118 



M ES 



THE UNIVERSAL HERBAL; 



M ES 



of a man with his wife and three children experiencing highly 

 deleterious effects from eating this plant fried with bacon ; 

 but as Mr. Miller asserts the same thing without citing any 

 instance, it would be well to ascertain the fact, for this is a 

 common plant, very much resembling the third^pecies, which 

 is used for a pot-herb, and sometimes as an emollient. Lin- 

 neus says it is injurious to sheep ; but with us, no quadruped 

 appears to eat it. In drying, it turns blue ; and steeped in 

 water, yields a fine deep blue colour, which is said to be un- 

 fortunately destructible both by acids and alkalies, and not 

 recoverable by any means yet discovered. It is common in 

 woods and hedges, flowering from the end of March to the 

 middle of May. It is easily propagated by the roots, and 

 requires a warm situation and a dry rubbishy soil. It is often 

 killed by hard frosts. 



2. Mercurialis Ambigua ; Doubtful Mercury. Stem bra- 

 chiate ; leaves smoothish ; flowers in whorls, female and male. 

 Root fibrous ; annual. Native of Spain, on the walls of Cadiz 

 and Gibraltar. 



3. Mercurialis Annua; Annual or French Mercury. Stem 

 brachiate ; leaves smooth ; flowers in spikes. Root annual, 

 fibrous, white. This may be distinguished from the first species 

 by its annual root, branched stem, more numerous flowers, its 

 want of nectaries or barren stamina, and its smaller hairy 

 seed-vessels. It also flowers late in the summer, whereas 

 Dog's Mercury flowers only in the spring. This plant is 

 mucilaginous, and was formenly much employed as an emol- 

 lient. Tournefort informs us, that the French made a syrup 

 of it, two ounces of which was given as a purge ; and that 

 they used it in clysters and pessaries, mixing one part of 

 honey with one and a half of juice. The seeds taste like 

 those of hemp. It is now disregarded in England. Native of 

 many parts of Europe. Found in Great Britain, upon waste 

 places and dunghills about towns and villages, but seldom at 

 a distance from inhabited places. It scatters seed, and in- 

 creases so much as to be a common weed in gardens. 



4. Mercurialis Tomentosa; Woolly Mercury. Stems suf- 

 fruticose ; leaves tomentose. Native of the south of France, 

 Spain, and Italy. If the seeds be permitted to scatter, they 

 will come up in the following spring ; if they are sown, it 

 should be in autumn. It requires a dry rubbishy soil. 



5. Mercurialis Afra ; Cape Mercury. Stem prostrate, 

 herbaceous ; leaves ovate, subtomentose ; flowers androgy- 

 nous. Found at the Cape. 



6. Mercurialis Indica. Stem shrubby, branched ; leaves 

 lanceolate, even ; flowers three-styled. The fresh leaves 

 boiled in soup purge gently. Native of Cochin-china. 



Mercury, English. See Chenopodium. 



Mesembryanthemum ; a genus of the class Icosandria, order 

 Pentagynia. GENERIC CHARACTER. Calix: perianth one- 

 leafed, five-cleft, superior, acute, spreading, permanent. Co- 

 rolla: one-petalled ; petals lanceolate-linear, very numerous, 

 in several rows, a little longer than the calix, slightly united 

 at the claws into one. Stamina: filamenta numerous, capil- 

 lary, the length of the calix; an there incumbent. Pistil: 

 germen inferior, with five blunt angles ; styles four to ten, 

 commonly five, awl-shaped, upright, and then bent back ; 

 stigma simple. Pericarp: capsule fleshy, roundish, the navel 

 marked with rays, the cells corresponding with the styles in 

 number. Seeds: very many, roundish. ESSENTIAL CHA- 

 RACTER. Calix: five-cleft. Petals: numerous, linear. Cap- 

 sule: fleshy, inferior, many-seeded. This is a vast genus of 

 succulent plants, formerly known by the name of Ficoides, 

 from its affinity to the Indian Fig. The new Edition of 

 Hortus Kewensis enumerates 175 species. They are nearly all 

 the production of the arid sands of the Cape : Some are an- 



nuals, though most are perennials. Some are stemless. Some 

 are lax, with a pendulous stem or branches ; and the rest are 

 shrubby, with a woody hard stem. The greater part hare 

 opposite leaves, but some have them alternate. Most of 

 them have five styles, some four, and others ten ; and the 

 number varies in several of the species. Among the spe- 

 cies are the following : 



* With white Corollas. 



1. Mesembryanthemum Nodiflorum ; Egyptian Fig Mart- 

 gold. Leaves alternate, roundish, blunt, ciliate at the base. 

 Stems decumbent and diffused; the whole plant papulose. 

 Native of Egypt, where they cut up the plants, and burn them 

 for pot-ash ; it is esteemed the best sort for making hard 

 soap, and the finer glass. It also grows wild in Italy about 

 Naples, on high sea-banks exposed to the spray. In the 

 stove the stalks grow long and slender, and are not productive 

 of flowers. Raised in a hot-bed, and afterwards exposed to 

 the open air, it flowers freely. This, with the other annuals 

 of this genus, is propagated by seeds, sown upon a hot-bed 

 early in the spring. When the plants come up, plant them 

 on a fresh hot-bed to bring them forward. After they have 

 taken root in the hot-bed, they should have very little water. 

 When they are large enough to transplant again, plant each 

 in a small pot filled with light fresh earth, but not rich, and 

 plunge them into a hot-bed of tan, shading them in the heat 

 of the day, until they have taken new root, and then giving 

 them plenty of fresh air. At the end of June, some of the 

 plants may be inured to the open air, and afterwards may be 

 turned out of the pots, and planted in a warm border, where 

 they will thrive and spread, but will not be very productive of 

 flowers. Some therefore must be continued in the pots, and 

 removed to the shelves of the stove, that they may flower 

 plentifully, and produce good seeds. 



2. Mesembryanthemum Ciliatum ; Ciliated Fig Marigold. 

 Leaves opposite, connate, half round ; stipules membrana- 

 ceous, reflex, jagged, ciliary. This is a beautiful little shrub, 

 with a perennial fibrous root, and slender, but firm, nearly 

 upright, straight branches ; thickly adorned with green, dotted, 

 very small triquetrous leaves. Native of the Cape. 



3. Mesembryanthemum Caducum ; Small-flowered Fig 

 Marigold. Leaves filiform, half round, distinct; teats ovate, 

 lateral ; flowers sessile, terminating ; flowers surrounded by 

 a parr of leaves. Native of the Cape. 



4. Mesembryanthemum Crystallinum ; Diamond Fig Mari- 

 gold, of Ice Plant. Leaves alternate, ovate, papulose; flowers 

 sessile ; calices broad ovate, acute, retuse. This plant is an 

 annual, and is distinguished by its leaves and stalks, being 

 closely covered with pellucid pimples full of moisture, which 

 when the sun shines on them reflect the light, and appear like 

 small bubbles of ice; whence it has been called by some the 

 Ice Plant, and by others the Diamond Plant, or Diamond Ficoi- 

 des. It flowers in July and August. Native of Greece, near 

 Athens. For its propagation and culture, see the first species. 



5. Mesembryanthemum Humifusum; Narrow-leaved Icy 

 Fig Marigold. Leaves embracing, spatulate, keeled ; teats 

 conical, rugged; petals very minute. This shrub is a 

 native of the Cape. This, like all the perennial and shrubby 

 sorts, may be increased very readily in a stove, either from 

 seeds or cuttings not covered by bell-glasses. Sow the 

 seed as soon as procured, unless it be in the depth of 

 winter, in a poor, light, sandy soil, kept damp, but not wet : 

 its germination will be much assisted by the bark-bed. 

 They all remain a long time in the seed-leaf. When the 

 young plants appear, they should have rather more water and 

 air, until they have four or five leaves, when they may be 

 transplanted into the smallest pots, kept in the same gentle 



