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chewM in the mouth will be found to have a very flrong fla- vour of garlic. Mint, in medicine, is a famous ftomachic and carminative ; it is alio efteemed a great cephalic. There is a fimple water, and an eflential oil of it kept in the (hops. The plant itfelf is taken by way of infufion or decoction, and enters many compofitio'ns for the above intentions. MINUET orMENUET, in mufic, a compofuion anfwering to a kind of dance of the fame name, faid to be invented in Poitou ; the motion whereof is triple. It has commonly two ftrains each played twice over ; the firft has four or eight bars * the laft note of which fhould be either the dominant, or mediant of the mode, never the final ; and the fecond has e jcrht bars, it ufually ends on the final of the mode, with a pointed minim or whole bar. Broffard. MINUTE tithes, Minores Derimcs, fmail tithes of wool,
lambs, pigs, butter, cheefe, csV. 2 Inft. 649. Blount. MIRALETUS, in ichthyology, a name given by Bellonius and fome other writers, to the fpecies of ray, commonly cal- led by others raja oculata. This is accurately diftinguiftied by Artedi, by the name of the ray with a fmooth back and belly, and with a row of fpines round the eyes, and three ether rows of them on the tail. MIRROR (Cycl.) — Burnitig-MiR-RORs. An experiment has of late been tried with a machine invented by Mr. De BufFon at Paris, conftruiled of a number of Mirrors, which feems the great fecret of Archimedes revived, and vindicates the credit of antiquity in this point.
The machine confifts of 140 finall plane Mirrors, each about four inches long, and three broad ; thefe are fixed at about a quarter of an inch diftance from each other upon a large ■wooden frame about fix foot fquare, ftrengthened with many crofs-bars of wood ; for the mounting of thefe Aiirrors each of them has three moveable fkrews, which the operator com- mands from behind, and which are fo contrived that the Mir- ror can be inclined to any angle, and in any dire&ion that meets the fun ; and by this means the folar image of each Mirror is made to coincide with all the reft. They firft tried the experiment with only 24 of the Mirrors, which readily fet on fire a combuft'ible matter which they had prepared of pitch and tow daubed upon a deal-board, at the diftance of iixty-nx French feet. The only difficulty that was found, was the making the folar images exactly coin- cide j but this was the fault of the apparatus. Philof. Tranf. N<». 483.
This trial, and fo much fuccefs from it, engaged the inventor to pufh the attempt much farther ; he put together therefore a kind of polyhaedron confifting of 168 pieces of plane look- ing-glafs of lix inches fquare each, and by means of this with the faint ray of the fun in the month of March he fet on fire fome boards of beech-wood at an hundred and fifty foot dif- tance ; and by increafihg the number of the Mirrors, he is in hopes of doing the fame at nine hundred feet off", This ma- chine has, befide other advantages, the convenience of being able to burn downwards or horizontally, as one pleafes ; and it burns cither in its diftant focus, or in any nearer interval, which our common burning-glafles cannot do, their focus be- ing wholly fixed and determined. And perhaps this machine may afford a manner of meafuring either light or the different degrees of heat of burning bodies. The difficulty is to find the method of marking the degrees and of fixing a point of comparifon, for the point of kindling will not determine it, becaufe that chiefly depends upon the greater or lefs degree of inflammability of different combuftible bodies. Phil. Tranf. N\ 483. MIROUETTE, in the manege, is ufed for a dapple bay. See
the article Dapple. MISADIR, or MIXADIR, a name given by fome authors to
fal armoniac. MISEN, Misson, orMiZEN, in a fhip, denotes either the malt, or fail of that name j but at fea, they always mean the fail when the word Mi/en is ufed.
The ufe of the Mifen is, to keep the fiiip clofe to a wind : Wherefore if a fhip is apt to gripe too much, they ufe no Mifen. But it is often ufed when a (hip rides at anchor, to back her a-ftern ; fo that fhe may not foul her anchor, on the turning of the tide; and fometimes a fhip lies a- try with her Mifen only. See the article Mast, Cycl. Set the Misen, at fea, the word of command to fit the Mifcn-
fail right as it mould ftand. MisEN-Stav, in a fhip. See the article Stay, Cycl. Misen-3W, in a fhip. See the article Yard, Cycl. MISERERE- Mei,[Cycl) a name by which many authors call the lliaca PaJJio, or what is vulgarly termed a twifting of the guts. Medical writers diftinguifh this into three kinds: 1. The convolutionary. 2. The hcrniofe. And 3dly, the obftruc- tionary.
In the convolutionary kind, the fituation of the inteftines in regard to one another is altered, and very frequently has a remarkable duplicature. In the herniofe kind, the inteftines, diftended with fagces and with flatulencies, are received into the fcrotum, or fome other part, fo as not cafily to be reduced into their natural places. And in the obftru&icnary, there is no other caufe but a violent coftivenefs.
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The Mlferere differs from the ordinary kinds of colic, in de- gree, as all the fymptoms are greatly more violent in this cafe j and m Its fituation, as the ilion and fmall guts are affected in this, and in the other colics ufually the larger ; and it is al- _ ways a much more dangerous cafe than an ordinary colic.
Signs of it Thefe are extremely fharp and violent pains acrofs the navel, a remarkable anxiety of mind, with frequent erufta- tions and heartburn, and great internal heat ; a violent ob- ftru&on in the bowels, in which glyfters have very little or noeffefi; and as the difcafe increafes, a vomiting, which, as it continues, at length brings up the ftools by the mouth, with violent pains, and frequent faintings ; after this, unleis the medicines take place, there comes on an inflammation of the ihon, and thence a fuppuration and mortification, on which the pains inftanfly go off, and the patient falls into cold fvveats, and dies in a very little time after. It is a very rare cafe, and though many colics are called by this name, yet in reality it is rarely met with. People, however, of all ages and fexes, are equally fubjea to it from the following caufes.
Caufes if it. Thefe are either a convolution of the inteftines, with an immediate inflammation, or a tumour in the parts of the inteftine contained in the hernial fack, and the ufe of vio- lent and powerful aftringent medicines bringing on fuch a co- ftivenefs as never happens naturally. Violent commotions of the body in leaping, riding, or running, have been known fometimes to bring on the difeafe, as alio violent fneezing and coughing, and the carrying of too great weights; as°aIfo crude foods, and fuch as have been indurated by fmoak, and flatulent and fermenting liquors. Sometimes alfo it has been evidently owing to worms killed in the bowels, and not voided by ftool.
Prognojiics in it. This is a very terrible difeafe, both in reward to the danger that attends it, and to the pain. In cafes where its origin is from a diftortion and convolution of the inteftines, there is very little hope of recovery ; and when itarifes from a hernia, it is very often fatal alfo, efpecially when attended with an inflammation and plethora. Its mildeft ftate is when it arifes only from indurated ftools, and an obftinate coftive- nefs ; this is ufually cured, if proper affiftance be given in time.
Method of Cure. When a convolution of the inteftines is the caufe, the whole effort is to be ufed to explicate them ; but this is a thing more eafily conceiv'd in the mind than effected ; to this purpofe fome recommend the fwallowing of a mufket- bullet, others a globule of antimony, and others a pound of quickfilver, taking before- hand a fpoonful or two of oil of fweet almonds, and ordering motion by walking or riding af- terwards ; others advife the introducing the nofe of a pair of bellows into the orifice of the reflum, and blowing up into the inteftines ; but as that gut is ufually fo conftrieted in this cafe, as fcarce to admit the pipe of a clyfter apparatus, there is no great hope of fucceeding in the other attempt ; and others finally advife the throwing in the fume of tobacco. The difcuf- fion of the inflammation is fcarce lefs neceflary than the other ; this is to be done by powders of nitre, cinnabar, and crabs eyes, taken four times a day, and by rubbing the abdomen with camphorated fpirit of wine, in which faffron has been infufed ; bags of carminative ingredients, with camphor, may alfo be applied to the abdomen with good effect : And finally, if there be a plethoric habit, bleeding is a very neceflary ope- ration.
In cafes where this is occafioned by a hernia, the firft thing to be done is the reducing the inteftine into its proper place. To this purpofe the patient muft lie upon his back, and emollient and carminative fomentations muft be applied to the part, made of decoctions of marlhmallows, camomile flowers, and the feeds of anife fennel, and fcenugreek, boiled in milk ; and, when there is no inflammation, fomentations of this kind may be applied in the manner of cataplafms, by wetting a fponge with them, and applying it to the part. An inflammation is carefully to be guarded againft, by nitrous medicines, and by gentle diaphoretics, and as foon as the gut is replaced, clyfters muft be given to bring on again a laxity of the bowels. When the cafe only arifes from an induration of the fasces, there are firft to be given internally nitrous and cinnabarine medicines, to prevent or take off an inflammation, and at the fame time clyfters are to be given, with the emollient de- coctions, and a little nitre and camphor, with fome oil ; and if it be neceflary for a yet farther ftimulus, fome Venice foap may be added ; acrid fuppofitories are to be introduced into the rectum, and the foap plafter to be applied to the abdomen, or elfe fpirit of wine camphorated is to be rubbed in ; ba<*s with carminative ingredients may alfo be applied warm, and where the ftate is plethoric, bleeding is neceflary. Thefe are the general methods, and ufually one or other of them takes effect in the milder cafes. But it is to be obferved, that honey, though ordered by fome, is never to be put into thefe clyfters, for where there is an inflammation, it promotes fuppuration. Clyfters of common warm water, with fait, have fometimes been found to have very great effect. The patient is to be kept warm during the courfe of the difeafe, and the diet is to be very fparing, though the drinking warm liquors is to be indulged. Junker, Confpect. Mcd.°p 574. feq.
MISERICORDIA,
