Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 14.djvu/242

* MYKIAPODA. 204 MYRRH. gera forrcps) is a familiar oxaiiiple. This crea- ture, although viewed with horror by careful housekeepers, preys upon house-thes and small cockroaches, and is by no means an entirely un- desirable denizen of households. It is prevalent in the Southern States, and extends as far north as the Hudson River Valley. The order Sym- phyla contains the single family Scolopendrel- lidse, which have a great resemblance to certain of the Thysanura among the insects. The order Pauropoda consists of the single family Pauro- podidiE, which contains only three genera. The type-genus, Pauropus, a curious crustacean-like form, was first discovered by Lord Aveburv (Sir John Lubbock) in his kitchen garden in 1866. Consult Sinclair, Cambridge yatural Eistory, vol. V. (London. 1895); Scudder, "Systematic Review of Our Present Knowledge of Fossil In- sects. Including Myriapods and Arachnids," in Bulletin of the fiiitett States Geological Survey, No. .'il (Washington, 1880). MYRICA. An Asiatic and North American Shruli. Sir C..Vr)LEBERRY. MYRISTIC ACID (from Neo-Lat. ilyristica, from (ik. livpuTTiKds, iiiyrisiilcos, suitable for anointing, from fivpi^em, myrizcin, to anoint, from pLiJpop, myron. unguent), CjjH-^.COOH. A crystalline fatty acid, found in nutmeg, the seed of Myristica frayianf:. growing on the Molucca Islands, and cultivated in tropical countries. It occurs in the form of a glyceride in the fat of the nutmeg, or nutmeg butter. It has also been found in small quantity among the products of the saponification of spermaceti, and of the fatty matter of milk: and hence this organic acid is one of tlio^e which are common to both the ani- mal and vcgctal)le kingdoms. MYRMECOPHILY. See JIyrmecophytes. MYRME'COPHYTES (from Gk. m'^PM')!, myniifr. ant + /pvTSu, phylon, plant), or JlyR- MECOiMiii.ot's Plants. Plants in which there are symbiotic relations between the plants and ants. Typical myrmccophytes ;ire most fonmionly found in the tropics, and present peculiarities that are hard to explain in a purely scientific way. In some cases ants cut off leaves, take them to their nests, and raise crops of fungi that serve them as food. In other ca.ses. as in the famous South Amer- ican Cecropia. ants live in peculiar chambers with- in the plant, and feed upon products that appear to be useless so far as any other purpose is con- cerne<l. They appear, on the other hand, to de- fend the plants in which they dwell against leaf- cutting ants and other enemies. The relation here outlined is one of the most remarkable known types of symbiosis. The terms myrme- eophily and mynnecophilous should be discarded for myrmecophj'tism and myrmecophytic. Sec SvMniosis. MYRMID'ONES (Lat., from Gk. MvpfiMnt). In the lli'iil. tlic Aclueans of Plithiotis, in the south of 'I'hessaly, ruled by King I'eleus. and led to the Trojan Var by his son Achilles. Later writers discovered an eponynums hero Myrnii<lon, son of Zeus, and father of .ctor, the husband of JEp'wa. daughter of Asopus. who was by Zeus the mother of .Eacus. For him Zeus changed the ants ( ^.ipfiiiKet, rnyrmekrs) on the island of /Egina to men, and this race later wandcreil to Thessuly. The story is evidently due to the resemblance which the Greeks saw between Myr- midones and mvrniekes. MYROB'ALAN (Lat. myrohalanum, from Gk. juiipo/SdXai'os, iiiyrohalanos, from nvpov, iiiyrun, unguent + /3dai/os, ialaiws. acorn). The as- tringent fruit of certain s])ecies of Terminalia (natural order C'ombretacea") . natives of the mountains of India. Terminalia bellerica and Terminalia chebula produce most of the myro- balans of commerce, but the fruits of other spe- cies often appear. Formerly myrobalans were credited with tonic propeities ; now they are rarely used medicinally. They are largely ex- ported for tanners' and dyers' use, since they give a durable yellow with alum and an excellent black with iron. A number of species are valu- able for timber, the best known of which. Ter- minalia catappa, is a large deciduous tree planted in many tropical countries. It is a popular shade tree in Honolulu, where it is called Mexi- can almond from the almond-like flavor of the nuts. MY'RON (Lat., from Gk. Mi'.pwv). An Athe- nian sculptor, who flourished about the middle of the fittli century B.C. He was a native of ElcutheriP, near the Boeotian frontier of Attica, and is called a pupil of Hagelaidas of Argos. In his style he belongs in the period of transition just before Phidias, but his works show also a remarkable power of obsenation and great tech- nical skill. He seems to have taken special pleas- ure in representing vigorous action, and to have indicated emotion rather by gesture and position than by expression. He was a worker in bronze, and also skilled in the engraving of plate. Xo original work has survived, but late copies of some of his statues are extant. Of these the most famous is the Discobolus (q.v.). or discus- thrower, of which there are specimens in the 'atican and the British Museum, though the best copy is in the Palazzo Lancellotti in Rome. (See illustration tinder Greek Art.) Another work was a group on the Acropolis of Athens of Marsyas preparing to pick up the flutes thrown away by Athena. but starting back at the ap- proach of the goddess. A co])y of the Marsyas is in the Lateran Museum in Home. In antiquity a bronze cow on the Acropolis was especially famed for its truth to nature, ilany epigrams on the statue of the runner Ladas have also come down to us. Consult, in addition to the histories of Greek art. Furtwilngler. Maxtcrpieees of Greek Seulplure. Eng. trans, bv E. Sellers (London and New York. 1895). MYRRH. An umbelliferous plant. See Cic- ely. MYRRH (AS. myrre. myrra. from Lat. myrrhn, niurrhn, murra, from Gk, fiippa, myrrha, myrrh, from Aramaic muru. Heb. mUr, Ar. murr, myrrh, from Aramaic niilrr, Heb. mfirar. Ar. inarra, to he bitter). A gum resin produced by Balsamodendron myrrha. a tree of the natural order Amyridaccir. growing in Arabia and in Eastern Africa. The myrrh tree is small and -crubby. spiny, with whitish-gray bark, thinly scattered small leaves, consisting of three obo- vate obtusely toothleted leaflets, and the fruit a smooth brown ovate drupe, somewhat larger than a pea. Myrrh exudes from the bark in oily yellowish drops, which gradually thicken and finally become hard, the color at the same time becoming darker. Myrrh appears in conunerce either in tears and grains, or in pieces of irregu- lar form and various sizes, yellow, red, or red-