25 
LAB 
fend mines, and others make larger or fmaller circuits 
round the place from which they depart, like the fpiral 
lines we fee on certain (hells. In the figurative fenfe, it 
was applied to obfcure and captious queftions, to indirect 
and ambiguous anfwers, and to thofe difcuflions which, af¬ 
ter long digreflions, bring us back to the point from which 
we fet out. See the article Egypt, vol. vi. p. 361. 
2. The Cretan labyrinth is the mod famed in hiftoryor 
Fable; having been rendered particularly remarkable by 
the ftory of the Minotaur, and of Thefeus who found his 
way through all its windings by means of Ariadne’s clue. 
In the Encyclopaedia Britannica is a plan of it, copied af¬ 
ter a draught given by Meurfius, taken from an ancient 
done. But what was the real nature of this labyrinth, 
merits a more particular inquiry. Diodorus Siculus re¬ 
lates as a conjecture, and Pliny as a certain fadt, that Dte- 
dalus condructed this labyrinth on the model of that of 
Egypt, though on a fmaller fcale. They add, that it was 
formed by the command of Minos, w ho kept the Mino¬ 
taur (hut up in it; and that in their time it no longer el¬ 
ided, having been either deftroyed by time, or purpofely 
demoiiihed. Diodorus Siculus and Pliny, therefore, con- 
lidered this labyrinth as a large edifice; while other wri¬ 
ters reprefent it (imply as a cavern hollowed in the rock, 
and full of winding pafiages. The two former authors, 
and the writers lad mentioned, have tranfmitted to us two 
different traditions; it remains for us to choofe that which 
is mod probable. 
“If the labyrinth of Crete (fays the abbe Barthelemi) 
had been conftrufted by Dasdalus under Minos, whence 
is it that we find no mention of it, either in Homer, who 
more than once fpeaks of that prince and of Crete; or 
in Herodotus, who defcribes that of Egypt, after having 
faid that the monuments of the Egyptians are much fupe- 
rior to thofe of the Greeks; or in the more ancient geo¬ 
graphers; or in any of the writers of the ages when 
Greece flouriflied ? This work was attributed to Dasda- 
lus, whole name is alone fufliclent to difcredit a tradition. 
In fad, his name, like that of Hercules, had become the 
refource of ignorance, whenever it turned its eyes on the 
«arly ages. All great labours, all works which required 
more drength than ingenuity, were attributed to Hercules ; 
sand all thofe which had a relation to the arts, and required 
a certain degree of intelligence in the execution, were af- 
cribed to Dasdalus. 
“The opinion of Diodorus and Pliny fuppofes, that in 
their time no traces of the labyrinth exifted in Crete, and 
that even the date of its deltrudion had been forgotten. 
Yet it is faid to have been vifited by the difciples of Apol¬ 
lonius of Tyana, who was cotemporary with thofe two 
authors. The Cretans, therefore, then believed that they 
pofieffed the labyrinth. 
“I would requed the reader (continues the abbe) to at¬ 
tend tolhefollowingpadagein Strabo. AtNapulia, near the 
ancient Argos, (fays that judicious writer,) are dill to be 
Jeen vaft caverns, in which are conftrudted labyrinths that 
are believed to be the work of the Cyclops ; the meaning of 
which is, that the labours of men had opened in the rock 
palfages which eroded and returned upon themfelves, as 
is done in quarries. Such, if I am not miftaken, is the 
idea we ought to form of the labyrinth of Crete. 
“Were there feveral labyrinths in that ifland? Ancient 
authors fpeak only of one, which the greater part place at 
Cnolfus ; and forne, though the number is but linall, at 
Gortyna. Belon and Tournefort have given us the de- 
fcription of a cavern fituated at the foot of Mount Ida, 
on the fouth fide of the mountain, at a fmall didance from 
Gortyna. This was only a quarry according to the former, 
and the ancient labyrinth according to the latter; w'hofe 
opinion I have followed, and abridged his account. Thofe 
who have added critical notes to his work, befides this la¬ 
byrinth, admit a fecond at Cnoffus, and adduce as the 
principal fupport of this opinion the coins of that city, 
which reprefent the plan of it, according as the artilts 
conceived it. For on fome of thefe it appears of afquare 
Von. XII. No. 8o8„ 
LAC 
form, on others round; on fome it is only fketched out; 
on others it has, in the middle of it, the head of the Mi¬ 
notaur. In the Memoirs of the Academy of Belles Let- 
tres, I have given an engraving of one which appears to 
me to be of about the 15th century before Chrift, and on 
which we fee on one fide the figure of the Minotaur, and 
on the other a rude plan of the labyrinth. It is therefore 
certain that at that time the Cnoflians believed they were 
in poflefiion of that celebrated cavern ; and it alfo appears 
that the Gortynians did not pretend to conteft their claim, 
fince they have never given the figure of it on their 
money. 
“ The place wdiere I fuppofe the labyrinth of Crete to 
have been fituated, according to Tournefort, is but one 
league diftant from Gortyna; and, according to Strabo, 
it was diftant from Gnoflus fix or feven leagues. All we 
can conclude from this is, that the territory of the latter 
city extended to very near the former. 
“ What was the ufe of the caverns to which the name 
of labyrinth W'as given? I imagine that they were firft 
excavated in part by nature ; that in fome places Hones 
were extracted from them for building cities; and that, 
in more ancient time, they ferved for a habitation or a!y- 
lum to the inhabitants of a diftridt expofed to frequent 
incurfions. In the journey of Anacharfis through Phocis, 
I have fpoken of two great caverns of Parnaflus, in which 
the neighbouring people took refuge; in the one at the 
time of the deluge of Deucalion, and in the other at the 
invafion of Xerxes. I here add, that, according to Dio¬ 
dorus Siculus, the mod ancient Cretans dwelt in the caves 
of Mount Ida. The people, when inquiries were made on 
the fpot, faid that their labyrinth was originally only a 
prifon. It may have been put to this ufe ; but it is diffi¬ 
cult to believe that, to prevent the efcape of a few 
wretches, fuch immenfe labours would have been under* 
taken.” Travels of Anacharfis. 
3. The labyrinth of Lemnos was fupported by columns 
of wonderful beauty ; there were fome remains of it at the 
time when Pliny wrote. 
4. That of Italy was built by Porfenna, king of Etru¬ 
ria, for his tomb. 
LABYRINTH, a clufter of fmall iflands in the Paci¬ 
fic Ocean, difeovered, in 1722, by Capt. Roggewein, le- 
venty-five miles weft from the Pernicious Iflands. 
LABYRINTH, a chain of flioals, rocks, and fmall 
iflands, on the eaft coaft of New Holland, extending from 
Cape Tribulation to Cape York. 
LAC, or Lacca, f . A fubllance well known in Europe, 
under the different appellations of ltick-lac, (hell-lac, 
feed-lac, See. It is the product of an infeft, the Coceua 
ficus, which depofits its eggs on the branches of various 
trees enumerated under that article, vol. iv. p. 723. but 
we have noted it more particularly on the Croton lacci- 
f@rum, which fee, vol. v. p. 396. 
. Lac is not entitled to arrangement either with oils, re¬ 
fins, or gums. It is not foluble either in water or in fat 
oils. Some-effential oils appear to extract a dilute tinc¬ 
ture. The aftion of the acids upon lac, either when con¬ 
centrated or diluted, does not feem to be confiderable; 
but this requires more particular examination ; efpecially 
as far as relates to the nitrous acid. Ardent fpirit a£ts 
but feebly on this fubftance. By (landing upon it in the 
cold, it forms a clear tinitture, apparently by diflblving 
only a part of its principles ; but, when digefted in a mo¬ 
derate heat, the whole of the lac unites with the fpirit, 
and forms a turbid mixture, or imperfect folution, of a 
gummy appearance, which does not afterwards become 
clear. In this way, however, with judicious management, 
it appears practicable to form a very hard opake varnifts, 
refembing that of China or Japan. 
Of lac there are four kinds known in commerce : viz. 
1. Stick-lac, which is the lac in its natural ftate, from 
which all the others are formed. This is obtained in pretty 
confiderable lumps, with much of the woody parts of the 
branches on which it is formed adhering to it. 2. Seed- 
15 lac 3 
