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",;ilh pretty 'long lu ir. Thcrc are 4 Tpccic!I, tJ;z. ,t.
í 'he d;cbélyla, or \l.'hite American co:u i oC Sc.;ba, has
t"'O tOt"S 011 lhe rore fc~t acd four on lile hind feet.
Thi! <Joim ..d ¡, about ~7 toches long; lhe head is twO
in~hes in length ; lhe Cnout is not fa long as tnal of
, he otl,er fpecies; the: uil is about ao ¡oeh longar th an
lhe boJy, and covercd Wit:l prctty Ivnt hair; lhe legs are
Dol m:\dc for walking. ~Ut jumping. He climbs (rees,
and hangs: on lhe branches by the t'xu ernit)' 01 his u,il.
In tll is (¡tualian be tbruHs his long tengue in che holes
or ficrufes of trees, and brings it do! covered wiEh ants or
other ¡ñreéls. He can live long without nouri(hment
of".ny kind, neeps generally in ,he day, and fearehes
for foad in the n¡ght. 2 . The tridatl.yla, [ÍlHllandna·
guaca, cr t¡.¡manoir, has three roes on lhe fore-fee t,
and five 00 the hiod ·feet, and long hair on lhe: rail.
T his animal is about fou r fcel long, and lhe h'-ad iotod
fnout abcul fi(teen ¡nches: h is a na!ive of , he Eafi–
Iodies, ; nd feeds upon ants , &c. in the fa me manner
as ,he did.élyla. See.Plate CXVI. fig '+-3 ' The ju·
bata, has (our toes on toc fOfefeet and live 00 the hind
ones, and a very hai ry:tail. Th is animal rerembles the
trid.é\ yl., and is found at ,he Cape of Good Hope.
4. The ' e'rad.é\rla, 1135 four ' oes on the fore feet
and fige on the hind, Wilb a rajl n~ked at the eJure–
mity. It is a nalivc sf fouth America.
MYIWBALANS, a kind of medicinal frui, brough' from
the Indies, ofwhich there are five kinds: l. The citrine,
of. ycllowifh .red, hard, oblong, and Ihe fi ze of an
olive: 2 The black, or Indian myrobalao, of ,he bJg–
Defs of 3n acoro, wrínkled, and without a llone: 3.
Chebulic myrobalaos, wllich are of Ihe !ize of a da,e,
pointed at the end, and of a yellowifh brown. 4 Em·
bl¡e, which are Tound, rough, the (ize of a gall, and
a dark-brown: and, 5. B elleric, which are hard,
round, of tbe (ize of aD ordinary prune, lefs angular
,han ,he re!l, and yellow . E ach of , kinds are
Oightly purga,ive and aChingen,; bu, ~iDCy obferves,
tbat the beCl of tbem are DOt \Vonb regarding, lince
,hey ra,her c10g ,hao afli(t any compoGtion.
1I-IYRRH, a vege,able produttion of ,he gum or reGn
kind, iífuing by ¡ncilion, and fomer.mes fpontaneouf1y,
from lhe truDk and Jarger branches of a trce growi ng
in E gyp' , Arabia, and Ab) f1inia . The inciGons are
made t\\lice a-year, and ihe myrrh o1.1zing OUt is re·
ce¡ved on rufh mats difperfed undu neat h.
t.1yrrh is fent over to us in Looft! granules of various
fiZts, from that of a pepper·corn, tO the bigne(s or a
waJnut. The gelleral~ly of thC:lll, however, are from
the fi ze of 3 pea, .to a Ijule more th:m tllat of a horre–
bcan: Ihefe are fometimes roundifh. but orten ¡rregu
lar/y long and con,oned. The colour of myrrh i. a
TC'ddiOI·brown, with more or Jefs of 3n admixture oF
)'ellow. ;Ind in the purell picccs it is fomewhat tranr–
parent. Its ,aOe is biuer and acrid, with a peculiar
i3rom;¡tíc Atlvour, b UI very n·.lUfeous: bu t it s fmelJ,
Ihour,h Orong, is not dif.l greeahle . It is to be clw(t:n
in clcar pieces, liglH . [r¡.. bIe, ~nd of lbe billcrefl lafi e.
M yflh is of grCd ( ufl: in medicine ; it powerfully re–
fol\lt5 and íttl t nu;Hes thl<k ~ nd vilcid blood, amI con–
e.1 t:tc.d bll<", tlnd c 1utiuous humours, and is good in ub·
V U L . l!l. N°. 63.
flrué1ions of '¡he menfes, ani! in infaré(iens di Ilhe Vil=–
cera .
MYRS INE, in 'bDuny, a genu. of ,he pentandria mono–
gynia cl. fs. TIle eorolla confi(ls of fi v< fegmonfS; antl
,he bcrry has cells and 5ve foeds. Thele is but
ODe [pedes. a nali ve of JElhiopia .
M YRTI FORM, in «O'I O",Y, .0 ' ?pellalion givcn ' o f.–
veral parts, from theír re:emhling mymle.benies.
MYRTLE,;n uOlany. See !\fY RTVS.
MYRTUS, ,he Iv!YRT LE, in bo'any, -:. genus of-theieD–
f. ndría monogynia clafs. The ca lix conG(ls of nve
fegmcDfS , and ,he corolla of pe'als; and Ihe ber–
ry contains two or tblee 'eeds . There are 13 fpecics,
none of them natives of Britain.
MY~IA, rbe ancient name of a Afia, being
,he nonh -we!l pan of Na,olia or Afia M lnor.
MYTHOLOG Y . T he \Vord "'.llhD/~Q is a Greek com–
pound, ,ha, fignifi cs a diftollrfo Dn f abla ; and compre·
hends, in a eolleélive fenfe, , 11 , he fabulou. and poe,ic
hiCto ry of pagan an,iqui,y. lt follows ,herefore, tbat
,his fcience ' caches ,he hiUory of ,he goos, demi-gods,
and fabulous heroes of an,iquity ; ,he ,heology of ,he
pagan" the .principles of tbeir religion, their rnyt1eries,
mC'tamorphofes, orades, &~. By lhis defin¡lion, it ap·
peau fufficicndy what are the objeth of which we are to
treat in tbis artide.
°If we well confider the matreT, we fh.1I fiod, ,hat
there were, in pagan antiquity, three different religions.
fir!l, Th>t of ,he philofophers, who , rea,ed me,aphyG–
c~lIy of lhe nature, the au ributes, anci of rhe works of
,he Supreme Being. T hey endeavoured te di fcover the
true God, and lhe manner in which he ought to be \Vor–
fhipped. lt is no' wonderful, ,ha, ,hefo men of exal,ed
genius lhould in fome degree ridieule. in their works, the
( \Vo other pofitive religions, and thofe gods on whom they
were fOllnded; at rhe fa nJe time that tbey outwardly pro·
f,ffed ,he eflablifhed religion, in order 'o preferve ,he
peace of Cociety, and to avoid the per;"'eclltions of [he le·
¡;iO:tture, and , he infults of ,he populace. For /n f, éI,
"(as i, poffible for ,hem to belie.e ,he pagan fables ? MuCl:
they nOl forefee, that thcir religion would one day give
place to anotber, while their own works would pals Wilh
,heir names 'o ,he la..(I po!leri, y ? And could Ihey fuf–
fer the thought, th at thei r repmat ion would be tarninled
in the eyes of that poHerity, by having it imagined they
believed fu eh idle ,ah >s were broached by ,he prieOs of
thci r times ? COliJa Socrmes, Seneca, and Cícero,
be unconcerncd ror the;r fa me among ruture generatíons,
and fu,ule philofophers ? And wh31 fhould \Ve .. Ihis day
have Caid or {hort c rear men, had Ihey beco fo polítical,
or hypocritica.l. as to haTe entire ly coocealed tbeir (eoli ·
mcnts ",,¡Ih regard to there mattcrs ?
The Cecond rcligioo was that of .pag:lOifm , which was;
the enablt!hen religion of rll lhe .ancienl nations except
,he Jews. This was the doét rioe th at was taught by lhe
prid ls. ano prott-{led by the fovt"reigns. 1 15 dogmas were
l!eOionfl rativdy {aire, bUI 0 0 1 al ways fo ~brurj as may l\t
r.r(l arpear. cfpccially ir we annex tO lhe divinitil's . and
tO llie rcl igioll~ cercmon ie$ of the paJ.!ans, a f¡,:nfc th:n is
frequcntJy myfi ic} nnd étlways allegoric; ¡f we rCDlembe r •
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