MIL 



MIL 



fatal. The cheese and butter of the 

 infected districts are abundantly ex- 

 ported to St. Louis, Louisville, &c., 

 and frequently produce fatal effects. 

 It IS probable that the extensive poi- 

 soning in this city (Xew-York) in the 

 spring of 1840 arose from cheese im- 

 ported thence. 



The treatment is very doubtful, 

 but should proceed as in typhus fe- 

 vers, by sustaining the strength, and 

 allaying nervous irritability. 



There seems to be much connex- 

 ion between this peculiar disease and 

 the malignant pustule, which affects 

 cattle in Europe, and occasionally 

 the seaboard states, except only that 

 it is said to be strictly local in places 

 now infested, having been so for 100 

 years, as known to the settlers, and 

 there is no pustule produced. 



MILK PARSLEY. Sclimimpalus- 

 trc. A perennial, herbaceous weed, 

 growing in wet places in Europe ; 

 the roots are acrid, and said to serve 

 the Russians for ginger. 



MILK, SUGAR OF. See Milk. 



MILK-TREE, COW-TREE. Pa- 

 lo de leche, Galactodcndron duke. A 

 tree of Upper South America (Carac- 

 cas), of the same family as the fig 

 ( Urticacecz). The sap obtained by tap- 

 ping is precisely like milk, and very 

 palatable ; it contains a creamy matter 

 like bees' wax, fibrin, sugar, an acid, 

 salts, and water. Other trees about 

 Maracaibo yield good milk, as the 

 Clusea galactodcndron. In the East, 

 at Ceylon, the Tabcrnamoyitana utilis 

 also yields a good milk. The milky 

 juice of most plants is acrid, and oft- 

 en very poisonous. 



MILK VESSELS. In plants, the 

 anastomosing tubes lying in the bark 

 or near the surface of plants, in which 

 a white turbid fluid is secreted ; they 

 are one of the forms of the vital reins 

 (/a^;c(/ero«5)ofSchultz, the fluid being 

 called the latex. 



MILK VETCH. Plants of the 

 genus Astragalus : they are legumi- 

 nous, wholesome weeds. The A. 

 balicus is cultivated for its seeds, 

 which resemble coffee. 



MILK WORT. Plants of the ge- 

 nus Polygula, mostly annuals, with 



pretty leguminous flowers ; the roots 

 are ol'ten medicinal, especially the P. 

 Senega, or snake-root. 



MILL. A machine in which va- 

 rious substances are crushed or 

 ground by a rotatory motion. See 

 Grist Mill, Oil Mill. 



MILLEPEDE. The thousand 

 feet ; the centipede. 



MILLET. Several distinct plants 

 are known under this name, two of 

 which are much cultivated, viz., the 

 common millet {Pamcum miliaccum), 

 and the doura or Indian millet {Sor- 

 ghum vulgare). Besides these, there 

 is a Polish millet (Digitaria sangui- 

 nalis), German millet {Sctaria Ger- 

 manica), and Italian millet (S. Italtca), 

 of which the Polish only is at all cul- 

 tivated now. 



Common millet rises from three to 

 four feet high, is like a reed, and bears 

 a large loose panicle of seeds hang- 

 ing on one side. 



" Culture. — This plant will grow 

 upon any soil of tolerable richness, 

 though it does best on a loam. The 

 ground should be prepared as for or- 

 dinary crops. The seed may be sown 

 broad-cast, and covered witli the har- 

 row. If sown early, the crop may be 

 ' gathered in August, though if sown 

 any time before the 25th of June it 

 ; will come to maturity. If seed is the 

 ' object, four quarts of seed to the 

 acre will be enough ; but if intended 

 principally for cattle feed, the quan- 

 tity of seed may be increased to eight 

 quarts. Birds are fond of the seed, 

 and devour it as soon as it begins to 

 ripen ; the crop should be, therefore, 

 cut before the whole has matured, 

 and while the straw is green. It may 

 be cut with a sickle, scythe, or cra- 

 dle and should be housed as soon as 

 it is sufficiently dry. 



"Product. — The product will be ac- 

 cording to the soil, and will vary from 

 10 to 30 bushels of seed, and from 

 one to three tons of forage on the 

 acre. It sometimes produces more 

 than a thousand fold return. 



" Use. — We have found it an excel- 

 lent substitute for corn in fattening 

 hogs, either ground or boiled, and its 

 early maturity renders it particularly 



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