Page:Collier's New Encyclopedia v. 06.djvu/424

MYBMIDON 362 MYSTERIES wool fat. It may be prepared artificially by melting stearolic acid with potash. It crystallizes in needles with a melting point of 53.8° C. MYRMIDON (mur'mi-don) , in Greek mythology, one of the followers whom Achilles led from Phthia to the Trojan war. According to one version of the myth, Zeus deceived Eurymedusa, daugh- ter of Cleitus, in the form of an ant, murmex, and became the father of Myr- midon, the Cponym of the Myrmidons. The Homeric poems exhibit the Myr- midons as warriors who cannot act ex- cept at the bidding of Achilles. MYRON, a celebrated Greek sculptor; born in Eleutherae, Bceotia, about 480 B. C. He was a pupil of Ageladas, and the rival of Polycletus. He worked in marble, wood, and metal, and especially distinguished himself by his skillful rep- resentations of animals. His most ad- mired work was the bronze figure of a "Cow Lowing," which was still extant at Athens in the time of Cicero. MYRRH, in botany, Balsaviodendron myrrha; also the genus Myrrhis. In chemistry, a gum resin which exudes from Balsamodendron Tnyrrhxt, a shrub growing in Arabia and Abyssinia. MYRTACE.ffi, myrtle-blooms; an order of epigynous exogens, alliance Myrtales. It consists of trees or shrubs, with op- posite or alternate entire leaves, usually with transparent dots and a vein run- ning parallel to the margin. MYRTLE, Myrtus communis, a native of Persia. By distillation it yields an essential oil, used in perfumery. About 100 pounds of the leaves yield only five ounces of the perfume called in France eau d'ange (angel water). MYSIA (mish'ia), a district of ancient Asia Minor, having the Propontis (Sea of Marmora) on the N., the ^gean on the W., Lydia on the S., and Bithynia and Phrygia on the E. The Troad (Land of Troy) was one of its subdivisions. MYSORE (mi-sor') , or MAISITR (mi- sor'), a native state of southern India, bounded by districts of the Madras pres- idency; area 27,936% square miles; pop. about 6,000,000. Mysore is an extensive tableland much broken by hill ranges and deep ravines, and is divided into two portions, a little N. of lat. 13° N., by the watershed between the Kistna and the Kaveri rivers. Numerous isolated rocks (drugs), rising to 4,000 or 5,000 feet, are a peculiarity of the country, and have been mostly converted into hill fortresses. The rivers are used for irrigation purposes, but are not naviga- ble. The climate of the higher districts is during a great portion of the year healthy and pleasant. The annual value of the exports, chiefly betel nut and leaves, coffee, ragi, gram, cotton, piece- goods, cardamoms, rice, silk, and sugar, is above $6,000,000. The imports, consist- ing mainly of piece-goods, cloth, wheat, silver, gold, cotton, rice, silk, betel leaves, and pepper, are over $7,500,000. The ruinous misgovernment of the native prince led the British to assume the ad- ministration in 1831; but in 1881 Mysore was restored to the native dynasty. The famine years (1876-1878) told with great severity on that state. Capital, Mysore, situated amid picturesque scenery on a declivity formed by two parallel ranges running N. and S. 245 miles W. S. W. of Madras, is a prosperous, well-built town with broad, regular streets, and substantial houses and public buildings. On the S. side stands the fort, which incloses the rajah's palace; its chief object of interest is a magnificent chair or throne of fig-wood, overlaid with ivory and gold. Pop. about 75,000. MYSTERIES, certain rites and cere- monies in ancient, chiefly Greek and Roman, religions, only known to and practiced by, congregations of certain initiated men and women, at appointed seasons, and in strict seclusion. The origin, as well as the real purport of these mysteries, is all but unknown. The mysteries, as such, consisted of purifica- tions, sacrificial offerings, processions, songs, dances, dramatic performances, etc. The most important mysteries were, in historical times, those of Eleusis and the Thesmophorian, both representing the rape of Proserpina, and Ceres' search for her: the Thesmophorian mysteries being also in a manner connected with the Dionysian worship. There were fur- ther those of Zeus of^ Crete (derived from a very remote period), of Bacchus himself, of Cybele, and Aphrodite — the two latter with reference to the Mystery of Procreation, but celebrated in diamet- rically opposed ways, the former cul- minating in the self-mutilation of the worshiper, the latter in prostitution. Eleusinian mysteries can be traced back to the 7th century B. c. In the time of Herodotus as many as 30,000 people at- tended them; and between 480-430 B. C, the period of Athens' highest power and of the Eleusinian mysteries' greatest fame, the number must have been much greater. Toward the end of the classical periods, the mysteries degenerated into the most shameless public orgies, and their days were numbered.