MEL 
MEL 
8ta-nettles ; they are supposed to consti- 
tute the chief food of cetaceous fish ; and 
most of themshine with great splendour in 
the water. 
MEERSCHAUhl, in mineralogy, a spe- 
cies of the talc genus, is generally of a yel- 
lovvisli white colour ; it occurs massive, in- 
ternally it is dull ; it adheres to tlie tongue, 
feels greasy, and the specific gravity is 1.6. 
It is infusible before the blow-pipe without 
addition. The constituent parts are. 
Silica 41 
Magnesia 18.25 
Lime 0.5 
Water.. 
Carbonic acid, 
98.75 
Loss 1.25 
lOO.OO 
It is principally found in Natolia, in 
Lesser Asia ; and the island of Samos ; 
also in Greece, Hungary, and Moravia ; in 
Spain and in some parts of America. It is 
chiefly used for the manufacture of to- 
bacco-pipes. But the Turks use it as a me- 
dicine ; they cover also the head and eyes 
of dead bodies with it, before burial. It 
is used in various parts of the Turkish do- 
minions as fuller’s eartli is used here. It 
i? distinguished from native talc eartli by its 
colours, greater softness alid less specific 
gravity ; from litliomarge, by its colours 
and specific gravity ; and from bole by its 
colours, want of lustre, and transparency. 
MEESIA, in botany, a genus of tlie 
Cryptogamia Musci class and order. Ge- 
neric character : capsule oblong ; peristome 
double ; outer with sixteen short blunt 
teeth ; inner with as many sharp cilias, dis- 
tinct or connected by net-work : males ap- 
proaching the females, or discoid on a dif- 
ferent plant. 
MELALEUCA, in botany, a genus of 
the Polyadelphia Polyandria class and or- 
der. Natural order of Myrti, Jussieu. 
Essential character: calyx five-cleft, half 
superior ; petals five ; filaments many, very 
long, in five bodies ; style one ; capsule 
three^celled. There are eleven species, of 
which M. leucadendron, aromatic raelaleuca 
is a tree witli a black trunk and white 
branches, whence the name melaleuca ; 
leaves quite entire, almost veiuless, pe. 
tioled ; fructifications sessile, agglutinated, 
scattered below the leaves. It is a native of 
some parts of the East Indies and Cochin 
China ; from it is distilled the green aroma- 
tic oil called cajeput, from caya puti, a 
white tree, which is the Malay name ; the 
oil has the taste of peppermint, and a smell 
like turpentine j it seldom comes to Europe 
unadulterated ; a decoction of the leaves is 
much used in Cochin China, as a tonic, &c. 
The bark is very serviceable in caulking 
boats and covering houses. M. hyperici- 
folia, St. John’s wort leaved melaleuca, is 
the most beautiful of the genus ; it is plen- 
tiful in the English gardens, and was gene- 
rally taken for an hypericum, till it pro- 
duced its elegant flowers, which grow in a 
cylindrical form round the branches, liav- 
ing some resemblance to those of metro- 
sideros lanceolata, commonly called citrina, 
occasioned by the radiated crimson fila- 
ments projecting in every direction ; the 
claws of those filaments are very long, li- 
near, and of a dull yellowish hue, like the 
petals. It grows in swampy grounds, in 
New South Wales. 
MELAMPODIUM, in botany, a genus 
of the Syngenesia Polygamia Necessaria 
class and order. Natural order of Com- 
posit® Discoide®. Corymbiferae, Jussieu. 
Essential character : calyx five-leaved ; 
receptacle chaffy, conical ; down one-leafed, 
involuted, converging. There are three 
species, annuals, and natives of South Ame- 
rica and the West Indies. 
MELAMPYRUM, in botany, cow-wheat, 
a genus of the Didynamia Angiospermia 
class and order. Natural order of Per- 
sonat®. Pedicularcs, Jussieu. Essential 
character : calyx four-cleft ; corolla upper 
lip compressed, with the edge folded back ; 
capsule two-celled, oblique, opening on one 
side ; seeds two, gibbous. There are five 
species, four of them are natives of Britain, 
growing spontaneously in corn-fields ; they 
are all annuals. 
MELANITE, in mineralogy, a species of 
the flint genus, is of a velvet black colour, 
inclining to greyish black. It occurs cry- 
stallized, and also in grains. In figure the 
crystals <ye six-sided prisms. Externally it 
is always smooth and shining, approaching 
to splendent. Internally it is shining, in- 
clining to glistening. Specific gravity 3.7 to 
3.8, It is composed of 
Silica 35 
Alumina 6 
Lime 32 
Oxide of iron • 25 
Manganese 2 
10(7 
