854 M I © 
permanent. Cofolla: none. Stamina s filaments five, fili¬ 
form, the length of the calyx, inl'erted into the receptacle; 
antherre fubglobular, twin. Piftillum : germ fuperior, 
fubglobular, echinated ; ftyles two, very lliort, divaricat¬ 
ing ; fliigmas (imple, acute. Pericarpium: drupe dry, co¬ 
riaceous, thin, echinated. Seed -. nut roundifh, fmooth, 
with a Angle kernel.— EJfential Character. Calyx five- 
ieaved, fpreading; corolla none; drupe dry, echinated. 
'Microtea debilis, or weak inicrotea ; a folitary fpecies. 
ft is- an annual; native of the ifland of St. Chriftopher’s 
in the Weft Indies ; alfo of Grenada, Euftatius, Guada- 
loupe, &c. Swartz thus defcribes it: Plant fmooth, a foot 
high ; ftem herbaceous, branched,almoft upright, ftriated, 
-fmooth; branches irregular, diverging, weak; leaves al¬ 
ternate, ovate-lanceolate, acuminate, entire, nerved, vein- 
lefs, fmooth, fomewhat fucculent, like thofe of Chenopo- 
dium, deep green. Flowers approximating, nioftly di¬ 
rected one way, onfliort pedicels, very minute, greenifh 
white. Fruit the five of muftard-feed, having very mi¬ 
nute cells on the furface, echinate at the edge ; nut black, 
ihining ; or it may be coniidered as a feed covered with a 
coriaceous echinate or muricate Ikin. 
MICRO'TIS, f. [fo named by Mr. Brown, from y.ii'pe;, 
final], and ok., aloe, an ear ; alluding to a pair of minute 
ear-like appendages to the anther.] In botany, a genus of 
the clafs monandria, order gynandria, natural order or- 
chidese. Generic characters—Calyx : perianthium three- 
Jeaved, ringent; its two fide-leaves fefliie, nearly oppolitc 
to the iip. Corolla : petals two, much like the calyx, af- 
cending ; n eft any a lip proceeding from the lower part of 
the ftyle, oblong, obtufe, fpreading, callous at the bale. 
Stamina : anthera an hemifpherical, movable, terminal, 
lid, of two cells, attached to the posterior edge of the top 
of the ftyle, permanent, accompanied by a membranous 
auricle at each fide; maffes of pollen two in each cell, 
powdery, affixed by their bale to the ftigrna. Piftillum : 
germen inferior, obovate, ereft, furrowed ; ftyle erect, 
funnel-iliaped ; ftigma in front. Pericarpium : capfule of 
one cell. Seeds; numerous, minute.— EJfential Char after. 
Calyx ringent, its fide-leaves nearly oppofite to the lip; 
petals attending ; lip without a fpur, obtufe, callous at 
the bale ; anthera a lid, terminating the ftyle behind ; 
pollen powdery. 
Five fpecies of this new genus were found by Mr. Brown 
in New Holland, chiefly in the colder parts. The bulbs 
are undivided and naked ; herbage fmooth ; leaf folitary, 
cylindrical, fiftuloUs, embracing the ftem with its long 
fheathing bafe ; fpike of many fmall, greenifh or white, 
ficfwers, the lip of fome of which is undivided, in others 
two-lobecl. The leaves of the calyx, as well as the petals, 
are more or lefs linear; the former frequently revolute. 
The lip differs greatly in form in the different fpecies ; its 
margin is in fome even and naked, in others wavy, warty, 
<or tuberculated. Prod. Nov, Hol'l. p. 320. 
. MID, adj. [contracted from middle, or derived from 
mid, Dut. or mibb, Sax.] Middle; equally between two 
extremes: 
No more the mounting larks, while Daphne fings, 
Shall, lifting in mid air, fufpend their wings. Pope. 
Ere the mid hour of night, from tent to tent, 
Unweary’d, through the num’rous hoft he paft. Iloicc. 
It is much ufed in compofition; as, 
MID-A'GE, J. The middle age of life.—Perfons in 
that ftate.—Virgins and boys, mid-age, and wrinkled eld. 
fthahefpeare’s Troilus and Crejjida. 
MiD-CO'URSE, J\ Middle of the way : 
Why in the Eaft 
Darknefs ere day’s mid-courjh? and morning light, 
.More orient in yon weftern cloud, that draws 
O’er the blue firmament a -radiant white ? Milton. 
MID'-DAY, adj. Meridional, being at noon.—Who 
j&QPLs at the mid-dap fun, though he be luxe he Ihail never 
m r n 
hit the mark, yet as fure he is he Ural! flioot higher thaja 
he who aims but at a bufli. Sidney. 
Did lie not lead yon through the mid-day fun, 
And clouds of dull ? Did not his temples glow 
In the fame fultry winds and fcorching heats ? Add!fort. 
MID-DA'Y, f. Noon ; meridian: 
Who have before, or fhall write after thee, 
Their works, though toughly laboured, will be 
Like infancy cr age to man’s firm ftay. 
Or early or late twilights to mul-day. Dome* 
MID-HEAV'EN, J\ The middle of the fky ; , 
But the hot hell that always in him burns. 
Though in mid-heaven, foon ended his delight. Milton* 
In the language of the aftrologers, it is the point of the 
ecliptic that culminates, or in which it cuts the meridian. 
MID-LOTH'IAN. See Edinburghshire, vol. vi. p. 
2 5 J - 
MID'-SEA. f. The Mediterranean fea : 
Our Tyrrhene Pharos, that the mid-fea meets 
With its embrace, and leaves the land behind. Drydeit, 
MID'-WOOD, adj. In the middle of the v/ood.—Hence 
let me hafte into the mid-wood ihade. Thom/bn's Summer. 
MI'DA, f. [ midas , Fr. pittas, Gr.] A worm, or maggot, 
of which is produced the purple fly found on bean-flowers,, 
and thence called the bean-fly. Chambers. 
MI'DAS, in fabulous liiftory and mythology, was, ac¬ 
cording to Paufanias, the fon of Gordius and Cybele, and 
reigned in the Greater Phrygia, as we learn from Strabo* 
According to the former of the two authors, he built th® 
c’ty of Ancyra, and That of Peffinus, upon Mount Agdif- 
tis, famed for the tomb of Atys ; but the latter merely 
fays, that he and Gordius his father fixed their refidence 
near the river Sangar, in cities which in his time were 
mean villages. On account of his attention to religion 
among the Lydians, he was reckoned, according to Juftin* 
a fecond Numa. 
The hofpitality which Midas fhowed to Silenus, tha 
preceptor of Bacchus, who had been brought to him by 
lome peafants, was liberally, rewarded ; and Midas, when 
he condufted back the old man to the god, was permitted 
to choofe whatever recompenfe he pleafed. He had tha 
imprudence and the avarice to demand of the god that 
whatever he touched might be turned into gold. Hi* 
prayer was granted, but he was foon convinced of his in¬ 
judicious choice ; and, when the very meats which he at¬ 
tempted to eat became gold in his mouth, he begged Bac¬ 
chus to take away a prelent which mull prove fo fatal to 
the receiver. He was ordered to wafli himfelf in the river 
Pa cl ol us, whofe lands were turned into gold by the touch 
of Midas. 
Some time after this adventure, Midas had the impru¬ 
dence to fupport that Pan was, fuperior to Apollo in ling- 
ing and in playing upon the flute, for which ralli opinion 
the offended god changed his ears into thofe of an afs, to 
fliow his ignorance and ilupidity. This Midas attempted 
to conceal from the knowledge of his fubjefts ; but one of 
his fervants faw the length of his ears, and, being unable 
to keep the fecret, and afraid to reveal it, apprehenfive of 
the king’s refentment, he opened a hole in the earth, and, 
after he had whifpered there that Midas had the ears of an 
afs, he covered the place as before, as if he had buried his 
words in the ground. On that place, as the poets men¬ 
tion, grew a number of reeds, which, when agitated by 
the wind, uttered the fame found-that had been buried 
beneath, and publiflied to the world, that Midas had the 
ears of an afs. Some explain the fable of the ears of Midas, 
by the luppofition that he kept a number of informers 
and fpies, who were continually employed-in gathering 
every ;cditious‘*word that might drop from the mouths of 
' his lij-ieccs, Midas, according to Strabo, died of drink¬ 
ing 
