Labellum. Dimin. of Labrum (q.v.).
Heraldic Labels.
Fig. 411. Labels of 3 points. Label of 5 points.
Labels, in heraldry, are marks of cadency. (1) A band crossing the shield, with three points depending, marks the coat of an eldest son. (2) Broad ribands hanging from a knight’s helmet. (3) In mediæval architecture and church decoration, images of saints and angels bear labels inscribed with texts and mottoes.
Labis. (See Spoon.)
Labrum, R. (lit. a lip). A general term to denote any kind of vessel the brim of which turned over on the outside like the lip of the human mouth; a wide flat basin which stood in the thermal chamber or Caldarium (q.v.) of the Roman baths.
Fig. 412. Labyrinth.
Labyrinth, Gen. (λαβύρινθος). A building of considerable size, usually underground, containing streets and cross-roads, like the catacombs, &c. The term is also applied to intricate designs executed on the grass-plots of gardens, and on the mosaic or glazed tiles in pavements. (Fig. [412].) (See Minotaur.)
Lac or Gum Lac (Arabic, lakah). A resin produced on an East Indian tree by the punctures of the Coccus lacca insect. It forms a brittle substance of a dark red colour, and when in grains is called seed lac, and in thin flat plates shell-lac. (See Lacquer.) The chief use of lac in Europe is for making sealing-wax, and as a basis for spirit varnishes and French polish.