> 



MII.KY WAY. 



MIMK. 



MO 



corotruction of the starry firmament taken by Sir Willuuu Herschel, 

 whuw powerful telescopes hare effected * complete analysis of tliii 

 wonderful cone, and demonstrated the fct of iU consisting entirely of 

 tan. So crowded are they in iwme part* of it, that by counting the 

 tar* in a angle field of hi* telescope, be was led to conclude that 

 00,000 had passed under hU review in a cone two degrees in breadth, 

 during a .wngle hour's observation. The immenae distance at which 

 the remoter regions must be situated, will sufficiently account for the 

 net predominance of small magnitudes which are observed in it." 

 fHu> WM., and HEBSCIICL, SIB JOHN, in Bioo. Div. ; 



NIBCLJI; and STARS.] But to the above it must be added, 

 that the fifty thousand stars thus mentioned as contained in a 

 one of 15 by 2* include only those which could be steadily seen 

 and distinctly numbered; besides which, twice as many more were 

 suspected, of which only occasional glimpses could be got for want 

 of sufficient light. 



The Milky Way may be described in general terms as extending 

 three or four degrees on each side of a great circle inclined at an angle 

 of about 60 to the ecliptic, which it cuts in the northern hemisphere 

 between the horns of Taurus and the feet of Gemini, and in the 

 southern hemisphere between Sagittarius and Scorpio. Beginning 

 with the part nearest to the North Pole, it nearly covers Cassiopeia and 

 Perseus, and then, becoming thinner, passes through Auriga, between 

 Taurus and Gemini, and near the back of Canis Major through Argo. 

 It then narrows considerably, and passing under the hind feet of Cen- 

 taurus, widens again near Ara. A little above the last constellation, 

 and before it again meets the ecliptic, it divides into the two streams 

 above mentioned, which contain between them a long thin strip pawing 

 through part of Scorpio, Serpens, Aquila, Vulpecula, and Cygnus. In 

 Cygnus the streams reunite, but immediately separate again, finally 

 reuniting higher up in the some constellation, from whence the main 

 stream reaches Cassiopeia, &c. 



Sir John Herschel, in his ' Results of Astronomical Observations 

 made during the years 1884-5-G-7-8, at the Cape of Good Hope,' 4to., 

 1847. has some valuable remarks on the general appearance and tele- 

 scopic constitution of the Milky Way in the southern hemisphere ; and 

 has also given 'an accurate delineation of that portion of it which extends 

 from the constellation Antinoos through Centaurus to Monoceros. 



The Milky Way was called by the Greeks -yoAoffai, (whence our 

 word Galaxy), or nwrAoi yaAmrrufdj, and by the Romans Orbit /at-trui. 

 The mythology of the former people on the subject is as edifying 

 as usual : Hyginus fixes on Eratosthenes the most common story, 

 namely, that the Galaxy arose from the milk of Juno, who pushed 

 Hercules away from her breast (where he had been placed by Jupiter) 

 on learning that he wan the son of Maia. Nor does the above accurate 

 writer forget to mention that others held the appearance to have arisen 

 from young master Hercules having been a greedy child, and having 

 filled his mouth too full. Others thought that the whole was nut 

 milk, but ears of corn which Isis dropped in her flight from Typhon. 

 Another fable, mentioned by Plato, makes the Milky Way to be a 

 broad causeway through the heavens for gods and heroes to walk upon; 

 another, that it is the part of the heaven which was singed when the 

 hones of the sun ran away with Phaeton. These stories are a proper 

 prelude to the speculations of the philosophers which follow <sL Some 

 of the Pythagoreans are reported to have supposed the Milky Way to 

 be an old and disused path of the sun, out of which, some said, he wan 

 frightened by the banquet of Tbyestea ; others, a reflection from the 

 sun. Anaxaguraa is said to have thought it was the shadow of the 

 earth : Aristotle supposed it to be sublunary, and to consist of ex- 

 halations, of the same matter as cometa. Poaidoniua took it for a band 

 of fire ; Theophrastus for a solid and luminous band, joining together 

 the two hemispheres; while Uiodorus thought it was celext 

 tuning through the clefts of the solid heavens. Democritus hit the 

 true explanation, namely, that it is a congeries of little Stan too small to 

 be separately seen an opinion which both Plutarch (' Do Plocit. 

 Philos.,' 1. iii., c. 1) and Maniliiu mention. Shortly after the im. iui."i 

 of the telescope, Galileo announced that he hod resolved the whole i>f 

 the Milky Way into stars. " Eat enim Ualaxia nihil oliud < mam innu- 

 mernnm tfrttantm evafrmttim conntarum cun'jrrici : in qiianieiiii.jiie 

 aim regionetn illius perapicillum dirigas, statiin stellarum ingens 

 frequently MM in conspectum profcrt quarum complures satis magiuc 

 ct ralda oonspicuo) vidi-ntur, sed exiguarum multitude pi-onus incx- 

 plombiln <*L" (' Nuncius Kidoreus.') It is however not easy to 

 suppose that Galileo's resolution of the Milky Way was complete ; and 

 wo may hero ae how neceesary is attention to minute description. 

 When Sir J. Hrrschel, in the paragraph cited above, states the stars to 

 appear " like glittering dust on the Hack ground of the general heartnt," 

 we know that, if the observer can be depended upon, he has completely 

 nenlred the continuous light in question : but if he only says, with 

 Oelileo, that he detected innumerable stars, we are only sure that he 

 be* distinguished the nearer stars, and may suppose that the more 

 distant OHM still formed a Milky Way behind them. That this must 

 here been the cane with Galileo (whose telescopes would never dis- 

 tinctly show Saturn's ring) may bo confidently anaerted. It must also 

 be remembered that Galileo bad completely resolved several nebula:, 

 and might eawly have completed his assertion as to tin- Milky Way 

 from analogy. Kepler (' I>. p-r. Pref.') describes this resolution in .> 

 way which will be come guide as to its character : " Ncbulosa stella 



tendit, ut in Via Loctoft, duas, tres, vel quatuor cUrissima/i Stellas in 

 rctisaimo spatio collocates ;" that U, two, three, or four star- 

 Men in the smallest space : this may very well correspond to Sir \V. 

 Henchel's estimate of 50,000 in the zone above mentioned, without 

 the necessity of supposing that those stars were Men, w hi. h tin 

 foot reflector would only show by glimpses. Sir W. Herschel c. 

 seventy- nine stars, on the average, in a field of fifteen minutes in 

 diameter, showing about as much of the heavens as is covered by one- 

 fourth part of the moon. If, which may be suspected, the " arctissi- 

 inuni spatium " of Kepler meant the field of his telescope, the resolu- 

 tion thus obtained would not <juite justify the conclusion, except as a 

 probable deduction ; the real and necessary inference \v..nl.l ..n. 

 been, that stars invUiblu to the naked eye exist in every port of the 

 Milky Way in considerable numbers. 



MILL, MILLWoltK. [CouiUHO ; GxaBlBO ; ROLLERS; SHAFTS; 

 : WINDMILL ; WUCD-SAIU.] 



M I I.I . K N N II " M , a Latin word meaning a period of a thousand yean, 

 is applied by ecclesiastical writers to the period during which it i 

 predicted in Scripture that the Church will be in a state of extraordinary 

 prosperity, and which ia to be preceded by the overthrow of In r 

 enemies, accompanied at its commencement by the first resurr. 

 or the resurrection of the saints, and followed by the dostriu t 

 Gog and Magog, and the general judgment. (Rev. xx.) 



Respecting the state of the Church during the Millennium two 

 opinions ore held, both of which can be traced up nearly to the earliest 

 ages of Christianity. The one is that Christ will reign in person u|>ou 

 the earth at Jerusalem, that the saints will reign with him and enjoy 

 corporeal pleasures, ami that the Jews will be restored to Palestine and 

 exalted to the first rank among the nations of the world. This .i 

 was held by Ircmeus and others of the earlier fathers, not merely as 

 their own opinion, but as the faith of the Church receive.) from the, 

 AiHistles. These teneU were also held )>v Iremcus in the 3rd century, 

 and by Loctantius in the 4th, who expected the Millennium toeommeiiee 

 very soon after the time at which he lived. On the other hand it was 

 held by Origen, Jerome, and other fathers, who warmly opposed the 

 doctrines just mentioned, that the passages of scripture on which 

 they are founded must be taken in an allegorical sense, and that the. 

 Millennium will only bo distinguished by the universal .lill'u 

 pure Christianity in the world, and a consequent decrease of physical 

 and moral evil : though Nepos, on Egyptian bishop, wrote a book 

 against the allegorisls, aa he contemptuously styled the adversaries of 

 the Millennium. The opinions of Origen, however, have been adopted 

 as the belief of the orthodox Church, and have been almost universally 

 received in modern times. The followen of the i I ward 



Irving, and some other small sects, as well as many individuals among 

 other bodies of Christians, still hold the doctrine of the personal reign 

 of Christ on earth. Such persons ore commonly called Millennorians, 

 the name applied in the early ages of the Church, together with th 

 corresponding Greek word Chiliasts, to those who held these opinions. 

 (Lardner's ' Credibility ; ' Mosheiui, ' Eccl. Hist.,' cent. iii. and iv.) 



MILLET. The stalk of all the species of millet resembles a jointed 

 reed, having at every joint a long brood leaf, which embraces the stalk 

 with its base. It is an annual plant, growing quickly, yielding an 

 abundance of email grains, which are set round a compact spike at the 

 top of the stalk. The stalk itself is filled with a saccharin. 



Millet thrives best in a light sandy soil, and if sullicient space is 

 allowed between the plants to weed and hoe them during their early 

 growth, they will afterwards overtop and smother all weeds, and yield 

 an abundant return with little laliour and without much manure. The 

 seeds, however, require a climate warmer and drier thin th.it of England 

 to ripen properly. Millet is cultivated largely in the southern parts of 

 Europe. 



In the East, millet is used as food for men ; but in Europe, though 

 it is sometimes made into loaves and cakes, and frequently into 

 puddings, it is mostly used for feeding poultry and domestic animals. 

 The leaves and panicles are given, both green and dried, OH fod< 

 cattle, 



Millet has been described by botanists under the generic terms 

 Ilolcut and Sorghum. The most general species, the common Indian 

 millet, known in Nubia by the name of J>urra, is described iindir 

 M, in NAT. HIST. Drv. 



ftiirgliuut fii'-rlinriiiuin has latterly been introduced for the large 

 quantity of sweet fodder which, when it is ripe, its straw and leaf 

 afford for stock. 



Ml 1. 1. lux. [MKVM-RATIOX.] 



MIMK I from the (Ireek minim (/ufiat), an imitator), a dramatic per- 

 formance of irregular form among the Greeks, in which occurrences of 

 real life were clothed in a poetical dress. It usually consist* 

 ingle scene, mostly comic, sometimes with such dialogue added as the 

 excitement of the moment prompted. Mimes appear to have been 

 common entertainments at feaote. Sometimes they were acted on the 

 stage. Sophron of Syracifsc (bom about B.C. 420), who wrote in the 

 vulgar dialect of the Doric Greek of Sicily, is considered the in 

 of this species of composition. His mimes were in rhythmical prose, 

 and were highly esteemed by Plato, who is said to have can i 

 the taste for this species of oomposition. With the . 

 fragment*, and the names of some of his mimi. thr works of Sophron 

 are lost. The fragments of Sophron are collected in the 'Museum 



