Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 13.djvu/559

MILK PRODUCTION. 505 MILL. cent, of water, about 10 per cent, of fat, and 35 to 40 per cent, of sugar. Evaporated cream and condensed cream are notliing more than con- densed milk, as their composition shows. Cream or even enriched millc is .seldom condensed. The manufacture of condensed nnlk has grown to enormous proportions, and its use i.s widespread where fresh milk of good quality cannot be ob- tained. Statistics. According to the returns of the census of 1900, over 18.000,000 cows are kept in the United States for the production of milk. These produce annually nearly S.000.000,000 gal- lons of milk. The creameries use the milk from about 2,500,000 cows for butter-making, and the cheese factories tliut from about 1,130,000 cows. The total value of the milk consumed as such is estimated at .$277,04.5,100, and of the cream, $4,43.5,444. There were 50 condensed-milk fac- tories in the United States in 1900, which used 421,378,073 pounds of milk and produced 180,- 921.787 pounds of the condensed product, an in- crease of nearly 400 per cent, over the returns for 1890. The product was valued at nearly $12,000,000. The aggregate value of the dairy products of the United States is given by the Twelfth Census as $599,827,154. The annual consumption of dairy products per capita, aside from the milk consumed as such, is estimated as follows: Butter, 19 pounds; cheese, 3.3 pounds; condensed milk, 2.3 pounds. See also D.^irying; Butter; Creamery; Cheese; Buttermilk; Whey. MILK SNAKE,, or House Snake. A common widely spread Xorth American colubrine snake, classified as an Eastern variety (triungida) of the Southern king-snake ( Osceola doliuta ) . It sometimes reaches a length of four feet, and its general color above is yellowish gray, with a dorsal series of large blotches, normally 55 in numljer, and separated bj- narrow intervals, which are dull chocolate bordered with black. There are also a double row of rounded spots along the sides, and a dark band from the eye back to the corner of the mouth. The abdomen is yel- lowi.sh white, with square black blotches alter- nating with those above them. This subspecies is abundant in the Jliddle States and Southern MILK eSAKE. Ontario, changing southward and west of the Mississippi into other forms of this far-extended and highly variable species. (See King-Snake.) Everywhere it is an entirely harmless denizen of fields and gardens, and often conies into barns and out-houses in search of the mice upon which it principally feeds, thereby deserving the pro- tection of farmers. It is swift and agile. Its name 'milk snake' comes from the frequency with which it is seen in dairies or places where milk is kept. It is believed to drink the milk, and there seems to be good evidence that it does so. Another popular belief is that this snake sometimes sucks the milk from the teats of cows, and this belief seems to be founded upon fact, although the occurrence is much less common than some persons believe. MILK TEST. See iliLK; Dairying. MILKWEED. See Asclepias. MILKWEED BUTTERFLY. A cosmopol- itan buttcrlly Anusi(i iilrxijipus ) which is found in nearly all parts of the world where milkweeds (Asclepias) grow. It is a large reddish species, with its wing-veins blackened, and its larva is striking in color, being gra3-ish-wh)te and yellow- ish, transversely banded with black, giving it a zebra-like appearance. The chrysalis is delicate pale green with bright golden spots, and hangs from the leayes or stems of the food plant. The milkweed butterfly is a famous species for sev- eral reasons. It is one of the strongest flyers known among the Lepidoptera ; specimens have been taken on vessels many hundreds of miles from the land, and there is in the United States an annual migration northward in the spring from the States bordering on the tiulf of Mex- ico. ( See Migration of Axi.ials. ) These flights, aided by the .south winds, may reach up into Canada, the butterflies occasionally alighting and laying their eggs upon the milkweeds. In the autumn there is a return migration south, and the butterflies hibernate only in the Southern States, hidden away beneath the bark of trees and in other protected places. Ordinaril}- the butterflies frequent ojien ground, but when they congregate, as at night and in cloudy weather, they are found resting on the stems of herbaceous plants, usuall.y in the open spaces of forests, and in enormous numbers. They will alight upon the lee side of a tree, and particularly on the lower branches, in such vast numbers as almost to hide the foliage and to give their color to the trees. If disturbed, they rise like a flock of birds, but immediately settle again. Sometimes a tree will be so festooned with butterflies that it appears, at a short dis- tance, to be covered with dead leaves. This butterfly is one of the especially protected species, and is provided with scent-scales, 'an- droconia,' which are supposed to make the insect distasteful to its natural enemies. It is the commonest and most widespread representative of the large group of butterflies which are thu3 protected, and is mimicked in coloration by other non-protected species, e.g. in the United States hv Basilarchia disippus. Consult Scudder, The Life of the Butterfly (New York, 1893). See the articles JIimicry; Viceroy; and Butter- I'LiE.s -VND Moths. MILKWORT. A plant common in the north temperate zone. See Polyqala. MILKY WAY. See Galaxx. MILL (AS. mt/len, niyln, from Lat. molina, mill, from mola. millstone, from iiiolere, to grind ; connected with Eng. mrttl. mold). A name originally given to machinery for grinding grain for food, or to the factory where this was done. Tlie term is now applied in a general way to many other kinds of manufactories besides those where raw material is transformed by a grind- ing process, as a saw-mill, planing-mill. or eot- tim-mill. See Flour: Rolling-Mii.l: Grinmxo AND Crushing M.^chinery. MILL, .Tames (1773-183(5). A British econo- mist and philosopher. He was the son of a shoe- maker, born near Montrose. Scotland. .April 6, 1773. He studied at the Universitv of Edin- burgh, where he distingtiished himself in Greek