Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume XI.djvu/694

 676 MISTLETOE MITCHEL penetrate the bark, and thus place the young plant in contact with that portion of the tree where nutriment is most abundant. An in- stance is recorded of the growth of one speci- men upon another mistletoe. The plant does not grow in the north of England or in Scot- land and Ireland, and nurserymen there plant the seeds upon the bark of young apple trees, and sell the trees with the mistletoe already established upon them. The superstitions and legends connected with the mistletoe are nu- merous ; it was held in high veneration by the ancient Britons, and its collection by the druids was accompanied with great solemnity; the plant is found more rarely upon the oak than upon any other tree, hence that which grew on the oak was regarded with* peculiar honor ; it was cut on the sixth day after the first new moon of each year, the priest using a golden sickle; the plant was received upon a white cloth and divided among the people, who pre- served the fragments as a charm to protect them from disease and every other evil. In England it is used among Christmas decora- tions, and during the festivities, if a gentleman discovers a lady beneath the " mistletoe bough " he has a right to a kiss; this is a very old cus- tom which has descended from feudal times, but its real origin and significance are lost. Within recent times the mistletoe has been re- garded as a valuable remedy in epilepsy and other diseases, but at present it is not employed. The chief use of the plant is for holiday dec- orations, for which purpose it is occasionally brought to this country ; its berries were for- merly used to prepare bird lime, and the leaves have been fed to sheep in times of scarcity of other forage. The American mistletoe, which was first described as a viscum, is so different from the European that Nuttall made a new genus for it, phorddendron (Gr. kp, a thief, and divSpov, a tree) ; it differs from viscum in having both kinds of flowers in short catkin- like, jointed spikes, and sunk in the joints; there is also a difference in the structure of the anthers. The plant has the same manner of growth, and is similar in general appearance to the European, but the leaves and stems are of a more yellowish green; the berries are white. There are several species of phoraden- dron, the most common being P. flavescens, which grows from New Jersey and Illinois to Texas and Mexico ; there are several varieties, differing in the shape and smoothness of their leaves; it grows- upon various deciduous trees, and in Texas is especially abundant on the mezquite, upon which it often grows in such quantities as to hide the proper foliage of the tree. There are half a dozen other species, all belonging to the far south and west. Another related genus is arceuthobium, the species of which are small, much branched, leafless, and like the others parasitic. A. oxycedri is found on various coniferous trees from California to New Mexico, and further north it extends east- ward to Hudson bay. In 1871 Mrs. Millington discovered in "Warren co., N. Y., a minute species of arceuthobium growing upon the branches of the black spruce (abies nigra), and about the same time it was discovered by Prof. Peck of Albany. The plant is scarcely more than an inch long, but occurs in such quantities as to seriously injure the trees ; it is probably a form of A, campylopodium. MISTRAL, Frederic, a French poet, born at Maillane, near St. Remy, Provence, Sept. 8, 1830. He studied at Lyons and Avignon, where he graduated in jurisprudence, but de- voted himself to poetry in his native village. His principal work is the pastoral Provencal epic Mireio (Mireille), with a French text (Avi- gnon, 1859; enlarged ed., 1862 ; English trans- lation by H. Crichton, London, 1868, and by Harriet W. Preston, Boston, 1872), for which he received in 1861 an academical prize of 2,000 francs, and which has been set to music by Gounod as a comic opera. He published Galen- dan, a poem, in 1867. In September, 1868, great literary and social entertainments were given at St. Remy in honor of Provencal poetry, in which he took the most prominent part. MITAF, or Mittau (Russ. Mitavo ; Lettish, Yelgatd), a town of Russia, capital of Cour- land, situated in a low marshy district on the Aa, 25 m. S. W. of Riga; pop. in 1867, 23,- 100, chiefly Germans, and including upward of 5,000 Jews. It is well built, and contains one Reformed, one Greek, one Roman Cath- olic, and three Lutheran churches, three syna- gogues, a gymnasium with a museum of phys- ical science and natural history, a library, and various educational and charitable institutions, besides the buildings of the local authorities. Near Mitau is a palace built by Biron on the site of the original castle, after the model of the czar's Winter palace, where Louis XVIII. resided for a long time under the name of the count de Lille. There is an extensive trade in grain, flax, and linseed, which are sent hither from the interior of Courland and Lithuania for shipment on the Aa to Riga. The nobility of Courland reside here in winter, but Mitau is especially lively about St. John's day, when transactions are closed both by the nobles and the traders. MITCHEL, John, an Irish revolutionist, born at Dungiven, county Derry, Nov. 3, 1815. His father was a Unitarian clergyman. He gradu- ated at Trinity college, Dublin, in 1836, studied law, and practised for six years in Newry and Bannbridge, during O'Connell's agitation. In 1845 he was called to Dublin to succeed Thomas Davis in the editorship of the " Nation." His articles were revolutionary, and for one which appeared in 1846, showing how the people could contend with the army, the " Nation " was prosecuted by government. In consequence of differences in policy he quarrelled with his part- ner Gavin Duffy toward the end of 1847, and soon after founded the "United Irishman," which brought him in direct collision with the government. After an existence of three