LAB 
colour blue^ though it occurs also white 
' and grey ; some specimens are entirely 
bine, others are only spotted, striped, or 
flamed with it. Externally ana internally 
its lustre is shining and splendent, and com- 
pletely pearly. It occurs in wedge-shaped 
concretions, which are often very promis- 
cuous, and then pass into large and coarse 
grained distinct concretions. It feels grea- 
sy ; is easily frangible, and the specific gra- 
vity is fropa S..*) to 3.6. It is infusible be- 
fore the blow-pipe, and is found to con- 
sist of 
Oxide of iron 
6.65 
Water and loss ....... 
4. 9 
100,00 
LAB 
It is peculiar to the primitive mountains, 
where it occurs imbedded in talc slate, 
and mica slate, accompanied with grena- 
tite. It is found in many parts of Europe. 
It is reckoned the link which connects talc 
with actynolite and trenolite. 
KYLLINGIA, in botany, a genus of the 
Triandria Monogynia class and order. Na- 
tural order of Gramina. Cyperoideae, Jus- 
sieu. Essential character : ament ovate or 
oblong, imbricate; flowers with a bivalve 
calyx and corolla. There are seven spe- 
cies, natives of the East and West Indies, 
L. 
L Or 1, the eleventh letter and eighth 
’ coirsonant of our alphabet. It is a 
semi-vowel, formed in the voice by inter- 
cejlting the breath between the tip of the 
tongue and the fore- part of tllfe palate, with 
the mouth open. 
There is something of aspiration in its' 
sound, aud therefore the Welsh usually dou- 
ble it, or add an h to it; as in llan, or lhan, 
a temple. 
In English words of one syllable, it is 
usually doubled at the end ; as in all, wall, 
•mill, &c. but in words of more syllables 
than one, it is only single at the end ; as in 
fortel, proportmial, &c. It may be placed 
after most of the consonants, as in fclue, 
clear, flame, &c. but before none of them. 
As a numeral letter, L j^enotes 50 ; and 
with a dash over it, thus, L, 50,000. 
LA, in music, the syllable by which 
Guido denotes the last sound of each hexa- 
chord : if it begins in C, it answers to our 
A ; if in G, to E; and if in F, to D. 
L.'kBDANUM, or Ladanbm, is a resin 
obtained from the surfacg of the crystus 
creticus, a shrub which grows in Syria and 
the Grecian islands. It is collected while 
moist, by drawing over it a kind of rake, 
with thongs fixed to it, from which it is 
afterwards scraped. When it is very good 
it is black, soft, and has a fragrant odour 
and a bitterish taste. Water dissolves about 
a twelfth part of it, and the matter taken up 
possesses gummy properties. When dis- 
tilled with water, a small quantity of vola- 
tile oil arises. Alcohol may also be impreg- 
nated with a taste and odour of labdanum. 
LABATIA, in botany, a genus of the 
Tetrandria Monogynia class and order. 
Natural order of Guajacanae, Jussieu. Es- 
sential character: calyx four-leaved, infe- 
rior; corolla subcampanulate, four-cleft, 
with two minute segments in the division of 
the corolla ; capsule four-celled ; seeds soli- 
tary. There are two species, lAz. L. sessili- 
flora, which is a native of Hispaniola ; and L. 
guianeusis is a tree exceeding forty feet in 
height, and three in diameter ; the bark is of 
a russet colour ; the wood is hard and white ; 
the largest leaves are eight inches in lengtli, 
and three in width; flowers axillary, ,pr on 
the branches in pairs or threes, each on its 
pedicel ; corolla greenish. It is called by 
the natives of Guiana, pourama pouteri. 
