36* 



MYRTLE 



MYSTERIES 



Oil of Cajepnt and Oil of Cloves nrc examples. 

 Cloves iiiul I'iinoiitii lire amongst tlio lie-t-knowu 

 products of tin 1 order. The lierries of several 

 species are occasionally used as spices in the same 

 way as the tnie Pimento. A considerable niimlier 

 \ield pleasant e<lille fruits, among which arc the 

 FUMntUUto, the Guava, species of the genus 

 Eugenia, and some species of my i tie. 



Myrtle (Myrtiw), a genus of Myrtacea', the 

 characteristics of which are well illustrated in the 

 accompanying figure. The Coninum Myrtle ( M. 

 riiiiuiiuiii.'i) is well known as a lieautiful evergreen 

 shrub, or a tree of moderate size, with white (lowers. 

 Il is a nathe of all the countries around the Medi- 

 terranean Sea, and of the temperate parts of Asia, 

 often forming thickets, which sometime* occur even 

 within the reach of the sea-spray. The leaves are 

 ovate or lanceolate, varying much in breadth. 

 They are astringent and aromatic, contain a 

 volatile oil, and were nsed in medicine by the 

 ancients as a stimulant. The berries are also 



aromatic, and 

 are used in 

 medicine in 

 Greece and 

 India. A 

 myrtle wine 

 is also made. 

 Myrtle-bark is 

 used for tan- 

 ning in many 

 parts of the 

 south of 

 Europe. A- 

 mong the an- 

 cient Greeks 

 the myrtle 

 was sacred to 

 Venus, as the 

 symbol of 

 vonth and 

 lieanty, was 

 much used in 

 festivals, and 

 was, as it still 

 is, often men- 

 t i o n e d in 

 poetry. The 

 myrtle en- 

 dures the winters of Britnin only in the mildest 

 situations in the south. The Small-leaved Myrtle 

 of I'eru (M. micro/ihylla) has red berries of the size 

 of a pea, of a pleasant flavour and sugary sweet- 

 ie'. Those of the Luiim ( At. liinui ) are also palat- 

 alile, and are eaten in Chili, as are those of the 

 llnwny Mvrtle (.U. tomentosa) on the Neilgherry 

 (NUgtri) Hills, and those of the White-berried 

 Mvrtle ( M. /riti'ni'iir/Hi) in Greece and Syria. The 

 lorries of this species or variety are larger than 

 those of the common myrtle. A very humble 

 species of myrtle (.I/, nttminttlaria) spreads over 

 the ground in the Falkland Islands, as thyme docs 

 in Britain. .'/. 1'ijni, a native of Chili, was alxmt 



!->;."> highly extolled aa trait-bearing kbnib adapted 



to the warmest di-tricts of Itritain : but it pro\cd 

 unlit for open-air culture, though it fruits freely in 

 an indicated greenhouse. The fruit emits an 

 aromatic fragrance which permeates the atmo- 

 sphere around the plant continually, and the juicy 

 pulp of the berries possesses a rare mixture of 

 sweetness and gpicinesg which is very agreeable. 



Myrtle-wnx. SeeCANin.KHKititv, WAX. 



M> sin. a district of ancient Asia Minor, having 



tin- I'ropoutis (Sea of Marmora) on the N., the 

 ;gean on the W., Lydia on the S., and Bithynia 

 and Phrygiaon the K. The Troad (l,and<>f Troy) 

 was one of its subdivisions. 



Myrtle (Myrtut communit) : 



a, branch in flower ; 6, vertical section 



of flower. 



Mysls, a genus of podopbtbalnMNU (stalk eyed) 

 crustaceans, of the order Simnapoda. much resem- 

 bling the com n shrimps in form. 



Mysore, or Musri:. a native state of Southern 

 India, is surrounded entirely by districts of the 

 Madras Presidency. The area is 24,700 sq. m. 

 Top. (1871) 0,066,419! (1891) 4.944.m4. M\s,.,e 

 is an extensive tableland much broken by' hill- 

 ranges and deep ravines, and is divided into two 

 portions, a little north of l:t N. hit., by the water- 

 shed between the Kistna and the Kaveri rivers. 

 Numerous isolated rocks . ,1, n,i.\- 1, riving to 4000 Of 

 50(H) feet, are a |>eculiarity of the country, and 

 have been mostly concerted into hill-foiin 

 The rivers are used for irrigation purposes, but are 

 not navigable. The climate of the higher districts 

 is during a great portion of the year healthy and 

 pleasant. The annual value of the exports, diiclly 

 betel nut and leases, codec, ragi, gram, cotton, 

 piece-goods, cardamoms, rice, silk, and sugar, is 

 alxive 1,'2<)<).(MH). The import-. consisting mainly 

 of piece-goods, cloth, wheat, silver, gold, cotton, 

 rice, silk, betel-leaves, and ]>epper, arc over 

 1,500,000. The ruinous misgovernnient of the 

 native prince led the British to assume the admin- 

 istration in 1831 ; but in 1881 Mysore was re-i.n.,1 

 to the native dy misty. The famine yeais i |s7i>-78) 

 told with great severity on that state. Chief 

 town, Mysore; but the British headquarters were at 

 Bangalore. 1'or the history of Mysore, see HYDEB 

 ALI, Til'l'oo SAIIIII, and INDIA. 



The capital of the state, MYSORE, is situated 



amid pieturesipie scenery on a declivity for 1 by 



two parallel ranges running north and south, '24"> 

 miles WSW. of Madras. A prosperous, well built 

 town, it has broad, regular stiecls, and substantial 

 houses and public buildings. (In the south side 

 stands the fort, which encloses the rajah's palace; 

 its chief object of interest is a magnificent chair or 

 throne of fig-wood, overlaid with ivory and gold. 

 Pop. (1881) 60,292; (1891) 74,048. ' The gold 

 obtained by companies working at Kolar in the 

 east of Mysore increased in IS77-90 from 15,500 

 ounces to 72,000 ounces per annum. 



MystajSOJflie(<!r. /.*/">, 'an initiated person,' 

 and ago, *1 lead'), the name in the Greek religions 

 system of the priest whose duty it was to direct 

 the preparations of the candidates for initiation 

 in the several mysteries, as well as to conduct 

 the ceremonial of initiation. The same name is 

 applied in the Christian church a- eaily as the 

 4th and 5th centuries to the cntechists or other 

 clergy who prepared candidates for the Christian 

 i,ii/xt<'i-ii-x, or sacrament-, of baptism, confirmation, 

 ami the encharist, especially the last. 



Mysteries (<'r. fin : .lose the lips or 



eyes'), also called 7V/.V,.,, ",,,,, () r. in Latin, //- 

 d'l-ignates certain rites and ceremonies in ancient, 

 chiefly Greek and Homan, religions, only known to, 

 and practised by, congregation- of certain initiated 

 men and women, at appointed seasons, and in strict 

 seclusion. The origin, as well a- the real purport of 

 these mysteries, which take no unimportant place 

 among the religious festivals of the classical period, 

 and which, in their CUT changing nature, designate, 

 vaiioiis phii-cs of religious dcu-lopnicnt in the 

 antique world, is all but unknown. It docs seem, 

 indeed, as if the vague speculations of modern times 

 mi the subject were all echo of the manifold inter- 

 pretations of the various acts of the mysteries jjiu-n 

 fy the pric-is to the in.|uiring disciple according 

 to the lights of the former or the latter. Some 

 investigators, themselves not entirely free from 

 certain mystic inlluences (like Cren/er and others i, 

 have hehf them to have l>cen a kind of misty orb 

 around a kernel of pure light, the bright rays ,,f 

 which were too strong for the eyes of the multitude ; 



