Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume XI.djvu/386

 374 MELON MELROSE ABBEY muskmelon, except that the hills are made fur- ther apart ; the young plants are less liable to the attacks of insects than those of the ordinary melon. The variety first seen in the northern markets is the Carolina or mountain sprout, of which large quantities are brought each season Carolina Watermelon. from the southern states ; it is large, elonga- ted, and often enlarged toward the blossom end ; the skin is dark green, variegated with longitudinal mottled stripes of lighter color or white ; the red flesh is of fair quality, and the seeds are black. One of the best varieties is the ice-cream, which when pure is nearly round, pale green, with white flesh and seeds ; this is one of the earliest varieties and best suited to northern localities. The black Spanish is one of the sweetest of all, and has a flesh of the darkest red; it is somewhat oblong, slightly ribbed, with a skin of dark blackish green. Joe Johnston and Souter are popular southern varieties. The orange watermelon is remark- able for its keeping qualities, as well as for the readiness with which the flesh parts from the rind. The apple-seeded, so called from the size, shape, and color of its seeds, is another long-keeping kind. New varieties are added to the list each year, and old ones are dropped. The seeds of the watermelon have been used, together with those of the cucumber and other cucurbitacece, in the form of an emulsion, for diseases of the urinary organs. A few years ago a company was formed in California for the purpose of making sugar from watermel- ons, but apparently without practical results. The citron water- melon is small, nearly spherical, handsomely marbled with different shades of green, with a white, solid, tough, and seedy flesh, which is quite unpalatable. This is exclusively used for making sweet- meats; the flesh is cut into convenient pieces, often into fan- cy shapes, and cooked in sirup, becoming semi-transparent ; the pre- serve has a slight but peculiar and distinct fla- vor of its own ; it is often prepared with fresh ginger in imitation of the imported preserved ginger. Citron Watermelon. MELOS (the ancient name, now restored), or Milo, an island in the Grecian archipelago, one of the Cyclades, belonging to the kingdom of Greece, lying about 65 m. E. of the coast of the Peloponnesus, in lat. 36 40' N., Ion. 24 23' E. ; length 13 m., greatest breadth 8 m. ; area, 65 sq. m. ; pop. about 3,500. On the.N. coast is a deep bay which forms one of the best harbors in the Levant, and on this was once the flourishing town of Melos. The island is of volcanic origin, and is rugged and moun- tainous, and in parts naked and sterile. Mt. Calamos is still a semi-active volcano, emitting smoke and sulphurous vapors ; and hot springs and mines of sulphur and alum are found in various places. Mt. St. Elias, in the S. W. part, is 2,538 ft. above the sea. The valleys and low grounds are very fertile, and when cultivated produce corn, wine, oil, cotton, and fruits in abundance; but the lowlands are malarious and the water brackish, and the island is now almost depopulated. Extensive ruins mark the site of ancient Melos. It is overlooked by Castron, a village on a rocky height above the N. entrance of the bay, which is now the seat of the local government. Melos was first col- onized by the Phoenicians, and afterward by the Lacedaemonians. It was rich and popu- lous, but was ruined by the Peloponnesian war, during which the capital was captured by the Athenians, its adult males were put to death, and its women and children carried off as slaves, 416 B. 0. The principal relics of antiquity are tombs and subterranean vaults, some of which contain 15 or more sarcophagi. The celebrated statue of the Venus of Milo was found in 1820 in the vicinity of Melos, to- gether with three statues of Hermes. Anti- Melos, a small mountainous island 6 m. N. W. of Melos, is uninhabited save by wild goats. With this and some other islands, Melos forms an eparchy of the Cyclades. MELPOMENE, in Greek mythology, the muse who presided over tragedy. She was a daugh- ter of Zeus and Mnemosyne, and is generally represented as a young woman of grave coun- tenance, arrayed in splendid garments, wearing the cothurnus, with a wreath of vine leaves on her head, a sword or the club of Hercules in one hand, and a crown or sceptre in the other. MELROSE ABBEY, a celebrated ruin in the town of Melrose, Roxburghshire, Scotland, near the Tweed, 31 m. S. E. of Edinburgh. It was founded in 1136 by David I., completed in 1146, and dedicated to the Virgin Mary. The first occupants were Cistercian monks from Yorkshire, England. In 1322 it was de- stroyed by the English army of Edward II., but was soon rebuilt by Robert Bruce substan- tially after the present design, and in a style of magnificence which ranks it among the most perfect ecclesiastical structures of the best age of Gothic architecture. In 1385 and again in 1545 it suffered severely at the hands of English armies ; and during the reforma- tion its choicest sculptures were mutilated.