MER 



MET 



Never plant melons near other cucur- 

 bitaceee, and keep choice kinds quite 

 separate. The Persians cover tlie 

 younj; melons with leaves and a little 

 earth, to obtain them larger and more 

 tender. An acre, well planted, will 

 produce 400 bushels of cantaloups. 

 Guano and a compost of fowl dung 

 are especially reputed as manures for 

 melons. 



MELON, WATER. Cucurhita cl- 

 trullus. Varieties : New-Jersey, (Car- 

 olina, dark-skinned Spanish, Good- 

 win's imperial. 



They require a loose, dry, sandy 

 soil, made rich as for the muskmel- 

 on ; hills six to eight feet apart. An 

 ounce of seed serves for forty or fif- 

 ty hills. The skins make good pre- 

 serves with spices. The juice is fer- 

 mented into a beer in some parts of 

 Europe : when boiled down to a 

 proper consistence, it makes a good 

 sirup. 



MEMBRANE. The tissue or ex- 

 pansion of animal or vegetable mat- 

 ter surrounding the bones and lining 

 cavities. That lining the intestinal 

 and urinary apparatus is mucous. 

 The fibrous membrane covers all the 

 bones and many muscles ; and the 

 serous tissue exists on the outer sur- 

 face of the lungs and intestines, Arc. 



MENDING. Improving the tex- 

 ture or quality of land. 



MENISCUS. A lens, concave on 

 one side and convex on the other. 



MENISPERMIC ACID. An or- 

 ganic acid in Cocculus Indicus. 



MENSTRUUxM. Any fluid which 

 dissolves a given solid. 



MENSURATION. The admeas- 

 urement of the contents of solids or 

 areas of surfaces. 



MENTUxM. The chin. The low- 

 er and anterior portion of the under 

 jaw of animals. 



MENYNGES, or MENINGES. 

 The membranes which cover the 

 brain. 



MEPHITIS. A noxious vapour; 

 hence mephitie. 



MERCURY. Quicksilver, fluid, 

 white, brilliant : sp. gr., 135 ; freezes 

 at — 40^ ; boils at 6ti0=, rising in va- 

 pour unchanged ; equivalent, 101 -43 ; 



symbol, Hg. {Hydrargyrum). It is 

 soluble in nitric acid, and the oxides 

 combiiu! with numerous acids. Cal- 

 omel is a chloride of mercury ; cor' 

 rosivc sublimate, a bichloride, has been 

 used to preserve timber, and is one 

 of tlie most fatal poisons. 



MERCURY, MERCURIALIS. A 

 genus of insignificant weeds. 



MERIDIAN (from meridies, mid- 

 day). A great circle passing through 

 the zenith of any place and the North 

 and South Pole, on which the sun 

 comes at 12 o'clock. The magnetic 

 needle lies nearly in the meridian, the 

 departure from this line being called 

 its variation east or west. 



MERINO SHEEP. See Sheep. 



MESENTERY. The membrane 

 which binds the small intestines to 

 the back bone ; it is a fold of the per- 

 itoneum, and contains the vessels, 

 nerves, and absorbents, going to or 

 from the bowels. 



MESITE, MESITEN. Substances 

 existing in wood spirit. 



MESITYLENE. An oily product 

 from acetone. 



MESLIN. In Spain, a union of 

 flocks ; more commonly a mixture 

 of seeds sown together, as wheat and 

 rye, oats and pease, &c. 



MESO (from [isao^, middle). An 

 aflix to many compound words, mean- 

 ing the middle. 



MESOCOLON. The membrane 

 surrounding the colon. 



M E S O P H Y L (from neaog, and 

 (l>vl7.ov, a leaf). The central layer 

 of the leaf; we have also mesocarp, 

 the fleshy part of the fruit. 



MESOTHORAX (from iieao^, and 

 dcjpa^, the chest). In entomology, 

 the posterior segment of the thorax, 

 bearing the second pair of wings and 

 third pair of legs. 



MESOTYPE. The silicate of alu- 

 mina and soda ; it occurs in trap and 

 ancient lavas. 



MESTA. A mixture of flocks. 



META (from nera, between). A. 

 prefix to many compound words. 



METABOLIANS. Insects which 

 undergo coni[)lete metamorphosis. 



METACARPAL. That portion of 

 the hand between the fingers and 



495 



