LAALAND, OF LALAND; an island of Deumark, at the entrance into the Baltic from the Greater Belt, about 60 miles in length, and 12 in its mean breadth, and reckoned the most fertile spot in the Danish dominions. This island produces plenty of all sorts of grain, particularly very fine wheat, and excellent peas. It is also famous for a kind of red fruit, called manna. The country lies low, the soil is damp, and the air is very unhealthy. Of all the inhabitants of this island, the clergy are the best provided for, according to their rank. The nobility are numerous here, and many of them have very fine seats, and considerable estates. Naskow is the capital. Population, 38,000; square miles, 459. Laaland, united with Falster, forms a bishopric. Lon. 10° 59′ to 11° 52′ E.; lat. 54° 40′ to 55° N.

LAAR, or LAER, Peter van, surnamed il Bamboccio, a painter, born in 1613, at Laaren, a village near Naarden, in Holland, enjoyed, during 16 years, the society of the most distinguished artists, viz. Poussin, Claude Gelée (Lorraine), Sandrart, &c., and had considerable influence on the taste of the Italians. In 1673 or 1674, he put an end to his life, probably from hypochondria. He received his surname during his residence at Rome, according to some, on account of his deformity; according to others, from his humorous representations of objects of common life, which he brought into favor. Even in his earliest youth, it was his constant occupation to draw every thing which he met with. His memory served him so admirably, that he could represent objects most strikingly, which he had only seen once, or a long time previous. He was also one of the greatest musicians of his time. He only attempted minor objects, such as fairs, children's games, hunting scenes, landscapes, &c., but his paintings possess great power and animation. The inuscum of Paris possessed several of his pieces.

LABARRE, John Francis Lefevre, chevalier de, grandson of a lieutenantgeneral in the French service, was one of the latest victims of religious fanaticism in France. His father having spent his fortune, his aunt, the abbess De Villancourt, took charge of his education, and the youth made much progress in his studies. The command of a company of cavalry had been promised to him, when the following horrible event put a stop to his career. In the year 1765, a wooden crucifix, on the bridge of Abbeville, had been defaced, and the bishop of Amiens,

De la Motte d'Orléans, issued a proclamation, demanding a disclosure of the perpetrators of the crime, under penalt of ecclesiastical censures and excommunication. Duval de Saucourt, counsellor of the presidial of Abbeville, the private enemy of the abbess De Villancourt, accused the chevalier De Labarre of the crime. Several witnesses were heard. Labarre and Détallonde, a youth of the same age, were ordered to be arrested. The latter fled, and entered the service of Prussia, in which he distinguished himself; but Labarre was apprehended and brought to trial. The indictment charged him with having passed a procession without taking off his hat, of having spoken against the eucharist, and of having sung impious and licentious songs. The tribunal sentenced the young man to have his tongue cut out, his right hand cut off, and to be burnt alive. A decree of the parliament of Paris, of June 5, 1766, passed by a small majority, commuted the sentence into decapitation before burning. This decree was executed July 1. Labarre, hardly 19 years old, was carried to the place of execution in a cart, with the words impious, blasphemer, sacrilegious, abominable, and execrable, written on his breast. Voltaire exerted himself as zealously against this infamous act as he had against the execution of Calas. (q. v.) Under the name of M. De Casen, advocate of the royal council, he published a Relation of the Death of the Chevalier De Labarre, which may be found in vol. xxxvi of his works, ed. Beaumarchais. "A Dominican," he says, was appointed to attend him as confessor, a friend of his aunt, the abbess, with whom he had often supped in the convent. This good man wept, and the chevalier comforted him. Dinner was brought to them; but the Dominican was unable to eat. Let us take a little food,' said the chevalier to him; 'you will need strength to support the spectacle which I am going to exhibit."" He ascended the scaffold with calmness, without complaints, without anger, and without ostentation, merely saying to the monk who assisted him, "I did not think that a young nobleman could be put to death for such a trifle."

66

LABARUM; the name given to the imperial banner, upon which Constantine, after his conversion, blazoned the monogram of Christ. Eusebius has described it with much particularity. After the vision, in which the luminous cross was exhibited to the emperor, and while he was yet meditating on the meaning of that appari

tion, a sudden night came on, "at which time," as he said, "the Christ of God appeared to him, when asleep, with that sign which had been shown him in the heaven, and ordered him to get a standard made, in imitation of that which he had seen in the heaven, which he should use as a protection in his engagements with his enemies. As soon as it was day, he arose, and declared the whole secret to his friends. Then he called together the workers in gold and precious stones, in the midst of whom he himself sate, and gave them a description of that standard, and ordered them to express its likeness in gold and precious stones, which standard we ourselves, also, happened some time to have a sight of."

LABAT, Jean Baptiste, a Dominican missionary and traveller, born at Paris in 1663, took the vows at the age of 19. He afterwards taught mathematics and philosophy at Nancy, where, at the same time, he performed the duties of a preacher. In 1693, he returned to Paris, to the Dominican convent in the street St. Honoré. A letter arriving shortly after, from the superior of the Dominicans in the French Antilles, in which this ecclesiastic urged his brethren in Europe to come to his aid, an infectious disease having carried off many of the members of the order, Labat determined to carry into execution the plan he had long entertained of becoming a missionary. As the superiors of the order expected great benefit from his services in France, it was with difficulty that he succeeded in carrying his intention into effect. He embarked, with several brethren of the order, at Rochelle, in 1693, landed at Martinique in 1694, and immediately undertook the care of the parish of Macouba, which he superintended for two years, after which he was sent to Guadaloupe, for the purpose of building a mill, on an estate belonging to the order. His mathematical knowledge recommended him to the governor there, whom he accompanied during a tour through the island, to assist him in selecting the points best adapted for works of defence. On his return to Martinique, Labat found his cure occupied by another, and he received the office of procureurgénéral of the mission, in which an opportunity was afforded him of displaying the whole extent of his useful activity, at the same time that he served the government by his mathematical knowledge. During several voyages in the service of the mission, he visited all the Antilles, and, on the attack of Guadaloupe by the English, in

1703, he rendered his countrymen important services as an engineer. In 1705, he was sent to Europe on business of the order, and, landing at Cadiz, he embraced the opportunity to survey, geometrically and scientifically, the environs and the whole coast of Andalusia, as far as Gibraltar. He likewise went to Italy, and finally returned to Paris in 1716, where he occupied himself with the publication of a part of his works, and where he died Jan. 6, 1738. His Voyage aux Iles de l'Amérique, of which several editions have appeared, and which has been translated into several languages, contains an account of the natural history, particularly of some of the smaller and less frequented islands; of their productions; the origin, customs, religion and governments of the inhabitants, as well as the chief political events which occurred during the author's resi dence there. He also published a Description of the Countries on the Senegal, and between Cape Blanco and Sierra Leone; Travels in Spain and Italy; and a translation of Cavazzi's work on Western Æthiopia. Besides these, Labat edited the Voyage of the Chevalier Demarchais to Guinea and to Cayenne, and the Memoirs of the Chevalier d'Arvieux, containing his Travels in Palestine, Syria and Barbary.

LABÉ, Louisa, known by the name of la belle cordière, was born at Lyons, in 1526 or 1527. Her father had her instructed in music, in several languages, and also in riding and military exercises. This excited in her a desire to enter the army, and, in 1543, she served at the siege of Perpignan, under the assumed name of captain Loys. She was commended for her strength and courage. The French being obliged to abandon the siege of Perpignan, Louisa renounced the military service, and devoted herself to literature and poetry. She married a rich rope-maker, Ennemond Perrin, by which means she acquired an opportunity to follow freely her bent for literature. With many agreeable accomplishments,she combined a knowledge of the Greek, Latin, Spanish and Italian. Her house became the resort of men of learning, rank and wit. She excited the admiration of the poets, but at the same time the envy of the ladies of Lyons. Some contemporary writers have praised her for her virtue, while others have accused her of licentiousness. Several of her poetical effusions, particularly the 18th sonnet, certainly afford cause for suspecting her virtue. She appears to have passed through

all the degrees of love: commencing with faithful affection, she became a coquette, and finally an intriguante. We may find some excuse for her conduct in the character of the age, when gallantry was not considered dishonorable, and she herself was surrounded by a crowd of amiable but licentious admirers. Her generosity, her taste for learning, and her acquirements, so extraordinary for the times, effaced this stain in the eyes of most of her contemporaries. The tribute which contemporary authors pay her, and the circumstance that the street in Lyons, where her house was situated, was named after her, prove how much she was esteemed. The charm of her conversation, her accomplishments, her talents, the verses which she composed and sung to the lute, contributed to fascinate her numerous and distinguished admirers. Her works are, Epistle to Clemence de Bourges (written with great talent); the Dispute between Love and Folly, in prose (full of interest and originality); three elegies; 24 sonnets, the first of which is in Italian. The first edition of her works appeared in 1555.

LABIALS are letters chiefly pronounced by the lips, as b, p, f, m.

LABOR, in physiology, is the act by which a female of the genus mammalia brings one of her own species into the world. When the fœtus has remained its due time in the womb, and is in a condition to carry on a separate existence, it is extruded from its place of confinement, in order to live the life which belongs to its species, independently of the mother. The womb having reached its maximum of growth with the increasing size of the foetus, its peculiar irritability excites in it the power of contraction; it thereby narrows the space within, and pushes out the mature foetus. The period of gestation is very different in different animals, but, in each particular species, it is fixed with much precision. In the womb, the corporeal frame of man commences existence as an embryo, after further developement, appears as a foetus, then as an immature, and, finally, a mature child. With its growth and increasing size, the membranes which envelope it enlarge, the womb also expanding to give room for it. At the end of the 39th or the beginning of the 40th week, the child has reached its perfect state, and is capable of living separate from the mother; hence follows, in course, its separation from her, i. e. the birth. Contractions of the womb gradually come on, which are called, from the painful sensa

tions accompanying them, labor-pains. These are of two kinds: first, the preliminary pangs, which begin the labor, do not last long, are not violent, and produce the feeling of a disagreeable straining or pressure. When the pregnant female is attacked by these, she is often unable to move from her place till the pang is over, after which she is often free from pain for some hours. Then follow the true labor-pains; these always last longer, return sooner, and are more violent. The contractions of the womb take place in the same order as the enlargement had previously done, the upper part of it first contracting, while the mouth of the womb enlarges, and grows thin, and the vagina becomes loose and distensible. By this means the foetus, as the space within the womb is gradually narrowed, descends with a turning motion towards the opening; the fluid contained in the membranes enveloping the fœtus, as the part making the greatest resistance, is forced out, and forms a bladder, which contributes much to the gradual enlargement of the opening of the womb. It is therefore injurious to the delivery if hasty or ignorant midwives break the membranes too soon. By repeated and violent throes, the membranes at length burst, and discharge their contents, and, some time after, the head of the child appears. As the skull-bones have not yet acquired their perfect form and substance, but are attached at the crown of the head only by a strong membrane, and may be brought nearer together, the head, by the pressure which it undergoes, may be somewhat diminished in size, and squeezed into a more oblong form, so as to pass through the opening of the matrix and the pelvis, in which it is contaiued, and, finally, through the external parts of generation; and when this is done, the rest of the body soon follows. The act of birth or delivery is accordingly, in general, not an unnatural, dangerous, and diseased state of the system, as many timid women imagine. It is a natural process of developement, which is no more a disease than the cutting of the teeth, or the coming on of puberty, although, like them, it may give rise to important changes in the body, and to various diseases. It is true, that the process of child-birth requires a violent exertion of nature, but this is facilitated by many preparatives and helps adapted to the purpose. If the birth succeeds in the way described, it is called a natural birth. For this, it is requisite that the pelvis should be properly formed, and that the opening should

permit a free passage to the perfect foetus; that the growth and size of the fœtus should be proportioned to the pelvis, especially that the head should have the size designed by nature, proportioned to the diameter of the pelvis; also, that there should be a proper situation of the womb, in regard to the axis of the pelvis, and a proper position of the foetus, namely, the head down, the back of the head in front, and towards the opening of the womb, so as to appear first at birth; and, finally, that the external parts of generation should be in a natural state. An easy birth takes place without any excessive strainings, and in due season. A difficult birth proceeds naturally, but is joined with great efforts and pangs, and occupies a long time-over six or eight hours. The cause of it is sometimes the stiffness of the fibres of the mother, her advanced years, the disproportionate size of the child's head, and various other causes. Nature, how ever, finishes even these births; and women in labor ought not to be inmediately dejected and impatient, on account of these difficulties. An unnatural (or properly an irregular) birth is one in which one or more of the above-mentioned requisites to a natural birth are wanting. An artificial birth is that which is accomplished by the help of art, with instruments or the hands of the midwife. Premature birth is one which happens some weeks before the usual time, namely, after the seventh, and before the end of the ninth month. Though nature has assigned the period of 40 weeks for the full maturing of the foetus, it sometimes attains, some weeks before this period has elapsed, such a growth that it may be preserved alive, in some cases, after its separation from the mother. That it has not reached its mature state is determined by various indications. Such a child, for instance, does not cry like full grown infants, but only utters a faint sound, sleeps constantly, and must be kept constantly warm, otherwise its hands and feet immediately become chilled. Besides this, in a premature child-more or less, according as it is more or less premature-the skin over the whole body is red, often, indeed, blue, covered with a fine, long, woolly hair, especially on the sides of the face, and on the back; the fontanel of the head is large, the skullbones easily moved; the face looks old and wrinkled; the eyes are generally closed; the nails on the fingers and toes, short, tender and soft, hardly a line in length; the weight of such a child is un

der six, often under five pounds. The birth is called untimely when the fœtus is separated from the womb before the seventh month. Such children can rarely be kept alive; there are instances, however, of five months' children living. A curious remark is found in good writers, that a seven months' child is more likely to live than one born a month later. Late birth is a birth after the usual period of 40 weeks. As this reckoning of the time from pregnancy to birth is founded, for the most part, solely on the evidence of the mother, there is much room for mistake or deception. The question is one of much interest in medical jurisprudence, as the inquiry often arises whether a child, born more than 40 weeks after the death of the reputed father, is to be considered legitimate or not. The importance of the question and the uncertainty of the proof have occasioned a great variety of opinions among medical writers. Most of them doubt the truth of the mother's assertions about such a delayed birth, and give, as their reason, that nature confines herself to the fixed period of pregnancy; that grief, sickness, &c., cannot hinder the growth of the fœtus, &c. Others maintain, on the contrary, that nature binds herself to no fixed rules; that various causes may delay the growth of the child, &c. Abortion and miscarriage take place when à fœtus is brought forth so immature that it cannot live. They happen from the beginning of pregnancy to the seventh month, but most frequently in the third month. The occasions especially, in those of a susceptible or sanguine temperament, are violent shocks of body or mind by blows, falling, dancing, cramp, passion, &c.

LABOR, AND LABORERS. The two great sources of income, in all communities, are labor and capital. The means of production are the land, utensils, stock, and all which constitutes capital, and the laborers who use this capital. In this general division of the means of production, the term labor is used in its broadest sense; for the labor of the mind, or that of the artist, which depends more upon skill than muscular exertion, is to be included in the general estimate of the productive power, if a price or market value is put upon its products in the general estimate. Nor should we, in estimating the general productive capacity, confine ourselves to the species of labor which results in the production of articles of necessity or convenience merely; since, in the products consumed by any community, it is not practi