MYO 
MY 11 
Cenies, when yonng, bending in at tlie top, 
whence the names of scorpioides, scorpin- 
rus, and scorpion grass, from tlie similitude 
to a scorpion’s fail ; as the flowering ad- 
vances, lengthening out very considerably ; 
they are alternate, in a double row, all 
itrowing one way, each on its proper pedi- 
cel ; calyx villose, deeply five-cleft, closing 
at top as the seeds ripen ; corolla red be- 
fore it opens, afterwards of a fine blue, with 
a yellow eye, not more than a tenth of an 
inch in diameter. 
MYOSURUS, in botany, mouse-tail, a 
genus of the Pentandria Polygynia class 
and order. Natural order of Multisilique. 
Ranunculacea;, Jussieu. Essential charac- 
ter : calyx five-teaved, growing together at 
tlie base ; petals five, having a melliterous 
pore at the claw ; seeds numerous. There 
is but one sjtecins, viz. M. minimus, mouse- 
tail : this plant is very nearly allied to ra- 
nunculns, in which genus it was ranged by 
Tournefort; the flowers are extremely' 
small, and are succeeded by long, slender 
spikes of seeds, resembling the tail of a 
mouse, whence, the name; it grows wild in 
most parts of' Europe. This plant aftbrds a 
rare instance of a very great disproportion 
of males to females in the same flower, and 
yet the latter are generally all prolific ; the 
seeds are justly described by Linnmns as 
naked, for the part which Jussieu calls a 
capsule is nothing more than a thickened 
inseparable coat, as in ranunculus. 
MYOXUS, the dormouse, in natural his- 
tory, a genus of Mammalia of the order 
Glires. Generic character ; two fore- teeth, 
the upper wedge formed, the lower com- 
pressed ; four grinders in each jaw ; long 
whiskers; tail cylindric, bristly, and thicker 
towards the end ; legs of equal length ; 
fore feet with four-toes. These animals 
feed only on vegetables, and burrow in the 
ground, in which tliey continue during the 
winter in a torpid state. They are noctur- 
nal, sleeping in their habitations the greater 
part of the day ; ttey carry food to their 
mouths with their fore-paws, sitting erect, 
and advance by leaps of several feet at a 
time, instead of walking. There are four 
species, M. glis, or the fat dormouse, is 
found in Germany and Russia, and has 
much of the manners of a squirrel, haunting 
trees and feeding on fruits and nuts which it 
stores, like tliat animal, for its winter con- 
sumption. It was highly valued by the 
Romans as an article of food. It is six 
inches long to the tail, which is about four. 
It is not easily tamed. 
M. muscardinus, or the common dor- 
mouse, is nearly ot the size of a mouse, and 
inhabits thick hedges, making its nest in 
the hollow of some tree. It is far from 
lively, and is incapable of bounding like the 
squirrel. Like that animal, however, it 
forms its hoard for the winter, during w’hich 
it is for the greater part abstinent and tor- 
pid-. It occasionally is' roused by the inter- 
vention of temperate days, recurs to its 
stock, and then returns to its slumbers, till 
spring recovers it to daily exertion. It is 
very rarely seen in this country, but is sup- 
posed to be in fact by no means nncomraoiu 
For the garden dormouse and the wood 
dormouse, see Mammalia, Plate XVII. fig. 
1 and a. 
MY’RICA, in botany, candlebemj myrtle, 
a genus of the Dioecia Tetrandria class and 
order. Natural order of Ametitacem, Jus- 
sieu. Essential character : ament with a 
crescent-shaped scale; corolla none: fe- 
male, styles tw'o ; berry oue-seeded. There 
are nine species, of which M. gale, sweet- 
gale, sweet willow or candleberry myrtle, 
rises with many shrubby stalks trom two to 
four feet in height, dividing into several 
slender br.vnches ; the buds are composed 
of nine leafy, shining scales ; leaves alter- 
nate, an inch and half in length ; they have 
a bitter taste, and an agr eeable odour, like 
those of myrtle. The flowers appear be- 
fore the leaves, at tlie ends of the branches ; 
as soon as the fructification is completed, 
the end of the branch dies, the leat-buds 
which are on the sides, shoot out, and the 
stems become compound ; the fruit is a co- 
riaceous berry ; the male and female aments 
are sometimes on distinct plants, and some- 
times on the same individual. The north- 
ern nations formerly used this plant instead 
of hops, and it is still in use for that pur- 
pose in some of the western isles ; unless it 
is boiled a long time, it is reported to occa- 
sion the head-ach. Thp catkins, or cones, 
boiled in water, tlirow up a scum resem- 
bling bees’ wax, and which, gathered in 
sufficient quantities, would make candles. 
From M. cerifera, American candleberry 
myrtle, caudles are prepared in America ; 
it is also used in tanning calf skins ; gather- 
ed in autumn, it will dye wool yellow, for 
which purpose it is used botli in Sweden 
and in Wales ; the Welsh lay branches of 
it upon and under their beds, to keep oflf 
fleas and moths. In most of the Hebrides, 
and in the Highlands of Scotland, an infu- 
sion of tlie leaves is frequently giveu to 
ekildren to destroy worms. YVhen it grow* 
