Labyrinth
the name of some celebrated buildings of antiquity, consisting of a series of intricate chambers or passages. Of these the most celebrated were the Egyptian, the Cretan, and the Samian. The Egyptian was visited by Herodotus and Strabo, and was reckoned one of the wonders of the world, containing 3,000 chambers. The Cretan labyrinth was supposed to have been built by Dædalus for King Minos, to contain the Minotaur. The only mode of finding the way out of it was by means of a hank or skein of linen thread, which gave the clue to the dwelling of the Minotaur. The Samian labyrinth was constructed in the age of Polycrates (540 в. c.). Other inferior labyrinths existed at Nauplia, at Sipontum in Italy, at Val d'Ispica in Sicily, and elsewhere. rica. They were allied to the crocodile and to the frog, and were 10 to 12 feet long. The name is derived from the labyrinthine structure of a section of the tooth, when seen under the microscope. The hypothetical cheirotherium has been identified with the labyrinthodon.