■594 M I T 
Tirera Mitraille. To fire with grape-fhot, The term 
was frequently ufed by the French, to exprefs the bri¬ 
bery pra&iled in time of war by one nation upon ano¬ 
ther, for the purpofe of fomenting civil infurredtions. 
Hence Tirer a matraille cl'or, To fire with gold fhot. 
MITR AILLA'DES, f. A difcharge of grape-fhot from 
pieces of ordnance. This was a new mode of punifhment 
(fevifed under the revolutionary government of France, 
and was principally pradtifed during the reign of Robef- 
pierre, in the commune of Lyons, and at Marfeilles and 
Toulon. Cannon, loaded with grape-fhot, were fired on 
citizens, bound hand and foot; and fuch as were only 
wounded by the fhot, were afterwards put to death by 
the fword or fabre. 
MI'TRAL, adj. [from mitre.] Belonging to a mitre; 
like a mitre ; belonging to the mitrales. 
MITRA'LES, f. in anatomy, the two valves of the 
pulmonary veins," fo called from their refemblance to a 
mitre. 
MITRANCHE', adj. [Fr. half-cut.} In heraldry, di¬ 
vided half way down by a band dexter. 
MITRA'RIA, j‘. [fo denominated from a flight refem¬ 
blance to a mitre,"in the form of the outer calyx.] In bo¬ 
tany, a genus of the clafs didynanria, order angiofpermia, 
natural order of pcrfonatse, Linn, (fcrophulariae, JnJT.) 
Generic charadters—Calyx: perianthium double, inferior, 
permanent, each of one leaf; the outer divided on one 
fide nearly to the bottom, on the other but half-way 
down; the fegments ovate, concave, of equal lengths; 
inner about the fame length, in fiye deep, lanceolate, 
nearly-equal, fegments. Corolla: of one petal, ringent; 
tubes many times longer than the calyx, round, inflated 
upward, contradled at the mouth, pervious ; limb fliort, 
lpreading, in two lips; the upper in two parallel lobes ; 
lower in three very deep ones; all ovate and obtufe. Sta¬ 
mina : filaments four, awl-fhaped, two rather the longeft, 
all longer than the corolla, inferted into the bottom of 
its tube, with the rudiment of a fifth; antherae ovate, 
tw'o-lobed. Piftilhim: germen fuperior, ovate; flyle awl- 
Ihaped, rather longer than the ftamens; ftigma flightly 
iwelling, obtufe. Pericarpium : berry fucculent, of one 
cell. Seeds: numerous, oblong, polifhed, imbedded in 
pulp. It is to be prefumed that the germen has two cells, 
though they are obliterated in the ripe fruit. The dou¬ 
ble calyx diftinguifhes this genus from Belleria.— Ejjential 
Charader. Calyx double, the outer in two lobes, the inner 
in five; corolla two-lipped, the lower lip in three equal 
entire fegments; tube inflated; berry fuperior, of one 
cell, with many feeds. 
Mitraria coccinea, the only known fpecies. Gathered 
by Louis Nee at St. Carlos, in Chili; flowering in Fe¬ 
bruary. Stem fhrubby, climbing; with weak oppofite, 
fquarifh, flightly-downy, jointed, leafy, branches. Leaves 
oppofite, fometimes three together, on fhort llalks, ovate, 
acute, ftrongly ferrated, about an inch long; green, and 
flightly hairy above; glaucous beneath. Flowers on Am¬ 
ple axillary ftalks about the length of the leaves, ufually 
folitary, fometimes two or three together, drooping, fwel- 
ling and roughifh towards the top. Calyx green; the 
outer one hairy. Corolla an inch and a half long, of a 
rich fcarlet. Stamens and flyle fcarlet, with yellow an¬ 
thers. Berry globofe, the fize of a currant, tipped with 
the permanent flyle. Cavan, vi. 57. 
MITRASAC'ME, j. [from mitre, and acme, the fum- 
mit; Labillardiere invented this name, becaufe the acute 
lummit of the germen feparates, as it advances to matu¬ 
rity, into two points, each crowned with half the divided 
flyle, and refembles the cloven termination of a mitre. 
Mr. Brown, though he adopts the name without altera¬ 
tion, obferves, that Mitragyne would have been better.] 
In botany, a genus of the clafs tetrandria, order mono- 
gynia, natural order of rotaceae, Linn, (gentianse, Ju(f. 
Broun.) Generic cliaradters-—Calyx: perianthium infe¬ 
rior, angular, in four, rarely but two, deep acute flightly- 
fpreading permanent fegments. Corolla : of one petal. 
M 1 T 
deciduous; tube angular, fhort; limb flightly fpreading, 
in four deep.equal fegments. Stamina: filaments four, 
awl-fhaped, inferted into the tube, equal, ufually fhorter 
than the corolla; antherae heart-fliaped, incumbent. Pif- 
tilium: germen fuperior, ovate, acute, fhorter than the 
calyx, cloven at the point; flyle terminal, thread-fhaped, 
the length of the corolla, foon fplitting lengthw'ife at the 
bale, and finally all the way up; ftigma capitate, two- 
lobed, finally divided. Pericarpium : capfule ovate, point¬ 
ed, of two valves and two cells, the partitions from the 
inflexed margins of the valves, its- apex fplitting into two 
parts, each crowned with half the flyle, but llill clofed 
by the refpeftive partitions. Seeds: numerous, final!, 
roundifh, affixed to the central receptacles.— Ejfenlial 
Chara&er. Calyx angular, four-cleft; corolla deciduous, 
four-cleft, regular; its tube angular; capfule fuperior, 
with two cells and many feeds, divided at the top; flyle 
divided at the bafe ; ftigma capitate. 
1. Mitrafacme polymorpha: umbel partly compound ; 
flower-ftalk elongated, fmooth like the calyx, whofe feg¬ 
ments are naked at the lummit;'leaves linear, fomewhat 
fringed; ftem eredt, hairy. Gathered by Dr. White., as 
well as Mr. Brown, near Port Jackfon, New South Wales. 
The root feems to be annual. Stems feveral, eredt, from 
three to fix inches high, Ample, or flightly branched, leafy, 
round, hairy. Leaves oppofite, in pairs crofting each other, 
feflile, three quarters of an inch long, pale, linear, keeled, 
revolute, entire, obtufe with a ftnall point: more or lels 
fringed towards the bafe; fmooth above ; fometimes hairy 
beneath. Flovver-flalks terminal, longer than the ftem, 
round, very fmooth, Ample or divided, terminating in an 
umbel of two, three, or four, flowers, on long llender 
fmooth ftalks, one of which ftalks often bears a lateral 
flower alfo, fo that the umbel is then rather a cyme; the 
calyx is entirely fmooth, pale, with green angles; corolla 
white or purplifh, bearded within, twice as long as the 
calyx. The flowers and inflorefcence are not unlike An- 
droface ladtea (Curt. Mag. t. 868, 981.) in their general 
afpedt. 
. s. Mitrafacme canefcens: umbel about three-flowered, 
feflile ; its ftalks fmooth ; fegments of the calyx bearded 
at the tips; leaves linear, obtufe, hairy on both fides; ftem 
procumbent, hairy all over; with afcending branches. 
Native likewife of Port Jackfon. Root perennial; herb 
much like the laft, but very hairy, and of a darker hue. 
Browns Nov. Prod. Hull. p. 4-52. 
3. Mitrafacme piloia: creeping, hairy; leaves ftalked, 
ovate, fringed ; flow'er-ftalks axillary, folitary, about the 
length of the leaves ; calyx liifpid. Native of moift places 
in Van Diemen’s Land. Root perennial, branched. Stem 
round, hollow. Leaves oppofite, rather flefliy, ovate, en¬ 
tire, about half an inch long, tapering at the bafe into a 
fhort footftalk. Flower-ftalks fometimes fhorter, fome- 
times longer, than the leaves, round, fiinple, fingle-flow- 
ered ; calyx hairy all over; corolla finely downy within; 
its limb fhort, in four ffiallow lobes. Labillardiere, Nov. 
Hull. p. 36.—None of thefe plants have been railed in 
Europe. 
MITRAVIN'DA, in Hindoo mythology, one of the 
eight wives affigned to Kriffina. 
METRE, J'. [mitre, Fr. mitra, Lat. Gr. attire for 
the head, formerly w'orn by the Greek and Roman wo¬ 
men; not unlike in ffiape to the epifcopal crown.] An 
ornament for the head: 
Nor Pantheus, thee, thy mitre nor the bands 
Of awful Phoebus, fav’d from impious hands. Dry den. 
A kind of epifcopal crown.—Bifhoprics or burning, mitres 
or fagots, have been the rewards of different perions, ac¬ 
cording as they pronounced thefe confeerated fyllables, or 
not. Watts. 
The mitre is a round cap, pointed, and cleft at the top, 
with pendants hanging down on the fhoulders, and 
fringed at both ends. With us, the mitre is never ufed 
but on coats of arms. See the article Heraldry, vol. ix. 
P- 447s 
