m i d 
'MICROLO'GUS, f. [Gr. of pixpof, fmall, and Myc?, 
difcourfe.] That which gives reafons forobfcare and mi¬ 
nute things; a minute enquiry into latent things. The 
title given by Guido d’Arezzo to his treatife on mufic, 
in which his fyftem is unfolded. 
MICROLO'MA, J'. [Gr. of piKpot, fmall, and \ap.a, a 
fringe ; the five tufts of hairs, alternate with the fcales, in 
the middle of the flower, having altogether that appear¬ 
ance.] In botany, a genus of twining flender fhrubs, 
formed of the two Linnasan Cape-fpecies of Ceropegia, 
■which Mr. Brown (Tranf. of the Wernerian Soc. i. 53.) 
obferves, are widely different from the original fpecies of 
that genus. See Cerotegia fagittata and tenuifolia, 
vol. iv. p. 43. 
MICROM'ETER, f. [from the Gr. pivpoc, fmall, and 
to meafure.] An altronomical inftrument to mea- 
fure very fmall diltances in the heavens. See the article 
Optics. 
MICROPHO'NES, f. [from the Gr. y.iv.gos, fmall, and 
(psnn1, a voice.] Infbruments fo contrived as to magnify 
fmall founds, as microfcopes do fmall objefts. 
MICROPHTHAL'MUS,/ [from the Gr. fmall, 
and e<p 6 a.?\[/.o;, an eye.] One that hath eyes l'maller than 
common; one that is born with very fmall eyes. Phillips. 
MICRO'PUS, f. [from the Gr. pixpas, little, and stop?, 
a foot.] Base Cudweed ; in botany, a genus of the clafs 
fyngenefia, order polygamia neceffaria, natural order of 
compofitas nucamentaceas, (corymbiferse, Juff.) Generic 
characters—Calyx : common inferior five-leaved ; leaflets 
thin, fmall, obfolete ; interior very large, five-leaved ; 
leaflets loofe, diltinCt, helmet-fiiaped, comprefled, con¬ 
verging longitudinally by the margin. Corolla : com¬ 
pound of ten hermaphrodites in the cliftc, and five females 
in the circuit. Proper of the hermaphrodite one-petalled, 
funnel-form, five-toothed, ereCt; of the female none. 
Stamina : in the hermaphrodites ; filaments five, briftle- 
fliaped, very Ihort; antherae cylindric, tubular, the length 
of the corollet. Piftillum : in the hermaphrodites ; germ 
obfolete ; ftyle filiform, longer than the llamens ; ftigma 
obfolete: in the females; germ obovate, comprefled, 
•within each fcale of the common inner calyx ; ftyle from 
the inner fide of the germ, briftle-lhaped, bent in towards 
the hermaphrodites, the length of the calyx ; ftigma two- 
parted, flender, acuminate. Pericarpium : none ; calyx 
unchanged, but the inner one larger, indurated. Seeds : 
of the hermaphrodites none ; of the females folitary, obo¬ 
vate, included in the proper leaflet of the inner calyx ; 
down none. Receptacle: with fharp very fmall chaffs 
feparating the feeds of the females, but not the florets of 
the difk.— EJfential Character. Calyx calycled; ray of the 
corolla none ; female florets wrapped up in the calycine 
fcales; down none; receptacle chaffy. There are but 
two fpecies. 
1. Micropus fupinus, or trailing micropus: ftem pro¬ 
cumbent ; leaves in pairs. This is an annual plant. The 
roots fend out feveral trailing italics, fix or eight inches 
long, divaricating, often branched, covered with a white 
nap, as is the whole plant. Leaves in pairs, generally 
oppofite or nearly fo, wedge-ovate, connate, plaited, three- 
nerved. Flowers axillary, fefiile, from the bafe to the 
very top of the ftem, in fmall clufters, very fmall, white. 
Common calyx Ample (the inner one being called the 
corolla), compofed of five or more fcariofe pellucid feg- 
ments, fo fmall as to be fcarcely vifible to the naked eye. 
Florets, hermaphrodite fix, and female four. Corolla of 
the former green, with a purple five-parted border; of the 
latter longer, one-leafed, plaited, with the border preffed 
clofe on both fides, gaping at the tip, where the ftigma 
iflues forth, within green and fmooth, without tomentofe, 
becoming indurated, and then muricated on the back in 
two rows. In the hermaphrodites, antheras purple, germ 
effete, ftyle fimple, ftigma club-fhaped ; in the females, 
germ fharp at the bafe; ftyle longer than the corolla, 
arched inwards ; ftigma Handing out, bifid, reclining on 
the hermaphrodite flowers. Receptacle veiy fmall, with 
Vol. XV. No. 1046. 
M I C 338 
Very fmall chaffs. Seeds brown, ovate, clofely included 
within the corolla. Gaertner fays, that he has fearched 
in vain for the marginal chaffs that Linnaeus attributes to 
the receptacle, and fufpefts that they are nothing elfe but 
the minute leaflets with which the calyx is obfoletely ca¬ 
lycled at the bafe. Native of Portugal, Spain, Italy, and 
the Levant. It was cultivated in 1759 by Mr. Miller; 
and flowers from June to September. In Spain it flowers 
in May. 
2. Micropus ereftus, or upright micropus: ftem up¬ 
right ; calyxes toothlels ; flowers folitary. This alfo is 
annual. The leaflets of the calyx are from (even to nine,, 
comprefled, woolly. Receptacle awl-fhaped, feparated 
into roundifli tubercles, naked. Seeds obovate, bald, in- 
clofed within the calycine leaflets. Native of Spain, 
France, and the Levant. 
Propagation and Culture. The firft fpecies is fometimes 
preferred in gardens for the beauty of its filvery leaves. 
If the feeds be fown in autumn, or permitted to fcatter, 
the plants will come up in the fpring, and require only 
to be kept clean from weeds, and thinned where they are 
too clofe. When the feeds are fown in the fpring, they 
feldom grow the firft year. 
MI'CROSCOPE, J. [from the Gr. pixgos, fmall, and 
cxotteo), to view.] An optic inftrument, contrived various 
ways to give to the eye a large appearance of many objebs 
which could not otherwife be feen. See the article Optics. 
—If the eye were fo acute as to rival the fineft microfcopes , 
and to difcern the linalleft hair upon the leg of a gnat, it 
would be a curfe, and not a blefling, to us ; it would make 
all things appear rugged and deformed ; the moft finely 
polifhed cryftal would be uneven and rough ; the fight- 
of our own felves would affright us ; the fmootheft fkin 
would be befet all over with ragged fcales and briftly hairs. 
Bentley. 
The critick eye, that microfcope of wit, 
Sees hairs and pores, examines bit by bit. Pope's Dunciad. 
MICRQSCOP'IC, or Microscopical, adj. [from mi¬ 
crojcope.'] Made by a microfcope.—Make microfcopical ob- 
fervations of the figure and bulk of the conftituent parts 
of all fluids. Arbuthnot and Pope. —Aflifted by a micro-- 
‘ fcope: 
Evading ev’n the microfcopic eye ! 
Full nature fwarms with life. Thomfon's Summer. 
Refembling a microfcope: 
Why has not man a microfcopick eye ? 
For this plain reafon, Man is not a fly. 
Say what the ufe, were finer opticks given, 
T’ infpeft a mite, not comprehend the heaven ? Pope . 
MICROSTEM'MA, /! [Gr. of pi xpo?, fmall, and 5 -eppa, 
a crown; alluding to the fort of coronet which accom¬ 
panies the antherae.] In botany, a genus of the clafs pen- 
tandria, order digynia, natural order contortae, Linn. 
(apocineae, Juff. afclepiadeas, Brown.) Effential generic 
characters—Corolla wheel-fhaped, five-cleft; crown of 
the ftamens of one leaf, flefliy, with five lobes, alternate 
with the antherae, which are without any membranous- 
point ; mafles of pollen attached laterally by the middle,, 
lying over the ftigma, which is pointlefs; follicles flender, 
fmooth ; feeds comofe. There is but one fpecies. 
Microftemma tuberofuin; native of New Holland, 
within the tropic. It is a fmooth upright perennial her¬ 
baceous plant, with a tuberous root. Stem fimple in the 
lower part, and furniflied with minute leaves; branched- 
above. Leaves oppofite, linear. Umbels lateral and ter¬ 
minal, nearly fefiile. Corolla blackiih-purple, bearded at 
the. inlide. Brown in Tranf. !- Went. Soc. p. 25. and Prod. 
Aov. Hull. p. 459. 
MICROTE'A, f [from pinpoint, Gr. fmallnefs; fo 
called from the minutenefs of the parts of frufitification.l 
In botany, a genus of the clafs pentandria, order digynia, 
natural order of oleracese, (atriplices, Juff.) Generic cha¬ 
mbers—Calyx -. perianthium five-leaved"; leaflets oblong, 
4 Q permanent. 
