288 THE FARMER AT HOME. 



equal, and white ; the matter within is very white, with short and 

 thick stalks. They grow in fertile ground and should be gathered 

 for eating as soon after springing up as possible, for they then contain 

 an oily and a saline part, and if they stay long before they are gath- 

 ered, their salts become more active and hurtful. Another species of 

 mushrooms, is that kind which produces the circular appearances in 

 fields, and called fairy rings. Its substance is tough, and consequently 

 it is used only to make catchup, or in powder. 



MUSK. A substance secreted into a kind of bag in the umbilical 

 region of the moschus moschifer. It is of a brown red color, feels 

 unctuous, and has a bitter taste. Its smell is aromatic and intensely 

 strong. It is partially soluble in water, which acquires its smell ; 

 and in alcohol, but that liquid does not retain the odor of the musk. 

 Musk is dissolved by nitric and sulphuric acids, but the odor is by 

 them destroyed. Fixed alkalies develope the odor of ammonia. 



MUTTON. Mutton is the flesh of sheep ; and perhaps in no 

 one point has the skill of the breeder of animals been more marked, 

 than in that of producing breeds of sheep, in which the greatest 

 amount of flesh, and the smallest quantity of offal, seems to have 

 reached a point beyond which progress will be difficult. The quality 

 of mutton is greatly depending on the age of the animal, and the 

 mode of feeding. Its general use in England, has caused great atten- 

 tion to producing it of superior quality, and the success has been un- 

 rivalled elsewhere. To be first-rate mutton, the sheep should not be 

 less than five years old, and as a general rule, it may be said the 

 older the mutton the finer the flavor, in this respect differing from 

 most other meats. The flesh of mutton five or six years old will be 

 firm, dark colored, and when cooked full of the richest gravy, while 

 at two or three, the flesh will be comparatively light colored, and be 

 soft and flabby. As a general rule wether mutton is superior to that 

 of ewes of the same age, though connoisseurs in this flesh assert that 

 a maiden or spayed ewe of five years old, produces mutton preferable 

 to any other. The south downs are highly prized for mutton, and 

 their reputation in this respect abroad, has been well sustained here. 



MUSQJJTTOES. Small insects which abound in countless mul- 

 titudes in the East and West Indies, and are particularly annoying, 

 especially to new comers. They inflict a small wound, which is soon 

 surrounded by a pimple, accompanied by troublesome itching ; and 

 in some cases so numerous are those annoying bites, that a great 

 degree of general fever is induced. The best application is lemon 

 juice. It is fortunate that the bites of these insects seem to produce 

 a certain change in the blood, which renders it disagreeable to them 

 afterwards, as those who have occasion to visit warm countries often, 

 are rarely attacked by them with much violence on their second or 

 subsequent voyages. 



MYRTLE. A genus of plants consisting of aromatic trees or 





