KOH 



LAC 



tained by fermenting cherries with 

 which the stones are pounded, and 

 distilling the fermented liquid. 



KIT. A pail, or wooden vessel. 



KITCHEN GARDEN. See Gar- 

 acn Hushandn/. 



KNAPWEED. The genus of per- 

 ennial weeds Ccntaurca. 



KNAWELL. Sdcranthiis annnus. 

 A weed slightly astringent. 



KNARS. Knots or excres- 

 cences on the bark of some trees, 

 which contain latent buds capable of 

 expanding into branches : those of the 

 olive are used for propagation, being 

 cut with a part of the stem and set in 

 the ground. 



KNEE. In architecture, an artifi- 

 ciallv or naturally bent piece of timber. 



KNEE-PAN. A small, flat bone 

 {patella) situated before the knee jomt 

 to protect it. 



KNEE GRASS. Rough panic 

 grass. 



KNOLL. A hillock, or small hill. 



KNOPPERN. Gall-like excres- 

 cences of oaks, used for dyeing and 

 tanning. 



KNOT GRASS. Hokus avenacc- 

 us, which produces bulbs on its 

 roots. The common weed Polygo- 

 num aviculare. 



KNOT WEED. A general name 

 for the Polygonum genus, many of 

 which are very acrid. 



KOHL RABI. A variety of cab- 

 bage, the stalk of which is terminated 

 above by a bulb as large as a turnip, 

 which is solid, and around which the 

 leaves are situated. It requires the 

 same management as cabbages, and 

 yields as much as ruta bagas. Two 

 pounds of seed supply an acre ; it is 

 sown in beds in the fall and planted 

 in spring. The value as food is not 

 given, but it is probably about the 

 same as cabbages, 500 pounds equal- 

 ling 1 00 of hay, and an ox requiring 

 100 pounds daily. Kohl rabi is cul- 

 tivated in Germany, and recommend- 

 ed lately in England, from its com- 

 parative freedom from the diseases 

 of turnips, as a substitute for that 

 root. It has occupied the attention 

 of some of our fancy gardeners, but 

 is not raised by us as a field-crop. 



KRAMERIC ACID. It is obtain- 

 ed from the root of the Kromcria tri- 

 andria, or rhatany. 



KY ANTTE. A silicate of alumina, 

 sometimes coloured by iron and other 

 bodies : it occurs in doubly oblique 

 prisms ; is white, gray, or blue. It is 

 common in primitive formations, and 

 sometimes forms a fine blue stone 

 resembling sapphire, and used by jew- 

 gIIgfs. 



KYANIZING. The process of Mr. 

 Kyan for preserving timber by soak- 

 ing it in a solution of corrosive subli- 

 mate : it is now superseded by cheap- 

 er fluids. See Preservation of Timber. 



LABARRAQUE'S DISINFECT- 

 ING LIQUID. A solution of car- 

 bonate of soda charged with chlorine : 

 it answers the same purposes as chlo- 

 ride of lime in disinfecting rooms. 



LABELLU.M. The lower petal of 

 a labiate or orchideous flower. 



LABIATxE. An extensive family 

 of plants, characterized by a two-lip- 

 ped, monopetalous coroHa, an irregu- 

 lar number of stamens, and four- 

 lobed ovary. They are mostly herbs, 

 or small shrubs, with highly aromatic 

 flowers and leaves, as the mint, lav- 

 ender, sage, &c. T^one of them are 

 poisonous. 



LABIUM. A lip, the divisions of 

 some monopetalous flowers. In en- 

 tomology, the moveable organ which 

 is at the front of the head, or face, 

 covering the mouth and representing 

 the upper lip. 



LABORATORY. The workshop 

 of the chemist : chemical manufacto- 

 ries are often improperly so called. 



LABRADORITE, or LABRA- 

 DORE STONE. An iridescent, opa- 

 line variety of feldspar, consisting of 

 silica, 55; alumina, 24; lime, 10 25; 

 soda, 3-50, in 100 parts. — (Klaproth.) 



LABRUM. The labium, or upper 

 lip of insects. 



LAC. The dry resinous juice 

 of several trees of Southern India. 

 The trees are wounded by the Coc- 

 cus ficus, a bark louse, parts of which 

 being entangled in the juice, produce 

 a red colour like cochineal. The 



447 



