contained in the Progrès de l'Enseignement Mutuel en Danemark, extrait d'un Rapport au Roi, par M. d'Abramson, Major, &c. (Copenhagen, 1825). The proper field of this system is, undoubtedly, elementary instruction. It will hardly be denied that it is of great assistance in teaching the rudiments of knowledge, reading, writing, and ciphering, besides accustoming the pupils to habits of order. It will also be admitted, at least by all who live in popular governments, that every individual ought to be taught reading and writing, without which, in the present state of the world, he is excluded from half the benefits of existence. Where, therefore, a large population is imperfectly supplied with the means of instruction, schools of this character will be of great benefit. Besides, all primary instruction must be addressed chiefly to the memory, notwithstanding learning by rote is so much decried in our day; and teachers, we imagine, might often accelerate the progress of their pupils in the branches taught in early childhood, by a more extensive application of the system of mutual instruction. The late king of Portugal established, in 1824, a central school on these principles, at Lisbon, through the instrumentality of professor Lecocq; but it has probably long since been destroyed by the violent convulsions of that unhappy country.

MYCENE; an ancient city of Argolis, Peloponnesus, eighty stadia from Argos, built by Perseus. It was the residence of Agamemnon, and its ruins are still seen in the state in which they were described by Pausanias. The Lions' gate, the vaulted building of enormous stones, called the treasury of Atreus, &c., are minutely described by Leake (Travels in the Morea, 1830).

MYCONI (anciently Myconus); an island in the department of the Northern Cyclades, in the Grecian Archipelago, about 21 miles in circuit; lon. 25° 23′ E.; lat. 37° 27' N.; the population, at present, is about 4500, according to Anderson (Observations, &c., 1830). They are Greek Christians, and distinguished navigators. The chief town, Myconi, a seaport, contains about 4000 inhabitants. The soil is dry and mountainous, but the mountains are not very high. It produces little wheat, but plenty of barley, raisins and figs, with some olives. Partridges, quails, turtle-doves, beccaficos and rabbits, are in the greatest plenty. MYLITTA; the Venus of the Assyrians (with the Arabians, Alitta, and with the Persians, Mythra). She was, as goddess

of the moon, the female principle of generation. Among the licentious Babylonians, it was the custom for every woman to prostitute herself once to a stranger for a certain sum of money, in the temple of Venus Mylitta. The money was deposited by the woman in the treasury of the temple. Herodotus relates, that the women, with wreaths on their heads, seated themselves in the porticoes of the temple, through which the strangers passed to make their selection. They dared not return home till some stranger had thrown into their lap the money, with these words, "I invoke for you the goddess Mylitta."

MYLNE, Robert; an architect of considerable eminence, memorable as the builder of Blackfriars bridge across the Thames, which was commenced in 1760, and completed in 1770. It was the first work of the kind executed in England, in which arches approaching to the form of an ellipsis were substituted for semicircles, by means of which the roadway is brought much nearer to a level surface than in bridges constructed on the old plan. Mr. Mylne obtained the appointment of surveyor of St. Paul's cathedral, and was employed in the erection of many private edifices in various parts of the kingdom. He died in 1811.

MYOLOGY; the branch of anatomy relating to the muscles. (See Anatomy.)

MYOPIA. (See Short-sightedness.) MYRIAD; ten thousand in poetical language, it generally implies an innumerable multitude.

MYRIORAMA (Greek, pvpias, ten thousand, papa, view); a sort of landscape kaleidoscope recently invented by Bres, of Paris, and improved by Clark, of London. It is a movable picture, capable of forming an almost endless variety of picturesque scenes, by means of several fragments or sections of landscapes on cards, which may be placed together in numberless combinations. With 16 cards 20,922,789,888,000 changes may be made.

MYRMIDONS; a people on the southern borders of Thessaly, who accompanied Achilles to the Trojan war. They received their name from Myrmidon, a son of Jupiter and Eurymedusa, or, according to some, from their having been originally ants, pupunkts. (See Eacus.) The term has received the signification of a bully, ruffian, or satellite of tyranny.

MYRON; a celebrated statuary of Greece, who was peculiarly happy in imitating nature. He made a cow so much resembling life, that even bulls were deceived, and

approached her as if alive, as is mentioned by many epigrams in the Anthologia. He flourished about 442 years before Christ. MYRRH; a fragrant, bitter, aromatic gum resin, which is obtained from an undetermined tree in Arabia, and especially in Abyssinia. It comes to us in grains having a resinous fracture, and a slightly acrid taste. According to Pelletier, it is composed of thirty-four parts of resin and sixty-six of gum. The Abyssinian myrrh is brought from the East Indies, and the Arabian comes by the way of Turkey. It is used in a great variety of medicinal preparations.

MYRRHA; a daughter of Cinyras, king of Cyprus. She became enamored of her father, and introduced herself into his bed unknown. She had a son by him called Adonis. When Cinyras was apprized of the incest he had committed, he attempted to stab his daughter, and Myrrha fled into Arabia, where she was changed into a tree called myrrh.

MYRTLE; a genus of plants consisting of aromatic trees or shrubs, with simple opposite leaves, which are sprinkled with pellucid glandular points, and having axillary or terminal white or rose-colored flowers. One species, the common myrtle, is a native of the south of Europe, and other countries bordering on the Mediterranean. It has been celebrated from remote antiquity on account of its fragrance and the beauty of its evergreen foliage, and, by different nations, was consecrated to various religious purposes. Myrtle wreaths adorned the brows of bloodless victors, and were the symbol of authority for magistrates at Athens. With the moderns, it has always been a favorite ornamental plant, and is commonly cultivated in gardens both in Europe and America. Pimento or allspice is the produce of a species of myrtle inhabiting tropical America, and consists of the berries, which are collected before they are ripe, and dried in the sun. No species of myrtle, nor, indeed, of the large family myrtacea, inhabits any part of the U. States.

MYRTLE WAX; a concrete oil, or vegetable wax, the product of the class of plants myrica, more commonly known by the name of candleberry myrtle. There are many plants which afford a concrete oil or wax; and even the light matter which is called the down of fruits, and which silvers the surface of prunes and other stone fruits, Proust has shown to be wax; but the indigenous family of myrica affords much the greatest abundance, and, in many respects, is entitled to the atten

tion of cultivators. "The advantageous properties that this tree appears to possess," says M. Cadet, in the Annales de Chimie, tome 44, “ought to have induced philosophers to make inquiry to ascertain the various properties of the vegetable, and what attention its culture might require: it has long been considered merely as an object of curiosity." The plant abounds in nearly all parts of the U. States, distinguished into four species: viz.-1. Gale; 2. Cerifera; 3. Caroliniensis; 4. Pennsylvanica. It varies in size. from four to eighteen feet, becoming taller as it extends into the warmer regions. The bush or tree has somewhat the appearance of the common myrtle (myrtus communis), and bears a berry of the size of the pepper-grain or coriander-seed. These grains are of a common ash-color, containing a small, round, hard kernel, which is covered with a shining wax, that may be obtained by boiling the grains in water. Toscan, in a memoir inserted in his work entitled L'Ami de la Nature, gives a full account of the manner of procuring the berries, and preparing the wax. The plant itself has always been esteemed a great ornament in foreign countries, and much exertion and expense have been bestowed to promote its growth in the European gardens. The wax is prepared for commerce by the poor people along the northern lakes, and might, by proper attention, be rendered an important article of traffic. So much was the product of the plant valued by the king of Prussia, that the tapers made of it were reserved entirely for the sick-room of the royal household, it emitting, when burning, the most delicious and balsamic odor. It was noticed, as early as the year 1722, in a memoir of M. Alexandre, published in the History of the Academy of Sciences. Charles Louis Cadet has given an excellent account of the natural history, &c., in the Ann. de Chimie, already referred to; and doctor John Bostock has furnished a chemical analysis of its properties and habitudes, in Nicholson's Journal, vol. iv. It has recently been introduced to the notice of the medical public, as possessing anti-dysenteric properties, by William M. Fahnestock, M. D., who used it very successfully in that disease which was epidemic at Harrisburg, Pa., during the summer of 1822.-See American Journal of the Medical Sciences (vol. ii, 1828).

MYSIA; a country of Asia Minor, which, in the most extensive sense, comprehended all the north-western portion of the peninsula, and bordered on the Ægean, the

Propontis, Bithynia and Lydia. The coast was inhabited by Æolian Greeks, the interior by different tribes. Lampsacus, Cyzicus and Pergamus were the principal cities. MYSORE, OF MAISOOR; a principality of South India, chiefly between lat. 11° and 15° N., surrounded by the British territories subject to the presidency of Madras; about 210 miles long, and 140 broad; population in 1804, 2,171,754; families, 482,612; Mohammedan families, 17,000; Bramin families, 25,370; Lingait families, 72,627; Jain families, 2063. It consists of high table-land, elevated about 3000 feet above the level of the sea, from which rise a number of lofty hills, containing the sources of many rivers, the principal of which are the Cauvery, Toombuddra, Vedawati, Bradri and Penar. The climate, on account of the elevation of the country, is temperate. The soil produces all, the grains and vegetables of the other parts of India, and many of the fruits of Europe. The rajah is tributary to the British. The first rajah mentioned in history is Cham Raj, who began to reign in 1507. But the territories of Mysore received their most important accessions from the victories of Hyder Ali (q. v.), in the middle of the eighteenth century, who, without assuming the title, exercised all the power of sovereignty. His son Tippoo Saib (q. v.) perished in defending his capital in 1799, after an unsuccessful struggle with the British, who placed a descendant of the ancient rajahs on the throne. (See East India Companies.)

MYSTAGOGUE, in the mysteries of antiquity; he who introduced the person to be initiated, also he who showed the interior of the temple. Hence mystagogue has been used, in modern times, for a person who pretends to deal in mysteries.

MYSTERIES were, among the Greeks, and afterwards, also, among the Romans, secret religious assemblies, which no uninitiated person was permitted to approach. They originated at a very early period. They were designed to interpret those mythological fables and religious rites, the true meaning of which it was thought expedient to conceal from the people. They were perhaps necessary in those times, in which the superstitions, the errors and the prejudices of the people could not be openly exposed without danger to the public peace. Upon this ground they were tolerated and protected by the state. Their first and fundamental law was a profound secrecy. In all mysteries there were dramatic exhibitions, relating to the exploits of the deities, in whose honor

they were celebrated. The most important Greek mysteries were, 1. the Eleusinian (described in the article Eleusis). 2. The Samothracian, which originated in Crete and Phrygia, and were celebrated in the former country in honor of Jupiter. From these countries they were introduced among the Thracians or Pelasgians in the island of Samothrace, and extended from thence into Greece. They were celebrated sometimes in honor of Jupiter, sometimes of Bacchus, and sometimes of Ceres. (For further information respecting the Samothracian mysteries, see Cabiri). 3. The Dionysia, which were brought from Thrace to Thebes, and were very similar to the former. They were celebrated every second year. The transition of men from barbarism to civilization was likewise represented in them. The women were clothed in skins of beasts. With a spear (thyrsus) bound with ivy in their hands, they ascended mount Citharon, where, after the religious ceremonies, wild dances were performed, which ended with the dispersion of the priestesses and the initiated in the neighboring woods. They had also symbols, chiefly relating to Bacchus, who was the hero of these mysteries. These celebrations were forbidden in Thebes, even in the time of Epaminondas, and afterwards in all Greece, as prejudicial to the public peace and morals. 4. The Orphic, chiefly deserving mention as the probable foundation of the Eleusinian. 5. The mysteries of Isis (q. v.) were not in vogue in Greece, but were very popular in Italy, particularly in Rome. An excellent work upon mysteries is St. Croix's Recherches historiques et critiques sur les Mystères du Paganisme (second edition revised by Sylv. de Sacy, Paris, 1817, 2 vols.).

MYSTERIES, or more properly MIRACLES; a kind of rude drama, which was a favorite spectacle in the middle ages, represented at solemn festivals. The subjects were of a religious character, and the ecclesiastics were at first the performers and authors. They were called mysteries and miracles, because they taught the mysterious doctrines of Christianity, and represented the miracles of the first founders of the faith, of the saints and martyrs. (See France, Literature of, division Dramatic Poetry.) The first play of this sort, specified by name, appears to have been St. Catharine, written, according to Matthew Paris, by Geoffrey, a Norman, about 1110. They sometimes lasted several days. Thus we hear of one which lasted eight days, and contained the greater part of the scripture history. The Corpus Christi, the famous

Coventry mystery, begins with the creation, and ends with the judgment day. The passion of Christ, the slaughter of the innocents (in Hawkins's Origin of the English Drama), &c., are among the subjects represented. The Mysteries were superseded by the Moralities. (q. v.)

MYTHOLOGY (from poos, tradition, tale, fable, and Aoyos). The mythology of a nation is the whole body of its traditions respecting its gods, or fabulous heroes. The mythology of the Greeks and Romans is most commonly indicated by this word, because, for a long time, it was almost the only one investigated; but, of late, attention has also been bestowed on the mythologies of other nations, as of the Hindoos, the northern tribes of early Europe, &c. Whether mythological fables are to be considered mainly as the invention of crafty priests, or allegorical expositions of truth, or gross conceptions of divine things formed by the ignorant, or as founded on historical facts, which have been varied and exaggerated by tradition, embellished by poetry, and purposely altered by cunning, they still retain their interest for the historian, to whom it is equally important to study the wide aberrations of mankind in the search for truth, as their successful attempts to attain it. Erroneous notions, which influence the belief and conduct of men for centuries, must have some broad foundation in human nature, and afford the means of tracing the progress of its gradual developement. The errors of inythology have their counterpart in politics and science; and we should no more think of rejecting it, as unworthy of study, on account of its absurdities, than we should of turning from the study of the feudal system, because of its glaring inconsisteney with the true principles of government. If we wish to arrive at truth, we must investigate the causes of error.-In the article Metamorphosis, we have spoken of the constant wish of man to explain what surrounds him, to find causes for effects. This wish, deeply implanted in our soul to raise us above brutes, and make us intelligent beings, united with the natural disposition, or, rather, necessity of all nations, in the early stages of their history, to speak symbolically; their ignorance of the causes of natural phenomena; the ever-varying reports of tradition; the peculiar fondness of some tribes for poetical embellishments; the selfish purposes to which some individuals will always turn the credulity of their brethren; but, above all, the necessity of the human heart to

acknowledge and adore a supernatural power (the conception of which must be accommodated to the state of cultivation)-these causes sufficiently explain the origin of mythologies, particularly if we take into account the blending together of the traditions of different tribes, by means of migrations, &c. Independently of the illustrations which they afford of the state of morality and religion at given periods, the various mythologies are interesting on account of the historical facts which they frequently contain, though disguised by tradition, or the conclusions to which they lead, as to the connexion of different nations, at certain periods, or the contrary. As to Greek mythology, investigations have been carried on, of late, with greater zeal in Germany than in any other country; and two very distinct theories respecting it have found adherents. Creuzer (q. v.), standing at the head of one party, understands by the word mythology "the symbolical religious poetry of the whole ancient world, which, being founded partly on a common language which nature suggests to all, partly derived from a common source, forms one inseparable whole." Godfrey Hermann (q. v.), another eminent German philologist, however, considers mythology as the science that teaches what notions were the basis of particular symbols in a particular nation. In the article Creuzer, a somewhat fuller account of his view of mythology is given. Hermann's view is contained in his letter to Creuzer, on the Nature and Treatment of Mythology (Leipsic, 1819), which was preceded by the Letters on Homer and Hesiod, especially on the Theogony (Heidelberg, 1818). A critical analysis only can enable us to understand the nature, origin, and connexion of the mythological fables. The nature of the subject itself must determine how it is to be treated; that is to say, how the true meaning is to be found out from symbolical expressions, or distorted representations. Greek mythology, and so that of every other nation, is a mass of various elements, though kindred in their origin, yet not forming a system. The sources of mythology are the notions which sprung up among the people, the dogmas of the priests, and the representations of those who treated of mythological subjects, without having been initiated into the religious mysteries. These three chief sources of mythology give rise to three chief periods, each requiring à peculiar treatment. The early national mythology of the Greeks is to be explained etymologico-allegorically; the doctrine of

the priests, in a historico-dogmatical way; and the exoteric theory of the poets and philosophers, in a critical way. It belongs to a history of mythology to show how the cyclus of mythuses was formed by poets; how it was explained by the ancient writers on cosmogony and theogony; how it was used arbitrarily by the lyrical and tragic poets; and how it stands in close connexion with ancient history. Many treatises exist, affording rich materials for such a work. The period of the independent developement of mythological fables was followed by that of the Alexandrian collectors of mythuses; and these were succeeded by sophists and rhetoricians, who tried, with little success, to solve the riddles of mythology. The polemic zeal of the fathers of the church was of greater service, and to their computations we owe the preservation of interesting mythuses. Though the labors of some scholars, previous to the time of Heyne, must be acknowledged to have thrown light on this subject, yet he deserves the honor of having first attempted, on just principles, the investigation of the meaning of the various traditions. Since Heyne and Voss, the native land of the different mythuses has been carefully investigated, and has been found in the East, where, of course, new obstacles arose; and the attempts of Kanne, Wagner, Görres, Dor

nedden, Hug, Sickler, to ascertain the native soil of the mythological traditions, sometimes betray a want of accuracy and circumspection. Thus, by degrees, that theory was developed which Creuzer, in his Symbolics and Mythology, strives to establish, and which, through the great erudition and acuteness of the author, has found many adherents, viz. "that my thology is a great panorama of religious ideas and conceptions, mostly originating in the East, and conceived and developed in the Oriental fashion, from which, therefore, the symbolic, magic and allegoric cannot be excluded, any more than from the most ancient Greek poetry." Many maintain that the whole Greek mythology leads strongly to the supposition of the preexistence of pure monotheism. Hermann, as we have said, opposed this view, and John H. Voss and Lobek warmly attacked it; but Görres, Von Hammer, Münter, Uwaroff and Ritter have attempted to give new reasons for its support. (For infor mation respecting the mythology of India, and of the north of Europe, see Indian Mythology, and Northern Mythology.)

MYTHOLOGY, EGYPTIAN. (See Hieroglyphics.)

MYTHOLOGY, NORTHERN. (See Northern Mythology.)

MYTILENE, or MITYLENE. (See Les

bos.)

N; the fourteenth letter and 11th consonant of the English alphabet; an articulation formed by placing the point of the tongue against the root of the upper teeth, and forcing out the breath. It is a liquid, or semi-vowel, because part of its articulation may be continued for any length of time. It is a nasal letter, the articulation being accompanied by a sound through the nose, caused by the position of the tongue, which forces part of the air in the expiration through that organ. It is a lingual, because produced chiefly by the above-mentioned position of the tongue, which, as the reader will see from the article L, is nearly the same in the pronunciation of both these letters; in consequence of which persons, who, from neglect, or natural defect, are unable to inflect

the

tongue, so as to pronounce 1, often substitute an n instead of it. N has always something of a nasal sound, and in many languages is the strongest nasal sound; for instance, before the palatic sounds g and k, as in finger, tinker, ring; in French and Portuguese, after a vowel in the same syllable, as on, un, &c. For the etymologist n is important, on account of its ready union with other letters, and its frequent omission or insertion between other letters. The same word in the same language often has the n, in some of its modifications, before the palatic sounds g and k, and in others omits it. Thus the original frago, tago, pago, became in later Latin frango, tango, pango, yet fregi, fractum, tetigi, tactum, pepigi, pactum, &c., were retained. Thus also fingere and figura,