\ 



MEL 



MEDULLARY SUBSTANCE. 

 The white, internal portions of the 

 brain. Mcdullanj tumours contain a 

 substance of the same appearance. 



MEDULLIN. The pith of plants ; 

 the cellulose of Payen, to a consider- 

 able extent. 



MEERS, MERES. Pools, lakes, 

 ponds. 



MELASOMES, MELASOMA. A 

 tribe of heteromerous coleoptera, of 

 a black or dark uniform colour. 



MELASSIC ACID. The product 

 of heat and alkalies on solutions of 

 grape sugar ; the acid of molasses. 



MELIC GRASS. Mdica. A ge- 

 nus of perennial, harsh grasses, but 

 little esteemed. M. spcciosa is the 

 only indigenous species : it grows 

 near Charlestown, South Carolina. 

 Some species are made into domestic 

 brooms and baskets in Europe. 



M E L I L O T. Tnfolnt m officinale. 

 "The melilotus, or honey-lotus of 

 botanists, so called from its smell, is 

 a tall, yellow-flowered annual. It has 

 loose racemes of small flowers, form- 

 ed like those of clover, of which it 

 was once regarded as a species. 

 The melilotus has long roots, and a 

 branching stem two or three feet 

 high. It grows wild in woods, hedg- 

 es, and neglected fields. "When cul- 

 tivated in a dry soil and made into 

 hay, it has a powerful aromatic smell, 

 and, mixed in a small proportion with 

 meadow iiay, gives it an agreeable 

 flavour. This plant is used in ma- 

 king the Swiss cheese called Schab- 

 zieger. It is ground in a mill, and 

 mi.xed with the curd into a kind of 

 paste, which is put into conical 

 moulds and there dried. 



" The white or Siberian melilot {M. 

 alha) rises several feet high, with a 

 strong, branching stem, often six feet 

 high. It was strongly recommended 

 by Thouin, in a memoir addressed to 

 the Agricultural Society of Paris in 

 1788, and has been tried occasionally 

 witii some success by various agri- 

 culturists, without, however, having 

 been so generally adopted for cultiva- 

 tion as might have been expected from 

 the high encomiums pas.sed upon it. 

 It will bear four cuttings iu the year, 



494 



MEL 



! and produces a very great quantity 

 [ of green fodder. It should be cut be-- 

 ! fore the stems become woody, and 

 ' thus it will continue several years in 

 j the ground, although it is naturally 

 only biennial. A light and moist soil 

 I suits this i)lant best. It is thorougli- 

 i ly acclimated." 



j MELILOTUS MAJOR. Bokhara 

 ] clover. See Clover. It grows nine 

 feet high, but becomes woody when 

 above two feet. 



! MELLIPHAGANS (from ficli, 

 ' honey, and ^ayu, I eat). A family of 

 birds {Temiirostcra), some of whom 

 feed on honey. 



MELOE. A genus of coleopterous 

 insects. The wings are wanting ; the 

 outer cases oval or triangular ; abdo- 

 men large. They crawl on the ground 

 and low plants, and are remarkable 

 for the blistering power they possess. 

 MELOLONTHIANS. The family 

 of coleopterans to which the May-bug, 

 or cockchafTer, belongs {Melolontha 

 vulgaris). 



MELON. Cucumis melo. An 

 Asiatic fruit, of the family Cucurbita- 

 cece, much improved by cultivation. 

 The best varieties are Skillman'snet' 

 ted, green-fleshed citron, green-flesh- 

 ed nutmeg, large yellow cantaleup, 

 green-fleshed Persian, pineapple, and 

 musk-scented. The first is, for the 

 most part, cultivated for the New- 

 York market. The varieties of mel- 

 on require a rich, sandy soil ; it should 

 be well prepared and rich, a spade of 

 old dung being dug into the place 

 where the seeds are dropped. Sow 

 in shallow hills, five or six leet apart 

 each way, soon in May. Six to ten 

 seeds to the hill will be enough, one 

 ounce serving for 100 hills : plant 

 over in ten days, if the seeds fail. 

 They are to be managed like cucum- 

 bers, two or three plants being left in 

 the hill. When fine fruit is preferred 

 to great numbers, the branches should 

 be summer-pruned after a few melons 

 are set ; otherwise, when many are 

 required, the first fruits, near the 

 centre, should be plucked off The 

 fruit ripens in six weeks : it should 

 part from the stem readily, be very 

 fragrant, and well cracked or marked. 



