MILK SNAKE 



3805 



MILL 



MILK SNAKE, or HOUSE SNAKE, a harm- 

 less snake common in North America east of 

 the Rocky Mountains, which gets the first of 

 its two names from its fondness for visiting 

 places where milk is kept. It is believed by 



THE MILK SNAKE 



some that it drinks milk, though this is dis- 

 puted. The milk snake commonly lives upon 

 mice which it finds in granaries and barns, and 

 is far less harmful than the rodents it de- 

 stroys. It sometimes grows to be four feet in 

 length, and is dark gray above and yellowish 

 beneath. Along the back and sides are black 

 spots. It moves very quickly and climbs 

 easily. 



MILK ' WEED , a widely distributed family of 

 stout-stemmed plants, commonly known 

 through their milky juices, curious little flowers 

 and pods of silky seed tufts. Numerous spe- 

 cies are found throughout America, the most 

 beautiful being 

 the brilliant but- 

 terfly weed. Best 

 known of all, 

 however, is the 

 common milk- 

 weed, which flow- 

 ers from June to 

 September along 

 roadsides, in fields 

 and on waste 

 places, from New 

 Brunswick west- 

 ward, and south- 

 ward to North 

 Carolina and Kansas. The stems grow about 

 four feet high, bearing large, short-stemmed, 

 hairy leaves of pale-green hue. Numerous 

 purplish flowers grow in clusters at the tip of 

 the stalk. 



These blossoms lure insects by their sweet 

 odor, and are so wonderfully constructed that 

 before the nectar-store is reached, the visitor's 

 feet become entangled in a pollen mass. Some 

 insects cannot break away, so perish, but others 

 fly off with two bundles of pollen, strapped to- 

 gether like saddle-bags, securely attached to 

 their legs. In this way cross-fertilization 

 (which see) is insured. In the autumn large 



MILKWEED 



rough-coated seed pods take the place of flower 

 clusters. When those pods burst open clouds 

 of silky tufts bearing flat brown seeds float on 

 the breezes and come to earth far away from 

 the parent plants. New plants also grow from 

 the creeping roots, so the milkweed becomes a 

 troublesome weed. Cultivation and heavy 

 cropping are the best means of removing this 

 weed when it becomes a pest. 



MILKY WAY, or GALAXY, gal ax i, a lu- 

 minous belt surrounding the heavens, caused by 

 the radiance of countless millions of stars which 

 form its circular path. It is divided for about 

 two-thirds of its length into two parts, marked 

 at intervals by dark patches. The stars in the 

 Milky Way are all small, nearly all being of the 

 eighth magnitude (see STAR). 



The Milky Way crosses the ecliptic, at two 

 almost opposite points, at an angle of 60 and 

 not far from the solstices. The constellations 

 Cassiopeia and the Swan are always in the 

 Milky Way, and Sirius,. Aquila and Capella are 

 sometimes visible just on the edge of this sil- 

 very belt. 



One of the dark spots seen in the Milky 

 Way has been named the Coal Sack by sailors, 

 because in it they could see no stars. If the 

 earth could be removed to allow an uninter- 

 rupted view the Milky Way would be seen 

 completely girdling the heavens. 



MILL, JAMES (1773-1836), a Scotch philoso- 

 pher, historian, economist and politician, called 

 the founder of philosophical radicalism. Mill 

 was a brilliant example of the type of man who 

 is vitally interested in many intellectual fields, 

 and more especially of the type which is logical 

 in the highest degree. In all his writings he 

 brushed aside the unessential details of a ques- 

 tion and always endeavored to deal with first 

 principles. Looseness of reasoning was unbear- 

 able to him, and he has well been called the 

 "crusher of prevailing fallacies." 



With the exception of his History of India, 

 which was responsible at least in part for great 

 changes in the government of that colonial pos- 

 session, and is still a standard work, Mill's 

 writings are little read to-day. Nevertheless, 

 he holds a high place in history, for he influ- 

 enced many young men who carried on his 

 ideals and later won fame as great as, if not 

 greater than, their teacher. Among them was 

 his son, John Stuart Mill. He had high ideals 

 of public service, and he lived according to 

 them, though he risked all chances of material 

 advancement. His influence on the Liberal 

 politicians helped to crystallize the prevailing 



