M r c 
tstzed fcience; and tlie volume in queftlon is dedicated 
to the emperor Francis I. by its editor John Targioni 
Tozzetti, who has prefixed an excellent hiftorical pre¬ 
face of his own ; as well as a more oratorical Italian dif- 
COurle upon natural hiftory, by Antony Cocchi. 
The ftudies of Micheli were extended likevvife to fof- 
fils and petrifactions, of both which numerous fpecimens 
remain in his mufeum ; but he publifhed nothing refpedt- 
ing them. An account of three of his botanical tours in 
Italy is faid by Haller to be extant in the fixth volume 
of Travels publifhed by Targioni Tozzetti. Smith's Tour 
on the Continent. Cocchi Elogio di P. A. Micheli. 
MICHE'LI (James-Bartholomew), an able mathema¬ 
tician, was born of an ancient family at Geneva, in 169a. 
He entered into the French military fervice, and became a 
captain. In 173S he retired to his native country, where 
he applied chiefly to mathematical and philofophical ftu¬ 
dies. He conftrufted a number of charts, invented a new 
thermometer, and compofed feveral memoirs, printed at 
Bade: thefe are on meteorology and the temperature 
of the globe; light; the comet of 1680; the univerfal 
deluge; &c. He furveyed the Glaciers of Swiiferland, of 
which he took feveral views, which have been engraved. 
In the troubles which agitated his country he was a 
fharer, and was imprifoned a long time by order of the 
government of Berne. He died in 1766. 
MICHE'LI A, J'. [lb denominated by Linnaeus, in me- 
mory of the great Florentine botanift P. A. Micheli.] In 
b.otany, a genus of the clafs polyandria, order polygynia, 
natural order of coadunatae, Linn, (magnolia:, Jaff.) Ge¬ 
neric characters—Calyx: perianthium inferior, of one 
leaf, coriaceous, fplitting longitudinally, falling off as 
tire flower expands. Corolla: petals numerous, lanceo¬ 
late, in feveral row's; the outer ones largelt. Stamina: 
filaments numerous, fliort, linear, inferted into tire com¬ 
mon receptacle of the piltils below the germens ; anthers: 
terminal, linear, of two cells, buriting longitudinally at 
tire inner fide, furmounted by a bluntilh point. Piftillum : 
germens numerous, imbricated in an oblong fpike 5 ftyles 
none; ftigmas reflexed, obtufe. Pericarpium: berries 
e:qual in number to the germens, coriaceous, globofe, of 
one cell, difpofed in a large duller. Seeds: from four to 
eight, angular on one fide, convex on the other.— EJfen- 
tial Charade}-. Calyx of one leaf, coriaceous, immediately 
deciduous; petals numerous, in feveral rows; berries nu¬ 
merous, with feveral feeds. 
1. Michelia champaca, fweet yellow michelia, or cham- 
pawk: leaves lanceolate, fomewhat ovate; calyx exter¬ 
nally filky. This tree is celebrated for the exquifite per¬ 
fume of its flowers, of which moll Europeans, who have 
been in India, fpeak with rapture, though fome find it 
too powerful. The natives adorn their heads with thefe 
(flowers, both for the fake of the perfume, and for the 
elegant contrail of their rich orange colour with their 
own black hair. The tree is of a moderate fize; the bark 
of its root red, bitter, and very acrid, according to Rheede. 
Branches round, alternate, fmooth, leafy chiefly at their 
extremities. Leaves alternate, llalked, a fpan long, ovate- 
-lanceolate, entire, taper-pointed, a little tapering at the 
bafe; fomewhat filky when young, but finally fmooth, or 
nearly lb; rather glaucous beneath ; furnilhed with a 
midrib, and many tranfverfe oblique parallel veins, con- 
rnefted by innumerable fine reticulations. Footftalks an 
inch long, minutely hairy, channelled above. Flowers 
not unlike a double narcillus, axillary, folitary, on fimple, 
Ihort, very-thick, Italks; petals elliptic-lanceolate, the 
colour of the yolk of an egg, the outermofl: about an inch 
and a half long; calyx ovate, fcarcely an inch long, finely 
filky, fplitting down one fide, and feparating from the 
bafe, before the flower can expand. Fruit refembling a 
large bunch- of grapes, of a pale yellowifh-white when 
ripe, very acrid to the talte, and unpleafant to the fmell, 
•according to Rheede. The feeds are from four to eight, 
angular from mutual preffure, the fize of fmall peafe. 
Native of Malabar, in fandy places, flowering twice 111 the 
-Yol, XV. No. 1,04.6. 
MIC 339 
year, but not'bearing fruit till it is very old ; (Rheede.) 
Commonly cultivated throughout India, el’pecially in the 
Malay countries, but never found wild; (Rumpliius.) 
Cultivated at Orford, Lancafliire, by John Blackbume, 
efq. in'1779. (Hort. Kevv.) 
2. Michelia fylveftris, or wild whltifli michelia : leaves 
elliptical; calyx nearly fmooth. Linnaeus received this 
from India by the name of Tfiampacca pocti, or white 
champawk, which agrees with the name and fynonyme 
in Rumpliius. It differs from the former in the broad 
elliptical fliape, and perfect fmoothnefs, of its leaves. The 
Calyx alfo is fmooth, having merely a very flight filkiiiefs 
at the tip, the reft being finely granulated. Rumpliius 
defcribes the M. fylveltris as a.more tall and upright tree 
than the champaca, with larger and broader leaves, the 
breadth of four fingers ; and he very accurately remarks 
that they have fewer ribs, or tranfverfe veins. Flowers 
Cxaftly like the former, except that their petals are 
broader, whitifh, or ftraw-coloured, but with a flight de¬ 
gree of odour. When cultivated, however, they acquire 
a ftronger and more delightful fmell, though not equal 
to the champaca. The fruit is much the fame, though 
the feeds, which vary from two to feven in number, are 
fcarcely lb red. It is verypoffible that this may, after all, 
be only the wild ftate of the champaca ; for champaca and 
tfiampacca are barbarous words, fynonymous and ambi¬ 
guous ; and Indian botanilts affirm that it is 'only the 
lame name fpelt differently, and therefore contend for 
the exiftence of only one fpecies. 
Propagation and Culture. Thefe plants may be increaled 
by feeds, layers, and cuttings, being managed in the fame 
manner as the more tender green-houfe plants afterwards. 
They afford variety in colleftions of ltove plants. See 
Gmelinia, Magnolia, and Pontedera. 
MICH'ELPACH, a town of Aultria: twelve miles 
fouth-eaft of St. Polten. 
MICHELSDORF, a town of Hungary: twelve miles 
fouth of Podelicz. 
MICH'ELSDORF, a town of Bohemia, in the circle of 
Chrudim : nine miles north-eaft of Leutmifchl. 
MICH'ELSTADT, a town of Germany, in the county 
of Erbach: dne mile north-eaft of Erbach. 
MICH'ELSTETTEN, or Velesa'lo, a cloifter of Car- 
niola : four miles north-north-eaft of Crainburg. 
MI'CHER, f. [from miche.~\ A thief; a pilferer. — A 
micher forfworne. Chaucer. 
Wanton wenches, and alfo mychers, 
With many other of the devyll’s officers. 
Old Morality of Hychc-Scorncr. 
A lazy loiterer, who Ikulks about in corners and by¬ 
places, and keeps out of fight; a hedge-creeper.— Michi 
or mick, is Hill retained in the cant language for an in¬ 
dolent lazy fellow. It is ufed in the weltern counties 
for a truant boy. Johnfon. —Shall the bleffed fun of heaven 
prove a micher, and eat blackberries ? a queltion not to 
be allied. Shall the fon of England prove a thief, and 
take purfes ? a queltion to be aiked. Shahefp. Henry IV, 
How tenderly her tender hands between 
An ivory cage fixe did the micher bind. Sidney. 
MI'CHERY, f. Theft; cheating: 
With covetife yet I finde 
A fervant of the fame kinde, 
Which ftelth is hole 5 and mic/terie 
With him is ever in companie. Gower. 
MICHICOU'I, a river of the ftate of Vermont, which 
runs into Lake Champlain in lat. 44. 55. N. ion. 72. 56. W.- 
MICHIGAN', a lake of North America, in Upper Ca¬ 
nada, 260 miles in length, and above 50 in breadth. This- 
lake, which has depth enough for veflels of any fize, has 
a communication with Lake Huron, by the river or chan¬ 
nel of Michilimackinack, Half the fpace of the country 
that lies to the eaft, and extends to Lake Huron, belongs 
to the Otfrawaw Indians. The line that divides their ter- 
4 - P ritories 
