340 



MULCASTER 



MULL 



particularly on the lower parts of the Missouri, 

 endures severe frosts much letter tlian either of the 

 preceding, and is therefore preferred for cultivation 

 in some parts of Europe. Its fruit is deep red, and 

 almost as pleasant as the Black Mullx-rrv. It 

 forms a tree 60 to 70 feet hi^h, with a circumference 

 of about six feet ; the wood is fine grained, strong. 

 and adopted even for shipbuilding. 1'ui cannot lie 

 procured in any quantity for that purpose. The 

 Indian Mulberry (.V. Indica) has black fruit of a 

 delicate flavour, and the leaves are extensively 

 used for feeding silkworms in China, Cochin- 

 China, mid IU*ng:il. M. atro-purpurrn has been 

 introduced into India from China tor feeding silk- 

 worms. M. Mniin'tiana, a native of Madagascar 

 and Mauritius; .17. celtulifolia and M. corylifulia, 

 Peruvian species ; M. Tatarica, a native of central 

 Asia ; M. lin-iyntu, the species most common in 

 the north of India ; and .!/. C<tshmeriana, a native 

 of Cashmere, produce pleasant fruit. M. dulcis, a 

 native of the north of India, is said to be superior 

 in flavour to all others. 



The l'ni>er Mulberry ( Rroustonetia papyri/era) 

 differs from the true mulberries in having the 

 female flowers collected in a globular mass. The 

 tree is of moderate size, or, in cultivation, a bush 

 of 6 to 12 feet high, with leaves either simple or 

 lobed, a native of India, Japan, and the islands of 

 the Pacific Ocean, but now not uncommon in 

 pleasure-grounds in Europe and North America. 

 The islanders of the Pacific cultivate the Paper 

 Mulberry with great care. They make a kind of 

 clothing from the bark, using for this purpose the 

 bark of .small branches about an inch in diameter, 

 which thev macerate in water, and then, scraping 

 off the epidermis, they press and beat the moist slips 

 together. The paper also which is used in Japan 

 and many parts of the East is in great part made 

 from the bark of the young shoots of tnis plant, 

 which for this purpose is boiled to a pulp, and 

 treated somewhat in the same way as the pulp of 

 rags in Europe. When the shoots are cut, new 

 ones spring up very rapidly. Silkworms eat the 

 leaves of the Paper Mulberry. The fruit is oblong, 

 of a dark-scarlet colour, sweetish, but insipid. 



Mulcaster, RICHARD, philologist (died 1611), 

 was a scholar of King's College, Cambridge, in 

 1548, but attracted no notice till 1555, when he 

 removed to Oxford, and was chosen student of 

 Christ Church, quickly becoming eminent for his 

 knowledge of eastern literature. In 1561 he was 

 appointed master of Merchant Taylors' School, and 

 in 1596 master of St Paul's School. He enjoyed 

 great reputation as a Greek and oriental scholar 

 and successful schoolmaster. His English and 

 Latin works were celebrated in their day, the 

 principal being Positions, <ke. necessarie for the 

 Training vp of Children (Loud. 1581) and Ele- 

 mt.ntarie on the Right Writing of our English Tung 

 (1582). He was early addicted to dramatic com- 

 position, and assisted in the performance of plays 

 before Queen Klizalx-th. 



Mulder, GKHAHD JOHANNES (1802-80), was 

 mofessor of Chemistry at Utrecht, and was best 

 known from his investigations on protein and 

 vegetable physiology. 



Mule, ili'- liylirid offspring of the male ass and 

 the mare, much used and valued in many parts of 

 the world as a lieast of burden. The head, ears, 

 croup, and tail show very distinctly the 'pre- 

 potency ' of the ass ; but in bulk and stature the 

 mule is nearer the horse, and seems to excel Imth 

 its parents in sagacity, muscular endurance, sure- 

 footedness, and length of life. Though never much 

 used in lirilain (save in some places tor tram-cars), 

 it has been common from ancient times in many 

 parts of the East, and is a very important animiil 



in most of tin- countries round the Mediterranean, 

 and in the mountainous parts of Smith Ameiic.i. 

 The best European breeds are found in l-'i.-m. r, 

 Spain, and Italy; those of Kentucky. Missouri, 

 Minnesota, and Mexico are also renowned. The 

 carrier mules of South America ami elsewhere are 

 driven in troo|i, each led hv a Ml bearing old 

 mare. Her they follow with such docility and 

 affection that when the troops mingle in ilii 

 halting places they are readily separated by secur- 

 ing the leader. In ancient times mules were often 

 icscixed as the peculiar steeds of princes, and they 

 are still used to draw the carriages of Italian car- 

 dinals and other ecclesiastical dignitaries. Mules 

 .ire MTV surefooted, strong of limb and firm of 

 hoof, clever at passing steep places and sharp 

 turns, easy to please with food. They nmv lie 

 ridden, driven, or used for pack purjioses. Their 

 flesh is ciiiUe. 



The fact that mules are generally sterile has 

 given rise to the common mistake of supposing 

 that sterility is a necessary consequence of hybrid- 

 isation. Even as regards mules, the females may 

 be successfully crossed by horse or ass, though the 

 more numerous males seem to be constantly sterile. 

 The hinny or companion hybrid of the mule, the 

 offspring of a female ass ana a stallion, is not com- 

 mon, and is decidedly inferior in size, strength, 

 and beauty. See Ass, HORSE, HYBRID, CANARY ; 

 and for the Spinning-mule, see SPINNING. 



Miiljrrave Islands, a name given to some of 

 the Marshall Islands (q.v.) from their discoverer, 

 the navigator Lord Mulgrave ( 1744-92). 



Millhaiisen (Fr. Mulhousc), a town of Alsace- 

 Lorraine, on the 111 and the Khone and Rhine 

 Canal, 08 miles by rail SSW. of Strasburg and 20 

 N\V. of Hasel. It consists of three parts, the old 

 town, the new town, and the artisans' town, and 

 is a place of first-rate industrial importance. The 

 cotton manufacture employs 16,000 workpeople in 

 the town and 60,000 in the adjacent villages. Be- 

 sides this, it has printing and (lye works for cotton, 

 linen, calico, wool, and silk fabrics, chemical fac- 

 tories, iron and other metal works, and shops for 

 making machinery, railway plant, &c. Pop. 

 (1821)13,027; (1861)45,887; (1885)69,759; (1890) 

 76,413. Millhaiisen, which existed as early as 717, 

 was made a free imperial city by Rudolf of Haps- 

 burg in 1273. By siding with some of the S\\ iss 

 cantons in the 14th century, it was enabled to 

 maintain a certain degree of neutrality in the feuds 

 between the empire and France. In i.">l"> it. joined 

 the Swiss Confederation, and in 1528 adopted the 

 Reformed faith. But in 1798 it was incor]iorated 

 with France, and began to come to the front as an 

 industrial place after 1829. It is noted for the 

 excellent arrangements made for the housing, &c. 

 of the working-classes. It became a town of the 

 German empire after the war of 1870-71. See 

 Histories of the town by I)e Sabliere (1856) and 

 Metzger ( Lyons, 1883). 



IKilliriin. a manufacturing town of Rhenish 

 Prussia, on the river Ruhr, 16 miles N. of Diissel- 

 dorf. It has great ironworks and an extensixe 

 trade in coal. Pop. (1875) 15,445 ; (1890) 27,702. 

 Mi i IIKIM-AM IlllKIN, 3 miles almvc Cologne, 

 canics on extensive manufactures of silk, velvet, 

 thread, leather, &C. Pop. (1875) 17,350; (1885) 

 24,975. 



Hull, an Argyllshire island, the largest of the 

 Hebrides after Lewis and Skye, is separated from 

 the mainland !>y tin' Sound of Mull ( 19 miles long 

 and It to 31 miles xvide), and is engirt by a num- 

 ber of smaller islands Gomel ra, Ulva, Stalla, 

 lona, &c. It is 347 sq. m. in area, and has a 

 maximum length and breadth of 30 and 29 miles, 

 but is so deeply indented, especially towards the 



