MEN 
foreign fpecies mull be kept in pots or tubs of water in 
the Hove. 
MENZABA'NO, a town of Italy, on the river Mincio. 
On the 28 th of December, 1801, a bloody battle was fought 
here between the French, who attempted to pal’s the river, 
and the Auftrians; the lofs on both Tides was very great, 
but victory was on the fide of the French, who made 
8000 prifoners. 
MENZA'LEH, or Menza'la, a large lake of Egypt, 
running parallel with the Mediterranean, from which it 
as divided by a narrow flip of land, fixty miles in length, 
and from two to twelve in breadth, overflowed and filled 
by the waters of the Nile. It was anciently called Tonis , 
from the town, of that name : its waters are loft in the 
time of inundation, and become brackilh as the river 
retreats within its channel. There are iflands in the lake 
which can only be approached by boats. A vifit to thel’e 
ifles, which no modern traveller has examined, and where 
manufcripts and antiquities might be found, feems an 
object of importance. About 1200 boats, each paying 
annually thirty-fix Ihillings to the receiver of the pacha, 
continually filh on the lake. The quality of the water 
communicates to the filh a white flefli and a fine deli¬ 
cate flavour; and thus Damietta is fupplied at a cheap 
rate. The iflands are for the mod part uninhabited, 
except Matarieh ; they are likewife uncultivated, and bar¬ 
ren of every thing except a few marine plants. The lake 
abounds with filh, and the entrances from the Mediter¬ 
ranean are frequented by porpoifes. It communicates 
with the fea by means of two mouths, viz. thofe of Dibeh 
and Eumme Fareggi, which are the Mendelian and Ta- 
nitic mouths of the ancients. The tongue of land be¬ 
tween the lake and the fea extends from Damietta to 
Tineh, and has only four interruptions in its whole 
length. Each mouth is lhut up towards the fea by 
a bar or bank, forming the part of a circle. Length of 
the lake from north-well to fouth-eaft 43,000 fathoms, 
and breadth from 12,000 to 26,000. 
MENZA'LEH, a town of Egypt, fituated near the lake 
to which it gives name: twenty miles fouth-fouth-eaft 
of Damietta, and feventy-three north-north-eall of Cairo. 
JLat. 31. 3. N. Ion. 32. E. 
MENZELIN'SIC, a town of Ruflia, in the government 
of Upha: 132 miles well-north-well of Upha. Lat. 55. 
16. N. Ion. 52.14. E. 
MENZIE'SIA,y! [fo named many years ago, by Dr. 
Smith, (Plantarum leones ex Herb. Linn.) in honour 
of his friend Mr. Archibald Menzies, F. L. S. This gen¬ 
tleman, in his voyage round the world with captain Van¬ 
couver, collebled many rare and non-defeript plants, 
particularly on the weltern coalls of New Holland and of 
North America- He allb difeovered, near Dufky-bay in 
New Zealand, the richell collection of Jungermanniae 
that was ever, perhaps, made by anyone perfon.] In 
botany, a genus of the clafs oStandria, order monogynia, 
natural order bicornes, Linn, (rhododendra, Jujf.) Ge¬ 
neric characters—Calyx : perianth inferior, of one leaf, 
more or lefs deeply four or five cleft, permanent. Corolla : 
of one petal, inflated, nearly ovate, deciduous ; its limb 
fpreading, in four or five finall, fpreading, equal feg- 
ments. Stamina : filaments eight or ten, thread-lhaped, 
equal, Ihorter than the corolla, inferted into the recep¬ 
tacle ; anthera: ereCl, oblong, Ample, two-lobed at the 
bafe, opening by two pores at the top. Piltillum: ger- 
men fuperior, roundilh-oblong, furrowed ; flylg angular, 
ereil, rather longer than the ftamens; ftigma obtufe, 
with four or five linall lobes. Pericarpium : capfules el¬ 
liptic-oblong, with four or five furrows, and as many 
valves and cells, opening from the top downward, the 
partitions double, formed of the inflexed margins of the 
valves. Seeds: numerous, linall, oblong, more or lefs 
pointed, affixed to the ribs of the large central column.—- 
JEfJential Charader. Calyx of one leaf, four or five 
cleft; corolla of one petal, inflated 5 filan>ents inferted 
Vop. XV, No. io2p. 
U E N 129 
into the receptacle; capfule fuperior, of four or five cells, 
the partitions from the inflexed margins of the valves. 
1. Menziefia ferruginea, or rufty-flowered menzieiia: 
calyx very (lightly four-lobed ; leaves obovato-lanceo- 
late, finely l’errated ; fmooth, beneath. Gathered by Mr. 
Menzies, very copioufly, in 1787 and 1788, on the weft 
coaft of North America. The Item is flnubby, two or 
three feet high, determinately branched, fpreading, round, 
fmooth, the pale bark fcaling off in long drips ; branches 
leafy, hairy when young, fpringing from the fame buds 
as the flowers, the feales compofing which are ovate and 
fringed. Leaves alternate, crowded towards the tops 
of the branches, ftalked, fpreading, obovate, inclining to 
lanceolate, one and a half or two inches long, three- 
fourths of an inch broad, obtufe, tipped with a gland, 
finely ferrated, fringed, membranous, flat, veiny ; green, 
and befprinkled with white deprefled hairs above; pale 
and fmooth beneath, except a few hairs, or flat narrow 
feales, on the ribs; deciduous, Footilalks (hort, winged. 
Flowers from the buds of the lall feafon, five or more 
together, on fimple ilalks, about an inch long, covered 
with vifeid hairs, and drooping ; calyx fmall and flat, 
very (lightly four-lobed, or rather waved at the edge, 
fringed ; corolla ovate, one-third of an inch long, the 
border four-cleft, (lightly expanded, altogether of a rufty 
hue 5 ftamens eight ; capfule fmooth, dark brown ex¬ 
ternally, pale within. 
2. Menziefia globularis, or pale-flowered menziefia: 
calyx in four rounded lobes ; leaves obovate, nearly en¬ 
tire ; glaucous and downy beneath. Native of South 
Carolina, according to Salilbury and Lyon. Of this we 
know nothing but from the authors quoted, by which it 
appears to differ from the foregoing, beiides the above 
fpecific charafilers, in having a more globofe corolla, pale 
yellow with red ftreaks. The flowers are oftandrous and 
four-cleft, as in M. ferruginea. Michaux miftook this 
for the original fpecies; and, having no information of 
the fpecific name, called it M. Smithii. 
3. Menziefia empetriformis, or bell-flowered menziefia: 
calyx in five deep obtufe fegments ; corolla bell-fhaped ; 
flower-llalks terminal, aggregate, fimple ; leaves fcattered* 
linear, obtule, finely ferrated, concave beneath. Ga¬ 
thered by Mr. Menzies on the weft coaft of North Ame¬ 
rica, near Nootka Sound. 
The remaining fpecies, to make up this genus, are 
taken from that of Andromeda, and have therefore been 
already deferibed, vol. i. p. 682, 3. 
4. Menziefia polyfolia, or Iriih menziefia, is our An- 
dromedia dabcccia. 
5. Menziefia cccrulea, or Scottilh menziefia, is Andro¬ 
meda ccerulea. 
6. Menziefia bryantha, or moffy menziefia, is Andro¬ 
meda bryantha. See Linn. Tranf. vol. x. and Engliffi 
Botany, vol. xxxv. 
MEN'ZIL, a town of Africa, in the kingdom of Tunis, 
anciently called Zata : four miles lbuth-fouth-weftofSula. 
MENZI'NI (Benedetto), an eminent Italian poet, wa.s 
born at Florence of indigent parents in 1646. An early 
proficiency in letters caufed lum to be taken notice of by 
the marquis Gianvincenzo Salviati, who received him 
into his houfe, and gave him the means of cultivating lus 
talents. He particularly diftinguiihed himfelf in°his 
youth for a florid eloquence, w’hichhe employed in moral 
and laudatory compoiitions ; and at length he opened a 
l’chool of rhetoric. The advice of the celebrated 
Redi, who had feen fome of his poetical compofitions. 
jndu.ced him to turn his efforts chiefly to Italian poetry '^ 
and in 167411c publiihed a volume of poems dedicated to 
the grand-duke Cofmo III. In 1679 lie publiihed a trea- 
til'e entitled “ Conllruzione irregolare della Lingua Toi- 
cana,” which difplayed his reading in the old Italian 
writers. Having greatly improved and made large addi¬ 
tions to his juvenile poems, he publiihed in 1680 a volume 
of lyric poems, by which he obtained great reputation, 
•k 1 At 
