LAC 



3289 



LACE 



: 



re pictures of boys and girls, presumably 

 ptives trained in their art, vaulting onto the 

 back of a charging bull, and beneath the pal- 

 ace have been found dungeons in which the 

 toreadors may have been kept. On walls and 

 pillars are frequent markings of a religious 

 symbol shaped like a double axe and called 

 iabrys; undoubtedly the palace was the center 

 of the worship which the Iabrys typifies, and 

 so came to be called labyrinth. 



The great labyrinth of Egypt, which Herodo- 

 tus considered more marvelous than the Pyra- 

 mids, was long ago torn to pieces, but its site 

 can still be traced. It was perhaps built in 

 emulation of the Cretan labyrinth. 



A structure with an ingenious and confus- 

 ing network of passages is often seen in amuse- 

 ment parks. A modern labyrinth of this 

 nature is usually called a maze; it is designed 

 to furnish amusement to those who like to 



LABYRINTH, OR MAZE 



A maze of the style once popular in English 

 gardens. The walls were green hedges. By con- 

 sistently following the right-hand or the left-hand 

 wall a person could reach the center with com- 

 parative ease. 



tiy their skill at finding their way through a 

 series of complicated, winding pathway's. 

 Games for boys and girls, based on the same 

 principle, are also popular. The accompany- 

 ing picture shows a type of English maze. 



Related Subject*. The reader is referred to 

 the following articles in these volumes : 

 Ariadne Minos 



Crete Minotaur 



LAC, lak, from which is obtained shellac, 

 lacquer, lac dye and the finest grades 'of seal- 

 ing wax, is made by insects. The lac indus- 



try is centered in Assam, Bengal and Siam. 

 In the late spring the natives hang twigs con- 

 taining the lac insect's larvae (young) in fig 

 and other trees. Spreading to all the tender 

 branches, the insects pierce the bark to get 

 their food. From certain pores they give out 

 a sticky red substance which fastens most of 

 them to the tree. Beneath the bodies impris- 

 oned in this lac the eggs hatch into countless 

 larvae. Several generations thus succeed each 

 other in one season, sometimes depositing lac 

 half an inch deep. After six months the en- 

 crusted branches are cut off and the lac is pre- 

 pared for commerce. Perhaps once in four 

 years the trees are given a rest, for, though 

 the insects make the lac, it is of course the 

 trees which furnish the material. 



Lac is prized by the Chinese because it can 

 be highly polished (see LACQUER WARE). When 

 purified it becomes shellac, which is valued for 

 varnish because light penetrates it and shows 

 the grain of the wood beneath. The best shel- 

 lac is a light orange-brown ; if all the impurities 

 are not removed it is darker. Pulling and 

 twisting makes it opaque, suitable for sealing 

 wax. From the coloring matter which is 

 strained out comes a beautiful purple dye. 



LACCADIVE, lak' a dive, ISLANDS, a group 

 of thirteen islands and coral reefs in the In- 

 dian Ocean, near the southwestern extremity 

 of India, eight of which are inhabited. They 

 are politically attached to British India and 

 are populated by a Mohammedan race of 

 mixed Arab and Hindu descent. The islands 

 occupy an area of about eighty square miles, 

 and lie so low in the sea that they would 

 hardly be seen but for their cocoanut groves. 

 The chief products are copra and cocoanut 

 fiber, though in some parts, where the overly- 

 ing coral has been removed, pulse, vegetables 

 and bananas are grown. 



The islanders are daring sailors; the com- 

 merce is conducted almost entirely in native 

 boats, the surrounding reefs making navigation 

 dangerous for ocean vessels. Rice, the princi- 

 pal food of the islanders, is imported. The 

 women manufacture coir, from which matting 

 is made (see COCOANUT), while the men devote 

 themselves to boat building and trading with 

 the mainland. The population is about 10,300. 



The Laccadive Islands are in almost every 

 respect similar to the Maldive group, farther 

 south. 



LACE, a delicate and ornamental network 

 usually made of linen or cotton threads, but 

 sometimes of silk. The word received its 



