Page:Cyclopaedia, Chambers - Supplement, Volume 2.djvu/41

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Melancholy from thefe caufes, are ufually fubjeet to Very un- ruly paffions, and thofe of various kinds; love, fear, dejection of fpirits, defpair and anger, are often very predominant in them. A fuppreffion of the hemorrhoidal difcharges in men, and of the menftrual ones in women, will alio frequently throw them into this diftemper ; as will alfo an over great ap- plication to ftudy, efpecially on abftrufe fubjects ; a con- fcientious dread from paft crimes ; continual di (appointment in the expectations ; and fometimes a timorous dilpofitlon, brought on in infancy, by the folly of nurfes. 'pysgnojtics In it. That kind of Melancholy which is brought on by immaterial caufes alone, fnch as that arifmg from too interne ftudy, or other imaginations or effects of the mind, is always greatly more obftinate and difficult of cure than that which depends upon material caufes, and has its origin in a diftempered ftate of the body. The hypochondriac Melan- choly is the moft eafy of all to be cured, efpecially if the he- morrhoidal difcharges can be brought on regularly again, yet even thefe cafes muft be taken in time, for when the Melan- choly, even from fuch caufes, is become habitual, it will re- main after the caufe is removed which gave them origin. Method of Treatment. Melancholy, when it depends on imma- terial caufes, requires phyfic for the mind rather than for the body, and the frequent converfation with an ingenious friend, of a calm and quiet difpohtion, will go farther towards a cure than a thoufand medicines. Perfons in this Hate muft be as little thwarted or contradicted as poffible, and whips and chains are to be avoided, unlcfs in cafes of the moft extreme neceflity ; this is alfo a method equally necelTaiy in thofe cafes where habit has confirmed upon the mind that diforder, which at firft arofe merely from material caufes. But when the difeafe not only arifes, but as yet depends entirely upon material caufes, the cure is eafy, and is to be performed in the following manner : The prima: via: are to be cleanfed by purges, particularly thofe made of black hellebore, and after this the patient is to be blooded in the foot, taking away about fix ounces. Then the blood is to be attemperated by giving, three or four times a day, powders compofed of pu- rified nitre, and the common abforbents; and after a due ufe of thefe, the parts are to be rcftored to their priftine tone and vigour, by the milder chalybcates ; the greateft care muft alfo be taken to bring the hemorrhoidal difcharges in men, and the menftrual ones in women, to a natural and proper ftate, and then a fufficient quantity of weak liquors drank at meals, and a moderate degree of exercife, will bring the patient ufually to an abfolute ftate of health.

Hypochondriac Melancholy always is more relieved by bleed- ing than by any other practice; and indeed all attempts of a cure are vain, if this be not firft done : Purified nitre diftolved in fmall quantities in all the patient's drink, will, in time, be found to do great things alone, as to a cure. It is the practice of fome perfons to give vomits in thefe cafes ; but they often turn Melancholy into a true mania. See the article Mania. MELANCORYPHUS, in natural hiftory, the name of a bird, m the nefts of which, the ant'ients tell us, they found the callais or turquoifc. This feems a very ridiculous ftory, and the whole to be only founded on the refemblance of colour be- tween that ftone and the eggs of this bird. It has been alio difputed among authors, what was meant by the mclancory- phos of the antients ; the general opinion is, that it was that little bird which, from the blacknefs at the top of the head, we call the black cap. But the antients themfelves feem to have meant a fomewhat larger bird by it ; for they tell us, that the ficedula, at a certain time of the year, changed co- lour, and became the Melancoryphos, or black crown. There is no great foundation for fuch an opinion as this, but it may, however, ferve to Ihew, that thefe two birds were much of a fize. MELANOCERASUS, a name given by fome botanical au- thors to the folamim lethale, or bella donna, a poifonous fort of nightihadc, with a beautiful berry refembling a large black cherry. PM. Almag. p. 352. MELANOPIPER, in the materia medica, a name given by fome writers to the common black pepper. Mont. Exot. p. 9. MELANTERIA, in natural hiftory, the name of a foffile fub- ftancc, much talked of by the antient writers in medicine, and fuppofed by moft of the moderns to have been loft among the later ages. This, however, is an erroneous opinion, for k is really produced at this time in many parts of the world ; though its refemblance to fome of the other foffils, in its ex- ternal appearance, has made it almoft unlvcrfally overlooked by the writers on thefe fubje&s. It is, in its moft perfect ftate, a very beautiful fubftance, of a clofe, even, and regu- lar texture, moderately heavy, and of a very beautiful yel- low, like that of the fineft gold. It is, in this ftate, found in loofe irregular lumps, never very large, being ufually only from an ounce to two ounces in weight, and of a fmooth, CVC i n - i?? d P oliftied furface - This is the cafe when it is pure and iohd, and it is then alfo of as bright and fine a colour on the outfide as within. Hill's Hift. of FofT. p. 607. This is a ftate, however, in which it is very rarely found ; we ufually meet with it either in the form of a downy efflo- rctcence wi various fpecies of vitriolic minerals, particularly

an the common marcafites and pyritae ; or elfeih loofe fliaf- tery^ and friable mafles, of rough furfaces, of a fponcfy tex- ture, and of a coarie dufky yellow; in either of thefe°fta£es 5 however, it fo much refembles a more or lefs pure native ful- phur, that it is generally miftaken for that body. It makes no eftcrvefcence with acid menftruums, and when put into the fire, is found not to be inflammable, but calcines firft to a whitifh, and finally to a ftrona; red colour. Water diftblves a part of its fubftance, and this may again be procured feparatc from the liquor, by evaporation and cryftal- Hzation, and then it appears in form of rhomboidal bluifh. green cryftals.

It is found in the mines of fome parts of the harts forcft in Ger- many, and is often met with on the fides of hills in many parts of the Eaft Indies, and in America ; it is ufually mifta- ken in all thefe places for a native fulphur. Id. ibid.

MELANTZANA, in botany, a name given by many authors to the mad apple, called more ufually Melongena. See the article Melongena.

MELANURUS, in zoology, the name of a fifh caught in the Mediterranean, and fometimes, though rarely, in the Britifh fcas ; and called by fome writers, occulata and occhiata. It is of an oblong and rounded body, and its back very little pro- minent, and of a bluifh black. Its fides are of a iilvery white, but are variegated with dufky tranfverfe ftreaks. Its eyes are remarkably large, and their iris of a fine mining yellow. Its mouth is moderately large, and its fore teeth broad, its hinder ones narrow, flender, and fharp. It has only one back fin, the anterior rays or nerves of which are prickly, but the hin- der ones foft and inoft'enfive. Its fcales are moderately large, and its tail is very remarkably forked. It feldom exceeds five or fix inches in length : And its tail has a remarkable black ipot in it, whence it has its name, as it has that of occulata , from the largenefs of its eyes. Gefner, de Pile. p. 638. Aldrovand. de Pifc. 1. 1. p. 63.

MELAONES, a word ufed by certain authors for a black kind of worm found in meadows, in the month of May, which, when bniifed, emit an agreeable fmell. Some alfo have cal- led a fmall fpecies of beetle by the fame name.

MELASMA, a uigiliation, or black mark, from a bmife.

MELASSES. Seethe article Molasses, Cycl. and Suppl.

MELASTOMA, in botany, the name of a genus of plants, called by Burman, acinodendron. The characters are thefe ; The perianthium confiits of one leaf, and is obtufe and per- manent ; it is inflated in the middle, and fcarce at all divided at the edge. The flower confiits of five roundifh petals, in- ferted near the rim of the cup. The ftamina are ten fila- ments, ihort, and inferted into the cup. The antherje are long and erect, but fomewhat crooked. The germen of the piftil is roundifh, and placed under the cup. The ftyle is crooked and emarginated. The fruit is a berry containing five cells ; it is of a roundifh figure, but crowned with a cy- Hndric rim, and furrounded by the cup. The feeds are nu- merous and fmall. Linna;iGen. PI. p. 190, Bur man. The- faur. Zeyl. p. 363. Hort. Malab. vol. 4. p. 42.

MELCH1TES, a name of reproach given to the orthodox, who_aiTerted and maintained the canons of the council of Chal- cedon. It was given to the catholics by the heretics, and not by the catholics to the heretics, as mentioned in the Cyclopaedia. See the article Melchites, Cycl. The word is derived from the Hebrew nielech, a king or prince, and fignifies the fame as royalifts, or thofe who were of the emperor's religion. For the fame reafon the emperor Juftiniau had the epithet Chalcedoncnfis given him. Hofm. Lex. in voc.

MELDEEE, in our old writers, a recompence due and given to him that made the difcovery of any breach of penal laws, committed by another perfon, called the promoters or in- formers fee. Leg. Inae. c. 20. Blount. The word is Saxon from meldfeoh.

MELEAGR1S, the Turkey. In the Linnaean fyftem of zoology, this makes a diftinct genus of birds, of the order of the gal- lime ; the diftingu ifhing characters are, that it has four toes on each foot, a flefhy papillofe creft on its forehead, and long naked wattles. Linnai Syftem. Natur. p. 48.

MELECH, a word ufed by fome of the chemical writers to ex- prefs fait. See the article Salt.

MELECHIL, a word fometimes ufed as the name of the gum bdellium, and fometimes as that of the fruit of a tree of the palm kind, much ufed by the antients as a cordial and refto- rative. The word mokel has the fame double fenfe, and both are, by the more accurate writers, determined in their mean- ing by the epithets annexed to them, the gum bdellium being called Molechil, or mokel judaicum, and the fruit mokel ?ne- chenfe ; yet the confluence of even this has been more con- fufion ; for the later writers fuppofed, that the fruit was not produced by a palm-tree, but by the fame tree which pro- duced the gum. See the articles Mokel and Bdellium.

MELEGEION, a word ufed by fome writers in medicine to exprefs a fietid matter, of the confiftence of honey, difcharged from old ulcers.

MELES, the Badger, in the Linnsan fyftem of zoology, makes a diftinct genus of animals, among which the author includes the civet cat, as the creature which affords us the

perfume