MADDER, THE FIELD. 



MAGNOLIA. 



upon it. The average annual imports into ! 

 England are about 180,000 cwt. of madder-root 

 and ground madder. The duty changeable on 

 consumption is 2s. per cwt. on the prepared 

 madder, and 6</. per cwt. on the roots. Madder 

 was formerly used as a medicine in jaundice : 

 but it possesses no properties which entitle it 

 to be regarded as a remedy in any disease. 



MADDER, THE FIELD. See SHERARIUA. 



MADDER, WILD (Rubia peregrina.) This 

 is an indigenous species which is found grow- 

 ing in thickets and on stony or sandy ground in 

 the west of Britain. The root is creeping, 

 fleshy, and tender, of a tawny red, useful in 

 dyeing, but it is very inferior to the cultivated 

 madder. The stem is branched, spreading, 

 square, perennial, partly shrubby, its angles 

 rough with hooked prickles, as are the edges 

 and midrib of the broad, shining, dark, ever- 

 green, elliptical leaves, which are four or more 

 in a whorl. The flowers, which appear from 

 July to August, are yellowish green, five-cleft, 

 in forked terminal panicles. The berries are 

 juicy, in pairs, black and shining. 



The plant known in the United States by the 

 name of wild madder, is the Galium tinctorium of 

 botanists, or Dyers' Goose-grass. It is a peren- 

 nial, found in moist woodlands and low grounds, 

 flowering in July and August. The stems rise 

 12 to 18 inches high, generally erect, and 

 branched. The flowers are white. Pursh says, 

 the North American Indians use this plant for 

 dyeing their porcupine quills, leather, feathers, 

 and other ornaments, of a beautiful red colour. 



MADI. A plant, said to be a new genus, 

 growing in Chili. Its seeds furnish an oil 

 which has been preferred to any of the French 

 olive oils. (Ed. Encyc.) 



MAGGOT. See FLY IN SHEEP. 



MAGNESIA (Fr. Magnetic ; It. Magnesia). 

 One of the primitive earths having a metallic 

 basis. It is an oxide of magnesium. It is 

 sometimes found native, nearly in a state of 

 purity ; but is generally prepared by calcining 

 the common carbonate of magnesia. It is in- 

 odorous and insipid, in the form of a very light, 

 white, soft powder, having a specific gravity 

 of 2-3. It turns to green the more delicate 

 vegetable blues, and requires for its solution 

 2000 parts of water at 60. It is found com- 

 bined with carbonic and other acids in plants. 



It is a useful purgative in an acid state of 

 the stomach ; and taken daily, with short inter- 

 vals intervening, it is a useful preventive of red 

 gravel or lithic acid deposits in the kidneys. 



As all kinds of grain are found to contain a 

 certain proportion of phosphate of magnesia, 

 the presence of this substance cannot be sup- 

 posed to be merely accidental. Hence the 

 inference that magnesia must be serviceable 

 as a fertilizer. It enters largely into the com- 

 position of limestone, of which it constitutes 

 sometimes almost one half. The magnesian 

 lime has been long applied with the greatest 

 advantage in Pennsylvania and elsewhere. In 

 other places the admixture of magnesia with 

 lime has been considered as producing sterility 

 rather than benefit. See EARTHS, LIME. 



When magnesian lime has been applied to 

 ground in undue quantity, so as to have pro- 

 duced unfavourable eifects upon vegetation, it 

 742 



has been found that after two years its hurtful 

 influence has become exhausted. Great quan- 

 tities of it are annually taken from Sunderland 

 to Scotland by the Fifeshire farmers, and ap- 

 plied by them as a manure, with the greatest 

 benefits, even in preference to other kinds of 

 lime. The same preference is shown by many 

 Pennsylvania farmers, for magnesian lime. 

 Experience has shown that it has been unfairly 

 denounced by Sir H. Davy and Mr. Tennent, as 

 a sterilizer. 



MAGNOLIA (named by Plumier after Pierre 

 Magnol, prefect of the botanic garden at Mont- 

 pelier, and author of several works on plants ; 

 he died in 1715). This is a genus of very ele- 

 gant and showy plants when in flower, and 

 well worthy of extensive cultivation. The 

 hardy kinds, being remarkably handsome 

 shrubs, should be planted in conspicuous situa- 

 tions where they will flower profusely when 

 they attain a good size. M. glauca, and some 

 others, grow best in a peat soil in a moist situa- 

 tion. They are generally increased by layers 

 put down in spring or autumn, or by seeds ; 

 when the layers are first taken off, they should 

 be potted in a mixture of loam and peat, and 

 placed in a close frame till they have taken 

 fresh root. None of the leaves should be taken 

 off or shortened, nor any shoots be cut off, as 

 they will not succeed so well ; for the more 

 branches and leaves are on the sooner they 

 will strike fresh root. The Chinese kinds are 

 often inarched or budded on M. obovata, one of 

 the readiest growing kinds, which takes rea- 

 dily. The seeds of the North American species 

 are received annually from that country. They 

 should be sown as soon as possible after their 

 arrival, in pots of light rich earth, covering 

 them half an inch deep ; these may be placed 

 either in a hotbed or a warm sheltered situa- 

 tion, or they may be sown in the open ground, 

 and when the plants are of sufficient size, they 

 should be planted out singly into pots, and 

 sheltered till they have taken fresh root ; they 

 should also be protected from the frost by a 

 frame for two or three successive winters, 

 giving them the benefit of the open air in mild 

 weather. 



The Genus Magnolia contains about fifteen, 

 species, almost exactly divided between China 

 and the United States. There is also one spe- 

 cies in tropical America. The trees are dis- 

 tinguished by a bark more or less camphorated 

 and aromatic ; the leaves are alternate, entire, 

 and large, partly ovate, and in some species 

 auriculate at the base. The flowers are large, 

 fragrant, white, yellowish, or brown ; the seeds 

 scarlet or fulvous. 



The following summary of the American 

 species is from Nuttalfs Genera of North Ame- 

 rican Plants. 



1. M. grandiflora. The most magnificent 

 tree of the southern states, the trunk often pre- 

 senting a living column of 80 or 90 feet eleva- 

 tion, almost unobstructed by branches, and 

 terminated by a spreading top of the deepest 

 perennial verdure. 2. Glauca. 3. Macrophylla. 

 This small pyramidal tree produces the largest 

 leaves and flowers of any other North Ameri- 

 j can plant. The limits of this interesting spe- 

 , cies appear to be extremely local. I first 



