Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume XI.djvu/564

546 MILKWEED MILL lustre and take brilliant dyes, but the manufac- ture has not been prosecuted; the principal use made of the down is in the stuffing of pil- lows. The common milkweed (A. Cornuti) is the most abundant species, and is to be found in rich grounds almost everywhere ; although it is a native of America, Linnesus called it A. Syriacd, a name which has been properly su- perseded; in the southern states it is known as Virginia swallowwort and Virginian silk. The purple milkweed (A. purpurascens) is a dark- flowered species; A, variegata has nearly Variegated Milkweed (Asclepias variegata). white flowers; A. incarnata, with fine rose- purple flowers, is very common in wet grounds, and is known as the swamp milkweed; the blunt-leaved milkweed (A. obtusifolia) is a common species, readily recognized by its clasping, sessile leaves, and its single umbel of large but dull-colored flowers ; the four-leaved milkweed, the most delicate of the genus, blooms in woods in June, and is well marked by having one or two whorls of four leaves ; A. verticillata, very common on dry hills, has whorled leaves, which are so narrow as to give the plant a very different aspect from other species. The most showy of all our native milkweeds is A. tuberosa, more generally called butterfly weed and pleurisy root ; it is quite common, especially southward; the root is large, fleshy, and white ; the stems are more or less decumbent and roughly hairy, very leafy, and branching at the summit, where it bears numerous umbels of bright orange-colored flowers, which are exceedingly showy and al- low the plant to be distinguished at a great distance ; in this species the juice is scarcely milky. As one of its popular names indicates, the plant is used in medicine, the root being the officinal portion ; its action is diaphoretic and expectorant without being stimulant, and in large doses is purgative. This plant is much vnliK-d abroad as an ornamental one, and its roots are a part of the regular stock of the growers of bulbs and tubers ; in this country it is seldom seen in gardens, but there is no flow- er of its color capable of producing a more brilliant effect. Several of our common spe- cies are valued in European gardens, as is A. Douglasii, a conspicuous plant from California, with large leaves, very white with woolly hairs }> and large lilac-purple fragrant flowers. A'. Curassavica, from South America, naturalized in Florida, with flowers of orange scarlet, is a common greenhouse plant, and is frequently set out in the border for summer blooming ; this has emetic properties, and is used in the West Indies under the incorrect name of ipe- cacuanha. Active properties pervade the ge- nus, and several of the species have a reputa- tion among the herb doctors. The genus is the typical one of the Asclepiadacece, which includes more than 130 genera and over 1,000 species. Of the other native genera, the green milkweeds, of the genus acerates, differ from the true milkweeds in the absence of a horn to the stamineal hood. A twining plant, vince- toxicum nigrum, with very dark purple flowers, has escaped from cultivation in some places, as has the Grecian silk, periploca Grceca, which is often seen in gardens as an ornamental climber. From Pennsylvania southward are found sev- eral species of gonolobw, which are twining herbs of little beauty. Among cultivated ex- otics of this family are the wax plants (Hoya carnosa and other species), with fleshy oval leaves and umbels of beautiful but artificial- looking flowers ; Stephanotis floribunda, one of the most valued greenhouse climbers, with fine foliage and pure white fragrant flowers ; and the singular stapelias, with cactus-like stems and lurid flowers with the odor of carrion. MILKY WAY. See GALAXY. MILL* I. James, a British philosopher, born in Logie Pert, near Montrose, Forfarshire, April 6, 1773, died in Kensington, June 23, 1836. He was educated at the grammar school of Montrose and the university of Edinburgh, where he excelled in Greek and metaphysics. He was licensed to preach in 1798, but aban- doned the profession, removed to London in 1800, became editor of the "Literary Jour- nal," which was soon discontinued, and was an occasional contributor to the principal Brit- ish reviews. He soon attracted the notice of Jeremy Bentham, was for several years do- mesticated in his house, and was the chief ex- positor of his opinions in England. On the establishment of the " Westminster Review " in 1824 by Bentham, Mill became one of its principal contributors, writing for it important articles on the "Formation of Opinions," the "Ballot," "Aristocracy," and other subjects. For ten years much of his time was occupied in writing his " History of British India" (3 vols. 4to, 1817-'! 8 ; continued to 1835 by Prof. H. H. Wilson, 9 vols. 8vo, 1840-'46). It was without a rival as a source of information ; and though he censured the conduct of the East India com- pany, his ability and familiarity with its affairs