LAB 
LAB 
LAB 
palace at Westminster extend from Charing- 
criiM to AVest.ninster-hall, and shall have 
such privileges as the autient pauices. II. 
VIII. c. 12. 
King’sfjsher. See Alcedo. 
KLINGSTEIN: this mineral composes 
whole mountains. \ hey are usually insuiated; 
and like basalt, shew a tendency to assume 
the form of four-sided prisms. Its colour is 
usually deep grey, of various shades, but 
most commonly greenish. Sometimes various 
shades appear together, which gives it the 
appearance of being spotted. Found not 
only constituting mountains, but also in glo- 
bular masses, &c. Internal lustre arises 
chiefly irotn some crystals oi hornblende and 
felspar which it contains. Structure slaty. 
Texture compact. Fracture usually splintery; 
sometimes conthoidul. brittle. Gives a clear 
sound when struck with a hammer. Specific 
gravity 2.575. Powder light grey. Melts 
eu 1 v into a glass. A specimen analysed by 
Klaproth yielded 57.25 silica 
23.50 alumina 
2.75 lime 
3.25 oxide of iron 
0.25 oxide of manganese 
8.10 soda 
3.00 water. 
98.10 
KLEIN II OVIA, a genus of the class and 
order gvnandr a decandriaf the calyx is five- 
leave 1; corolla tive-petalled ; nect. bell-shap- 
ed; ■ aps. inflated, five-lobed. '1 here is one 
species, h tree of Java. 
KNAPSACK, a rough leather or canvas 
bag, which is strapped to an infantry soldier’s 
back when he marches, and which contains 
his necessaries. Square knapsacks are sup- 
posed to be most convenient. 1 hey should 
be made w.th a division to hold toe shoes, 
blacking-balls, and brushes, separate from 
the.fi.ubn. White goat-skins are sometimes 
used, but we do hot conceive them to be 
equal to the painted canvas ones. Soldiers 
are put under stoppages for the payment of 
their knapsacks, which after six years become 
their property. 
L or ], the eleventh letter of our alpha - 
5 bet, as a numeral, denotes 50 ; and with 
over it, thus, L, 50000. 
LA, in music, the syllable by which 
Guido denoted the last sound of each hex- 
achord: if it begins in C, it answers to our 
A ; if in G to E ; and if in F to D. 
LABA11UM, in Roman antiquity, the 
standard borne before tne Roman emperors; 
being a rich purple streamer, supported by 
a spear. 
LABDANUM, or Ladanum. This re- 
sin is obtained from the cysius creticus, a 
shrub which grows iu Syria and the Grecian 
islands. The surface ot the shrub is covered 
with a viscid' juice, which when concreted 
1 1 
KNAUTIA, a genus of the monogvnia 
order, in the tetrandna class of plants, and in 
the natural method ranking under the 48th 
order, aggregate. The common caly x is ob- 
iong, simple, quinqueflorous ; the proper one 
simple, superior; the florets irregular; the re- 
ceptacle naked. There are four species, 
chiefly annuals of the Levant. 
KNEE. See Anatomy. 
Knee, in a ship, a crooked piece of timber, 
bent like a knee, used to bind the beams and 
futtocks together, by being bolted last into 
(hem both. These* are used about all the 
decks. 
KNEES, carling, in a ship, those timbers 
which extend from the sides to the Latch- 
wav, and bear up the deck on both sides. 
KNIGHT, properly signifies a person, 
who, for his virtue and martial prowess, is by 
the king raised above the rank of gentleman 
into a higher class of dignity and honour. 
The ceremonies at the creation of knights 
have been various ; the principal was a box 
on the ear, and a stroke witft a sword on 
the shoulder; they put on him a shoulder- 
belt, and a gilt sword, spurs, and other mili- 
tary accoutrements; after whiclj, being arm- 
ed ‘as a knight, he w as led to the church in 
great pomp. Camden describes the manner 
of making a knight-bachelor among us, 
which is the lowest, though the most Undent 
order of knighthood, to be thus: the person 
kneeling wxis gently struck on the shoulder 
by the prince, and accosted in these words, 
“rise,” or “ be a knight in the name of 
God.” For the several kinds of knights 
among us, see Banneret, Baronet, 
Bath, Garter, &c. 
KNIGHTS of the shire, or Knights of 
parliament, in 'the British polity, are twm 
knights or gentlemen of estate, who are elect- 
ed, on the king’s writ, by the freeholders of 
every county, to represent them in parlia- 
ment. The* qualification of a knight of the 
shire is to be possessed of 600/. per aim. in a 
freehold estate. Their expences during their 
sittings were by a statute of Henry VIII. to 
be defrayed by the county; but this is now^ 
never required. 
forms ladanum. It is collected while moist 
by drawing over it a kind of rake with thongs 
tixed to it ; from these it is -afterwards 
scraped with a knife, I he best is in masses 
almost black, and very soft, having a fra- 
grant odour and a bitterish taste. When 
dissolved in alcohol, it leaves behind it a 
little gum. The specific gravity of this 
resin is about 1.18. See Resins. 
LABEL, in heraldry, a iillet usually 
placed in the middle along the ch ef of the 
coat, without touching its extremities. 
Label of a circumferentor, a long thin 
brass ruler, with a sight at one end, and a 
centre-hole at the other; chiefly used with 
a tangent line to take alt itudes. 
LABORATORY and Apparatus, che- 
39 
Knight- mars hal, an officer in the king’s 
houseboat, who has jurisdiction and cogni- 
zance of any transgression within the king’s 
household and verge j as also ot contracts 
made there, whereof one of the house is 
party. 
Knights, in a ship, two thick short pieces 
of wood, commonly carved like a man’s head, 
having four shivers in each, three tor the 
halyards, and one for the top-ropes to run in ; 
one of them stands fast bolted on the beams 
abaft the foremast, and is therefore called the 
fore-knight; and the other; standing abaft the 
mainmast, is called the main-knight. 
KNOXIA, a genus of the class and order 
tetrandria monogvnia. 1 he corolla is one- 
petalled, funnel -iorm; seeds two-grooved. 
There is one species, a herb of Ceylon. 
KOEN IGI A, a genus of the trigynia order, 
belonging to the triandria class oi plants. The 
ejalyx is triphyllpus; there is no corolla, and 
but one o-'ate and naked sec'. 
KORAN. See Alcoran. 
KUPFERNICKEL, is a sulphured of 
nickel, and is generally coin pounded of 
nickel, arsenic, and sulphuret of iron. 
KURTUS, a genus of fishes of the order 
jugulares; the generic character of which is, 
body broad, carinated both above and below, 
with greatly elevated hack; gill-membrane 
two-rayed. r l he genus kurtus, instituted by r 
Dr. Bloch, consists at present of a single spe- 
cies only. This is a native of the Indian seas; 
and is supposed to feed on shell-fish, small 
cancri, and other sea insects, the remains of 
which were observed in the stomach of the 
specimen examined by Dr. Bloch. The 
length of this fish was about ten inches, in- 
cluding the tail, and its greatest breadth 
something more than four inches ; its shape is 
deep or broad, the sides being much com- 
pressed, and the back rising very high in the 
middle. The colour of the whole body is 
silvery, as if covered' with foil, without any 
appearance of scales ; the back is tinged with 
gold-colour and marked by three or ..four 
black spots on its ridge, and the fins have a 
reddish cast. 
mical. A chemical laboratory, though ex 
tremely useful, and even essential to all 
who embark extensively in the practice of 
chemistry, either as an art, or as a branch 
of liberal knowledge, is by no means re- 
quired tor the performance of those simple 
experiments which furnish the evidence of 
the fundamental' truths ot the science. A 
room that is well lighted, easily ventilated,- 
and destitute of any valuable furniture, is 
all that is absolutely necessary for the pur- 
pose. It is even advisable that the con- 
struction of a regular laboratory s.iould be 
deferred till the student has made some 
pro mess m the. science ; for he will then be- 
better qualified to. accommodate Us plan to 
his own peculiar vie ws and convenience. , 
