library, 175,000 volumes and a fine
collection of paintings and engravings. The
city has an extensive trade in silk, cotton,
grain, rice and cheese, and manufactures
silks, velvets, gold, silver and iron wares,
railroad cars, tobacco and porcelain. It
also is a center of the printing-trade, and
is the chief banking city of northern Italy.
Population 584,000. Historically, it was
a town of Gauls, was conquered by
the Romans in 222 B. C., and
became a rich and important city. In the
4th century it was the court-city of
the empire. Huns, Goths, Longobards
and Franks held it at different periods,
until it was subjected to the Franco-German
empire in 774; and several of
Charlemagne's successors were crowned at Milan.
In the 11th century, as the head of the
Lonmbard league, Frederick I twice besieged it,
and once almost destroyed it. In 1395
the Visconti made Milan the capital of a
duchy, which extended over the whole of
Lombardy, Matteo being the first duke.
From 1450 to 1535 his successors, the
Sforzas, ruled the country. It passed then
to Spain; from Spain to Austria; and from
Austria to Napoleon, who made it the capital
of Italy. It belonged again to Austria
until the peace of Villafranca (1859), when
it was ceded to France and yielded by
France to Sardinia.
Mil′dew, the name of various plants (fungi), but chiefly applied to a large group of the ascomycetes (which see), which are external parasites growing chiefly upon the leaves of seed-plants and covering the surface like a delicate cobweb. The mildew on lilac leaves is one of the most common forms, this host-plant being very seldom free from it. Apple, cherry and pear mildews are familiar. There are two classes; true or powdery and false or downy mildews. The downy mildews belong to the phycomycetes (which see), and are destructive internal parasites. One of the commonest forms attacks grape-leaves, making its presence known by small, downy patches which come to the surface and consist of minute branches bearing spores. Dusting with sulphur is recommended for plants affected by powdery mildew; and spraying with a fungicide is used for powdery and for downy mildews.
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| GEN. NELSON A. MILES |
Miles, Nelson A., an American general, was born at Westminster, Mass., Aug. 8, 1839. At the outbreak of the Civil War he entered the 22d Massachusetts volunteers as lieutenant. He distinguished himself at Fair Oaks, Fredericksburg, Chancellorsville, Malvern Hill, Spottsylvania, Richmond and many other battles. He won promotion until he became a major-general and was placed in command of a division. When the volunteer army was disbanded in September, 1866, he was commissioned colonel of the 40th United States infantry. He was made brigadier-general in 1880 and major-general in 1890. After the close of the Civil War General Miles earned fame as an Indian fighter. He conquered the hostile Sioux in Montana, and drove Sitting Bull, their leader, into Canada in 1876 after the massacre of General Custer and his force. In 1886 he compelled the Apache chiefs, Geronimo and Natchez, to surrender. In 1890, during the ghost-dance outbreak among the Sioux, General Miles forced a surrender in January, 1891, at Wounded Knee, South Dakota. On the retirement of General Schofield in 1895 General Miles succeeded him and was in command of the United States army during the Spanish-American War. He has published Personal Recollections and Military Europe. He was promoted to the rank of lieutenant-general in 1901, and retired in 1904.
Miletus (mī̇-lē′tŭs), an ancient city of Ionia, in Asia Minor, near the Meander. It was famous for woolen cloth, carpets and furniture, and had a large trade. Nearly 80 colonies were founded by its citizens on the Black Sea and in the Crimea. Under the elder Cyrus the city was conquered by Persia, and again, after a rebellion, was taken by Darius and nearly destroyed. Although rebuilt and sufficiently powerful to contend with Alexander, who took it by storm, it never regained its importance, and was finally ruined by the Turks.
Mil′itary Schools in the United States were projected as early as 1776, when the Continental Congress resolved to appoint a committee of five to bring in a plan for a military academy. Washington and other statesmen and generals had become convinced of the necessity of an institution for theoretical instruction in military science and art; and it was largely due to Washington that West Point Academy was founded. Its purpose is to train suitable candidates to be officers in the army. Each Congressional district and territory and the District of Columbia are entitled to send one cadet; and ten others are appointed. Candidates are subjected to a rigid physical examination. The academic courses and examination tests are very thorough; and in summer the cadets are encamped and engaged only in military exercises and in receiving military instruction. The cadets are paid $540 each per annum. Their uni-
