Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume XVI.djvu/808

780 YELLOW FEVER YELLOW SEA xyridacece. The plants have sword-shaped leaves sheathing the base of an otherwise naked stem, which in the different species is from 2 in. to 4 ft. high, cylindrical or flattened, and bearing at its summit an ovoid or oblong spike, consisting of rounded, firm, sometimes crustaceous, imbricated bracts, from the axil of each of which a small yellow flower is pro- duced. The calyx consists of three sepals, the two lateral boat-shaped, and often fringed on the keel; the petals three; stamens six, the three alternate ones sterile and often bearded at the summit; the one-celled, three-valved capsule containing numerous small seeds. More than 50 species are described, of which about 15 belong to the United States, especially south- ward ; one species, X. flexuosa, and its variety pusilla, extend from Vermont to Lake Supe- rior; they mostly grow in sandy swamps and pine barrens, where they produce their small, bright yellow flowers all summer. Though of no economical importance, the plants are of much interest to the botanist. YELLOW FEVER. See FEVERS, vol. vii., p. 165. YELLOW-HAMMER (emberiza citrinella, Linn.), a very common European bird of the bunting family. It is 7i in. long and 11 in. in extent of wings ; in the male the head and throat are bright yellow, on the crown the feathers tipped with black ; breast brownish red ; back and wings bright red, the centre of each feather brownish black ; body rather stout. It is very common throughout Europe in the wooded districts, familiar, and a permanent resident ; in winter it is seen with sparrows, finches, &c., in the fields, and about hedges, coming into farm yards when the ground is covered with snow ; the food consists of the seeds of grains and grasses ; the nest is on or near the ground, and the eggs four or five, by in., purplish white with streaks and dots of black. When deprived of its eggs, its doleful notes in some parts of Scotland have been interpreted as "De'il, de'il, de'il take ye;" hence its name of "devil bird." YELLOW-LEGS (gambettajlatipes, Bonap.), a North American wading bird of the tattler family. It is about 10 in. long and 19J in. in extent of wings, considerably smaller than the tell-tale tattler (see TATTLER), which it resem- bles in colors; the bill is 1^ in., straight and slender; wings long and pointed, tail short, legs long with lower half of tibia naked. The general color is ashy above, with many large arrow-heads and spots of brownish black edged with ashy white ; rump and upper tail coverts white, the latter barred with ashy brown ; lower parts white, with numerous lines on the neck and arrow-heads on the sides dark ashy brown; bill greenish black, and legs yellow. It is generally distributed over eastern North America, and is one of the most abundant of the group on the Atlantic slope from Maine to Florida, chiefly in the interior; it migrates to Mexico and Central America in winter. It is usually seen in small flocks wading in search of small fry, shrimps, worms, and aquatic in- sects, both in salt and fresh water; in dry weather the flocks are found on the uplands, feeding on grasshoppers and other insects; during flight the long yellow legs are stretched out behind. The nest is made among the grass on the edges of rivers and ponds. In autumn they get very fat and are good eating. YELLOW MEDICINE, a S. W. county of Min- nesota, bounded N. E. by the Minnesota river ; area, 792 sq. m. ; pop. in 1875, 2,484. It is watered by the Lac qui Parle and Yellow Med- icine rivers. The surface is an uneven table land, consisting of open plains and prairies. Capital, Granite Falls. YELLOW RIVER, or Hoang-ho. See CHINA, vol. iv., p. 442. YELLOW-ROOT, a common name applied in different parts of the country to different plants ; the most important of these, Jiydrastis, is described elsewhere under one of its several common names. (See PUCCOON.) Another plant of the same family is xanthoriza apiifo- Z/a, the common name being a translation of the generic (Gr. t-av66c, yellow, and />ta, a root) ; it is sometimes called yellow-wood, a name which properly belongs to cladrastis, a large tree (see VIRGILIA), and also shrub yel- low-root. The genus belongs to the crowfoot family (ranunculacece), and is remarkable as being the only member of the family within the IJnited States that forms an erect shrub ; there is but one species, found sparingly in New York, and more abundantly along the mountains from Pennsylvania southward. It has long, creeping, yellow roots and rootstocks, sending up sparingly branched woody stems, seldom over 2 ft. high ; the pinnately com- pound leaves have 3 to 7 ovate-toothed leaf- lets; the polygamous flowers appear in early spring from terminal buds, in compound droop- ing racemes, and are. brownish purple; the 5 to 15 pistils ripen into one-seeded pods. The bright yellow roots were used by the Indians as a dye; they contain berberine. It is in- tensely bitter, and is used as a tonic in the same manner as columbo, quassia, and similar bitter medicines. The plant usually known as gold-thread (see COPTIS) is in some localities called yellow-root, as are also celastrus (see WAXWORK) and the twin-leaf, Jeffersonia di- pliylla (see JEFFERSONIA). YELLOW SEA (Chinese, Hoang-hai), a large sea on the N. E. coast of China, between the peninsula of Corea on the east, the Chinese provinces of Kiangsu, Shantung, and Chihli on the west, and Shinking or Liaotung on the north. In the northwest it terminates in the gulfs of Liaotung and Pechili ; the latter is important from its reception of numerous large rivers, among which are the Pei-ho and Hoang- ho. The two gulfs are nearly separated from the remainder of the Yellow sea by the Shan- tung promontory, and the long narrow penin- sula known as the " Regent's Sword." On the E. coast are numerous groups of islets, form-