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pointed ;" he two inner ones are placed oppofite to one ano- ther ; the third is fituated behind one of thefe. The flower is finaller than the cup, and is made up of two valves which are of an oval figure, and one of thern much fmaller than the other. The ftamina are three very fhort capillary fila- ments, the antherse are oblong, the germen of the piftil is roundifh, the ftyles are two in number and are very ilender, the ftigmata arc' like pencils. The flower inclofes the feed, and does not open to let it fall out. The feed is fingle, and of a roundiih figure. Limi&i Gen. Plant, p. 17. See Tab. I. of Botany, Clafs 15.
Millet is reckoned by Pliny the molt fertile of all. grain ; one grain of it producing three Roman fextaries. Hojfm. Lex. in voc. See the article Sextartus, Cycl.
Milium Arundinaaum, in botany, a name by which fome au- thors call the Licryrme Jobi, or Job's tears. Herm. Cat. p. 426.
Milium lndicum^ in botany, a name by which fome authors call the maize, or Indian wheat. Park. Theatr. 1 138.
MILK {Cycl.)— Milk is evidently one of the beft nourifhments of the body ; and it is not wonderful that it fhould prove fo, when we confider that in all cafes of nourifhment the proxi- mate matter taken to nourilh ought to be as like as may be to the body to be nourifhed by it. We fubfift by the fame things by which we are generated, and even while in the ftate of a fcetus in the womb, we are nouriihed not by blood, as fome fuppofe, but by a hcleous juice, which is feparated from the blood in the uterus by means of the placenta, as it is in the breafts of women who give fuck, by glandules and tubuli deftined for that purpofe. Meats which we daily feed upon pafs down into the ftomach indeed in their own form, hut they do not nourilh us till they are changed into chyle, or a milky liquor.
Milk being analyfed is found tn be compofed of fatty, ferous, and terreftrial parts ; and thefe its conftitucnt principles being eafily mixed and feparated again, are made of it matter for the nourifhment of the different parts of the body. The fe- rous part, which is alfo nitrous, being a proper vehicle to con- vey through the veftels the fatty parts, which are as well a- dapted to all the offices of nutrition as any fubftance can be. It is eafy to infer from this account of Milk, that it is not on- ly a proper food for children, but for grown people alfo ; but proper regulations are to be obferved as to its uie in par- ticular cafes ; no aliment any more than this being capable of finting all condi tut ions and circumftances. Meat in the ftomach is converted into chyle, or a fubftance like Milk ; this chyle partes into the heart through the blood-vefiels, and its fineft and molt fpirituous parts are there tranfmuted into the red part of the blood; and after this the other grofler ■ parts of it are by different elaborations transformed into bile, and the fcveral other humours in the body. It is evident that thefe humours, as well as the blood itfelf, muff, all have a fupply ; and that meat cannot give this fupply, till it is con- verted into chyle or Milk ; how much labour then is fav'd the animal functions by giving at once into the ftomach chyle ready form'd, that is Milk ; and in cafes where the action or juices of that organ are fo debilitated as not to be of power to convert the meat into chyle, what remains but that the per- fon muft die flowly, by a want of the fupplies of the feveral fluids of the body, if fomething be not given that is capable of palling into the blood with Ids preparation than meats are ; and what is fo proper on fuch an occafton as Milk, ■which is already fo nearly allied to the nature of the fluid that fliould have been there feparated from meat, that it will rea- dily fupply all its offices.
MiLK-.D/er is ufeful in the gout and ftone. See the article Stone.
Dr. Chcync recommends Milk and feed-diet with water for drink, as the fureft prcfervative againft difeafes, and cure of them. See the articles Cancer, Palsy, Fits, Gout and Stone.
Upon opening a vein, efpecially after meals, Milk is fome- times found inftead of blood. Sec Phil. Tranf. N°. 6. pag. 100.
The fait of Milk may be prepared by boiling whey to one half, then filtrating it ; the cocticn and filtration is to be con- tinued, till the liquor becomes of the confiftence of a fyrup. This being put into a cellar to chryftallize, the fait will be formed into a cake of a faccharine tafte, refembling manna. This preparation is Dr. Gaubius's, and is fomewhat different from that which Valentini, in his Medicina Nov. Antiq, al- ledges to be the famous faccharum ladtis, fo much cried up by Lcdovicus Fefti, and recommended by others as an infal- lible cure for the gout. Med. Eff. Edinb.
Milk of Sulphur. See the article Sulphur Precipitatum.
Milk, in the wine trade. The coopers know very well the ufe of fkim'd Milk, which makes an innocent and efficacious forcing for the fining down of all white wines, arracks, and fmall fpirits ; but is by no means to be ufed to red wines, hecaufe it difcharges their colour. Thus, if a few quarts of well-fkim'd Milk be put to a hogfhead of red wine, it will foon precipitate the greater part of the colour, and leave the whole nearly white; and this is of known ufe in the turning red wines when prick'd into white ; in which a fmall degree of acidity is not fo much perceived. Shaw's Ledt, p. 209. 3
Milk isj from, this quality, of difcharging colour from wines s of ufe alfo to the wine-coopers, for the whitening of wines that have acquired a brown colour from the cafk, or fiorn having been haftily boiled before fermenting ; for the addition of a little fkim'd Milk in thefe cafes, precipitates the brown colour, and leaves the wines almolt limpid, or of what they call a water whitenefs, which is much coveted abroad in wines, as well as in brandies.
PFo?nms Milk.. — The Milk is often a very troublefome and dangerous thing to women in their lyings- in, and fubjects them to many painful diforders. About the third or fourth day after delivery they are ufually affe£ted with chilnefles and fhiverings, which are well known to be owing to that caufe, and are therefore not to be treated as a difeafe, nor any me- dicines to be given in them ; only it Is proper to keep the perfon warm, and promote perfpiration, efpecially in the breafts. Sometimes indeed this fymptom is joined with a fe- brile heat, or a real inflammatory fever, which is then to be taken off by the proper means. See the article Iiffla/nma- tory Fever.
Very frequently there come on inflammations of the breafts, of the eriypelous kind ; thefe are ufually taken off" by the external ule of fpuit of wine and camphor with a little fai- fron in it, and by carefully keeping the parts warm. The Milk often proves very difficult to be drawn out ; this h to be helped by the keeping the body carefully open by ca- minative and emollient clyiters, by keeping up a gentle dia- phorefis, and by attemperating medicines mixed with the milder alexipharmics. The breafts arc all the time to be kept carefully covered with flannel, and gently prefled and rubbed at times ; and finally they are to be drawn by means of a pipe, or by the mouth of an experienced perfon.
Deficiency o/"Milk, is alfo a very common complaint, and it is in fome cafes abfolute, there being no Milk at ail derived into the breafts ; in others, it is only a partial one, there being fome Milk, though not enough to fupply the child with nou- rifhment. A total deficiency of Milk molt frequently hap- pens to perfons who have their firft child when fomewhat ad- vanced in years, and to fuch as are of a choleric dilpofition ; but a partial deficiency of it is often owing to a ialtnefs of the ferum, and fometimes to the want of nourifhments, and often is brought on by forrow.
When faline and bilious humours are in fault, then lac lunse, calcin'd cryftal, and other abforbent powders, become of great ufe : Some alfo prefcribe the powder of earth-worms care- fully dried, and the voiding the humours by ftool, by means of gentle purges : When a want of nourilhment is the only occafion of it, the Milk may always be recovered in a proper quantity by means of good foods, with Milk and other nou- rifhing fluids.
An over-abundance ofWliLK. is as common a complaint, as a de- ficiency of it, and requires as much care in the treatment, otherwife the perfon is frequently fubjecr. to nodes and abfeeflcs in the breait. The proper remedies are the eatinf and drinking more fparingly, and the letting two children fuck inftead of one.
Many people do not fuckle their children, and therefore find it neceflary to drive away their Alilk abfolutely. This is beft done by taking internally the digeftive falts, with diapho- retic and diuretic medicines. Externally, it is proper to apply to the breafts bags of the dried leaves of parfley, mint, cher- vile, &c. with the feeds of coriander and parfley, and a little camphor ; and fpirit of wine with camphor, and a little faf- fron is to be rubbed in, or linnen rags wetted in it and ap- plied. Cerates may alfo be made of white wax melted in oil Of almonds, with a little camphor, and applied to the breafts frefh every morning and evening, or oftner if ne- ceflary.
A too great thinnefs of the Milk, is another common complaint with nurfes ; this is to be laid fometimes to the diet, fome- times to the concoction, and fometimes to the unnatural te- nuity of the humors ; in this cafe the Milk is often perfect- ly watery, and the child is thrown into an atrophy by it. The remedies for this are, a change of diet, and a purging of the prims viae by fome gentle cathartic, and afterwards a ftrengthening of them by bitters, and ftomachic medicines. Sometimes alfo, it is neceflary to evacuate the ferous humours by the common phlegmagogues, fuch as jalap in proper dofes mixed with a little powder'd ginger, which is an excellent corrective for it.
The Milk is fometimes fait to the tafte, and fometimes of a bilious yellow colour ; and thefe diftemperatures of it ufually throw the child into colics, diarrhoea's, vomitings, cutane- ous eruptions, withfeabs, and fometimes abfolute ulcerations, and fometimes into fevers. In this cafe, the nurfe or parent is to take the abforbents and nitrous medicines, with interme- diate purges j thus, powders of crabs-eyes, oyfter-fhells, and purified nitre, with fmall dofes of rhubarb between whiles, often perfect a cure; but during the courfe of taking thefe remedies, and for fome time afterwards, the diet muft be un- der fome regulations, particularly fait foods are to be avoided ;- and all acids, aromatics, and ftrong liquors, either wholly let alone, or taken very fparingly. The perfon muft alfo care- fully avoid all violent pafiions of the mind, as anger,
fear,
