I A U 
LAURIE'RE, a town of France, in the department of 
the Upper Vienne : eighteen miles eaft of Bellac, and eigh¬ 
teen north-north-eaft of Limoges. 
LAURIE'RE (Eufebius Jacob de), a profound writer 
on French law, was the fon of a furgeon in Paris, where 
he was born in 1659. He was admitted an advocate in 
1679, but foon quitted the bufinefsof the bar for the pro- 
feflional ftudies of the clofet. He carried his refearches 
into the whole mafs of ancient and modern jurifprudence, 
and, by his indultry and fagacity, made himfelf matter of 
the mod knotty points of local cuftom, fo that he came 
to be regarded as an oracle in all queltions of legal anti¬ 
quity. He was etteemed and confulted by the ablelt ma- 
gillrates of the time, and affifted the ltudies of the cele¬ 
brated d’Agueffeau, afterwards chancellor. He died in 
1728. The principal works of this lawyer are, 1. De 
FOrigine du Droit d’Amortiffement, 1692. 2. Textedes 
Coutumes de la Prevote de Paris, reprinted with addi¬ 
tions, in 3 vols. i2mo. 1777. 3. Bibliotheque des Cou- 
tumes, ^to. in conjunction with M. Berroyer, an unfinifh- 
ed work upon a valt plan. 4. Gloffaire du Droit Francois, 
4to. 1704; an improvement of the glolfary of old law- 
terms by Ragueau, for which Lauriere was peculiarly qua¬ 
lified by his intimate acquaintance with the old French 
poets and romancers. 5. Inftituts Coutumieres de Loy- 
fel, 2 vols. nmo. 6. Table chronologique des Ordon- 
nances, from Hugh Capet to Philip de Valois. He alfo 
affifted in other profeflional works. Moreri. 
LAUKIES'TON, a village of Scotland, in tire county 
of Kincardine; where is an ancient caftle, built in the 10th 
or nth century. In the year 1336 it was taken by the 
Englifh, but foon recovered. It is fix miles north of Mon- 
trofe. 
LAURIF'EROUS, adj. [from the Lat. laurus, a laurel, 
and fero , to bear.] Bearing laurel; producing laurel. 
Bailey. 
LAURIFO'LIA, f. in botany. SeeGARCiNiA and Si- 
DEROXYLON. 
LAURIFO'LIA AR'BOR. See Hippomane. 
LAURIN'GEN, a town of the duchy of Wurzburgh, 
on the Laur: thirty miles north-eaft of Wurzburgh, and 
twenty-four north-weft of Bamberg. Lat. 50.13, N. Ion. 
10. 32. E. 
LAURI'NO, a town of Naples, in the Principato Citra : 
nine miles weft-north-weft of Policaftro. 
LAURI'NUM, f. [from laurus.'] Oil of bay; otherwife 
called daphnelaon. 
LAU'RION, in ancient geography, a place of Attica, 
where were gold-mines, from which the Athenians drew 
confiderable revenues, and with which they built their 
fleets by the advice of Themiftocles. Thefe mines failed 
before the age of Strabo. 
LAURISTAN', a town of Perfia, in the province of 
Irak, on the Zenderoud : ninety miles weft of Ifpahan. 
LAU'RO, a town of Portugal, on a river of the fame 
name, in the province of Alentejo: twenty-feven miles 
weft-north-weft of Evora. 
LAU'RO, a river of Portugal, which runs into the Al- 
manfor in the province of Alentejo. 
LAU'RO (Philippo). See Lauri, p. 306. 
LAU'RO, or Lauron, in ancient geography,' a town 
of the Hither Spain, where Cn. Pompeius, fon of Pompey 
the Great, was defeated and fain. Now Lorigne } five 
leagues to the north of Liria in Valencia. 
LAU'RO-AFFI'NIS, f. in botany. See Camocladia 
and Fagara. 
LAU'RO-CER'ASUS, f. in botany, the Cherry-lau¬ 
rel, fo called from the laurel-like appearance of its leaves, 
as well as from the fruit; which is truly a cherry, and, 
though not wholefome, eatable, notwithftanding the very 
dangerous qualities of the reft of the plant. See Prunus. 
X-AUROW', a town of Hindooftan, in Maiwa : twelve 
miles fonth-weft of Kimlaffa. 
LAUROW', a town of Hindooftan, in Bahar s ten 
miles fouth-fouth-welt of Gayah. 
L A U 307 
V 
LAU'RUS, f. in botany, the ancient Latin name of the 
Bay-tree, for which it is retained by modern botanifts; 
and along with which it now comprehends a great num¬ 
ber of fpecies, as the Cinnamon, Camphor, Sassafras,. 
&c. The origin of the word is loll in the obfcurity of 
antiquity ; and, whether etymologifts derive it from lavo r 
to wafn, or from laus, praife or honour, they give us little 
more fatisfaftion in one cafe than the other. It is a ge¬ 
nus of the clafs enneandria, order monogynia, natural or¬ 
der of holoracete, (lauri, Jujjf .) The generic characters 
are—’Calyx : none, unlefs the corolla be taken for fuel). 
Corolla: petals fix, ovate, acuminate, concave, ereeft; the 
alternate ones exterior. Neftary confifting of three acu¬ 
minate coloured tubercles, ending in two briftles, {land¬ 
ing round the germ. Stamina : filaments nine, fhorter 
than the corolla, comprefled, obtufe, three in each rank ; 
antherae growing on each fide to the margin of the fila¬ 
ment on the upper part. Glandules two, globofe, with a 
very fliort footftalk, affixed to each filament of the inner 
rank near the bafe. Piftillum: germ fubovate ; ftyle Am¬ 
ple, equal, length of the ftamens; ftigma obtufe, oblique.. 
Pericarpium : drupe (or berry) oval, acuminate, one- 
celled, comprehended by the corolla. Seeds ; nut ovate- 
acuminate ; kernel of the fame form. The greater part 
of the fpecies, including the cinnamon and camphor, are 
hermaphrodite ; but in fome there are male flowers apart 
in dioecia, as in L. nobilis, where there are alfo frequently 
from eight to fourteen ftamens, with naked four-parted 
corollas.— EJfential CharaEler. Calyx none ; corolla caly- 
cine, fix-parted ; neffary of three two-briftled glands, £tr- 
rounding the germ ; filaments inner glanduliferous; drupe 
one-feeded. 
Species. 1. Laurus cinnamomum, the cinnamon-tree: 
leaves three-nerved, ovate-oblong; nerves difappearing 
towards the end. Jacquin deferibes the cinnamon-tree of 
America as twenty feet high or more, the trunk about fix 
feet high, and a foot and a half in diameter; the outer bark 
fmoothifti, and of a dufky cinereous colour; it has fpread- 
ing branches that form an elegant head. Leaves oppo- 
fite, or nearly fo, ovate-oblong, oblong-acuminate, or fub¬ 
ovate, bluntly acuminate, quite entire, fhining, coriace¬ 
ous, on fhort petioles, from three to five inches long; the 
three nerves fpring from the petiole, and either immedi¬ 
ately recede from each other, or continue united for a line 
or two and then diverge ; they are of a bright green on 
the upper furface, but pale on the under, with the nerves 
whitifh. On the younger branches or twigs arife flender 
common peduncles, from oppofite axils, the terminating 
ones an inch, the others two or three inches, long, three- 
flowered at top, or elfe trifid, with each divifion three- 
flowered. Flowers final], greenifh yellow, almoft infipid, 
with a fomewhat fetid ftnell, refembling that of Lilium 
martagon. Fruit the form and lize of a middling olive, 
infipid, deep blue, and foft, inclofing a thin pale-coloured 
nut with a white kernel, which germinates foon after it 
falls, and therefore cannot eafily be tranfported to a dif- 
tance. The inner bark perfectly refembles the oriental 
cinnamon in fmell, tafte, and figure; the only difference is 
that it has a coarfer texture, and a more acrid tafte, which 
may arife from the climate. But the varieties of cinna¬ 
mon are numerous. The timber is white and not very 
folid. The root is thick and branching, and exudes abun¬ 
dance of camphor. Native of Martinico, on the mountain. 
Calebafle: flowering in February and March. It is a na¬ 
tive alfo of Brafil. 
The following account of the cinnamon of Ceylon is 
given by Albertus Seba, from the chief infpeftor of the 
cinnamon-trade in that ifland, and is printed in Aft. Nat. 
Cur. and the Philofophical Tranfactions. The beft fort 
of cinnamon, which grows in great plenty in Ceylon, 
and is peculiar to that ifland, is called by the natives rajje 
coronde, or fharp fweet cinnamon. It is this choice fort 
which is exported by the Dutch Eaft-India Company 
and it is prohibited, under fevere penalties, to mix any 
other fort with this. The fecond is called canatte coronde^ 
. 3 eE 
