MUSCARDINE 



MUSCLE 



353 



forms of muscje volitantes, the reader is referred 

 to an article by Sir David Brewster in the Xort/i 

 British Jieniew for November 1850. 



Muscardine, or SILKWORM ROT (Botrytis 

 Bassiana, so called from the Italian physician 

 Bassi, who first proved its true nature in 1836), is 

 a mould doubtless lielonging to the Discomycetes 

 (since its congener B. cineren has l>een shown to be 

 the spore-bearing phase of Peziza Ftickelitina ). It 

 was first ol>served on the silkworm in Piedmont 

 and France in the later part of the 18th century, 

 and was frequently epidemic during the tirst half 

 of the 19th, but has since been practically stamped 

 out. De Bary has shown that it occurs not untre- 

 quently upon a variety of insects. 



Muscat, or more correctly MASKAT, capital of 

 the independent state" of Oman or Muscat, which 

 occupies the south-eastern corner of Arabia. It 

 stands in a narrow rocky cove that open- "lit to the 

 Indian Ocean on the one side and on the other 

 forms the exit of a pass leading from the interior 

 of Arabia. It is surrounded by a wall, and defended 

 by forts planted on the rocky heights aliove. Its 

 streets are narrow and not over clean ; in summer 

 the heat is intense ; hence Muscat is not a healthy 

 place. Yet the advantages of its situation make 

 it of great importance for the commerce between 

 eastern Arabia, Persia, India, the eat coast of 

 Africa, and the Ked Sea. Its total trade reaches 

 the value of 1,100,000 annually, the chief ex|K>rts 

 being pearls and fish, in which its coastal waters 

 are extraordinarily rich, and salt, dates, drugs, 

 dycstull', horses, and the imports chiefly coffee, 

 rice, sugar, piece-goods, oil, &c. Pop. aliout 

 20,000. Although a very ancient place, Muscat 

 remained small ami of little importance until the 

 Portuguese took possession of it in 1508. Under 

 their rule, lasting exactly a century and a half, 

 it developed into a prosperous commercial centre. 

 It was subsequently governed by native rulers 

 (inutmg), who in the 17th century succeeded the 

 Portuguese also as masters of Xan/ibar ami some 

 places on the east coast of Africa. These African 

 po-scssiona were, however, wrested from the reign- 

 ing imam of Muscat by an illegitimate son in ls:><;. 



Mil>catcl (Ital. moscailo, 'musk'), the name 

 given to many sweet, strong French and Italian 

 wines, whether white or red. Amongst the finest 

 are the white Rivesaltes and red liuirnol from 

 RmMUkm, ami the Lunel from the Pyrenees, the 

 Lacryma? Christi of Naples, &c. Fine varieties 

 are yielded by Syracuse, Sardinia, the Cape, 

 Canary Uwda, Corfu, Crete, and Cyprus. 



Muscat inc. capital of Muscatine county, Iowa, 



is on the went bank of the .Mis<i>-i|ipi, built mostly 

 on rocky bluH's, where the river makes a great lieiiil 

 t<> tli- .-.mtli, 211 miles by rail \VS\V. of Chicago. 

 It has a large trade by river and rail, and contains 

 pork |i:u-king establishments, as well as flour 

 ami lumber mills, and plough and furniture 

 factories. Pop. (1890) 11,4.>4 ; ( 1900) 14,073. 



Mlischclkalk (Ger., 'shell-lime'), the middle 

 member of the Triassic system as develo|-d in 

 id-many. It is wanting in'liritain. The muschel- 

 kalk consists chiellvof limestone the series at tain- 

 ing a thickness of .ViO to 1100 feet. The iipix-r 

 portion is more or less pure limestone and highly 

 Mmliferoni : the middle ami lower portions consist 

 mostly of dolomitic limestone, with which are 

 iiifeil rock-salt, gj-psum, and anhydrite. One 

 of the most abundant and characteristic fossils of 

 the musclielkalk is the lily encrinite (Encriniints 

 HHifnriiiix). See TRIASSIC SVSTKM. 



Muscle, the fleshy parts of an animal. Mns- 

 cnlar tissue is specially distinguished by its 

 power of contracting in one direction, and is 



m 



the instrument by which all the sensible move- 

 ments of the animal body are performed. When 

 examined under a high magnifying power the fibres 

 of which it is composed are found to exist under 

 two forms, which can be distinguished from one 

 another by the presence or absence of very close 

 and minute transverse bars or stripes. The fibres 

 of the voluntary muscles those whose movements 

 can be influenced by nerve impulses originated 

 by the will as well as the fibres of the heart, are 

 striped; while those of the involuntary muscles, 

 sucn as the muscular fibres of the intestinal canal, 

 of Blood-vessels (q. v. ), and in skin, are unstr/jn'i/. 



On examining an ordinary voluntary muscle 

 with the naked eye, we observe that it presents a 

 fibrous appearance, ami that the fibres are arranged 

 with great regularity in the direction in which the 

 muscle is to act or contract. On closer examination 



Fig. 1. Attachment of Tendon to Muscular Fibre 

 in the Skate. 



it is found that these fibres are arranged in fasdr-uli, 

 or bundles of various sizes, enclosed in sheaths of 

 areolar tissue, by which they are at 

 the same time connected with and 

 isolated from those adjoining them ; 

 and when the smallest fatcienha 

 visible to the naked eye is examined 

 with the microscope it is seen to 

 consist of a number of cylindrical 

 fibres lying in a parallel direction, 

 and closely liound together. These 

 fibres may end in blunt extremities 

 or lie forked as in the lips, or 

 branched as in the tongue. Each 

 fibre consists of an elastic homo- 

 geneous sheath the snrcolcmma 

 (Cr. xnrr,, 'flesh,' and lemma, 'a 

 skin or husk'), which contains a pis. 2. Sarco- 

 contractile scmi-tluid material, boon* of Mam- 

 This substance shows transverse malian Muscle, 

 striii- at regular intervals, as well 

 as longitudinal strife. Dilute mineral acids cause 

 the fibre to cleave crosswise into discs. When 



Fig. 3. Mnscnlar Fibre of 

 nog** Tongue ma'.'. 200 

 diameters (after Kolliker). 



Fi<r. 4. Portion of Human 

 Muscular Fibre mag. 

 600 diameters. 



highly magnified the transverse strite resolve them- 



