MYOPIA 



MYRTACEJE 



367 



in the Australian region in Flores, New Guinea, 

 anil the Solomon Islands. 



Myopia. See EVE. 



Myosin. See GLOBULINS. 



Myosotis. See FORGET-ME-NOT. 



Myrola* a genus of trees of the natural order 

 Myrtaceje, to which belongs the Wild Clove or 

 Wild Cinnamon of the West Indies (M. ncris), a 

 handsome tree of 20 or 30 feet high. Its timber is 

 very hard, red, and heavy, capable of receiving a 

 fine polish, and much used for cogs of wheels. Its 

 l>-;ivi-~ have an aromatic cinnamon-like smell, and 

 an agreeable astringency, and are used in sauces. 

 Its lierries are round, and as large as peas, have an 

 aromatic smell and taste, and are used for culinary 

 purposes. The leaves, l*rries, and Mower-buds of 

 M. pimentoules have a hot taste and fragrant smell, 

 and are also used for culinary purposes. 



Myrica. See CANDLEBERRY. 



Myriopoda (Or, 'myriad-footed'), a class of 

 terrestrial Arthropods with numerous and very 

 uniform segments. The head is distinct and Iwar* 

 a pair of antenn.ne, while mandibles and maxillic 

 form the true mouth-appendages. The legs them- 

 selves have six or seven joints, and end in a claw. 

 Respiration is discharged by air-tubes or trachea 1 . 

 The class includes two order*, which differ consider- 

 ably : the Centinedes (Chilo|H>da), with Battened 

 Ixxjy, a pair of legs on each ring, the second pair 

 behind the moiitli with powerful poison-claws; and 

 th<- Millipedes(Chilognatha), with cylindrical body, 

 ami two pairs of legs on most of the rings. The 

 Centipedes are carnivorous, and their venomous 

 'bite is sometime* dangerous; the Millipedes are 

 destructively vegetarian, but otherwise harmless. 

 Generally they avoid the light, and live in the 

 ground, under stones, among moss, under bark, or 

 in similar hidden habitats. A few have a quite 

 aii-i-tral-like simplicity of structure. Fossil forms 

 appear in Carlwniferous strata. See CENTIPEDE. 



Myristioaoea-. See Ni TMEC. 



MyrmrropliHKa. See ANT-EATER. 



Myrmidons, the followers of Achilles in the 

 Trojan war. They were an old ThesBalian race 

 who colonised the island of .Egina. According to 

 Greek legend, Zeus peopled Tliesmtly by transform- 

 ing the ants into men ; hence myrmidons (murmcx 

 ' an ant ' ). 



Myrohalans. the astringent fruit of certain 

 species of Terminalia, ii'<-~ nf the natural order 

 Coinbretacrae, natives of the mountains of India. 

 T. Belerica produces great part of the myrolialans 

 of commerce of that name ; the fruit i- about the 

 size of a nutmeg, very astringent, with bitter 

 kernels, to which intoxicating qualities have been 

 a-crilifd. It is also said to l>e tonic, but is now 

 ccarcelv Hied in medicine. The bark of the tree 

 abounds in a gum, resembling gum-arabic, which 

 is soluble in water and burns away in the Hame of 

 a candle. The kernel of the fruit is said to yield 

 an oil which encourages the growth of the hair. 

 Other forms of myrohalans are the Chebulic, the 

 fruit of T. rlii-inilii-ii : the Citrine, the fruit of T. 

 ,/, 1,1/1 ; and the Indian, which are the small 

 unripe fruits of either or all of the preceding. 

 They are all chiefly in request by tanners, dyers, 

 and the manufacturers of ink. Eniblic myro- 

 balans, the fruit of KuMini offirinalis, of the 

 natural order Eiipliorbiacen*, are used in India as 

 tunic* and astringents, in tanning, and in the 

 making of ink. For Myrobalan Hum, gee PLUM. 



Myron. Greek sculptor, a native of Eleuthern 1 , 

 flourished itUmt 430 |>.C. He was a fellow-pupil 

 of I'hidias, and excelled in modelling athletes, 

 animals, and figures in motion. His most cele- 



Myrrh 

 ( Battamodtiidron myrrha). 



brated works were the ' Discobolos, ' ' Ladas the 

 Kminer," 'A Cow,' and 'Athene and the Satyr.' 

 Copies have survived of the first and last only. 

 Myron worked principally in bronze. 



Myrrh ( Heb. miir), a gum-resin produced by 

 HulMimodendron (q.v. ) myrrha, a tree of the 

 natural order Amyridacew, growing in Arabia, 

 and also in Som- 

 ali Land. The 

 myrrh-tree ia small 

 and scrubby, spiny, 

 with whitish-gray 

 bark, thinly-scat- 

 tered small leaves, 

 each consisting of 

 three obovate leaf- 

 lets with obtuse 

 toothlete, and the 

 fniit a smooth 

 brown ovate drupe, 

 somewhat larger 

 than a pea. Myrrh 

 exudes from the 

 bark in oily yellow- 

 ish drops, which ' 

 gradually thicken 

 and finally become 

 hard, the colour at 

 the same time be- 

 coming darker. 

 Myrrh has been 

 known and valued 

 from the most 

 ancient times ; and 

 was amongst the 



presents which the wise men from the East 

 drought to the infant Jesus. (The 'myrrh' of 

 Gen. xxxvii. 25, Heb. lot, was probably Ladannm, 

 q.v.) Myrrh appears in commerce either in tears 

 and grains, or in pieces of irregular form and 

 various sizes, yellow, red, or reddish brown. It is 

 brittle, and has a waxy fracture, often exhibiting 

 wliiti-h veins. Its smell is balsamic, its taste 

 aromatic and bitter. It is used in medicine as a 

 tonic and stimulant, in disorders of the digestive 

 organs, excessive secretions from the mucous mem- 

 branes, &c. , also to cleanse ulcers and promote 

 their healing, and as a dentifrice, particularly in a 

 spongy or ulcerated condition of the gums. It was 

 much used by the ancient Egyptians in embalming. 

 The best myrrh is known in commerce as Turkey 

 Mi/rr/i, but practically all myrrh comes either from 

 Aden or from Bombay. 



MyrtaCCSP, a natural order of exogenous 

 plants, consisting of trees and shrubs, natives 

 chiefly of warm, but partly also of temperate, 

 countries. The order, as defined by the greater 

 nuinlier of botanists, includes several sub orders, 

 which are regarded by some as distinct orders, 

 particularly Chani;i-l;iur-iace;e (in which are con- 

 tained almut fifty known species, mostly beautiful 

 little bushes, often with fragrant leaves, natives of 

 Australia and Tasmania), Barringtoniacese, and 

 Lecythidaceip. Even as restricted, by the separa- 

 tion of these, the order contains about 1300 known 

 species. The leaves are entire, usually with pellucid 

 dots, and a vein running parallel to and near their 

 margin. Some of the species are gigantic trees, 

 as the Eucalytiti or Gum Trees of Australia, and 

 different species of Metrosideros, of which one 

 is found as far south as the Auckland Islands, 

 in 50$ lat. The timl*r is generally compact. 

 Astringency seems to be rather a prevalent pro- 

 perty in the "order, and the leaves or other parts 

 of some species are used in medicine as astringents 

 and tonics. A fragrant or pungent volatile oil is 

 often present in considerable quantity, of which 



