MYRMIDONES  , in

Greek legend, an Achaean race, in Homeric times inhabiting Phthiotis in Thessaly . According to the ancient tradition, their original home was Aegina, whence they crossed over to Thessaly with Peleus, but the converse view is now more generally accepted . Their name is derived from a supposedancestor, son of Zeus and Eurymedusa, who was wooed by the god in the form of an ant (Gr . /lbw ? ); or from the repeopling of Aegina (when all its inhabitants had died of the plague) with ants changed into men by Zeus at the prayer of Aeacus, king of the island . The word " myrmidon " has passed into the English language to denote a subordinate who carries out the orders of his superior without mercy or consideration for others . See Strabo viii . 375, ix . 433; Homer, Iliad, ii . 681; schol. on Pindar Nem. iii . 21; Clem . Alex., Protrepticon, p .

34, ed .

Potter . MYROBALANS, the name given to the astringent fruits of several species of Terminalia, largely used in India for dyeing and tanning and exported for the same purpose . They are large deciduous trees and belong to the family Combretaceae . The chief kinds are the chebulic or black myrobalan, from Terminalia Chebula, which are smooth, and the beleric, from T. belerica, which are five-angled and covered with a greyish down .