LABETTE LA BLANCHERE 69 He was aide-de-camp to Lannes and Prince Eugene, and was severely wounded at the bat- tle of Lutzen in 1813. In the same year he married a lady of the legitimist Chastellux family, and after Napoleon's first abdication he entered the service of the Bourbons, but was the first to join the emperor after his return from Elba, who made him general and peer. He was one of the last to leave the battle field at Waterloo. Supporting Napoleon II., and ex- cepted from the amnesty, he left Paris, but im- prudently returned, and Louis XVIII. had him shot despite the efforts of Benjamin Constant. Napoleon left 150,000 francs to his heirs. L1BETTE, a S. E. county of Kansas, border- ing on Indian territory ; area, 624 sq. in. ; pop. in 1870, 9,973. It is drained by the Neosho river and affluents of the Verdigris. The Mis- souri, Kansas, and Texas railroad passes through it. The chief productions in 1870 were 28,- 514 bushels of wheat, 128,543 of Indian corn, 32,489 of oats, 13,484 of potatoes, 69,218 Ibs. of butter, and 5,956 tons of hay. There were 2,644 horses, 2,538 milch cows, 1,990 working oxen, 5,413 other cattle, 2,910 sheep, and 2,540 swine ; 3 manufactories of furniture, 4 of tin, copper, and sheet-iron ware, and 8 saw mills. Capital, Oswego. LABIENIIS, Titus, a Roman general, died in 45 B. C. He was tribune in 63, the year of Cicero's consulship, and carried some measures in the interest of Csesar, who in 58 took him as his lieutenant into Transalpine Gaul, and made him pro-prsetor. He served with ability, and commanded the troops during Caesar's ab- sence. In 54 he twice defeated the Treviri, and reduced them to submission. He took a distinguished part in the great campaign against Vercingetorix in 52, and thought himself not inferior in military ability to Caesar. On the outbreak of the civil war in 49 he went over to Pompey, but distinguished himself little, ex- cept for boastfulness and cruelty. He mur- dered the soldiers of Caesar who fell into his hands at Dyrrhachium. After the defeat at Pharsalia he fled, through Corcyra and Cyrene, to the remnant of Pompey's army in Africa. In 46 he commanded an army which was re- pulsed by Caesar near Ruspina, after which he served as lieutenant of Scipio. After the de- feat at Thapsus he fled to Spain. In 45 he again fought against Caesar at Munda ; his cau- tious attempt to cover his camp, being mis- taken for a retreat, produced a panic, and turned the undecided battle into a rout, in which he fell. He was an able lieutenant, but too vain and headstrong to command. Li BILLARD1ERE, Jacques Julien Honton de, a French naturalist, born in Alencon, Oct. 2;3, fc 1755, died in Paris, Jan. 8, 1834. In 1786 he was sent on a scientific mission to Syria and Palestine, explored the mountains of Lebanon, and brought back a valuable collection of plants. The results of his journey were pub- lished in his Icones Plantarum Syria rario- rum Descriptionibus et Obsemationibus illut- tratce (4to, Paris, 1791-1812), with elegant drawings by Redoute. When the expedition under D'Entrecasteaux was sent in search of La* Perouse in 1791, La Billardiere sailed on board the Recherche as naturalist, spent a few months at the Cape, visited many of the large islands and archipelagos in the Pacific ocean, and was finally taken prisoner at Java by the Dutch in October, 1793. His botanical collec- tions, consisting of 4,000 plants, three fourths of which were of species previously unknown, were carried to England; but when, after a captivity of nearly two years, he returned to his native country, they were returned to him. In 1800 he was elected a member of the acad- emy of sciences, and thenceforth devoted his whole time to arranging his botanical treasures and publishing the results of his observations. LABLACHE, Lnigi, an Italian singer, born in Naples, Dec. 6, 1794, died there, Jan. 23, 1858. He was the son of a French merchant, and studied vocal and instrumental music in one of the conservatories of Naples. He was idle and unruly, but was compelled to finish his studies, and made his debut in 1812 at the little theatre of San Carlino as a buffo singer. In 1817 he appeared at the Scala theatre in Milan in Ros- sini's Cenerentola, with such success that Mer- cadante wrote for him the opera of Elisa e Claudia, and for several seasons he filled the leading basso parts in that city. In 1824 he sang for the first time before the Viennese, who in their enthusiasm caused a medal to be struck in his honor. After an absence of 12 years Lablache returned to Naples to assume the duties of royal chapelmaster and fill an engagement at the San Carlo theatre, and ap- peared in the works of Rossini and Bellini. In 1830 he went to Paris and London, where, in the maturity of his powers, he made his debut at the Italian opera in the character of Geronimo in II matrimonio segreto. Thence- forth until within a short time of his death, with the exception of the year 1834, when he returned to Naples to sing in the Elisir d'amore, he appeared chiefly in Paris and London. Du- ring the last 25 years of his life he was the leading basso of his own and perhaps of any other time. His voice, a base of the purest quality, unsurpassed in resonance, in flexibility and compass, was not less remarkable than his artistic skill in the management of it, and his dramatic versatility. Originally of an imposing and graceful presence, he became exceedingly corpulent in middle life, although this never detracted from the impressiveness of his per- formance in serious parts. He was at one time singing master of the queen of England. His only daughter was married to Thalberg. LA BLANCHERE, Pierre Rene Marie Henri Monl- lin de, a French naturalist and photographer, born at La Fleche, Sarthe, May 2, 1821. After studying the natural sciences, he established himself in Paris in 1855 as a photographer, with a view of applying that art to scientific purposes. He was president during five years
