Chapter MELIQUE VERIDO to MISSAL of M by The Hobson Jobson Dictionary

MILK-BUSH, MILK-HEDGE, s. Euphorbia Tirucalli, L., often used for hedges on the Coromandel coast. It abounds in acrid milky juices.

c. 1590.—“They enclose their fields and gardens with hedges of the zekoom (zakkum) tree, which is a strong defence against cattle, and makes the country almost impenetrable by an army.”—Ayeen, ed. Gladwin, ii. 68; [ed. Jarrett, ii. 239].

[1773.—“Milky Hedge. This is rather a shrub, which they plant for hedges on the coast of Coromandel. …”—Ives, 462.]

1780.—“Thorn hedges are sometimes placed in gardens, but in the fields the milk bush is most commonly used … when squeezed emitting a whitish juice like milk, that is deemed a deadly poison. … A horse will have his head and eyes prodigiously swelled from standing for some time under the shade of a milk hedge.”—Munro’s Narr. 80.

1879.—

“So saying, Buddh
Silently laid aside sandals and staff,
His sacred thread, turban, and cloth, and came
Forth from behind the milk-bush on the sand. …”

Sir E. Arnold, Light of Asia, Bk. v.

c. 1886.—“The milk-hedge forms a very distinctive feature in the landscape of many parts of Guzerat. Twigs of the plant thrown into running water kill the fish, and are extensively used for that purpose. Also charcoal from the stems is considered the best for making gunpowder.”—M.-Gen. R. H. Keatinge.

MINCOPIE, n.p. This term is attributed in books to the Andaman islanders as their distinctive name for their own race. It originated with a vocabulary given by Lieut. Colebrooke in vol. iv. of the Asiatic Researches, and was certainly founded on some misconception. Nor has the possible origin of the mistake been ascertained. [Mr. Man (Proc. Anthrop. Institute, xii. 71) suggests that it may have been a corruption of the words min kaich! ‘Come here!’]

MINICOY, n.p. Minikai; [Logan (Malabar, i. 2) gives the name as Menakayat, which the Madras Gloss. derives from Mal. min, ‘fish,’ kayam, ‘deep pool.’ The natives call it Maliku (note by Mr. Gray on the passage from Pyrard quoted below).] An island intermediate between the Maldive and the Laccadive group. Politically it belongs to the latter, being the property of the Ali Raja of Cannanore, but the people and their language are Maldivian. The population in 1871 was 2800. One-sixth of the adults had perished in a cyclone in 1867. A lighthouse was in 1883 erected on the island. This is probably the island intended for Mulkee in that ill-edited book the E.T. of Tuhfat al-Mujahidin. [Mr. Logan identifies it with the “female island” of Marco Polo. (Malabar, i. 287.)]

[c. 1610.—“… a little island named Malicut.”—Pyrard de Laval, Hak. Soc. i. 322.]

MISCALL, s. Ar. miskal (mithkal, properly). An Arabian weight, originally that of the Roman aureus and the gold dinar; about 73 grs. c. 1340.—“The prince, violently enraged, caused this officer to be put in prison, and confiscated his goods, which amounted to 437,000,000 mithkals of gold. This anecdote serves to attest at once the severity of the sovereign and the extreme wealth of the country.”—Shihabuddin, in Not. et Ext., xiii. 192.

1502.—“Upon which the King (of Sofala) showed himself much pleased … and gave them as a present for the Captain-Major a mass of strings of small golden beads which they call pingo, weighing 1000 maticals, every matical being worth 500 reis, and gave for the King another that weighed 3000 maticals. …”—Correa, i. 274.

MISREE, s. Sugar candy. Misri, ‘Egyptian,’ from Misr, Egypt, the Mizraim of the Hebrews, showing the original source of supply. [We find the Misri or ‘sugar of Egypt’ in the Arabian Nights (Burton, xi. 396).] (See under SUGAR.)

1810.—“The sugar-candy made in India, where it is known by the name of miscery, bears a price suited to its quality. … It is usually made in small conical pots, whence it concretes into masses, weighing from 3 to 6 lbs. each.”—Williamson, V. M. ii. 134.