Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 13.djvu/702

* MISTASSINI. 624 MISTRAL. 50° X., longitude 72° to 74° W. (Map: Canada, Q 6). In lt)72 French Jesuit missionaries visited it. The Indians claimed an extravagant lengtli for the lake, saying that three days were em- ploj'ed in crossing the narrowest part from island to island, but an estimate based on surveys gives the length at 120 miles and the actual width at 20 miles in the widest parts. Krom the northeast and southeast it receives the drainage of a chain of smaller lakes, and discharges its own sur- plus into .James Bay, the southern arm of Hud- son Hay. by the Rupert River, 120 miles long. The Hudson's Bay Company has a post on Lake Mistassini, 333 miles north of Montreal. The lake is of great depth and abounds in fish ; the surrounding country is level and well fitted for agriculture, while the woods are full of game. The winters are clear and cold, and the sum- mers warm and short. MISTELI, mls-ta'le. Franz Josef ( 1841-1903 ) . A Swiss pliih>logist. He was born at Solothurn; studied at Zurich and Bonn; taught at Saint Gall and Solothurn; and in 1S74 became professor of coni]);irative linguistics at Basel. A follower of Steinthal, whose Cliaractenslilc der hauptsiich- llchslen Typen des liprachbaucs he reedited in 1893, Misteli contributed to Kuhn's Zeitschrift and to the Zeitschrift fiir Volkerpsychologie; and wrote Ueber griechische Betonung (1875) and KrUiuterungcn zur allgenieinen Tlicorie der griechischcH Betonung (1875). He was an au- thority on the (lialccts of the I'ral and Altai. MISTLE THRUSH, ..r MISSEL THRUSH. One of the most familiar and admired of Kuru- pean thrushes Turdus rixcirorus) . named from its fondness for mistletoe berries, which are re- jected by the majority of small birds. It is the largest and one of the most numerous of British thrushes, and is also well known throughout the Mediterranean region and Western ami Northern Asia. Everywhere it is migratory, and is noted for its loud and pleasant song, which begins first of all bird-notes in the spring and lasts f:ir into the summer: its habit of clieerfully singing on cold or rainy days, when most other birds are quiet, has given it the sobriquet 'stormcock.' Its ]»lnmage is soft grayish brown above and white below, the breast and abdomen thickly and sharply spotted. See Thrisii. MISTLETOE, mIs"l-to (AS. mistcltun, mis- tillihi. Ircl. iiii.stiltcinn, from AS. mistcl, bird- lime, mistletoe, basil, Icel., OHG. mistil, Ger. Mistcl. mistletoe + AS. tun, twig). A genus iVisciim) of small shrubs of the natural order Loranthacete. This order contains more than 400 known species, mostly tropical and parasitic. The leaves are entire, almost nerveless, thick, fleshy, and without stipules. The (lowers of many species are showy. The common mistletoe (Vi.srMni album), a native of the greater part of Europe, grows on many kinds of trees, particu- larly on the apple, and its close relatives, the service ami hawthorn; sometimes, also, on syca- mores, limes, po|)lars, locust trees, and firs, but rarely on oaks (contrary to the common belief). It is very plentiful in some parts of the south of England, its evergreen leaves giving a peculiar appearance to the orchards in winter, when the clusters nf mistletoe are very conspicuous among the naked branches of the trees. The stems di- vide by forking: the leaves are opposite, of a yellowish-green color, obovatc-lanceolate, obtuse. The flowers are inconspicuous, and grow in small heads at the ends and in the divisions of the branches, the male and female flowers on sepa- rate plants. The berries are about the size of currants, white, translucent, and full of a very viscid juice, which serves to attach the seeds to branches, where they germinate, and take root, the radicle always turning toward the branch, whether on its upper or under side. The mistle- toe derives its nourishment from the juices of VISCrM ALBUM. the tree on which it grows, and from which it seems to spring as if it were one of its own branches. The mistletoe was intimately con- nected with many of the superstitions of the an- cient Germans and the British Druids. In the northern mythology. Balder is said to have been slain with a spear of mistletoe. Among the Celts the mistletoe which grew on the oak was in pe- culiar esteem for magical virtues. Traces of the ancient regard for the mistletoe still remain in some old Knglish and Germnn customs, as kissing under the mistletoe at Cliristmas. The mistletoe was at one time in high repute as a remedy for epilepsy and c<iiivulsioiis, but it seems to possess no decided medicinal pro|x^rties. I,o- ranthus F.urop;pus. a shrub very similar to the mistletoe, but with fiowers in racemes, is plenti ful in some parts of the south of Europe, and very frequently grows on oaks. T.oranlhus odo- ratiis. a Nepalese species, has very fragrant flowers. In the United States the mistletoe is Phoradendron. a gepus of ]ilants closely allied to and greatly resembling 'iscuni. The com- nion species in the Eastern States is Phoraden- dron flavescens. It occurs upon various species of deciduous trees from New .Jersey to Missouri and southward. In the southwestern part of the United Slates and in California are still other specie-. See Colmi'il rbilc nf Parasitic Plants, MISTLETOE BOUGH. The. A pathetic song by Thomas Haynes Bayly, based on a legend connected with various localities. The story is that of the young bride of Lord Lovel. who (lis. appears during the Christmas festivities at her father's castle after proposing a game of hide and seek. The mystery is solved only after many years when her skeleton form is found in an old oaken chest which had closed with a s|)ring and entombed her. MISTRAL, mA'stral'. or MAESTRAL, mft'- str:ir ( Prnv.. master-wind I . The I'invcncal name for the cold northwest wind on the south-