MUZZLE. 



NAVEW. 



being greater, rendering it more impermeable 

 to the air than coarser and looser fleshed mut- 

 ton, which is, of course, more subject to pu- 

 tridity. The older the mutton, the finer the 

 flavour. 



It is aln>;3': unnecessary to remark, that 

 wether-mutton is always considered so far pre- 

 ferable to that of the ewe, that the flesh of the 

 latter, although more commonly kept to a ma- 

 ture age, always sells at an inferior price. 

 Connoiseurs, however, assert that a spayed or 

 maiden ewe, kept until five years old before 

 she is fattened, produces mutton superior to 

 that of any wether. 



The live-weight, with the offal, of a large, fat 

 wether, and the joints when cut up for market, 

 were as follows : 



Live weight 



Offal. 



Blood and entrails 

 Caul arid loose fat 

 Head and pluck - 

 Pelt - 



Carcass. 



First fore-quarter 

 Second 



First hind-quarter 

 Second 



13 st. 10 Ibs. 



It*. oz. 



13 



31 4 



8 12 



15 12 



Joint* of one side. 

 Haunch 



Loin - 



Neck 



Shoulder - 



Breast 



Loss - - - 



23 



10 4 



12 



.10 12 



4 8 



12 



See MEAT and SREEP. 



MUZZLE. The nose of a horse or other 

 animal. It also signifies a kind of halter put 

 upon the nose of a horse or mule, to prevent 

 eatin or biting. 



MT/7LE OF A PLOUGH. A term some- 

 times applied to the copse or part to which the 

 draught is attached. See PLOUGH. 



MYRRH. See SWEET CICKLT. 



MYRTLE (From myros, perfume; myrtos of 

 the Greeks, myrtus of the Dutch, and of almost 

 t /ery other European language). The myrtle, 

 from the delightful perfume, the delicacy of its 

 blossoms, and the glossy green of its perpetual 

 foliage, is a favourite and well-known genus 

 of plants, which grow well in sandy loam and 

 peat; and cuttings, if not too ripe, will root 

 freely either in sand or soil under a glass. 

 There are nearly a dozen distinct species, be- 

 sides numerous varieties. The myrtus pimento, 

 yields the allspice or Jamaica pepper. 



The common European myrtle (M. commit 

 nis) is a native of the south of Europe, grow- 

 ing 5 or 6 feet high, with very fragrant leaves, 

 and blowing small white flowers in summer. 

 Being a tender shrub, this myrtle should have 

 a southern or southwestern aspect, with pro- 

 tection in winter. 



MYRTLE BILBERRY. See WHORTLE- 

 BERRY 



MYRTLE, THE DUTCH, or SWEET 

 GALE (Myrira gale ; from myrio, to flow, being 

 found on the banks of rivers). This, in Eng- 

 land, is an ornamental, aromatic, indigenous 

 shrub, growing wild in bogs and marshes, es- 

 pecially on a gravelly soil. The stem is up- 

 right, bushy, 3 or 4 feet high, with numerous 

 aJternat branche >. It bears berries which are 



very small, covered with resinous dots, exhal- 

 ing a delightful fragrance when rubbed betweea 

 the fingers. The leaves are aromatic from the 

 same cause. This plant, perhaps one of the 

 more innocent substitutes for hops, is used for 

 brewing by the poor in Sweden. Linnaeus 

 says the berries boiled in water yield wax like 

 those of the candleberry myrtle (M. cm/era). 

 See CANDLEBERRY MYRTLE. 



N. 



NAG. A provincial term applied to a horss, 

 of a small size for the saddle ; such a horse is 

 very useful for many purposes, where light 

 labour is required. 



NAPIFORM. Formed like a turnip, tu- 

 berous. 



NARCISSUS (from narke, stupor, on ac- 

 count of the effects produced by the smell 

 upon the nerves). This is an old and very 

 popular flower of great beauty, and some of 

 the species are highly fragrant. 



NARCOTIC (Fr. narcotique). Substances 

 having the double property of exciting in the 

 first instance, and afterwards stupifying and 

 producing sleep or torpor. In medicine the 

 term comprehends opiates, anodynes, and other 

 drugs which induce sleep and allay pain. 



NASTURTIUM (from n,i*n*, the nose, and 

 tortim, tormented). The acridity of N. offirinalit 

 affects the muscles of the nose. Few of thesg 

 plants are worth cultivating; they are of the 

 simplest culture. The seed of the annual 

 kinds has only to be sown in the open ground 

 in spring. See CRKSS. 



NAVE OF A WHEEL. The short, thick 

 block in the centre of the wheel which receives 

 the end of the axletree, and from which the 

 spokes radiate : it is bound with hoops, called 

 nave-bands, to strengthen it. It has likewise 

 in each end of the hole through which the 

 axletree passes, a ring of iron called the wash- 

 er, which saves the nave from wearing. 



NAVEL-ILL. See CALF, DISEASES OF. 



NAVEL-WORT, Cotyledon (from kotyle, a 

 cavity; in allusion to the cup-like leaves). 

 A numerous and rather ornamental genus of 

 succulent herbs or shrubs, with very thick, 



J'uicy, alternate, simple, entire, or jagged leaves, 

 n England, the native species are two in num- 

 ber: both are perennial in habit, flowering about 

 June and July. 



NAVEW. The common wild navew (Brag- 

 sica campestris) belongs to the cabbage tribe, 

 and is an annual plant, found in corn-fields, 

 marshes, and about the banks of ditches and 

 rivers. The root is tapering ; stem erect, 2 

 feet high, leafy, branched, glaucous ; rough in 

 the lower part, with small bulbous spreading 

 bristles; smooth upwards. Radical leaves ly- 

 rate, toothed, and jagged, rough ; stem-leaves 

 smooth, clasping, oblong, partly pinnatifid ; all 

 somewhat glaucous. Flowers blowing in June 

 and July, yellow, corymbose, almost as large 

 as those of the turnip. Pods on longish stalks, 

 1^ inch long, nearly cylindrical, beaked. The 

 roots are nourishing, containing a sweet juice, 

 which is sometimes domesticallv used in coughs 

 and asthma. 



