757 



MELANOSPERME.E. 



MELASTOMA. 



other end, into wounds made in the trunk and principal boughs, 

 which are removed after 24 or 48 hours, and their contents, which 

 rarely exceed a quarter of an ounce, emptied into a basket made of 

 bamboo and rattan previously varnished over. The collecting season 

 lasts from January to April. In its pure state it is sold at Prome at 

 about 2s. 6d. for about 3J Ibs. avoirdupois. (Wallich.) Mr. Smith, 

 who was long resident at Silhet, aud was acquainted with this sub- 

 stance in 1812, states that it is procurable in great quantities from 

 Munipoor, where it is used for paying river-craft and for varnishing 

 vessels designed to contain liquids. The drug, he says, is conveyed 

 to Silhet for sale by the merchants, who come down annually with 

 horses and other objects of trade. In Birma, Dr. Walljch states that 

 almost every article of household furniture intended to contain either 

 solid or liquid food is lacquered by means of it. The process consists 

 in first coating the article with a layer of pounded calcined bones, 

 after which the varnish is laid on thinly, either in its pure state or 

 variously coloured. The most difficult part consists in the drying. 

 It is also much employed in the process of gilding : the surface, being 

 first besmeared with this varnish, has then the gold leaf immediately 

 applied to it. Finally, the beautiful Pali writing of the Binnese on 

 ivory, palm-leaves, or metal, is entirely done with this varnish iu its 

 native and pure state. Some difference of opinion exists as to the 

 effects of this juice on the human frame. Dr. Wallich states that it 

 possesses very little pungency, and is entirely without smell, and that 

 both Mr. Swinton and himself have frequently exposed their hands to 

 it without any serious injury, and that the natives never experience 

 any injurious consequences from handling its juice; but he has known 

 instances where it has produced extensive erysipelatous swellings 

 attended with pain and fever. Sir D. Brewster, on the contrary, con- 

 siders it a very dangerous drug to handle, one of his servants having 

 been twice nearly silled by it. A second species of the genus, M. 

 fflabra, was obtained by Dr. Wallich from Tavoy. (Wallich, 'PI. As. 

 Rar.,' i., p. 9, 1. 11 and 12 ; aud 'Edinb. Jouru. of Science,' viii., p. 96 

 and 100.) 



Birmcse Varnish-Tree (Hfelanorrhiea uiitata). 

 A naked fruit-bearing branch, with the large involucres. 



MELANOSPERMEJE, or FUCALES (Harvey), the first sub-class of 

 the claaa Alga. [ALG.n.] It consists of plants of an olive-green or 

 olive-brown colour. Fructification monoDcious or dioecious ; spores 

 olive-coloured, either external, or contained singly, or in groups, in 

 proper conceptacles, each spore enveloped in a transparent skin 

 (periapore), simple, or finally separating into several sporules ; anther- 

 idia, or transparent cells, fillel with orange-coloured vivacious cor- 

 puscles, moving by means of vibratile cilia. It includes the following 

 orders : 



Fucaccre. Spores contained in spherical cavities immersed in the 

 frond. [FucACE.t.] 



>/,i,roclinace(e. Spores attached to external jointed filaments, which 

 are either free or compacted together in knob-like masses. 



Laminariacae. Spores forming indefinite cloud-like patches, or 

 covering the whole surface of the frond. 



/,,,.,,,.,, f . Spores forming definite groups (sori) on the surface 

 of the frond. 



Chwdariacece. Frond cartilaginous or gelatinous, composed of 



vertical and horizontal filaments interlaced together. Spores 

 immersed. 



Ectocarpacece. Frond filiform, jointed. Spores external. 



(Harvey, British Marine Algtx.) 



MELANTERITE a native Sulphate of Iron (Green Vitriol). It 

 occurs massive, fibrous, earthy, and crystallised. Primary form an 

 oblique rhombic prism. Cleavage parallel to the primary planes. 

 Colour green, with shades of yellow or brown. Streak white. Frac- 

 ture conchoidal. Hardness 2'0. Brittle. Lustre vitreous. Trans- 

 parent, translucent. Taste astringent. Specific gravity 1-84. Massive 

 varieties amorphous; structure granular, botryoidal, reniform, 

 stalactitie. It is formed by the decomposition of iron pyrites, and 

 is frequently found in coal-mines. It is found at Hurlet near Paisley, 

 and Campsie, Scotland. The following analysis is by Berzelius : 



Sulphuric acid 28'8 



Protoxide of Iron .... . 257 



Water 45'4 



99'9 



MELANTHA'CE^E, Melantlis, a natural order of poisonous Endo- 

 genous Plants very nearly related to Liliacea, from which indeed 

 they are only to be distinguished with certainty by their anthers 

 being turned towards the sepals and petals, and by their styles or 

 carpels being distinct or at least separable. The species vary exceed- 

 ingly in their appearance, some being subterranean-stemmed herbaceous 

 plants, producing a few flowers without their leaves just above the 

 surface of the ground, as is the case with C'olchicum; others forming a 

 stem of considerable size with large leaves aud numerous flowers. 

 The consequence of this difference in their manner of growth is a con- 

 siderable variation in the appearance of the species, but they are all 

 found to conform to the characters of LUiacece, with the difference 

 above explained. Iridaceie, to which they bear a striking resemblance, 

 because of the similarity between Colchicum and Crocus, are readily 

 distinguished by their inferior fruit and triandrous flowers. 



The most important species of this order are medical plants, namely, 

 CoUhicwn, or Meadow Saffron, which is employed as a remedy for gout 

 and rheumatism [COLCHICUM] ; Veratrum. album, whose acrid poisonous 

 rhizoma is White Hellebore [VERATRUM] ; Asagrtea ojicinalis and 

 Veratrum Sabadilla, both of which furnish the seeds called Cebadilla, 

 now largely consumed in the preparation of Veratria [CEBADILLA] ; 

 and a few North American plants of less moment. [TOFIEI.DIA ; 

 HELONIAS.] 



1, a diminished figure of Veratrum Sabadilta; 2, an expanded flower; 3, a 

 vertical section through part of the ovary ; 4, a ripe seed-vessel. 



MELASOMA. [HETEROMEKA.] 



MELA'STOMA (from /ue'Aos, black, and ari^a, a mouth, because tho 

 berries when eaten stain the mouth black), a genus of Plants, the type 

 of the natural order Mdastomaceas. It has the tube of the calyx ovate, 

 half-adhering to the ovary, densely covered with scales or bristles ; 

 the limb 5- rarely 6-cleft, the segments alternating with the appen- 



