an intricate structure, with numerous winding passages so involved and perplexing as to make exit or entrance without a clue almost impossible. Three great labyrinths are mentioned by ancient writers. The earliest and by far the most famous was that at Arsinoe, near the Lake Moeris, in Egypt. It is described by Herodotus and Pliny as having 3000 rooms, of which one-half were under ground. It was extant in the time of Pliny; but its ruins, if they still exist, have not yet been identified. According to Herodotus, it was used as a burial place for the kings and sacred crocodiles of Egypt. Another labyrinth, frequently alluded to in the classics, was that near Cnossus, in Crete. Tradition describes it as built by King Minos, on the model of the Egyptian one, but on a much smaller scale. The same legends make it the abode or prison of the Minotaur. None of the writers who mention this labyrinth describe it from personal inspection. No remains of it have ever been found, and it is probable that the tradition had merely in view one of the large natural caverns that abound in Crete. A third labyrinth is mentioned in the isle of Lemnos, similar in plan to that of the Lake Moeris. It is said to have been completed about the middle of the eighth century B.C. Remains of it were extant in the days of Pliny. Some have set it down as a temple of the Cabiri, but to what uses it was really put is unknown. Only one structure of this kind is known to have existed in Italy, the labyrinthine tomb of Porsena, near Clusium. See Clusium.