THE FARMER AT HOME. 267 



found deeply imbedded in the earth. These bones have been disco- 

 vered in various parts of the United States, but as yet only one nearly 

 entire skeleton has been obtained. This was dug up near Newburg, 

 in the State of New York, and was placed in the museum at Phila- 

 delphia. It is impossible to determine to what race this huge animal 

 belonged, except that its formation and modes of living were analogous 

 to those of the elephant. That he was not of the same species, is 

 probable ; that he was nearly allied to the rhinoceros and hippopot- 

 amus, is also probable. The bones of prodigiously large animals of 

 the elephant kind, have been found in Siberia, and those of the mas- 

 todon have been found in various parts of Europe. 



MATEKJA MEDICA. Every substance employed in the cure 

 of disease, whether in its natural state, or after having undergone 

 various preparations, belongs to the Materia Medica, in the extended 

 acceptation of the words. But in most pharmacopeias, the Materia 

 Medica is confined to simples, and to those preparations which are 

 seldom prepared by the apothecary himself, but commonly purchased 

 by him, as articles of commerce, from druggists and others. Syste- 

 matic authors on this branch of medical knowledge, have bestowed 

 much pains in contriving scientific arrangements of these articles. 

 Some have classed them according to their natural resemblances ; 

 others according to their active constituent principles ; and others 

 according to their real or supposed virtues. Each of these arrange- 

 ments has its particular advantages. The first will probably be pre- 

 ferred by the natural historian, the second by the chemist, and the last 

 by the physiologist. But every scientific classification hitherto pro- 

 posed, is liable to numerous objections. Accordingly, in the pharma- 

 copoaias published by the Colleges of Physicians of London, Dublin, 

 and Edinburgh, the articles of the Materia Medica are arranged in 

 alphabetical order, and the same plan is now almost universally 

 adopted. 



MEAD. An agreeable liquor made of honey and water. There 

 are many receipts for making mead, of which the following is one of 

 the best. Take four gallons of water, and as much honey as will 

 make it bear an egg ; add to this the rind of three lemons, boil it, and 

 scum it well as it rises. Then take it off the fire, and add three 

 lemons cut in pieces ; pour it into a clean tub or open vessel, and let 

 it work for three days ; then scum it well and pour off the clear part 

 into a cask, arid let it stand open till it ceases to make a hissing noise ; 

 then stop it up close, and in three months' time it will be fine and fit 

 for bottling. If you would give it a finer flavor, take cloves, mace, 

 and nutmeg, of each four drams ; beat them small, tie the powder in 

 a piece of cloth, and put it into the cask. 



MEADOW. That part of the farm from which, in temperate or 

 northern latitudes, hay is made for the wintering of domestic stock, 

 is usually called meadow. Under the old system of farming, the 



