical furnaces and vefiels, to which we refer Ehe reader. See Tab. of Chemiftry, N° 31. feq. Its contrivance is fuch, that not only compleat courfes of chemical experiments and operations may be commodi- oufly performed by its means ; but all the medicines may be prepared, in fuch quantities, as to fupply not only the demands of a family, but of an apothecary's fliop, in moderate bufmefs. The firft perfon who planned out this fort of furnace was Beccher, and the fcheme executed by Dr. Shaw is an im- provement on that attempt. This laboratory confifts of two parts befide the furnace : thefe are the apparatus and the ma- teria chemica, which arc defcribed under the heads appa- ratus chemicus, and materia chemica. The furnace has four principal parts. I. The cover. 2. The ring. 3, The body, and 4. The foot. The gene- ral office and ufe of the cover is to check, fupprefs, and throw back the heat and flame, that the fuel may not wafte itfelf too faft, as it otherwife would do to very little pur- pofe in many of the operations ; for the action of the fire being not momentary but fucceflive, the more it is kept in, and direiled upon the fubjeil, the more it is able to perform its effect, and that with the lefs expence or deftruc- tion of it. In order to incrcafe the draught to the fire, and fqueeze the air the more forcibly through the body of the fuel, there is a moveable funnel or chimney, which may occafionally be fixed to the orifice, in the top of the cover left for that and many other ufes. See the Figure, ubi fupra. The ring is the place or feat of many operations. The body to be worked upon by the fire is frequently lodged in it ; and, in other cafes, it helps to enlarge the furnace, and renders it capable of operations it could not otherwife per- form. The body of the furnace ferves to contain the fuel, and is the common feat of the operations by the fire, in the running metals from their ores j and in thefe and many other the like cafes, it performs the office of a crucible as well as fire place, and contains the fubjeil mixed along with , the fuel, as is praiHfed at the fmelting houfes. To this body there belong three feveral grates, which may be placed at different heights therein, according to the nature of the operation, and the diftance required between the fubjeil and the fire. Laftly, the foot is of two kinds, and is not only of ufe in fupporting the reft of the parts, but it receives the allies of the fuel, and the melted matter that may, in any of the operations, run down from the ores of metals ; or, on other the like occafions, when the fire liquates any thing above. The more immediate appurtenances of this furnace are fuel and bellows. The general fuel is to be charcoal ; or, as there is a contrivance for a vent or flue in the body of the furnace, common fea-coal may be employed, and the fmoak direiled up the chimney of the room, in which the furnace is to ftand. The ftruilure of this furnace is alfo very well fitted for a lamp, which is a fort of heat, highly convenient for fome curious digeftions and calcina- tions, and by this means thofe operations, which would otherwife require an athanor, may be conveniently per- formed, and that in the moft accurate manner. The number of chemical procelfes that may be performed by this furnace is not cafily reckoned up ; but it may not be improper to add an account of the feveral flates, into which it is to be put for the performing them. The moft fimple ftate of the furnace is a combination of its two lower parts, the body and the foot. When thefe are put together it is fit for fufion by the naked fire, where the matter to be melted is to be mixed among the fuel ; as for inftance, in the running the ores of lead, tin, or iron, which may thus, in the quantity of many pounds at a time, be feparated from their drofs, and purged for ufe, as exa&ly as at the mine works, or fmelting houfes, either with the af- fiftance of the bellows, or without, as the nature of the ore requires. By barely placing a grate in the middle of the body, the inftrument becomes a melting furnace for a crucible, wherein all the operations that require a fire of fufion, animated either by the air, or bellows, are performable with fuch advantages as cannot be had in the common, wind, or blaft furnaces made for this purpofc. When only 15 C the
