Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume XI.djvu/552

 534: MILAZZO MILDEW Austrian troops evacuated Milan June 5, the day after the battle of Magenta. Napoleon III. and Victor Emanuel made their entry into the city June 8, and by the peace of Villa- franca (July 11) Milan and the rest of Lombar- dy were ceded by Austria to France, to be transferred by the latter to Sardinia. The city was the scene of some disturbances by Neapolitan soldiery, April 29 and 30, 1861, but these were soon suppressed. MILAZZO, or Melazzo (anc. Myla;), a seaport town of Sicily, on the N. coast, in the province and 18m. W. of the city of Messina ; pop. about 7,000. It is built on a promontory which forms a spacious bay, the Basilicus Sinus of the an- cients, affording excellent anchorage, and is divided into two parts, one on the promontory strongly fortified, and the other at the harbor near the bottom of the bay. The exports are fish, wine, oil, olives, and fruits of every kind. The tunny fishery is considerable. The plain of Milazzo, bounded by the mountains of Pe- lorum, is noted for its beautiful scenery. The promontory of Mylas was the scene of a vic- tory of the Roman fleet over that of the Car- thaginians in the first Punic war, 260 B. 0., gained by means of the grappling implements called corvi, then used for the first time. In 36 Agrippa, the commander of Octavius's fleet, defeated there that of Sextus Pompey. In 1719 Milazzo was unsuccessfully besieged by the Spanish army. On July 20, I860, Garibaldi here defeated the Neapolitans, a victory which resulted in giving him possession of Messina. MILBIRV, William Henry, an American cler- gyman, born in Philadelphia, Sept. 26, 1823. In early childhood he lost the sight of one eye wholly and of the other partially, and in later life consulted the most eminent oculists in Eu- rope and America, but without avail. At the age of 20 he became a Methodist Episcopal clergyman, and during several years of itiner- acy travelled more than 200,000 miles in the United States. In 1856 he was chaplain of the house of representatives at Washington. In 1859 he visited England in company with Bishop Simpson and the Rev. Dr. McOlintock, and delivered lectures in the principal cities. Subsequently he was ordained in the Protestant Episcopal church, but in 1872 he returned to Methodism. He has published " Rifle, Axe, and Saddle Bags " (1857) ; " Ten Years of Preacher Life" (1859); and "Pioneers, Preachers, and People of the Mississippi Valley" (1860). MILDEW (Ang.-Sax. mildedw ; Ger. MeJil- thau, meal dew), a name applied to various minute fungi, especially by agriculturists and horticulturists to those which are found upon and are injurious to their crops. The name was originally applied to the white moulds; in common use it is not restricted to these, but designates also dark-colored fungi, and those of different genera and sub-orders. (See FUNGI.) One of the most widely disseminated mildews is that which attacks the grape vine, appearing as grayish spots upon the under sur- Grape-vine Mildew. face of the leaves, the young shoots, and the stems of the fruit ; it often destroys the foliage, and consequently the fruit fails to ripen. It has produced incalculable damage to the vine- yards of Europe as well as of this country, and though some varieties are more susceptible to its attacks than others, almost all in certain seasons are affected. An English gardener, Mr. Tucker, gave special attention to the sub- ject, and the fungus, in acknowledgment of his services, was called oidium Tuckevi, a name by which it is generally known in horticultu- ral works ; but Dr. Berkeley, a high au- thority in cryptogam- ic botany, considers it not an oidium, but a form of an erysiphe, a very polymorphous genus, in which there are five different kinds of fructifica- tion. Whether this view be correct or not, the plant is now quite well understood, as are the means of combating it. With grapes grown under glass, where the cultivator can control the humidity of the atmosphere, mildew is easily managed; but in the open vineyard it demands constant vigilance, and the vineyardist should daily examine the vines most liable to its attacks, and at the first indi- cation of its presence apply sulphur. In some of the wine-growing districts of Europe sul- phuring is practised systematically, whether mildew appears or not. With a view to de- stroy the spores, the vines before the buds swell and the trellises are sprinkled with a solution of 8 oz. common salt and 4 oz. salt- petre in 36 oz. of water, and 10 drops each of oil of rosemary and lavender are added; one part of this is mixed with 100 parts of water and thoroughly applied by means of a syringe. As soon as the leaves expand they are well dusted with flowers of sulphur, for the application of which a bellows has been especially contrived which blows the sulphur as a cloud of dust, and when the bellows is properly handled every part of the vine will be powdered with it. A similar application is made when the vines are in blossom, another when the grapes are as large as a pea, and a fourth when they begin to color. In this country the grape growers generally content themselves with using sulphur at the first ap- pearance of the trouble. Its efficacy is well established, provided it be applied in time. Mildew usually appears upon the grape in pro- longed warm and damp weather, and it often follows a sudden change of temperature. Rose growers are sometimes great losers by mildew ; the leaves become parched and blis- tered, and the young stems, and unexpandecl buds are misshapen and covered with a gray mould; this is attributed to a different plant