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74 LABROUSTE the use made of the leaves as a substitute for tea by the inhabitants of Labrador. It is found in the northern parts of Europe also, and the leaves are said to be used in Russia for tanning leather, and as a substitute for hops in brew- ing. The leaves of this and the only other spe- cies, L. palustre, are said to possess narcotic properties. The writer has found the plant to succeed in cultivation in a soil largely com- posed of peat. LABROUSTE, Pierre Francois Henri, a French architect, born in Paris, May 11, 1801. He studied at the college Ste. Barbe and afterward under Leon Vaudoyer and Hippolyte Lebas, entered the school of fine arts in 1819, and took the grand prize in 1824. In 1843 he be- gan the construction of the new library of Ste. Genevieve, his most noted work and the best existing example of the romantic or neo- Greek style, of which he was one of the found- ers and the most distinguished master. Among his other works are the hospital of Lausanne, the prison of Alexandria, and the school of Ste. Barbe des Champs. LA BRUIERE, Jean de, a French moralist, born in Paris about 1644, died in Versailles, May 11, 1696. At the recommendation of Bossuet he was appointed teacher of history to the grandson of the great Conde, in whose service he remained for the rest of his life in a literary capacity, with a pension of 1,000 crowns. He was admitted a member of the French academy in 1693, and left the reputa- tion of a genial philosopher, whose happiness consisted in cultivating the best society and in reading the choicest books. His power of observation and his literary attainments are attested by his celebrated Caracteres, ou les Mo&urs de ce siecle, founded upon the " Char- acters" of Theophrastus, which he translated into French and prefixed to his own. Hallam says that he incomparably surpassed his Greek model. The first edition appeared in the be- ginning of 1688. Three editions were ex- hausted in the first year of its publication, and six more before the author's death. La Bru- yere left also an unfinished work, published in 1699 under the title of Dialogues posthumes sur le quietisme, and contained in an edition of the works of La Bruyere, La Rochefoucauld, and Vauvenargues (Paris, 1820). Many edi- tions of La Bruyere's " Characters " were pub- lished after his death in Holland and France. The first complete edition based upon the original work was prepared by Walckenaer (Paris, 1845), followed by an improved edi- tion by Destailleur (1855), and an edition by Gennequin the elder with illustrations (1858). Many have since appeared, the latest being that by Alphonse Lemerre (1872). The English translation by the poet Rowe (London, 1709) has been often reprinted. In 1861 a new edition of his works was published (12mo, Caen), with notes by Georges Mancel. See La comedie de La Bruyere, by Edouard Fournier (Paris, 1866), and Caracteres de La Bruyere, in LABURNUM Lemerre's edition of French classics, with a sketch and notes by Oh. Asselineau (1872). LABUAJV, a British island in the Malay archi- pelago, off the N. W. coast of Borneo, in lat. 5 22' K, Ion. 115 10' E. ; area, 45 sq. m. ; pop. in 1871, 4,893. The chief settlement is at Victoria at the S. E. end, where there is a government establishment and a fair harbor. In the interior are swampy tracts of jungle. The island is well supplied with water, and good coal is found near the N". E. end. In 1866 about 12,000 tons were mined. Petro- leum also is found, and ironstone and freestone are quarried. A railway has been built from the mines to the place of shipment, 5 m. dis- tant, and several new roads have been opened. The chief exports are coal, sago, birds' nests, pearls, and camphor. The exports in 1872 amounted to 134,984 (including 65,890 re- exports); imports, 129,198; total tonnage (exclusive of numerous native craft) entered, 7,708 tons ; cleared, 7,808 tons. The colony was created an episcopal see in 1855. The island was ceded to Great Britain in 1846 by the sultan of Brunai, through the influence of Sir James Brooke, the rajah of Sarawak. LABURNUM, the ancient Latin name as well as the popular one for a small, hardy, deciduous tree of the family leguminosce. It was formerly placed in the genus cytisus, and is found in most works as C. laburnum ; but some impor- tant characters separate it from cytisus, and it stands in recent works as laburnum vulgare. The common laburnum was introduced from Switzerland into Great Britain near the close of the 16th century, and is now largely culti- vated as an ornamental tree. It has a smooth Laburnum. green bark, pale green three-foliolate leaves, and in May and June presents a beautiful ap- pearance, every twig and small branch being hung with racemes of brilliant yellow flowers, which are long and pendulous, and suggested one of its common names, golden chain; in